The Latest News About Green Peas and Broccoli

A compound in broccoli, glucosinolate, produces a metabolite called sulforaphane that is responsible for many of broccoli’s health-promoting properties.
Sulforaphane has been shown to have anti-diabetic and antimicrobial properties, and also kills cancer stem cells, which strikes to the heart of tumor malignancy. It can also significantly improve your blood pressure and kidney function, among other benefits.

Broccoli Sprouts – Another Way to Increase Your Intake of Glucoraphanin

Small quantities of fresh broccoli sprouts actually contain as much cancer protection as larger amounts of the mature vegetable.
According to researchers at Johns Hopkins University. Just 5 grams (0.17 ounces) of sprouts contain concentrations of the compound glucoraphanin equal to that found in 150 grams (5.2 ounces) of mature broccoli.
In fact, their research showed that 3-day-old sprouts of both broccoli and cauliflower may contain anywhere from 10 to 100 times higher levels of glucoraphanin than the corresponding mature plants!²
So if you’re looking for an inexpensive superfood, sprouts are it. An article published last year³ listed 10 reasons for eating sprouts, including the following:

• Sprouts can contain up to 100 times more enzymes than raw fruits and vegetables, allowing your body to extract more vitamins, minerals, amino acids and essential fats from the foods you eat
• Both the quality of the protein and the fiber content of beans, nuts, seeds and grains improves when sprouted
• The content of vitamins and essential fatty acids also increase dramatically during the sprouting process. For example, depending on the sprout, the nutrient content can increase as much as 30 times the original value within just a few days of sprouting. Sunflower seed and pea sprouts tend to top the list of all the seeds that you can sprout and are typically each about 30 times more nutritious than organic vegetables you can even harvest in your backyard garden
• During sprouting, minerals, such as calcium and magnesium, bind to protein, making them more bioavailable
• Sprouts are the ultimate locally grown food, and can easily be grown in your own kitchen, so you know exactly what you’re eating. And since they’re very inexpensive, cost is no excuse for avoiding them

Peas May Fight Cancer, Inflammation, Diabetes and More

Peas, a type of legume, are also packed with some of nature’s most potent disease-fighting compounds, including a polyphenol called coumestrol. Research has shown that those with the highest intakes of coumestrol and other natural plant chemicals called polyphenols had a 50 percent lower risk of stomach cancer.⁴
Other phytonutrients in peas, including saponins, phenolic acids like ferulic and caffeic acid, and flavanols like catechin and epicatechin, have also been shown to offer powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits, and may be responsible for peas’ beneficial impact on diabetes.⁵ Green peas are also unique in their relatively large amounts of protein and fiber, which may help with blood sugar regulation. Interestingly, peas also impart many benefits to the environment in which they’re grown. For example:⁶

• Peas are a “nitrogen fixing” crop, which means they (along with bacteria in the soil) take nitrogen from the air and convert it into more usable forms, increasing nitrogen in the soil without the need for additional fertilizer
• Peas may help prevent soil erosion and add to soil replenishment when the plants are broken down after harvest
• Rotating peas with other crops may lower the risk of pest problems

Pea Sprouts Are Also a Phenomenal Superfood

As mentioned earlier regarding broccoli sprouts, pea sprouts are also an incredibly nutritious superfood that have more concentrated nutrition than most mature vegetables. While you can sprout a variety of different beans, nuts, seeds and grains, sprouts in general have the following beneficial attributes:

• Support for cell regeneration
• Powerful sources of antioxidants, minerals, vitamins and enzymes that protect against free radical damage
• Alkalinizing effect on your body, which is thought to protect against disease, including cancer (as many tumors are acidic)
• Abundantly rich in oxygen, which can also help protect against abnormal cell growth, viruses and bacteria that cannot survive in an oxygen-rich environment

I started sprouting seeds in ball jars 10 to 15 years ago, but now grow pea sprouts, sunflower seed sprouts, wheat grass and other varieties in soil using plastic trays. Some of the most commonly sprouted beans, nuts, seeds and grains include:

Broccoli: known to have anti-cancer properties, courtesy of the enzyme sulforaphane	Alfalfa: a significant dietary source of phytoestrogens. Also a good source of vitamins A, B, C, D, E, F, and K	Wheat grass: high in vitamins B, C, E and many minerals	Mung bean: good source of protein, fiber, vitamin C and A
Clover: significant source of isoflavones	Lentil sprouts: contain 26 percent protein, and can be eaten without cooking	Sunflower: contains, minerals, healthy fats, essential fatty acids, fiber, and phytosterols. It’s also one of the highest in protein	Pea shoots: good source of vitamins A, C and folic acid and one of the highest in protein

My two favorites are pea and sunflower sprouts, as they provide some of the highest quality protein you can eat. Sprouts have radically improved the nutrition of my primary meal, which is a salad at lunch, and they are also a perfect complement to fermented vegetables. It is hard to imagine a healthier combination that provides the essentials of nutrition very inexpensively. I plan on producing some videos on how to grow them later this year, but for now you can see my recent article that extols their benefits.

Which Other Vegetables Are the ‘Best’ to Eat?

There's little doubt that one of the best ways to improve your health is to make sure you're eating plenty of fresh, minimally processed high-quality vegetables, ideally locally-grown and organic, with a majority of them consumed raw.
My Recommended Vegetables List provides a guide to the most nutritious vegetables and those to limit due to their high carbohydrate content. Broccoli is certainly on the most nutritious list, but so are many others like celery, Bok Choy and beet greens. Remember, variety is key. So while broccoli and peas were the focus of this article, they should be part of a wide variety of vegetables and legumes in your diet.
Generally speaking, the greener the vegetable, the more nutritious it will be, although red and orange vegetables, like peppers and certain varieties of chard, are also extremely healthful.
Sprouting is undoubtedly one of the best ways to increase the nutritional content of your veggie intake even further, but there are other “tricks” you can use as well. Fermented veggies are another outstanding superfood, as is fresh vegetable juice. Both fermented vegetables and juicing organic vegetables are highly recommended to patients in our clinic who are working to restore or improve their health.

5 Training Tips That Will Save Your Back

Skip Hill explains why back injuries are something every serious trainer should always be conscious of. Here are his top tips for ensuring a healthy back!

If you think you have a healthy back and don’t have to worry about future back injuries, think again. I went almost 15 years with no back issues of any kind. However, over the course of the last 13 years, I’ve injured the same disc six times. You read that right – six times! If you’ve never experienced nerve and disc issues in your back you are going to want to pay very close attention to this article. For those of you that have had back issues, I’m going to tell you how to avoid future injuries.
The first three times I injured my back I can honestly say I didn’t know any better. Despite training with great form and warming up before each workout, I still got injured. The last three times it was undeniably my fault because by that time I knew what I needed to do and I either wasn’t doing it or wasn’t doing it consistently. After this last injury three weeks ago I had a revelation. Well, that’s what I am going to call it because having to crawl to the toilet before you shit yourself and then getting stuck on the toilet for almost three hours because of back spasms just isn’t something I want to explain to you all. The point is, I had enough and swore to myself that I would never go through that again.
My first three back injuries came as a result of tucking my hips and tilting my posterior. Twice it occurred while putting a t-bar down after a set and once while going too deep on hack squats with tight hams and lower back. The hips came forward and “pop”. Two of the last three injuries happened while I was leg pressing. I rolled my hips just enough and “pop”.
The last time? I sat down in a chair in a waiting room. No kidding. And this was the worst one! I couldn’t stand upright and could barely get to my truck to get home. The next morning was the aforementioned situation where I almost shit myself and then I stayed in bed for three days not eating or drinking anything because I was willing to shit the bed rather than crawl to the toilet again. It was during this time that I had a Percocet and Xanax epiphany. I promised myself that from now on I would consistently do anything and everything to keep my back healthy. I already had all of the tools as I had kept my back healthy for long periods of time prior to this last injury. Yes, the last three injuries seem like a lot but keep in mind that we’re talking about three injuries over about twelve or thirteen years. I was totally injury free for years until my bad habits caught up with me. Here are five points that I always keep in mind to ensure a healthy back:

A Good Chiropractic Doctor

This is by far the most important key to avoiding recurring back pain. I was fortunate enough to get a recommendation from my great doctor to see another great doctor here in Denver. When I’m seeing my chiro regularly and consistently, I have zero back issues and I feel great both in the gym and throughout the rest of the day.

Using A Belt

For years I advocated not using a belt and I’m sure many of you are quick to assume that not using one is what caused my back pain. For anyone that has no structural issues with their lower back, I still recommend not using a belt while training unless you are going for very low rep, strength-type sets in a powerlifting type of style or “max” sets. Otherwise, not using a belt will help to keep your core strong and fully develop those muscles. If you have ever had back issues, I recommend using a belt in the gym for EVERYTHING you do! Literally everything from squats to side laterals to bench presses. Why? Belts not only provide support when performing an exercise but even in between sets when you are picking up plates and loading up a bar on the bench press. They also keep your midsection warm and that’s a very important factor in keeping your back healthy and injury free. When you take off your belt it should be warm and moist from working your ass off.

Stretching

I can’t lie, I hate stretching. The thing is, it does help keep you loose and your lower back healthy. So as much as it sucks, it needs to be done. Stretching the hip flexors, glutes, hamstrings and erectors during warm up sets is the way to go. This will have you stretching warm muscles that have blood in them and that is the safest way to stretch. Stretching can decrease or even eliminate minor pain in the lower back while warming up. I’ve had leg sessions that I didn’t think I’d be able to get through due to lower back pain only to have the pain vanish after only a few stretches.

Weight Control

I’m not talking about the weight on the bar but rather YOUR body weight. My first two injuries were weight related in that when I put the t-bar down after my set, my round stomach leveraged my lower back and helped to cause the injury. The bigger your gut, the bigger your chance of injuring your lower back. In my particular situation, if I stay below a weight of 220 pounds the likelihood of injuring my back drops considerably.

Exercise Selection

Everyone wants to lift big and everyone wants to do the big exercises like squats and deads, etc. However, there comes a point where you have to balance out what you WANT to do with what is LOGICAL for your situation. It might be wise to admit that doing squats is just too much of a gamble and if you switch to presses you won’t be risking an injury and layoff from training. I mean, what is more effective for leg growth: leg presses without any time off for injuries or squatting with time off for injuries every three months? Please understand that there are many people that develop big legs and backs without squatting or deadlifting. In fact, there are many pros that don’t do deads or squats at all! There are even more that used to do them but have stopped due to the risk of injury.
When push comes to shove, your body only allows for so much. Everybody wants to keep training heavy and performing all of the big exercises, but if you’re in this sport for the long haul, you will eventually need to rethink your long-term strategy. I feel I’m as hardcore as the rest of you out there but I won’t soon forget the indignity of my wife saying to me: “I can wipe your ass if you shit the bed”. I have been married for twenty years so on the one hand that is pretty awesome of my wife to offer to help. On the other hand, I do have my dignity. I will pass on deads if it means I get to wipe my own ass!

Ken “Skip” Hill has spent 30 years in the trenches of bodybuilding. He owns TEAM SKIP Nutritional Consulting, where he specializes in conditioning for bodybuilders and high-level athletes. You can reach Skip through his website, TEAMSKIP.net and follow him on Twitter (@IntenseMuscle).

the Most Important Test to Determine Heart Disease Risk

The incorrect idea that high cholesterol causes heart disease has led to the demonization of entire categories of extremely healthful foods (like eggs and saturated fats), and cholesterol has been falsely blamed for just about every case of heart disease in the last 20 years.
Fat and cholesterol are commonly believed to be the worst foods you can consume. Please understand that these myths are actually harming your health.
Not only is cholesterol most likely not going to destroy your health (as you have been led to believe), but it is also not the cause of heart disease.
Chris Kresser, L.Ac., an acupuncturist and a licensed integrative medicine clinician, has investigated risk factors for heart disease and promotes the use of a relatively novel way of assessing your heart disease risk based on your LDL particle number.
He’s currently writing a book about this topic for the Paleo ancestral health community. His interest grew from losing his grandfather to heart disease several years ago. His grandfather’s case was badly mismanaged, which spurred Kresser to learn more about what really causes heart disease.
A few years later, while in graduate school studying integrative medicine, he did a semester-long research project on the relationship between cholesterol and heart disease.
Since then, he’s read about 750 peer-reviewed studies, consulted with numerous experts in the field, and has challenged everything he thought he knew about the role of cholesterol in heart disease.
Over the last several years, he’s been sharing that information on his blog, in his podcast, and in educational seminars and programs.

The Problem with the Conventional Approach, in a Nutshell

For the past 50 years, you’ve been told that eating saturated fat and high-cholesterol foods will raise cholesterol serum levels. However, research published over the past 10 or 15 years suggests that neither of those statements are true.
Furthermore, the typical cholesterol tests your doctor prescribes, which are supposed to measure your risk for heart disease, don’t actually do a very good job of predicting your risk.
You can have low or normal LDL or total cholesterol and still be at high risk from heart disease. Alternatively, you can have high or normal total or LDL cholesterol yet be at low risk. Subsequently, many are not getting enough treatment, and others are getting too much.

“We’ve learned a lot about what causes heart disease over the past 10 years,” Kresser says. “But unfortunately, that knowledge hasn’t really trickled down into the mainstream yet. So, your average general care physician, primary care nurse, or even science writer that’s writing for the mainstream media is still operating on information from the old paradigm.
The other issue is that the current dietary guidelines that are offered for how to reduce your risk for heart disease are based on this information that’s still 30 to 50 years old. And they’re clearly not working. Cardiovascular disease is still the number one killer. One out of every three deaths is due to this cardiovascular disease, and it affects about 65 million people in the U.S. alone.”

The INTERHEART study, which looked at heart disease risk factors in over 50 countries around the world, found that 90 percent of heart disease cases are completely preventable by modifying diet and lifestyle factors. As Kresser points out, we clearly need a new approach that’s based on more current evidence.

“The problem, of course, that we face is that the old paradigm is so entrenched. The idea that cholesterol and saturated fat are bad for us is so deeply engrained in our society that a lot of us don’t even question that anymore.
One of the main problems there is the massive conflicts of interest in the medical profession. We have a situation where two-thirds of medical research is sponsored by pharmaceutical companies. Eight out of nine of the doctors who are on the National Cholesterol Education program that write the guidelines for cholesterol receive money from pharmaceutical companies,” he says.

Conventional Tests are Not Accurate Predictors of Heart Disease

If you’ve had your cholesterol levels checked, your doctor most likely tested your total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and triglycerides. But we now know those are not accurate predictors for cardiovascular disease risk. According to Kresser, a much more accurate predictor is testing your LDL particle number. He explains:

“To use an analogy: if you imagine your bloodstream’s like a river, the LDL particles are like the boats that carry the cholesterol and fats around your body. The cholesterol and fats are like cargo in the boats. Right now doctors are usually measuring the amount of cargo or cholesterol in the LDL particles. But what we should be measuring is the number of LDL particles, or the number of boats in the river, so to speak, because that’s a much more accurate risk factor for heart disease.”

As mentioned, it’s possible to have normal total or LDL cholesterol yet have a high number of LDL particles. This is completely missed using the conventional testing. On the other hand, you may end up being prescribed a statin drug to lower your cholesterol when in fact your LDL particle number is normal, placing you in the low risk category for heart disease. (As a general rule, regardless of your LDL particle number, chances are you do NOT need a statin drug to address high cholesterol. The only people who may truly benefit from a statin drug are those with the genetic defect called familial hypercholesterolemia.)

How to Test Your LDL Particle Number

Some groups, such as the National Lipid Association, are now starting to shift the focus toward LDL particle number instead of total and LDL cholesterol, but it still has not hit mainstream. Fortunately, if you know about it, you can take control of your health and either ask your doctor for this test, or order it yourself.
There are several ways to test for your LDL particle number. Kresser recommends using the NMR LipoProfile, offered by a lab called Liposcience. The test uses FDA approved technology for testing LDL particle number, and it’s the test used in most of the scientific studies on LDL particles.

“All the different lipoproteins have a unique magnetic signature, and this test uses a nuclear magnetic resonance technique to pick up on that signature. It can correctly identify the number of particles in each case,” he explains.

It’s easy to get and all major labs offer it, including LabCorp and Quest. Most insurance policies cover the test as well. Best of all, even if your doctor were to refuse to order it, you can order it yourself via third-party intermediaries like Direct Labs, or you can order the test online, and get blood drawn locally.
In Europe and other parts of the world, LDL particle number is more commonly measured using an indirect marker, apolipoprotein B (apoB). ApoB is a protein required for the formation of the LDL particle. About 90-95% of apoB particles are LDL particles, which makes apoB a fairly accurate measure of LDL particle number. If you live in a country where the NMR profile is not available, you can use the ApoB test to roughly determine your LDL particle number, and then use triglycerides, HDL, fasting blood sugar, blood pressure and waist-to-hip ratio to determine if you have insulin resistance.

The Devil is in the Details... How Medicine Got the Wrong Idea about Fats

Saturated fat has long been demonized as a heart attack waiting to happen, and many doctors still cling to this outdated view. Ironically, saturated fat is not only healthful fat, it’s one of the most important dietary factors to support health! There’s simply no way to calculate the harm inflicted by the low-fat craze. We now know that if you avoid saturated fats, you’re asking for trouble. Not only is saturated fat the optimal fuel for your brain, it also:

Provides building blocks for cell membranes, hormones, and hormone-like substances	Acts as carriers for important fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K	Is required for the conversion of carotene to vitamin A, and for mineral absorption
Acts as antiviral agents (caprylic acid)	Helps lower cholesterol levels (palmitic and stearic acids)	Modulates genetic regulation and help prevent cancer (butyric acid)

The US Department of Agriculture's dietary guidelines¹ advises you to consume less than 10 percent of calories from saturated fats. I and other nutritional experts have warned that most people actually need upwards of 50-70 percent healthful fats, including saturated fat, in their diet for optimal health. How did medicine get this so wrong?
A combination of factors is likely to blame. There were early studies showing that saturated fat raised cholesterol levels in the blood, but they were almost always short-term studies. Since then, much larger observational studies, conducted for extended periods of time have been done, completely refuting earlier short-term results. Later studies have shown absolutely NO relationship between saturated fat intake and blood cholesterol levels.

“We’re talking about some really big, well-known studies that cover tens of thousands of people,” Kresser says. “In fact, there was research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that covered about 350,000 people in a follow-up period of five to 23 years. And there was no relationship at all between saturated fat intake and heart disease. And then a large Japanese study of about 58,000 people actually found an inverse association between saturated fat intake and strokes. So, in other words, the people who were eating the most saturated fat actually had the lowest levels of stroke.”

Another problem is that early studies did not differentiate between critically important omega-3 and less health-promoting omega-6 fats.

“There’s a study... that went back and looked at some data. Some of the early data suggested that replacing saturated fat with industrial seed oil or polyunsaturated fat would lower cholesterol and lower the risk of heart disease. But what they didn’t realize back in the ‘60s when they were doing those studies [was the difference between omega-3 and omega-6]; they thought all polyunsaturated fats were the same, so they would lump them together in the studies.
Now we understand that omega-6 has very different effects from omega-3. When you study them separately, you see that omega-6 actually doesn’t reduce the risk of heart disease and may increase the risk of heart disease when it’s studied independently of omega-3s.”

Today we have yet another complicating factor when it comes to omega-6 fats and that’s the fact that many of them now come from genetically engineered corn and soy. When you add that into the mix, the health hazards may be worse than we currently imagine.

Which Fats are Healthy?

Sources of healthful fats (and in some cases cholesterol) include:

Olives and Olive oil	Coconuts and coconut oil	Butter made from raw grass-fed organic milk
Raw nuts, such as, almonds or pecans	Organic pastured egg yolks	Avocados
Grass fed meats	Unheated organic nut oil

Another healthful fat you want to be mindful of is animal-based omega-3. Deficiency in this essential fat can cause or contribute to very serious health problems, both mental and physical, and may be a significant underlying factor of up to 96,000 premature deaths each year. For more information about omega-3's and the best sources of this fat, please review this previous article.

High Cholesterol is NOT the Cause of Heart Disease

There are two parts to this persistent myths relating to cholesterol and heart disease:

1. The idea that eating cholesterol and saturated fat raises cholesterol levels in your blood, and
2. That high cholesterol in your blood is what drives the risk for heart disease

Some of the healthful fat sources listed above are also sources of dietary cholesterol, such as eggs. Contrary to early studies, which suggested eating cholesterol-rich egg yolks raises your cholesterol levels, we now know that’s actually NOT true.

“'That’s been pretty thoroughly disproven in the scientific literature,' Kresser says. 'You have between 1,100 to 1,700 milligrams of cholesterol in your body at any given time. But only 25 percent of that actually comes from your diet, and 75 percent is internally produced primarily through your liver. Why would that be? Because cholesterol is so important to the proper function of your body that your body tightly regulates its production. If you don’t eat enough cholesterol, your body will make more. It needs more cholesterol, not less.
The other thing that most people don’t know is that only free or unesterified cholesterol can be absorbed from the diet through the intestines. Most foods have esterified cholesterol that can’t actually be absorbed.'
The first thing to understand is you don’t have a cholesterol level in your blood, actually. Cholesterol is fat-soluble, and blood is mostly water. For it to be transported around the blood, cholesterol needs to be carried by a protein, specifically by a lipoprotein. These lipoproteins are classified by density. So, you have very low-density lipoprotein or VLDL, low-density lipoprotein or LDL, and high-density lipoprotein or HDL, which are the main ones.
I mentioned before the analogy that our bloodstream is like a river. Remember that the lipoproteins are like boats that carry the cholesterol and fats around the body. The cholesterol and fats are like cargo in the boats.
So, here’s the really crucial point: up until about 10 or 15 years ago, we thought that it was the concentration of cholesterol in the lipoprotein (or the amount of cargo in the boat) that was driving the risk of heart disease. But recent research indicates that it’s the number of boats or the number of LDL particles that’s really the driving factor.”

So, it’s not the amount of cholesterol that is the main risk factor for heart disease, rather it’s the number of cholesterol-carrying LDL particles. Oxidized LDL can also be a greater risk factor for heart disease. When oxidative stress is high due to poor diet, insufficient exercise and sleep, and chronic stress, or when your antioxidant capacity is low (again usually because of a poor diet), then oxidative damage can occur. Oxidized LDL is more harmful than normal non-oxidized LDL because it’s smaller and denser. This allows it to penetrate the lining of your arteries, where it will stimulate plaque formation associated with heart disease.

“The more LDL particles you have, the more likely you are to have some oxidized LDL, and they can be more atherogenic. However, oxidized LDL loses their predictive value when it’s adjusted for LDL particle number. That suggests that LDL particle number may be an even more important risk factor and may need a high number of LDL particles before oxidation becomes a big problem,” Kresser explains.

What Raises Your LDL Particle Number?

If the primary cause of heart disease is not high cholesterol, then what is? Part of the reason why statins are ineffective for heart disease prevention (besides the fact that the drug causes heart disease as a side effect) is that drugs cannot address the real cause of heart disease, which is insulin and leptin resistance, which in turn increase LDL particle number via a couple of different mechanisms. While some genetic predisposition can play a role, insulin and leptin resistance is primarily caused by a combination of factors that are epidemic in our modern lifestyle:

• A diet high in processed and refined carbohydrates, sugars/fructose, refined flours, and industrial seed oils
• Insufficient everyday physical activity. Leading a sedentary lifestyle causes biochemical changes that predispose you to insulin and leptin resistance
• Chronic sleep deprivation. Studies have shown that even one night of disturbed sleep can decrease your insulin sensitivity the next day and cause cravings and overeating
• Environmental toxins. Exposure to BPA, for example, can disrupt your brain’s regulation of weight
• Poor gut health. Studies indicate that imbalances in your gut flora (the bacteria that live in our gut) can predispose you to obesity and insulin and leptin resistance. According to Kresser, gut inflammation can even affect your cholesterol more directly.

“There are some studies that show that lipopolysaccharide, which is an endotoxin that can be found in some types of bacteria in the gut… If the intestinal barrier is permeable, which shouldn’t be, of course, some of that lipopolysaccharide can get into your bloodstream. LDL particles actually have an antimicrobial effect. So, LDL particles will increase if there is some endotoxin going into the bloodstream... causing a direct increase of LDL particles.”

The culmination of the synergistic effect of these factors will put pressure on your liver to increase production of lipoproteins, more specifically: low-density lipoproteins (LDL), (i.e. more “boats in the river”), which increases your heart disease risk.
Another way leptin resistance contributes to increased LDL particle number, and hence increased heart disease risk, is as follows: When a cell signals that more cholesterol is needed for the cell to perform its function, LDL receptor activity increases. The LDL receptor sits on the outside of cells, and its job is to act as a docking station for the LDL particles floating around in your blood. Once “docked” into the LDL receptor, the LDL particle can deliver the nutrients it carries into the cell.
However, if you’re leptin resistant, the LDL receptor doesn’t get the message. It’s not sensitive enough to hear the signal. And without LDL receptor activity, the LDL particles floating around are never encouraged to “dock” into the receptor, and this too directly increases LDL particle numbers.
Besides insulin and leptin resistance, another common cause of elevated LDL particle number is poor thyroid function. T3 hormone (which is the most active form of thyroid hormone) is required to activate the LDL receptor, which is what takes LDL out of the circulation. If you have poor thyroid function or low T3 levels, then your LDL receptor activity will be poor, and you’ll have a higher number of LDL particles. The good news is, if this is the cause for your elevated LDL particle number, then addressing your thyroid problem will reduce it.

How Intermittent Fasting Can Help You Address High Cholesterol

I’m particularly fond of coconut oil because I believe it’s a useful therapeutic agent to help you implement intermittent fasting, which is perhaps one of the most valuable stealth strategies to get healthy—largely because it can radically improve your insulin and leptin resistance. In that respect, intermittent fasting is also a powerful way to address cholesterol and LDL particle number. Kresser explains:

“Insulin resistance and leptin resistance are widespread problems... and that’s one of the main driving forces in elevated LDL particle number. The reason for that is that LDL particles carry not only cholesterol, but also triglycerides, fat-soluble vitamins, and antioxidants... If you have high triglycerides, which you often will when you have insulin or leptin resistance, then that means a given LDL particle can carry less cholesterol, because it’s stuffed full of triglycerides. Your liver will then have to make more LDL particles to carry that same given amount of cholesterol around the tissues and cells in your body.
...Intermittent fasting is one of many ways to improve insulin sensitivity and leptin sensitivity, because there are certain processes in the body that engage after you haven’t eaten for a period of time. They’re all evolutionary mechanisms that are designed to help us survive in periods of food scarcity. You have an upregulation in metabolism basically, and... your insulin and leptin sensitivity improves.
It’s a really good way for people to lose weight, which again will improve insulin and leptin sensitivity, because obesity is both a cause and an effect of leptin resistance. I think it’s a really great strategy for most people; I do use it in my practice a lot.
The only kind of caution might be in people who have pretty severe fatigue, or are suffering from some kind of chronic illness, and need to eat more often. But for most people, I think it’s great.”

Coconut oil is most beneficial during the transition period from burning sugar to burning fat, as it will not upset insulin and leptin resistance. It’s neutral, yet it is rapidly metabolized and provides a good source of energy. Fatigue can be a real challenge, so if you want to try intermittent fasting but worry about flagging energy levels, coconut oil can be a useful tool. You can even have some coconut oil during your fasting period as it will not interrupt the beneficial processes that are happening while you’re fasting. It’s mainly protein and carbohydrate that will interrupt those processes. So having a little coconut oil in the morning might help you make it through until you break your fast for your first meal. Kresser recommends putting it in a smoothie, or even adding it to your tea or black coffee, if the idea of eating the coconut oil by itself is too unappealing.

Tying It All Together

Remember, the most important test you can get to determine your heart disease risk is the NMR lipoprofile, which measures your LDL particle number. This test also has other markers that can help determine if you insulin resistance, making it doubly useful. If you have insulin or leptin resistance, you’ll have an increase in LDL particle number and specifically the number of small LDL particles. The NMR lipoprofile measures that too, and gives you an objective score called the lipoprotein insulin resistance score or LP–IR. If your LP–IR is above the recommended reference range, chances are that you have leptin and insulin resistance.
Insurance usually covers the test, but if you order it yourself from Direct Labs or Access Labs, it costs about $100. If your LDL particle number is high, Kresser recommends searching for the cause. Again, two of the major ones are insulin and leptin resistance, which the NMR test will alert you to. The third common cause is poor thyroid function. Chronic infections could also be a factor.
Once you’ve determined the cause, you need to address those. Remember, statin drugs CANNOT address insulin or leptin resistance, and they do NOT affect particle size or particle number. They ONLY suppress cholesterol production in your liver, which can make your situation worse. Kresser advises paying careful attention to the following seven factors when addressing insulin and leptin resistance:

1. Diet: shifting toward the nutrient-dense-food-based diet with higher fat and lower carbohydrate intake
2. Intermittent fasting may be useful
3. Make sure you’re getting enough sleep
4. Exercise regularly, and make sure to incorporate high intensity interval exercises, as they are particularly effective for improving insulin and leptin sensitivity
5. Avoid sitting too much, as that can have a direct adverse effect on insulin and leptin sensitivity
6. Minimize your exposure to environmental toxins as much as possible
7. Optimize your gut health by eating fermented foods, soluble fiber that enriches the beneficial gut flora, and avoiding food toxins and things that harm your gut flora

As you can see, the things you need to do to treat your high LDL particle number are identical to what you would do to promote optimal health in general.

“To me, that just makes sense. The things that keep us healthy in one department or one area are more likely to make us healthy in another. And this is no different from that,” Kresser says.

For more information, see Kresser’s website: ChrisKresser.com. He also has an Internet radio show called Revolution Health Radio, available on his site and on iTunes, where he discusses these topics on a regular basis. His web site also offers educational programs, including a nine-week long self-guided multimedia course called The High Cholesterol Action Plan, which goes into a whole lot more detail on the subject.

A Few Extra Pounds Linked to a Longer Life

By Dr. Mercola

Provocative new research involving data from nearly 3 million adults suggests that a having an overweight body mass index (BMI) may be linked to a longer life than one that puts you within a “normal” weight range.
The research, which analyzed 97 studies in all, found that people with BMIs under 30 but above normal (the overweight range) had a 6 percent lower risk of dying from all causes than those who were normal weight, while those whose BMIs fell into the obese range were 18 percent more likely to die of any cause.¹ The researchers wrote:

“Relative to normal weight … overweight was associated with significantly lower all-cause mortality.”

Do a Few Extra Pounds Make You Healthier?

The study results imply, at least superficially, that carrying some extra weight may help you live longer … or at the very least may not be as unhealthy as it’s made out to be. In a JAMA editorial, Steven Heymsfield, M.D. and William Cefalu, M.D. highlighted this notion:²

“The presence of a wasting disease, heart disease, diabetes, renal dialysis, or older age are all associated with an inverse relationship between BMI and mortality rate, an observation termed the obesity paradox or reverse epidemiology.

The optimal BMI linked with lowest mortality in patients with chronic disease may be within the overweight and obesity range.

Even in the absence of chronic disease, small excess amounts of adipose tissue may provide needed energy reserves during acute catabolic illnesses, have beneficial mechanical effects with some types of traumatic injuries, and convey other salutary effects that need to be investigated in light of the studies … "

Indeed, it is quite possible to be overweight and healthy, just as it’s possible to be normal weight and unhealthy. But for the vast majority of those who carry around extra pounds, health problems will often result.
The study has been heavily criticized for painting an overly simplistic picture of a very complex situation. For instance, it doesn’t tell you whether those living longer were afflicted with more chronic disease or whether their quality of life was otherwise impacted. And even more importantly, it used only BMI as a measure of body composition, and this is a highly flawed technique.
Many studies, such as one published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology,³ have actually found that a high BMI was associated with a lower risk of death, a phenomenon known as the "obesity paradox." But these findings are typically only examples of how BMI is such a flawed measurement tool …

Why BMI is a Flawed Measurement Tool

If you'd like to know how much body fat you have and whether or not your levels put you into a weight category that might lead to health problems, most public health agencies, and therefore most physicians, promote the use of the BMI, which gauges weight in relation to height. But this method is quite flawed, as research suggests it may underestimate obesity rates and misclassify up to one-quarter of men and nearly half of women.⁴ According to lead author Dr. Eric Braverman, president of the nonprofit Path Foundation in New York City:⁵

"Based on BMI, about one-third of Americans are considered obese, but when other methods of measuring obesity are used, that number may be closer to 60%."

One of the primary reasons why BMI is such a flawed measurement tool is that it uses weight as a measure of risk, when it is actually a high percentage of body fat that makes a person have an increased disease risk. Your weight takes into account your bone structure, for instance, so a big-boned person may weigh more, but that certainly doesn't mean they have more body fat.
Athletes and completely out-of-shape people can also have similar BMI scores, or a very muscular person could be classified as "obese" using BMI, when in reality it is mostly lean muscle accounting for their higher-than-average weight. BMI also tells you nothing about where fat is located in your body, and it appears that the location of the fat, particularly if it's around your stomach, is more important than the absolute amount of fat when it comes to measuring certain health risks, especially heart disease.

Do You Know Your Body Fat Percentage?

This is another useful tool that is leaps and bounds ahead of BMI as far as gauging your weight-related health risks is concerned. It is FAR better to monitor your body fat percentage than it is your total weight, as the body fat percentage is what dictates metabolic health or dysfunction – not your total weight.
Too much body fat is linked to chronic health problems like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, while too little body fat is also problematic and can cause your body to enter a catabolic state, where muscle protein is used as fuel.
Body fat calipers are one of the most trusted and most accurate ways to measure body fat. A body fat or skinfold caliper is a lightweight, hand-held device that quickly and easily measures the thickness of a fold of your skin with its underlying layer of fat. Taken at three very specific locations on your body, these readings can help you estimate the total percent of body fat within your entire body.
You can also use a digital scale that determines body fat, which is what I use personally. I use an Eat Smart Precision GetFit Body Fat Scale that I picked up from Amazon for around $50. Although many body fat measurements can be inaccurate, they are nearly all more accurate than BMI, and are particularly useful to determine whether you are gaining or losing fat. Although the absolute value may be off, the direction you are going (whether your body fat is going up or down) will be very accurate, and this is an incredibly useful measure of whether you're nearing your health goals or not. A general guideline from the American Council on Exercise is as follows:⁶

Classification	Women (percent fat)	Men (percent fat)
Essential Fat	10-13 percent	2-5 percent
Athletes	14-20 percent	6-13 percent
Fitness	21-24 percent	14-17 percent
Acceptable	25-31 percent	18-24 percent
Obese	32 percent and higher	25 percent and higher

Overweight Often Leads to Obesity…

It is quite clear that the more overweight you are, the greater the health risks become. So even if it were true that a few extra pounds are actually good for you, if you’re on a path of weight gain you’re on a slippery slope that could easily lead to obesity.
The most recent health report card issued for the United States predicts that half of all American adults will be obese by 2030. Obesity-related illness is predicted to raise national health care costs by $48 billion annually over the next two decades by adding another 7.9 million new cases of diabetes, 5 million cases of chronic heart disease and stroke, and 400,000 cancer cases…⁷ If you want to avoid becoming one of these statistics, I suggest you start to look at your weight as less a product of “calories in vs. calories out” and more the result of a faulty “fat switch.” According to Dr. Richard Johnson of the University of Colorado, author of The Fat Switch:

"Those of us who are obese eat more because of a faulty 'switch' and exercise less because of a low energy state. If you can learn how to control the specific 'switch' located in the powerhouse of each of your cells – the mitochondria – you hold the key to fighting obesity."

Here are some highlights that Dr. Johnson explains in detail in his book:

• Large portions of food and too little exercise are the result of your fat switch being turned on
• Metabolic Syndrome is the normal condition that animals undertake to store fat
• Fructose-containing sugars cause obesity not by calories but by turning on the fat switch
• Effective treatment of obesity requires turning off your fat switch and improving the function of your cells' mitochondria

I highly recommend picking up a copy of this book, which has been described as the "Holy Grail" for those struggling with their weight. Dietary sugar, especially fructose, is a significant "tripper of your fat switch," which is why, if you are serious about losing weight, you'll need a comprehensive plan that includes:

• Eliminating or strictly limiting fructose in your diet, and following the healthy eating program in my comprehensive nutrition plan. You can also use intermittent fasting strategically with this program to greatly boost your body's fat-burning potential.
• Engaging in high-intensity Peak Fitness exercise to burn fat and increase muscle mass (a natural fat burner).
• Addressing the emotional component of eating. For this I highly recommend the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), which helps eliminate your food cravings naturally.

Antioxidant-Rich Diet May Lower Heart Failure Risk

A recent study suggests that maintaining a diet high in antioxidants may reduce the risk for heart failure.

Antioxidants are molecules that work to prevent damage that occurs in cells and body tissues due to both normal bodily processes and exposure to some chemicals. The potential medical benefit of antioxidants may reside in their ability to prevent or slow the oxidation of molecules in the microscopic parts of the body, such as DNA or proteins.

Early research on antioxidants investigated their possible use in preventing edible fats from becoming rancid due to oxidation. Vitamins A, C and E were some of the first antioxidants identified by medical science as possibly beneficial to human health. In addition to being available in a variety of fruits and vegetables, antioxidants are available as supplements. They are one of the most popular categories of supplements available today. Antioxidants are proposed to play a role in preventing many common health disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease, heart disease and some types of cancers.

In a new study, researchers evaluated data on 33,713 women from the Swedish Mammography Corhort. Total antioxidant capacity estimates were collected through questionnaires. Heart failure data was then collected through 2009 from health registries.

Eight-hundred and ninety-four cases of heart failure were identified throughout the 11.3 year follow-up period. The researchers found that women who reported diets with the highest total antioxidant capacity had a 42 percent reduced risk of heart failure when compared to those with the lowest total antioxidant capacity.

The authors concluded that these findings support the view that maintaining a diet rich in antioxidants may lower the risk for heart failure. While promising, further research is warranted.

Antioxidants are found in varying amounts in foods such as vegetables, fruits, grain cereals, legumes and nuts. Some antioxidants such as lycopene and ascorbic acid can be destroyed by long-term storage or prolonged cooking. Other antioxidant compounds are more stable, such as the polyphenolic antioxidants in foods such as whole-wheat cereals and tea. In general, processed foods are thought to contain less antioxidants than fresh and uncooked foods since preparation processes may expose the food to oxygen.

For more information about antioxidants, including beta-carotene, lycopene, rutin, vitamin E and others, please visit Natural Standard's Foods, Herbs & Supplements Database.


References

Natural Standard: The Authority on Integrative Medicine.

Rautiainen S, Levitan EB, Mittleman MA, et al. Total Antioxidant Capacity of Diet and Risk of Heart Failure: A Population-based Prospective Cohort of Women. Am J Med. 2013 Apr 2

Foods that Fight Aging

The principles of eating for longevity are useful at any age. Whether you are young or old, you can take preventative measures in order to safeguard your health for the future. The key is a healthy diet and lifestyle full of foods that promote your health rather than detract from it. Avoid foods heavy in saturated fat and trans fat. Eat foods with a wide variety of vitamins, minerals, and protein. Here are some foods that will help you age gracefully.
Legumes – Chock full of complex carbohydrates and fiber, legumes help keep a stable blood insulin level. They have no cholesterol, and are packed with antioxidants and protein.
Watermelon – The antioxidants found in watermelon help repair the sun damage in skin cells.
Tomatoes – Tomatoes contain the antioxidant lycopene, which can reduce the risk of some cancers, and keep the skin looking youthful.
Cucumber – The skin of a cucumber is made from silica, which helps to build collagen in the skin.
Olive Oil – Olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fats (good fats) which actually lower your LDL cholesterol. It is high in antioxidants, which improves skin’s elasticity.
Nuts and seeds – Nuts and seeds are full of vitamin E, which helps to moisturize the skin by protecting cells against free radical attacks.
Broccoli – There is a compound in broccoli called sulforaphane that increases the activity of protective enzymes in our cells.
Salmon – The omega 3 fatty acids found in salmon help to reduce hypertension, lower triglycerides, and decrease your risk of heart attack.
Whole grains – Whole grains help reduce the risk of diabetes because of they take longer to digest and do not cause spikes in blood sugar.
Berries – Dark berries such as blueberries and raspberries are rich an antioxidants called anthocyanins which have been shown to slow the growth of certain cancers and improve brain function.

Harvard Scientists Discover Hormone That Could Help Treat Diabetes

Researchers at Harvard Stem Cell Institute have discovered a hormone that could dramatically improve treatments for Type 2 diabetes.
Douglas Melton, a co-director of HSCI, along with post-doctoral candidate Peng Yi and researcher Ji Sun Park, report today in Cell, that betatrophin can accelerate the production of the β (beta) cells needed to produce insulin in the pancreas.

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Type 2 diabetes afflicts an estimated 26 million Americans. Most commonly triggered by a combination of obesity and lack of exercise, the disease causes the individual to slowly lose beta cells.
Melton and Yi found that betatrophin causes lab mice to produce the cells at up to 30 times the normal rate.
From the abstract to their paper, ‘Betatrophin: A Hormone that Controls Pancreatic β Cell Proliferation‘:

In adults, pancreatic β cells are generated primarily by self-duplication. We report on a mouse model of insulin resistance that induces dramatic pancreatic β cell proliferation and β cell mass expansion. Using this model, we identify a hormone, betatrophin, that is primarily expressed in liver and fat. Expression of betatrophin correlates with β cell proliferation in other mouse models of insulin resistance and during gestation. Transient expression of betatrophin in mouse liver significantly and specifically promotes pancreatic beta cell proliferation, expands β cell mass, and improves glucose tolerance. Thus, betatrophin treatment could augment or replace insulin injections by increasing the number of endogenous insulin-pro- ducing cells in diabetics.

Since the new beta cells only produce insulin when the body needs it, it suggests the potential for the natural regulation of insulin and a great reduction in the complications (such as blindness) associated with diabetes.
“If this could be used in people,” said Melton, “it could eventually mean that instead of taking insulin injections three times a day, you might take an injection of this hormone once a week or once a month, or in the best case maybe even once a year.”
While more studies need to be completed before betatrophin could be used as a treatment in humans, Melton said, some drug companies have already contacted his lab to develop potential therapies.
According to HSCI’s report, an agreement is already in place with a German biotech company, Evotec, which has a team of researchers working on the hormone. It has also been licensed to Janssen Pharmaceuticals.
What’s interesting is that the breakthrough came at a lab devoted to stem cell research. Melton, who has two children diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, has for the last decade and more been exploring stem cell approaches to treating children born with the disease.
“I would like to tell you this discovery came from deep thinking and we knew we would find this, but it was more a bit of luck,” said Melton. “We were just wondering what happens when an animal doesn’t have enough insulin. We were lucky to find this new gene that had largely gone unnoticed before.”
“Another hint came from studying something that people know about but don’t think much about, which is: What happens during pregnancy?” he said.
“When a woman gets pregnant, her carbohydrate load, her call for insulin, can increase an enormous amount because of the weight and nutrition needs of the fetus. During pregnancy, there are more beta cells needed, and it turns out that this hormone goes up during pregnancy. We looked in pregnant mice and found that when the animal becomes pregnant this hormone is turned on to make more beta cells.”
Melton is hopeful betatrophin may yield some clues for potential treatments of type 1 diabetes as well.

How to Improve Your Health By Freeing Yourself from Stress

By Dr. Mercola

The connections between stress and physical health are being explored at greater frequency these days. For example, recent news items have reported the links between emotional distress and physical pain,¹ chronic inflammation² and even stillbirths.³
In fact, pregnant women who experience significant stress in the months prior to, or during pregnancy are more likely to deliver stillborn babies. The risk is heightened with each stressful event, such as moving, losing a job, or the death of a friend or family member.
Previous studies have linked stress to lowered immune system function; increased blood pressure and cholesterol levels; altered brain chemistry, blood sugar levels and hormonal balance. It has also been found to increase the rate at which tumors grow.⁴
In a poll, work was identified as the number one source of stress in people’s lives.
Clearly, it is not possible or even recommended to eliminate stress entirely. However you can work to provide your body with tools to compensate for the bioelectrical short-circuiting that can cause serious disruption in many of your body's important systems.
By using techniques such as the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), you can reprogram your body’s reactions to the unavoidable stressors of everyday life. Exercising regularly, getting enough sleep, and meditation are also important “release valves” that can help you manage your stress.

How Stress Causes Disease

When you're stressed, your body releases stress hormones like cortisol, which prepare your body to fight or flee the stressful event. Your heart rate increases, your lungs take in more oxygen, your blood flow increases and parts of your immune system become temporarily suppressed, which reduces your inflammatory response to pathogens and other foreign invaders.
When stress becomes chronic, however, your immune system becomes less sensitive to cortisol, and since inflammation is partly regulated by this hormone, this decreased sensitivity heightens the inflammatory response and allows inflammation to get out of control.
This is in large part how stress “predisposes” you to getting sick in the first place. And, in the event you do get sick, emotional stressors can make your symptoms worse. Because inflammation plays a role in most diseases, including cardiovascular disease, asthma and autoimmune disorders, this model suggests why stress impacts them as well.

Links Explored Between Physical and Emotional Pain Relief

According to two recent studies from the Association for Psychological Science, physical pain may be a natural mechanism to help you regulate your emotions. This concept was explored by investigating a phenomenon known as “pain offset relief,” in which you experience the emotion of relief when the physical pain is removed.
In the first study,⁵ the researchers recorded participants’ emotions via electrodes in response to loud noises delivered either alone or seconds after receiving a low- or high-intensity electric shock. After pain offset, participants showed increased positive emotions and decreased negative emotions. The greater the pain (i.e. intensity of the shock), the greater the increase in positive emotions once the pain stopped. According to the authors, these findings shed light on the emotional nature of pain offset relief.
However, while the authors speculated that this might help us understand why some people seek relief through self-injurious behavior, a second study⁶ refuted the idea that those who harm themselves in an effort to experience relief do so because they experience greater levels of relief once the pain is removed than others. According to the featured article:⁷

“Surprisingly, healthy individuals displayed pain offset relief levels that were comparable to those of individuals with a history of self-harm, and there was no correlation between pain offset relief and self-harm frequency. These results do not support the hypothesis that heightened pain offset relief is a risk factor for future self-injury. Instead... the biggest risk factors for nonsuicidal self-injury may concern how some people overcome the instinctive barriers that keep most people from inflicting self-harm.”

Dwelling on Stressful Events Can Increase Inflammation in Your Body

Related research presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society in Miami, Florida, found that ruminating on a stressful incident can increase your levels of C-reactive protein, a marker of inflammation in your body.⁸ It was the first study to directly measure this effect.
To do so, they asked 34 healthy young women to give a speech about her candidacy for a job in front of two stone-faced interviewers wearing white lab coats. Afterward, half the group was asked to contemplate their performance while the other half were asked to think about neutral things like going to the grocery store. Blood samples were drawn from each participant, showing that the C-reactive protein levels were significantly higher in those who kept ruminating on their speech. According to Medical News Today:⁹

“For these participants, the levels of the inflammatory marker continued to rise for at least one hour after the speech. During the same time period, the marker returned to starting levels in the subjects who had been asked to focus on other thoughts.
The C-reactive protein is primarily produced by the liver as part of the immune system's initial inflammatory response. It rises in response to traumas, injuries or infections in the body, [lead author, Peggy] Zoccola explained. C-reative protein is widely used as a clinical marker to determine if a patient has an infection, but also if he or she may be at risk for disease later in life. 'More and more, chronic inflammation is being associated with various disorders and conditions,' Zoccola said. 'The immune system plays an important role in various cardiovascular disorders such as heart disease, as well as cancer, dementia and autoimmune diseases.'"

Work is the Primary Cause of Stress in People's Lives

So what’s keeping your mind running in circles? According to a recent survey of more than 2,000 people, work topped the list as the most stressful factor in people's lives.

• 34 percent of respondents reported that their work life was either “very” or “quite” stressful
• 30 percent cited debt or financial problems as the most stressful factor, and
• 17 percent cited health problems as their main source of stress

Workplace stress resulted in seven percent of adults having suicidal thoughts. That figure was even higher among 18-24-year olds — as many as 10 percent in this age group have had suicidal thoughts as a result of work stress. One in five people also reported developing anxiety due to work-related stresses, and even more disturbingly, nearly 60 percent reported using alcohol after work to cope. Fourteen percent also said they drank during the work day to deal with the pressure!
Other destructive coping mechanisms cited included:

• Smoking (28 percent)
• Taking antidepressants (15 percent)
• Over-the-counter and prescription sleeping pills (16 and 10 percent respectively)

The cost associated with all this stress goes beyond that of an individual’s health. It’s also costly to employers. Stress-related health expenses, productivity losses and the costs associated with high employee turnover rates is currently costing American companies an estimated $360 billion each year.¹⁰ And while more than half of managers (56 percent) polled said they’d like to do more to improve the mental health of their staff, they said they needed more training, and 46 percent said mental health was not a priority in their organization so they couldn’t do anything about it even though they wanted to.
For examples on how you can increase wellness at work, whether you’re an employee or a manager, please see my recent article "Why Wellness in the Workplace Matters." Chief Executive of Mind, Paul Farmer told Medical News Today:¹¹

"Work related mental health problems are an issue too important for businesses to ignore. Our research shows that employees are still experiencing high levels of stress at work, which is negatively impacting their physical and mental health. We know that right now, one in six workers is experiencing depression, stress or anxiety and yet our survey tells us that most managers don't feel they have had enough training or guidance to support them.
Improving mental well being in the workplace doesn't have to cost a lot. Our research shows that people whose organizations offered flexible working hours and generous annual leave said such measures supported their mental well being. Three in five people said that if their employer took action to support the mental well being of all staff, they would feel more loyal, motivated, committed and be likely to recommend their workplace as a good place to work."

EFT — Your Best Defense Against Anxiety and Stress

Even the conservative Center for Disease Control (CDC) reports that 85 percent of all disease has an emotional element. Stress and anxiety are two prevalent reasons why many people acquire health problems ranging from ulcers to sleeping problems to depression and more serious chronic ailments.
Many, if not most people carry emotional scars -- traumas that can adversely affect your health. Chronic stress is akin to emotional scarring, and causes ongoing damage to your cells. According to cellular biologist Dr. Bruce Lipton, the true secret to life does not lie within your DNA, but rather within the mechanisms of your cell membrane. Each cell membrane has receptors that pick up various environmental signals — which includes your thoughts and emotional state — and this mechanism controls the "reading" of the genes inside your cells. Your cells can choose to read or not read the genetic blueprint depending on the signals being received from the environment. This is what is now known as epigenetic control, i.e. the environment within your body — including your emotional terrain — controls your genetic expression, not the other way around.
Using techniques like energy psychology, you can correct the emotional short circuiting that contributes to your chronic stress. My favorite technique for this is the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), which is the largest and most popular version of energy psychology.
EFT was developed in the 1990s by Gary Craig, a Stanford engineering graduate specializing in healing and self-improvement. It’s akin to acupuncture, which is based on the concept that a vital energy flows through your body along invisible pathways known as meridians. EFT stimulates different energy meridian points in your body by tapping them with your fingertips, while simultaneously using custom-made verbal affirmations. This can be done alone or under the supervision of a qualified therapist.¹² By doing so, you help your body eliminate emotional “scarring” and reprogram the way your body responds to emotional stressors. Since these stressors are usually connected to physical problems, many people’s diseases and other symptoms can improve or disappear as well.
For a demonstration of how to perform EFT, please see the following video featuring EFT practitioner Julie Schiffman. The first video is a general demonstration, which can be tailored to just about any problem, and the second demonstrates how to tap for depression. While this technique is particularly effective for relieving emotional or mental stress and anxiety, it can be used for all manner of physical pain relief as well.

Total Video Length: 29:22

While the video above will easily teach you how to do EFT, it is VERY important to realize that self-treatment for serious issues is NOT recommended. It can be dangerous because it will allow you to falsely conclude that EFT does not work when nothing could be further from the truth. For serious or complex issues, you need someone to guide you through the process as there is an incredible art to this process and it typically takes years of training to develop the skill to tap on deep-seated, significant issues.

For Optimal Health, Take Stress Management Seriously

As much as you may try to ignore it, you cannot separate your wellness from your emotions. Every feeling you have affects some part of your body, and stress can wreak havoc on your physical health even if you’re doing everything else “right.”
The classic definition of stress is “any real or imagined threat, and your body’s response to it.” Celebrations and tragedies alike can cause a stress response in your body. All of your feelings, positive or negative, create physiological changes. Your skin, heart rate, digestion, joints, muscle energy levels, the hair on your head, and countless cells and systems you don't even know about change with every emotion.
You cannot eliminate stress entirely, but there are tools available to help your body compensate for the bioelectrical short-circuiting caused by stress that is the root of so much illness and poor health. Exercising regularly, getting enough sleep, and meditation are also important “release valves” that can help you manage your stress.
The beauty about energy psychology techniques such as the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) is that it can reprogram your body’s reactions to the unavoidable stressors of everyday life, thereby providing a more lasting effect. While it’s easy to do on your own, it’s advisable to seek the help of a licensed therapist¹³ if you’re dealing with trauma-based stress such as PTSD or grief following the loss of a loved one.

Organic Juicing

The Benefits of Organic Juicing with Your Fitness Program

by Lawrence Fagan

Organic juicing is a great way to consume vegetables and fruits that are needed to improve fitness levels. Generally, an individual must consume about five servings of fruits and vegetables daily. Considering that your clients exercise on a regular basis, you can recommend them even more number of servings as their nutritional requirements would be greater. Replenishing the minerals and vitamins regularly after exercise is vital for fitness performance, recovery, and overall health.
Organic juices are the ultimate fast food
Organic juices have virtually zero fat and a lot of nutrients, which means the digestive system does not take long to absorb all the goodness of juices making them a natural “fast food.” Organic juices can also serve as great pre workout meals. The fact that they do not stay in the stomach for very long, means that your clients do not arrive at the gym with a heavy stomach or starved. The nutrients in the juice also allow them to perform better.
Organic juices ensure adequate blood supply for workout
Most of your clients would be unaware that normal foods take anywhere from 3 to 12 hours to fully digest. The digestive process demands a lot of blood flow towards it during this time, which means the availability of blood to the working muscles and lungs is reduced. So, to avoid sluggish performance and promote effective workouts, you must suggest a pre-workout meal plan for your clients, which consists of organic juices.
Skinny sipping
Most of your clients would visit the gym not just to keep fit but also to lose weight. One of the biggest obstacles to weight loss is the presence of toxins in the body. Organic juices are free of pesticides and chemicals, and only contain the goodness of nature like antioxidants that help eliminate the toxins enabling quick weight loss.
Slows aging and skin revitalization
One of the main reasons people join fitness programs is to look and feel young. When people combine organic juices and fitness programs, they get enough antioxidants that keep the skin glowing and fight the signs of aging.
Deciding on the right mix
An organic juice consisting of green vegetables would be rich in potassium, dietary fiber, vitamin C, folic acid, and magnesium. It would also be low in sodium, cholesterol, and fat. However, people often prefer drinks that are tasty along with being nutritional and this is the reason, a couple of fruits should be added to the juice.
Having a fruit-only juice is not a great idea as it contains increased amount of sugars but they do add vitamins and minerals like calcium, vitamin B and phosphorus. So, mix of more vegetables and less fruits would be ideal. You can also suggest adding low-fat yogurt to increase the protein content and enhance taste.
Fresh verses packed
The main thing to note is that, in most cases, not more than 10% of packed juice is actual fruit or vegetable, which you would realize on reading the label. The remaining contents are preservatives, sugar, and artificial flavors and colors. The packed juices which claim they contain 100% actual vegetables and fruits also fall short in comparison to freshly prepared juice. This is because most juices are pasteurized to kill the bacteria in the juice that can multiply and spoil it. Unfortunately, during the process, even the minerals and enzymes are destroyed.
It is said that about 75% of vitamin C in the juice is lost when it stored for about 3 weeks. So, by the time packed organic juice is consumed, it would have lost most of its nutrients and your clients would be left with just flavored water and sugar calories. To get the best out of organic juices, always suggest your clients to go for freshly squeezed fruits and vegetables.