Tuesday, January 09, 2018
• Malibu, CA 90265
Have you noticed how many people are feeling more aches and pains, and being knocked out by the flu and hard hitting colds over the holidays? Any relationship to the season of high sugar intake....pies, breads, alcohol, fruit, grains, and holiday sweets? Indeed, it appears to be a holiday sugar epidemic. It's a very strong correlation that merits acknowledgment and inspired me to write a brief post about how to steer clear of inflammatory factors and direct one's life to vitality and resiliency.
The benefits extend far beyond reducing aches and pains, to preventing disease and cognitive decline, amplifying vitality/mood/energy and power.This is a huge topic, but some basic sound principles to start with are as follows;
1. Nutrition; the chart attached in my prior blog entry Feed Your Connective Tissue is an excellent guide to a Primal Aligned diet, nutrient dense, and anti-inflammatory. High in healthy fats (think coconut oil, olive oil, avocados, omega 3 rich wild oily fish, macadamia nuts--and devoid of chemically refined processed vegetable oils), moderate proteins (variety of pasture raised/wild is key), and low in carbs. By eating in this way, we shift our bodies from sugar burning to fat burning. It's like transitioning from a coal burning machine (low efficiency and high pollutants emitted) into a clean burning, solar powered one. A key concept is that carbohydrates (grains, breads, baked goods, pasta, fruit juice, fruits) are digested into glucose/sugar in the body. The body produces insulin to regulate blood sugar. Excess blood sugar and insulin spikes create excessive inflammation in the body. This leads not only to aches and pains, but chronic disease such as diabetes, heart disease, cancer and cognitive decline.
Maybe you are thinking, "Eating fat won't make me fat? How can this be? Can it be true that eating delicious, high fat foods can turn me into a lean machine, with vital energy, robust immunity and be a shield against cancer, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, cognitive decline and more? Can it be true that I can spin the aging process on its head and gain an anti-aging edge"? Absolutely. By eating healthy fats, one upregulates the fat burning genes in the body, teaching the body to fuel itself with stores of body fat and ingested fats, sparing lean tissue, and keeping the brain functioning at a high level. Think coconut cream, macadamias, olive oil on leafy green salads, wild salmon, pasture raised meats, and avocados. Reducing grains and carbohydrates will reduce inflammatory factors (sugar, gluten, lectins and phytates/anti nutrients) and fuel the body with healthy nutrients for high energy, lean body composition, illness and disease resilience, and high cognitive function. By opting for nutrient dense vegetables as one' s carbohydrate source (Brussel sprouts, dark leafy greens, broccolli, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, yams, etc) antioxidant content is optimized, creating an anti-aging, fat burning beast!
Timing; by reducing the "Eating Window" , or the time span of when you are consuming food each day, you prolong the amount of fasting you do each day, allowing the body to repair and rebuild. Fasting, once fat adapted, is one of the most effective ways to upregulate one's health. This sets the body into clean and repair mode, even stimulating one's own stem cell growth. This might mean eating within an 8-10 hour period each day (ie 9-5) and then consuming only water/herbal tea. During a fast, the body has an opportuity direct its energy to cellular repair instead of metabolizing food.
2. Rest/Recovery; sleep is paramount. Prioritize high quality sleep. Eating as outlined above will enhance blood sugar and cortisol levels to optimize sleep quality. In addition to good sleep hygiene (going tech free two hours before bedtime, sleeping in a cool, dark room, sound proofing, reducing EMF's by turning off WIFI and setting phones in airplane mode) it is important to get day time sunlight to keep one's melatonin/cortisol rhythms in balance, and avoid the blue light of electronics at least two hours before bedtime.
3. Stress management; stress, both positive and negative, triggers our fight or flight chemical cascade. Balancing periods of stress with constructive recovery (walking in nature, meditation, mind body practices) is scientifically proven to reduce inflammation in the body.
4. Avoid chronic exercise. The stress of hard workouts creates an inflammatory response. This is a natural response to stress, and makes us stronger, but must be paired with ample recovery time between hard sessions. An intelligent program is filled with variety, technically precise movement, alternating between resistance training (springs/weights), sprinting every 7-10 days, and lots of low level movement throughout the day. Like many people, both Mark Sisson and I thought that more was better during our professional athletic careers; both of us suffered huge inflammation setbacks from over training and have learned much healthier ways of training. Here is a great article Mark Sisson wrote on the subject;
When we give our bodies the correct information, in alignment with how are genes are programmed to thrive, our bodies reward us with strength, favorable body composition, immunity, resiliency and vitality. Monitor the changes you choose to make each week, and observe the effects. The body is a healing machine when given the opportunity. Feel the power of determining your own health and vitality!
Best to all,
Jennifer
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