Health: Butt Brain Connection

Sitting has been called the “new smoking” meaning it is as detrimental to your health as smoking by increasing your risk for cardiovascular damage, obesity, certain types of cancer, and even early death.

Remember the old song called Dem Bones – you know it says the toe bone’s connected to the foot bone, the foot bone’s connected to the ankle bone, the ankle bone’s connected to the leg bone – and on and on. What if I told you the butt is connected to the brain? Sounds crazy right? Maybe not.

A new study shows how your brain is affected by periods of extended physical inactivity (aka spending too much time sitting on your butt). In this study, the scientists used ultrasound probes on the brains of 15 healthy adults as they worked through three seated four-hour sessions. In the first session, study participants sat for the entire four hour period without getting up. In the second session, they stopped after two hours to take a leisurely eight-minute walk on a treadmill before returning to their desks for another two hours. In the third session, participants stood up every 30 minutes to walk on the treadmill for two minutes.

Those who didn’t get up at all in the four hours saw blood flow to their brains decrease. Participants who got up once after 2 hours had increased blood flow while they were up and moving, but after they sat again and resumed working for two more hours, they ended up with even lower blood flow than when they’d begun. Those with the frequent walking breaks in between saw their brains have increased blood flow by the end of the session than when they started.

Our human brain needs a constant supply of blood to function properly because blood is loaded with oxygen and other nutrients. Even short-term dips in cerebral blood flow can slow your thinking and impair memory.

You don’t need a gym session. Even just moving your legs periodically (aka fidgeting) may help. Intentionally stand up from your desk regularly or get a standing desk. Do a few squats or lunges on your bathroom breaks and set a timer and just get up and stretch.

Does it surprise you that inactivity affects your brain?

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Health: Is Anxiety Inherited

We inherit many traits from our parents. You may have your parents’ eyes or build or tendency to carry weight in your hips or belly. You can have a genetic propensity toward developing certain diseases, although that’s not set in stone. We now know that our lifestyle and habits can turn certain genetic switches on or off.

You may well have “inherited” your mother or dad’s propensity to be a worrier, although I believe that is not so much inherited or genetic as it is just learned behavior.

Well today anxiety disorders have become the most common mental illness in our nation. We all seem to live busy, stressed out lives in this 21^st century. So you may be thinking – well, of course we are all anxious. There can be numerous underlying contributors besides stress including diet, exposure to toxins and artificial additives, dyes, artificial sweeteners, GMOs, exposure to EMFs, nutrient deficiencies including magnesium, vitamins D and B, Omega 3s and even breathing incorrectly!

What I found very interesting was that this predisposition to anxiety, particularly in high risk children, can be passed from parents to children. Researchers have discovered an inherited brain pathway that increases the risk of anxiety in monkeys. If this research translates to humans, it could have huge implications for treating overwhelming anxiety.

While this research is ongoing and not conclusive yet, extreme early-life anxiety is one of the biggest risk factors for anxiety disorders and depression. Most current treatments address symptoms (a factor in the opioid epidemic) rather than the underlying problem. The more we can learn about the how anxiety disorders develop, the more likely it is that future treatments will be successful in preventing the disorder from developing.

Do you believe you may have inherited a predisposition to anxiety from your parents?

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Exercise for Better Gut Health

It isn’t difficult to understand why what we eat affects our gut health. Nutrition is basic and including naturally cultured and fermented foods that provide probiotics is definitely helpful. But how can exercise improve gut health?

A study, just published in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, showed that those study participants with the best cardiovascular fitness had a higher firmicutes-to-bacteroids presence in the gut. Researchers now believe that the ratio of these bacteria within the human gut might moderate whether we are obese or lean.

So what does that mean for you? Well first of all firmicutes are associated with the metabolic process that helps prevent bacteria in the gut from leaking into the body. You may be familiar with leaky gut syndrome, when undigested food and allergens get through the digestive tract into the bloodstream which causes inflammation throughout the body. Firmicutes help strengthen the intestinal lining preventing leaky gut syndrome.

This should be important news for you because leaky gut syndrome is considered a “danger signal for autoimmune disease.” Leaky Gut or intestinal permeability is a chronic condition for many people which is linked to numerous symptoms and health conditions including ulcers, IBS, SIBO, Celiac, allergies, arthritis, lupus, MS, Hashimoto’s, chronic fatigue syndrome, thyroid disorders and others.

While this research is only in its beginning stages, it is exciting to learn that exercise and staying physically fit can also benefit gut health, which is linked to overall health and well-being.

Does this encourage you to make exercise a regular, daily activity?

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Fitness: 10 Minutes versus 10,000 steps

I don’t know about you but I like to get the most bang for my buck. That’s why I really like HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training). You can get as much, or more, benefit in just 20 minutes than you would if you spent an hour or more at the gym doing long, slower cardio exercise. It’s more efficient and effective. I love saving time.

So we’ve all heard and been told we need to log at least 10,000 steps daily for basic fitness. But recent research and studies conclude that regular, brisk walking in 10 minute increments (which is the equivalent of about 1,000 steps) improves fitness just as well and can cut risk of early death by 15%.

The two operative words here are “regular” and “brisk.” I wrote not long ago about the benefits of picking up the pace when you walk. So now if you just combine those two things – walk briskly for 10 minute intervals and you have a pretty fast and easy way to improve fitness and health!

Do you still try to log 10,000 steps a day? What do you think about 10-minute walking intervals?

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Heart Health: Watch Out for This New Drug

Statin drugs to lower cholesterol are nothing new. They are actually one of the biggest money makers on the market. The use of statins increased from 18 to 26%, making them most commonly used cholesterol-lowering drugs. By 2011-12, 93% of adults using a cholesterol-lowering medication used a statin.

There is a new drug being prescribed now called Praluent. It is what is called a biologic. Pharmacist Ben Fuchs calls these types of drugs “Biology’s versions of seek and destroy missiles.” The most common of these types of drugs are used for rheumatoid arthritis – Enbrel and Humira. I’m sure you’ve seen commercials for them on TV.

While statins block an enzyme called HMG CoA Reductase that the liver uses to make cholesterol, Praluent targets a protein, PCSK9, which controls how much cholesterol is removed from the blood and stored into cells. When your body does this naturally, that protein controls how much cholesterol is removed so there is a proper balance between how much is circulating in your blood and how much is stored in cells. The drug, however, doesn’t have any way of maintaining a healthy balance.

While it definitely lowers cholesterol – according to some estimates by as much as 60% – its ability to reduce heart attacks and strokes has not been proven. So what’s the point?

Numerous recent studies have proven that cholesterol doesn’t cause heart disease.

Cholesterol plays a vital part in maintaining the integrity and health of brain and nerve cells. God created our bodies to produce it in case we don’t get enough from food because it is critical to health. It seems to me that artificially lowering it isn’t keeping us healthier. Despite all these “wonder” drugs, heart disease is on the rise. It is, however, making billions of dollars for pharmaceutical companies.

At least 10% of people on statins experience serious side effects including muscle pain, liver damage and increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Patients treated with this new cholesterol drug had higher rates of joint and limb pain, Arthralgia, headache, limb pain and fatigue, injection-site reactions, including redness, itching and swelling. Most troubling were the negative effects on the brain, which included confusion and memory loss.

I share this information because often we don’t read about these new drugs and all too often the negative aspects are not explained to us clearly.

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Weight Loss: A Surprising Connection

You may have read that dental health is connected to heart health. You are probably also aware that a sluggish thyroid will hinder our ability to lose weight. No surprises with either of these. What I did find very fascinating was that there may be a unique connection here and a simple way to activate it.

I first learned about oil pulling when I was looking for ways to improve my gum health. It has become a habit and I oil pull just about every morning before brushing my teeth. What surprised me was that this article explained how doing a bit more vigorous oil pulling helps to massage and wake up the thyroid gland and also stimulates the vagus nerve, both of which will improve your metabolism.

But that’s not all! Because it stimulates the thyroid and vagus nerve, it impacts your system as a whole and besides whiter, healthier teeth, less plaque and improved oral health, additional benefits include:

A decreased risk of migraines

Increased energy

Greater mental awareness

Decreased joint pain and stiffness

Less nasal and sinus congestion, and a decreased tendency to snore

All from vigorously swishing some coconut oil around your mouth for a few minutes every day. For me it has become second nature and learning about these additional benefits just makes me even happier that it is such an easy thing to do.

Chronic disease is linked to lifestyle choices. Oil pulling is a simple solution to improving oral health, which impacts overall health.

Do you oil pull? Would you try it after reading about all these additional benefits?

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Nutrition: Why Meal Timing Matters

One of the most important parts of my Today’s the Day plan is that clients stop eating for the day by 7 pm. This way even if they are in bed by 9, they will have at least 2 hours between eating and going to bed. I have long been an advocate for keeping the evening meal early and relatively light. I feel you sleep better when your body isn’t busy trying to digest a heavy, late meal and your organs are then free to do their nightly cleansing and replenishing.

Well I just read some recent research that shows eating your evening meal earlier, or leaving an interval of at least two hours before going to bed, is linked with a lower risk of breast and prostate cancer. According to the research those who waited at least 2 hours before going to bed as well as those who ate before 9 pm as opposed to 10 pm or later had about a 20% lower risk of breast or prostate cancer.

While the researchers are not sure exactly why this is so, they believe it has to do with how the timing of meals affects our ability to metabolize it. Perhaps if this research is confirmed, this may be a very simple change people can make to lower their risk for certain cancers. Wouldn’t it be great if it was just that simple?

Do you typically eat meals later or is your last meal of the day relatively early? Does this information encourage you to make a change?

Want to see more articles like this?   Subscribe to this blog (just click on “Follow”) and get each new post delivered to your email or feed reader.  To follow me and get even more tips on how to live your life in 3-D, including improving your diet, choosing cutting edge nutritional products and effective weight loss strategies be sure to like me on Facebook here and here, sign up for my FREE weekly No-Nonsense Nutrition Report (and get a free gift!), follow me on Pinterest and Twitter!

Make gradual changes. Boost health, vitality and energy. Become your best YOU.