The Gut and Brain Connection

If you've ever felt a nervous churning in your stomach that isn't a result of your lunch, then you are familiar with the close relationship that exists between our gut and brain. As we learn more about this connection, it's apparent that the impact goes far beyond a feeling of butterflies.

This has been clearly shown in people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), who are much more likely to experience psychological factors including anxiety and depression. While we used to think this connection was simply based on a person's symptoms reducing their quality of life, it appears that the health of our gut may be the reason behind the mood disorders instead of the other way around. By targeting gut health, studies have shown both the successful reduction of IBS symptoms and significant improvement in moods.

An unhealthy gut can interrupt healthy hormone signals that impact mood, cognition, stress resilience and even hunger levels. Let's take a closer look at how this happens and what you can do about it.

How Does Our Gut Affect Our Health?

Your gut is home to billions of microorganisms collectively known as your gut microbiome. They perform many vital roles in the body, including the break down of indigestible fibers during digestion and supporting nutrient absorption. In addition to this, your microbiome can impact the overall health of your entire body — from immune health to metabolic health and cognitive function.

The most important factors that influence gut health are bacterial diversity and richness — or the numbers and types of bacteria present. When the balance of these microorganisms is thrown off, called dysbiosis,it can significantly impact your health.

An imbalance in gut bacteria -- dysbiosis can be caused by several factors, including:

• Nutrition

• Infections

• Medication (antibiotics and NSAIDs)

• Stress

• Environmental toxins found in pesticides, chemicals in tap water, skin/household products and many other toxins we are exposed to that accumulate in our body

How Does Dysbiosis Influence Brain Health?

The direct connection between the gut and the brain is known as the gut-brain axis. The vagus nerve, a large sensory nerve, helps send messages from your gut to your brain and vice versa. It is via this super-highway that our microbiome can directly communicate with our nervous system.

Gut bacteria can influence hormones and neurotransmitters that affect our mood and appetite via the vagus nerve. They can even activate and send messages that influence mood on their own by producing specific bacterial metabolites. Studies have shown that people with depression have less diversity and richness in their gut. There are even interesting animal studies that have shown rats who display symptoms of anxiety become calmer after receiving fecal transplants from calm rats.

It is also known that up to 95% of feel-good neurotransmitterserotonin is made in our gut, and alterations in microbiome can directly impact its production. This key hormone impacts the entire body, it helps with digestion and eating behaviours, but is also a key mood stabilizer that affects feelings of happiness and well-being and is often used as a therapeutic target in medications for depression and anxiety.

An imbalance in the gut can lead to an increase in symptoms of anxiety, depression and brain fog. So what can you do?

Supporting the Gut-Brain Axis

Luckily what's good for your brain and gut is good for the rest of your body.

While more severe cases of dysbiosis may need a more targeted solution, here are five actionable steps you can take to support your gut-brain axis:

1. Eat healthy fats, especially those rich in omega-3 fatty acids with EPA and DHA to support brain health, nourish the gut and balance healthy levels of inflammation. Oily fish, such as salmon or mackerel, are a great source. Aim for 5 ounces three to four times a week.

2. Eat a nutrient-dense diet with a focus on eating the rainbow of brightly colored fruits and vegetables like berries. A powerful source of anti-oxidants, which support brain and gut health by combating free radical damage and increasing blood flow to the brain. Perfect to add to a breakfast smoothie.

3. Consider probiotics either from food that contain live micro-organisms (fermented foods are a great source) or appropriate supplementation to boost bacterial diversity and repopulate the gut. It is important to note that any bacterial overgrowth would need to be addressed first before introducing probiotics.

4. Manage stress levels, as high cortisol is linked both to an unhealthy gut and increased levels of brain inflammation. Calming activities including yoga, breath work and meditation have been shown to help reduce stress levels.

5. Get adequate rest, as sleep promotes optimal repair and regeneration overnight. Altered circadian rhythms can also negatively impact our gut microbiome and consistently getting 7-9 hours of sleep will have widespread benefits on overall health.

Our overall health relies on the intricate connection of every system in our body. If one system is out of balance, it has a domino affect that can lead to one issue after another. Understanding the gut and brain connection, while nourishing your microbiome through diet and lifestyle factors will promote looking and feeling your best - mind and body. If you’d like to continue this conversation, book your complimentary consultation today. (Blog source)

Happy Hormones: What Are They and How Do They Regulate Mood?

Hormones are our body's chemical messengers that regulate key functions including metabolism, reproduction, sleep, energy levels, libido, and growth and development. Hormones are also in charge of mood, producing our body's so-called "happy hormones." Serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin and endorphins impact how we feel from day to day and can stimulate positive feelings like happiness, pleasure, and love. Our body produces endorphins to help reduce stress, relieve pain and improve our mood.

Understanding how these hormones work is key since research has linked happiness and a positive outlook to numerous physical health benefits; finding that happy, optimistic people tend to have a longer life-span and increased longevity.

The 4 Happy Hormones

When we feel happiness or joy, four main chemicals in our brain are at play:

Serotonin

Serotonin is made in the center of the brain stem and largely responsible for boosting our mood. It acts on various parts of the brain, including areas that affect memory, fear, sleep, digestion and the stress response, as well as happiness and mood. Appropriate serotonin levels can help to balance mood, while low levels can contribute to a lowered mood state.

Dopamine

Known as the "feel-good" hormone, dopamine is made in an area at the base of the brain and plays a role in many functions including movement, heart rate, sleep, and our response to pain. It's largely associated with pleasurable sensations, where our brain releases dopamine when we're expecting a reward or something pleasurable. Even just thinking about a certain activity you enjoy can raise dopamine levels, which is why you continue to reinforce the pattern that brings these good feelings, like going back for another one (or more) of those freshly baked cookies or second helping of food. The intense feeling of reward is also what can trigger addictive behavioral traits.

Oxytocin

This hormone made in the hypothalamus and released into the bloodstream by the pituitary gland is often called the "love hormone." It's an essential hormone for childbirth, successful breastfeeding, and parents bonding with their children. Levels of this hormone typically rise with physical contact like kissing or cuddling.

Endorphins

Endorphins are the body's natural painkiller. They're released by the hypothalamus and pituitary gland when we feel stress or discomfort, generating feelings of well-being. There are about 20 different types of endorphins. The most common one is beta-endorphin, which is linked with a "runner's high." Endorphins rise when we eat a great meal, exercise, laugh, or fall in love.

These hormones produced in the brain are also closely linked to the gut. For example, more than 90% of the feel-good neurotransmitter serotonin is made in our gut, and changes in the microbiome have been shown to directly impact its production affecting how we feel.

Often, imbalances in our happy hormones can lead to lowered mood, energy, sleep irregularities and feeling down. There are plenty of ways, however, to help boost our happy hormones.

3 Steps To Elevate Your Happy Hormones

You can boost these hormones naturally through diet and lifestyle changes that can have a positive domino effect on your overall health and well-being.

1. Focus on Hormone-Healthy Foods

Nutrient deficiencies are sometimes linked to low mood, so making sure you're getting all the nutrients you need in your diet is essential. Certain foods can function as precursors for healthy hormone production.

Consuming specific foods trigger hormone production directly:

• Dopamine is made from the amino acid tyrosine, which can be found in chicken, avocados, bananas, pumpkin and sesame seeds.

• Endorphins are linked to spicy foods. When we consume the chemical in spicy foods, capsaicin, our body interprets the sensation as pain, which triggers the release of endorphins.

• Serotonin's precursor is the essential amino acid tryptophan. You can get tryptophan from complex carbohydrates, including vegetables, fruits, legumes and whole grains.

• Probiotics can also help promote an overall healthier gut, found in fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchi and the drink kefir.

2. Consider Key Lifestyle Changes

Small changes to your day-to-day routine can also make a big difference when it comes to healthy hormone production and your mood. Lifestyle changes might include:

• Incorporating meditation or acupuncture: There's evidence that the brain releases more dopamine when we're meditating. Acupuncture can also help to release more endorphins.

• Exercising: Exercise and movement stimulate the release of serotonin. Go for a bike ride, lift weights, or enjoy a long walk.

• Getting some sun: Being exposed to bright light or sun can help naturally raise serotonin levels. Sit outside for 10–15 minutes a day if you can.

• Finding joy: Pick up a new hobby, connect with friends and family, watch a comedy show and laugh out loud, play music, sing or dance. Laughter can raise endorphins and also change levels of dopamine and serotonin.

3. Supportive Supplementation and At-home Lab Testing

In addition to a healthy, well-balanced diet, nutritional supplementation can be used to help support our mood. Deficiencies in key vitamins like vitamin B6 - needed to produce the happy neurotransmitter, could be the reason why you are experiencing low mood or greater symptoms of PMS. Restoring nutrient deficiencies and eliminating accumulated toxicities is a helpful way to rebalance the body and support your overall hormone function.

Understanding your current hormone levels can help you to identify and address any underlying imbalances that may be contributing to a low mood. A simple at home lab test can provide valuable insight into your neurotransmitter levels and wth this information your can work alongside an integrative health coach to establish the diet and lifestyle changes that best support you. Working alongside a certified Health Coach, armed with your individual test results you'll get an appropriate diet, lifestyle and nutritional supplementation plan to rebalance your hormones, mind and body.

Dopamine is a crucial neurotransmitter that controls the reward and pleasure center of the brain and if your body is not making enough it can lead to low mood, low energy, poor circulation and increased sugar cravings. Listen to this podcast to learn more about healthy foods that can support dopamine and have you feeling more energetic and alive. (Blog source)

Understanding Migraines and Headaches

Migraines and headaches can be difficult to understand. Despite the many years — and many dollars — spent researching causes and seeking solutions, people around the world still suffer from debilitating headaches that can come on without warning and last for days.

Migraines can come in many shapes and forms, but they all include serious pain and fatigue. Perhaps the most challenging part of migraines is their unpredictability. Migraine sufferers can go from feeling completely healthy and vibrant to feeling totally debilitated in a matter of just a few hours. This can cause serious problems in the workplace and at home, where individuals have to scramble to get their responsibilities covered while they are out of commission because of their headaches.

Is It a Migraine?

When a migraine first strikes, it can be hard to recognize. For some people, it's difficult to tell if they are suffering from a headache or something more serious. There are some medications that are helpful, but they can also have side effects. For many people, the available treatments simply don't provide relief.

When nothing seems to help the pain, it's easy to get discouraged. Like many other chronic conditions, the stress and tension of not being able to find relief from your pain can make your symptoms worse.

Understanding Your Symptoms

There are a variety of symptoms that accompany migraines, which can sometimes lead to a misdiagnosis. Besides intense, focused pain in the head, here are some of the other signs of a migraine:

• Dull, aching pain on one or both sides of the head

• Nausea or vomiting

• Extreme sensitivity to light

• Fatigue and brain fog

• Stiffness/tenderness in the neck

• Sensitivity of the scalp

• Blurred vision or blind spots

• Sinus tension or pain

• Lightheadedness or difficulty with balance

If you have any of these other symptoms that come and go without warning along with your headaches, there's a good chance that you are experiencing migraines. That's why your headache hasn't been responding to the typical over-the-counter remedies.

What Causes Headaches?

While the fundamental cause of migraines can differ depending on the individual, there are underlying mechanisms in the body that create the sensation of migraines. Basically, tension and stress restrict the veins and arteries in the body. When your veins and arteries are restricted, blood flow decreases, which can ultimately lead to many different symptoms.

There are many factors that can lead to a full-blown migraine; of course, stress is a factor. Unfortunately, many stress-relieving activities like eating sugar, having a glass of wine, or even very rigorous exercise can ultimately contribute to your migraines.

Common Triggers of Migraines

Even though there are many things that can trigger migraines, several factors are fairly common. Here are some of the biggest culprits of migraines:

Dehydration: If you don't have a regular routine of hydrating before bed, you could actually end up going more than 14 hours without water by the time you wake up in the morning. This can lead to pain in any part of the body, but can be particularly uncomfortable if you are prone to migraines.

Food allergies: Any foods that cause a histamine-based reaction — like lobster, shrimp, smoked/fermented food and even cinnamon — could be aggravating your migraine. These foods contain a lot of cytokines that can cause restriction of the arteries.

Posture: Anyone with recurring migraines should consider whether their posture is causing them to hold tension in the head or neck. If you have a misaligned posture, clenched jaw, or are even over-straining your eyes, you could be exacerbating your migraines. Sometimes little adjustments in posture can make a big difference.

Blood sugar levels: If you have imbalanced blood sugar levels, you could end up with recurring headaches. An imbalance in blood sugar can be caused by a variety of diet factors, but if you suspect blood sugar may be causing your migraines, you should consider limiting your sugar intake and reducing added sugar from your diet as much as possible.

Getting to the Bottom of Your Pain

If you have already eliminated the above factors, you may feel like you're at a dead-end in determining the source of your migraines. Because migraines are linked to constricted blood vessels, which have many causes, it can be challenging to get to the bottom of your headaches.

To help track down what's causing your headaches, keep an open mind as you gather information about why you may be experiencing migraines. Issues like environmental toxins, imbalances with your hormone levels, and even leaky-gut syndrome could be the ultimate reason why you are having pain.

There are some questions migraine sufferers should ask themselves to help zero in on a cause. For example, are your headaches worse at a particular time of the day? This could indicate that hormone imbalances are at play. Do you suffer most in the morning? This could indicate issues with dehydration, sodium levels, or your adrenals. Do you find that your migraines spring up after meals? This could be an indication that you may be suffering from a leaky-gut issue.

Treating Migraines at Home

Luckily, there are things you can do at home to relieve your pain. Using hot/cold compresses can be particularly helpful for migraines. Some migraine sufferers find relief using a cold compress on the head, and a warm compress at the feet to encourage blood flow.

Deep breathing exercises and routines can be another way to manage migraine pain. Yoga or meditation breathing exercises can help you relax, which can relieve pain.

Finally, get your body moving, even in very gentle ways. Because so much of the pain of migraines can be attributed to blood flow issues, increasing exercise and movement can be a key to relieving pain, even when moving seems almost impossible. Start small, with gentle, slow walks or even exercises you can do while sitting in a chair.

Tackling Your Migraines

Like so many chronic conditions, healing migraines requires paying close attention to your body. While your migraines can often seem to come on at random, there are usually triggers. A wide variety of factors could be contributing to your pain — your diet, toxins in your environment, gut issues, hormonal issues and more.

There are specialized at-home lab tests you can take to help you understand what triggers your condition and how you can move forward. You may want to start with one that takes an in-depth look at your body's heavy metal toxicity and mineral levels.

Case Study: Migraines & Exercise

Brooke is a 45-year-old marathon runner who has always been in great shape because of her active hobby. But in the last couple of years, she began suffering from migraines. Even though she made diet changes and tried some prescription medications, the migraines seemed to get worse and more frequent.

Brooke decided to take an at-home lab test to look at her thyroid and adrenal hormone levels. She also made a detailed food diary, reflecting on what foods seemed to exacerbate the pain. Brooke discovered that her hormonal levels were in flux, indicating that she was actually premenopausal.

Once she realized that hormonal imbalance was a factor in her migraines, she was able to start a customized regimen of supplements and minerals to help bring her back into balance. At the same time, Brooke's food diary revealed that she was having trouble especially in the mornings and after runs. Brooke realized that even though she was drinking plenty of water, she was no longer absorbing electrolytes the way she used to. By focusing attention on adjusting her diet and balancing her hormones, Brooke was able to finally end her migraines. She's happy to report she hasn't had one in over six months!

Ready to Get Rid of Migraines for Good?

If you've been dealing with migraines for a long time, it can seem like an overwhelming issue to address. But with commitment and discipline, you can finally get to the bottom of why you have been struggling with this difficult illness. Book a complimentary consultation today. (Blog source)

How Chronic Stress Leads to Irregular Sleep and a Lowered Immune Response

In the current world, it may seem like it's impossible to avoid stress. Uncertainty lies everywhere we turn.

With heightened stress linked to irregular sleep patterns and lowered immunity, now more than ever it is important to balance stress levels.

Read on to learn why this happens and what you can do to help your body!

How Chronic Stress Leads to Irregular Sleep and a Lowered Immune Response

When the body is faced with a short term stressor, otherwise known as acute stress, it triggers the fight or flight response. This response releases hormones like adrenaline and cortisol from the adrenal glands. Adrenaline produces a more immediate response, whereas cortisol is released through a multistep process and therefore takes more time to activate.

Once the stress is over, these hormone levels return to normal, but repeated bouts of acute stress can turn into chronic stress. During chronic stress, these hormone levels stay activated.

Stress at a Microscopic Level

Continuous exposure to the stress hormone cortisol can disturb many different bodily processes including sleep. Both stress and sleep response are regulated by the Hypothalamus Pituitary Adrenal (HPA) axis. When the HPA axis is overactive, your sleep cycle can be disrupted. Lack of sleep causes the body to stimulate more cortisol to be released during the day to mimic "awakeness," which perpetuates the cycle.

Additionally, when you sleep, your body creates cytokines. Cytokines are chemical messengers between immune cells and can be pro or anti-inflammatory. Lack of sleep lowers the production of anti-inflammatory cytokines, leading to increased inflammation in the body.

High cortisol levels also impair the production of T-cells. T-cells are a type of white blood cell which are essential in the body's immune response. The T-cells called TH1 Helper Cells aid in the body's defense system. During times of stress, these TH1 cells are suppressed and fall out of balance with their counterparts, TH2 cells.

Listen to Cabral Concept 1320: The Truth Behind How Much Sleep You Need Per Night

What You Can Do to Help Your Body

Unbalanced hormone secretion from chronic stress and lack of sleep can lead to a lowered immune response and/or elevated levels of inflammation. Because a healthy immune system is of the utmost importance, it is essential to find healthy ways to improve hormone balance and sleep.

For better sleep, try cutting back on caffeine. Caffeine can raise blood pressure and cortisol levels when paired with a stressor. If you still have trouble sleeping, periodically taking supplements like melatonin has been shown to help regulate circadian rhythms.

Fixing stress levels on the other hand is easier said than done. Everyone has different reactions to stressors based on their own genetics and life experiences, so there is never just one solution.

Some people like meditation, exercise, or talking with their loved ones. The most important thing is to find a strategy that works for you.

Why Do I Experience Persistent Bloating?

Bloating is a common yet often misunderstood digestive symptom. If you experience persistent bloating, the cause behind it may not be what you think.

This article will outline what bloating is, what may be causing it and what you can do about it to support your body and your digestive health overall.

What Is Bloating?

Bloating can be much more than just your stomach expanding after you eat a meal, which is a normal process for everyone to a certain degree. With bloating, your stomach becomes filled with air in addition to food which can lead to feelings of fullness or tightness in the stomach, which can be uncomfortable.

Other symptoms, like gas, burping, and abdominal pain, can sometimes accompany bloating.

Why Does Bloating Happen?

Bloating is most often a symptom of poor digestion. While many things can contribute to this, here are three underlying reasons you may experience persistent bloating:

1. Imbalanced gut bacteria. Bloating is primarily linked to a digestive imbalance within your gut. The bacteria in your gut make up your microbiome, assisting with digestion. When there are more bad bacteria than good, a condition called dysbiosis can occur, which can lead to unpleasant symptoms like bloating.

2. Food sensitivities and intolerances. These are types of adverse food reactions that can lead to bloating. However, experiencing bloating or gas does not necessarily mean you have a food sensitivity or intolerance, which can be a common misconception. Food sensitivities and intolerances can occur from many foods, even healthy ones. However, gluten and dairy are two of the most common offenders.

3. Low Stomach Acid.Suppose you experience bloating within 30 minutes of eating. In that case, it is often related to having low stomach acid, which is essential for digestion, especially breaking down harder-to-digest protein and fats and its role in absorbing nutrients. Stomach acid also plays an integral part in destroying the bacteria naturally present in food and other harmful microbes we ingest to maintain a healthy microbiome.

More serious underlying conditions can also contribute to bloating, so it's essential to understand your individual health imbalances and learn more about the four leading causes of digestive and gut health problems.

How To Improve Persistent Bloating

Bloating doesn't have to be something you live with forever. Here are some steps to support your body and find relief from bloating.

Figure Out Its Root Cause

This is the first and most essential step to addressing any health issue. A simple at-home lab test can help identify your underlying digestive imbalance and the appropriate support you need to address this at a deeper level, rather than masking the symptoms that prescribed medication may offer as a short-term solution. Since severe and persistent bloating can signify a bacterial imbalance, using a test is a very effective and easy way to start.

Identifying foods you may be sensitive to that trigger digestive upset is another helpful strategy. Following an appropriate elimination diet after testing and supportive supplementation to restore the gut can help rebalance the digestive system and remove associated unpleasant symptoms.

Support Bloating with Natural Foods and Supplementation

Ginger is a natural digestive enzyme well-known and studied for its beneficial effects on digestion. It can help with things like nausea, gas, and bloating, and it can also support regular stomach emptying, therefore improving the body's ability to digest various foods. Sip on a warm cup of ginger tea before or during a meal using freshly peeled and grated ginger or an organic tea bag, add fresh ginger to your breakfast smoothie, incorporate it in your cooking or take natural ginger supplements.

Digestive enzymes are also found in supplement form and can improve bloating due to their assistance with the proper breakdown and digestion of food after eating. A daily digestive enzyme can be used with whole food meals that are harder to digest or more targeted supportive enzymes for specific trigger foods, like gluten and dairy, two of the most common food sensitivities that can cause digestive discomfort.

If you suspect or identify that you have a bacterial imbalance, following a specifically formulated protocol can help to rebalance the gut by removing harmful microbes, replenishing beneficial bacteria and restoring your gut barrier.

Remove Triggers

Having a healthy balance of gut bacteria, strong digestion and adequate stomach acid are critical factors in minimizing bloating or other symptoms of digestive upset. If you experience persistent bloating, you may want to consider some of these common triggers and decrease digestive discomfort:

• Limit the amount of fried and processed foods and any foods you may be sensitive to. You may be able to enjoy these foods without discomfort when your gut is rebalanced.

• Excessive air in the stomach can also contribute to bloating; taking steps to reduce the amount of air swallowed can help decrease bloating, burping and gas. Consider limiting carbonated beverages, chewing gum and not drinking through a straw.

• Avoid high amounts of caffeine and alcohol that can lower stomach acid levels.

• Try to practice mindful eating: never stand and eat, and chew your food correctly into a paste before you swallow to allow digestive enzymes to do their job efficiently.

• Reduce stress as a relaxed state is needed for optimal digestion.

Due to the wide range of possible reasons you may experience persistent bloating, identifying the most effective support for you can be confusing. Working with a certified health coach can help uncover the underlying root cause behind your bloating and guide you in selecting the appropriate at-home lab tests, supplements, and diet and lifestyle changes to alleviate your symptoms and continue bloat-free.

20 Detox Tips and Common Questions Answered

There are increasing toxins in our diet, lifestyle, and environment. With well over 77,000 artificial chemicals from the food we eat, personal care products, everyday household cleaners, and the water we drink, supporting the body's natural ability to detoxify is no longer just a choice – it's a necessity, even if you're healthy. There are many detox tips and different detoxes depending on your goals, but all are not equal. That's why a functional medicine liver detox is widely recommended to best support our primary detox organ and its essential function, detoxification. It uses extended fasting strategies with scientifically formulated herbal remedies and the key nutrients needed to mobilize the accumulation of harmful stored toxins and eliminate them more efficiently.

Here are 20 detox tips and answers to the most common questions on what you can do to get the most out of your detox and what you may want to avoid. Of course, always use your best judgment based on your individual health and goals. Working with a certified health practitioner can help you understand what is best for you and any appropriate recommendations or adaptations to optimize your detoxification strategy.

1. Can I work out?

Yes and no. Working out is essential for our health and one of the ways the body eliminates toxins through breath and sweat, but it is also a stressor and can deplete glucose levels, leaving you feeling more tired. You may want to avoid intense exercise on fasting days during a detox. You can still incorporate lower-intensity movement like walking and using a sauna can support further elimination of toxins without overexerting yourself. You can resume your usual workout routine on days when you consume more calories or feel you have adequate energy.

2. Can I drink nut milk?

Yes, unsweetened plant-based milk can be added to your detox shake or in a hot beverage if you choose to.

3. Can I drink coffee and tea?

Yes, if you regularly drink coffee or experience caffeine withdrawal symptoms, you can include it during your detox. Try to limit it to one cup of organic coffee in the morning (black or with unsweetened nut milk). For some, it can slow down the detoxification process, so you may want to avoid caffeine or have an organic decaffeinated coffee. Most herbal teas are naturally caffeine-free, so feel free to include any you enjoy, like ginger, chamomile, mint and turmeric.

4. How much can I eat?

A detox aims to give your body digestive rest through extended fasting, lighter meals and removing common food triggers. That said, it's not just about how much you eat — you should also consider the quality and type of food you're eating. Eat slowly until satiated, focusing on easy-to-digest foods that provide balanced nutrition.

5. What can I eat?

Follow the appropriate food list recommendations. The general focus is fresh, nutrient-dense, high-quality whole foods, organic where possible and non-GMO. Many food lists will eliminate common allergens and sensitivities (dairy, gluten, corn, eggs and red meat), alcohol, processed foods and refined sugars.

6. Does lunch have to be plant-based?

Plant-based protein is easier to digest than animal sources and can also reduce the overall toxic load on the body, which is the ultimate goal of a detox. Incorporating more plant-based meals is recommended.

7. Can I have two shakes instead of four during the shake fast?

While four shakes spread across the day give your body adequate hydration and nutrition every 3,5 hours to keep energy and blood sugar levels balanced, you could have two shakes if this works best for you. Just be sure you are still getting adequate hydration to flush the system and support effective elimination throughout the day.

8. Can I still detox if I'm not trying to lose weight?

Absolutely! A liver detox is designed to support your body's natural detoxification process by replenishing nutrient stores and removing toxic water weight that can lead to unhealthy levels of inflammation and leave you feeling puffy, lowered energy and mood, poor sleep and more. It can facilitate weight loss if that is a goal, and if you don't want to lose weight, appropriate adjustments can be made.

9. How regularly can I detox?

A quarterly (seasonal) detox about every 12 weeks is recommended to best support the body.

10. Can I use herbs and spices?

Yes, herbs and spices can help chelate (or bind) heavy metals, boost metabolism, and kill "gut bugs." They're a great addition to any detox, and add flavor to any dish!

11. When should I not detox?

Children, pregnant or nursing women should not detox. If you have any underlying medical condition or concern, you should also always speak with your primary care doctor before doing any type of detox.

12. Can I eat more than the recommended serving sizes?

Yes, you can eat more if you are still hungry but remember the goal of a detox is to reduce the total toxic load on the body. Take time to eat slowly and allow your body to feel satiated. Make sure you have enough protein and if you are still hungry, opt for extra vegetables that are nutrient and fiber dense but lower in calories.

13. When do I drink a shake during the shake fast?

You can adjust the timing of your shakes based on your schedule. A general guideline is to have the first shake about an hour after waking and then about every three and a half hours apart across the day.

14. Can I keep taking my current supplements and prescribed medicine?

This will depend on the individual and the supplement/medication. It would be best to stay on any medication prescribed by your healthcare practitioner and confirm that there are no contraindications with any ingredients in the detox products. You may want to stop nutritional supplements during the extended fasting days, but most should be safe to continue - use your best judgment.

15. What is the best day to start a detox?

You can begin on any day that works for you. It is not advisable after a night of high alcohol consumption due to its effect on blood sugar levels.

16. Do I have to fast on the first two days?

Completing an extended fast is recommended to optimize the benefits of digestive rest and repair. However, adjustments can be made that may better suit your current health and goals. You can incorporate some low glycemic berries in your shake - especially if weight loss is not a goal or follow the same outline on days where more foods are consumed ie. two meals and two shakes.

17. Should I stop the detox if I experience side effects?

It is not uncommon to experience flu-like symptoms or other Herxheimer reactions.This will always come down to the individual, type and severity of side effects. They are usually short-term, but you should speak to your doctor if you have any major concerns.

18. Can I detox while doing another wellness protocol?

Generally yes, but to keep things simple and avoid overwhelm you may want to go through one protocol at a time. Work with an integrative health practitioner if you need additional support on what is best for you.

19. What should I do once the detox ends?

To support your body for long-term wellness, follow the foundations of nutrient-dense, anti-inflammatory whole foods to create balanced meals. Incorporate additional starches based on your health goals.

20. How do I maintain my results and health after the detox?

Whether you have a continued weight loss goal or wish to maintain your results,the foundations of following diet and lifestyle principles will stand you in good stead.

Following these detox tips and answers to the most common questions can be a great way to optimize your health and get the most out of it. If you'd like to take your health to the next level, you can work with a certified health practitioner to better understand your current health and goals and work alongside you with a custom wellness plan for long-term success.

If you are ready to take your health to the next level, click here to learn more about a true Functional Medicine detox! (Blog source)

Vitamin D and Immune Health

Vitamin D plays a key role in over 300 processes in the body, making it no surprise that it has long been considered a super nutrient. Often called the sunshine vitamin, there is even more of a reason to shine a light on its immune-boosting benefits as we enter the winter season in the U.S.

That's because even though it is important to our health, our body can't make it on its own. In fact, most people get their vitamin D through a chemical reaction that takes place in the skin during sun exposure.

As the sun sets on the summer/fall season and people spend more time indoors, now is the perfect opportunity to ensure you are not a part of more than 40% of the US population estimated to be deficient in vitamin D.

Read on to find out more about this superstar vitamin and how it can power a healthy immune response throughout the year.

Vitamin D and Immune Health

Vitamin D is an essential nutrient that is required for the body to function well. Your body can source Vitamin D from food as well as produce it naturally in response to sunlight exposure. Unfortunately, many people are deficient and many more are functioning at sub-optimal levels for robust health.

Multiple factors affect the body's ability to produce vitamin D including the season, weather, location, air pollution, sunscreen use, skin tone and age. The body breaks down vitamin D quickly, meaning that stores can run low without regular consumption or consistent direct sunlight exposure. Vitamin D levels have also been shown to decline with age, primarily due to a reduction in either the absorption or metabolism by the liver. Additionally, vegans/vegetarians can be more susceptible to low levels of this vitamin, as the richest dietary sources are predominantly animal-based.

When the body is low in vitamin D, immune function can be affected. Many recent studies have confirmed the significant role of vitamin D in the inflammatory cytokine response. Optimal levels have been shown to protect against invaders; by increasing white blood cell production the ability for harmful replication is decreased.

In addition to immune system support, adequate levels of vitamin D also offers the following benefits:

• Maintains bone and dental health

• Increases calcium absorption and balance

• Supports blood sugar balance, and metabolism

• Helps increase musculoskeletal strength

• Supports positive mood

Sources of Vitamin D

1. Dietary Sources

Vitamin D is naturally only present in a handful of foods, which is likely why it is one of the most common nutrient deficiencies. Western diets are particularly low in sources of vitamin D. For this reason, some packaged foods and beverages are fortified with the synthetic version, however, these tend to provide far less of the vitamin than whole food sources.

These foods are notable dietary sources:

• Fish including salmon, sardines and mackerel

• Liver

• Pasture-raised eggs, concentrated in the yolk

• Certain mushrooms (shiitake)

2. Supplementary

While spending 10-20 minutes in the sun (without sunscreen) is said to be an optimal way to get your daily dose of vitamin D, there are many reasons why this may not be possible. Concerns over the impact of prolonged sun exposure on skin health over time also need to be considered. In addition to limitations from sunlight exposure, as outlined above, getting an adequate intake of vitamin D from diet alone may also prove difficult, which is why supplementation is beneficial and highly recommended for overall health.

Your Vitamin D Solutions

Research suggests that supplemental vitamin D offers a variety of health benefits from improved immune health to improved mood. It's important to distinguish between various types, and know what formulation is best for you. Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that includes three compounds: vitamins D1, D2, and D3. The forms of D2 and D3 are most important for humans. While vitamin D2 is most often found in fortified foods, D3 is produced naturally by our bodies.

Here are several effective Vitamin D solutions:

Vitamin D3: High Potency Liquid: A high-potency, liquid vitamin D formula requiring just a couple of drops per day to reach your ideal dosage. This product is ideally used along with a Daily Activated Multi-Vitamin or Daily Nutritional Support shake, which both include vitamin D3 synergistic partners such as magnesium, calcium, and vitamin K.

The D3 formulation offers additional benefits:

• Concentrated and highly bioavailable

• Convenient, pleasant tasting and easily mixed

• Absorption is enhanced when combined with healthy fats

Since many children routinely test outside the optimal range for healthy levels of vitamin D, supplementing their diets can be a good idea with a specially formulated Kid's Vitamin D3 Liquid for children under 50 lbs that offers all the benefits. If you have specific dietary requirements there are also Vegan Vitamin D3 (Capsules) formulated from a sustainable, high-quality plant source as a suitable option.

Since vitamin D is a critical building block for foundational immune health, if you don't consume enough each day or spend adequate time in the sun, it is imperative that you improve levels through supplementation. (Blog source)

Understanding the Phases of Liver Detoxification

The liver is one of the most important — yet often overlooked — organs in your body. As your body's primary detoxification organ, it helps keep your body healthy and functioning as it should.

There are two key phases of liver detoxification, each of which requires specific nutrients in order to work effectively. Keep reading to learn more about what your liver does and what you can do to help support it.

What Does Your Liver Do?

Your liver is one of your hardest-working organs. It performs over 500 vital functions that are essential for life and good health. One of its main roles is to filter your blood and break down toxins it is exposed to, byproducts and other harmful substances, such as pollutants, medications, drugs, alcohol and caffeine. This helps detoxify your body and support healthy levels of inflammation to keep your body in a balanced state.

There are two key phases involved in the detoxification process by the liver:

• Phase one involves a number of enzymes that help break down harmful fat-soluble toxins and other products that get stored in your fat cells and send the raw materials to phase two

  • This phase requires the help of key nutrients, herbs and powerful antioxidants. This includes vitamin E, C, B3, B6, B12 and folate, as well as glutathione and milk thistle.

• Phase two mobilizes and transforms the byproducts of phase one into new, water-soluble waste products in a process called conjugation. This waste can then safely be removed from your body via urine, stool, sweat and breath.

  • This phase also requires help from key nutrients such as the most powerful antioxidant glutathione, sulfur based compounds and amino acids, as well as minerals, including zinc and selenium.

In addition to detoxification, some other essential functions of the liver include:

• Producing bile to help digest and absorb fats and carry waste away from the liver

• Producing certain proteins for the blood and proteins that transport fat through the body

• A storage site for vitamins and minerals

• Helps support a strong immune system

• Helping regulate blood clotting

• Helps to balance blood sugar levels by converting stored liver glucose (glycogen) back into glucose for energy when needed

How To Naturally Support the Phases of Liver Detoxification

There are many things that can get in the way of your liver's ability to do its job correctly, such as overexposure to toxins from a poor diet or from the environment. This can lead to many health issues and more serious conditions over time. You can take proactive steps in your daily life to naturally support your liver's ability to detox. Here are some tips to get started:

• Eat cruciferous vegetables. These vegetables provide sulfur-rich compounds that are essential to produce glutathione, the master antioxidant that supports detoxification. Try to incorporate a few servings of cruciferous vegetables at every meal that include broccoli, cabbage, bok choy, cauliflower and brussels sprouts.

• Focus on fiber. Fiber is an indigestible type of carbohydrate that has various health benefits. Fiber supports the antioxidant and enzyme activity required for liver detoxification. It also helps bulk up your stool and promote regular passage of bowel movements, which removes toxins from the body. All plant foods are good sources of dietary fiber, including whole grains, fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts and seeds.

• Stay hydrated. Drinking more water helps cleanse and detoxify the liver. This is because sufficient hydration is required to promote blood circulation and dissolve nutrients. Staying hydrated also helps produce urine, which is another key way the body rids itself of toxins. It is important that you use a water filter or drink mineral water as tap water contains many chemicals and other harmful substances that add to your toxic load.

• Move your Body. Daily movement and incorporating formal physical activity is also key for a healthy liver and body. Exercise can facilitate weight loss or support maintaining a healthy body weight by increasing the breakdown of fatty acids and reducing toxins stored in fat cells. Exercise helps increase the breakdown of Doing physical activity can increase sweat production, promote circulation and increase breathing - all detoxification routes that expel toxins. Like fiber, exercise can also help keep your bowel movements regular, supporting the elimination of toxins via the stool.

• Consider using supportive supplements. Milk thistle and turmeric are two herbs with anti-inflammatory and powerful antioxidant properties they can support the liver and more effective detoxification. Completing a functional medicine liver detox seasonally is also a great way to restore any nutrient deficiencies and effectively remove excess toxicities that accumulate in the body and increase the toxic load on the liver.

• Incorporate self-care activities into your wellness routine.This can include daily dry brushing, coffee enemas and massage. These actions can help by improving circulation, promoting lymph flow and drainage and promoting more efficient elimination of toxins overall.

Your liver is your body's essential built-in detoxification organ. Completing a Functional Medicine detox provides all the nutrients and herbs your body needs to support and upregulate both phases of liver detoxification as well as promote the effective and safe elimination of stored toxins. It is a science-backed powerful weight loss, wellness and anti-aging solution that can rebalance the body at a deeper level by restoring nutrient deficiencies and removing accumulated toxicities. (Blog source)

Want to learn more? Book a complimentary consultation now!

Vitamin C and Immune Health

When you're starting to feel "under the weather" what is the first step you take?

Many people reach for vitamin C, because it's an essential nutrient and antioxidant that supports many important processes in your body. But of course, right now, it's even more important for its many immune defense benefits!

In fact, it's even been making headlines because high doses of the vitamin are currently being studied in relation to respiratory health support. That's why it comes as no surprise that it's flying off the shelves lately.

Read on to learn more about the many benefits of vitamin C including its role in immune health, plus information on Alkalizing Vitamin C Capsules.

Vitamin C and Immune Health

Vitamin C is a critical building block for optimizing your immune health as it supports multiple functions of the immune system.

For starters, it contributes to immune defense by promoting the growth and function of immune cells called neutrophils, phagocytes and lymphocytes. These immune cells are responsible for attacking harmful substances that enter your body. Vitamin C also serves as a potent antioxidant that can help to balance inflammation, which in turn supports immune function.

Additionally, vitamin C is known for its role in healthy skin and healthy movement. It promotes collagen formation that helps to maintain skin elasticity and hydration and is central to the structural integrity of ligaments, tendons and joints. What's more, by boosting collagen production, vitamin C helps the skin to serve as a functional barrier to keep foreign substances from entering your body.

Research has also shown the protective role it plays in promoting natural healing. Overall, vitamin C is an essential nutrient that helps keep your immune system functioning optimally in a multitude of amazing ways!

Sources of Vitamin C

1. Dietary

Colorful produce is often the best natural source of vitamin C. Consuming several servings and a variety of fresh fruits and veggies daily can provide your body with its vitamin C needs. While a true deficiency in vitamin C is rare, evidence suggests that many people may have low levels, especially those under high amounts of stress and those with a low intake of fresh produce.

Furthermore, humans lack the enzyme required to synthesize vitamin C from glucose and must obtain the vitamin through diet or supplementation. This is why some packaged foods, such as cereals, are fortified with vitamin C. However since vitamin C is water-soluble, the content in packaged foods may be reduced by prolonged storage and by heating during processing — making fresh fruits and vegetables the best source, especially when consumed raw.

Foods with notable sources of vitamin C include:

Vegetables: peppers, broccoli, brussels sprouts, and tomatoes

Fruits: oranges, grapefruits, kiwis, and strawberries

2. Supplementary

Vitamin C supplementation has been studied for more than six decades for its crucial role in immune function. Adequate intake and retention of vitamin C are necessary to maintain healthy levels in the body and function optimally. Current lifestyle factors, including persistent stress and exposure to smoke, pollution, radiation and heavy metals, can raise the requirement for vitamin C even further.

Your Vitamin C Solutions

Since vitamin C deficiency impacts immune health, and extra vitamin C helps boost it, supplementation may be beneficial, or even necessary depending on your lifestyle, for optimal immune function.

While there are many types of vitamin C available, the formulation is important to ensure that your body is able to absorb it and use it efficiently.

There are some options to consider:

Full Spectrum Vitamin C- contains various bioflavonoids including amla and acerola berry (plant-based compounds that enhance the action of vitamin C) formulated to mirror the way vitamin C is found in nature and perfect for daily use

Alkalizing Vitamin C Powder- balanced with calcium, magnesium and potassium to gently deliver a high concentration of vitamin C while at the same time reducing the potential of gastrointestinal upset. This is a great immune booster especially during times of increased vulnerability and also comes in a convenient capsule form.

Your Wellness Begins With a Focus on You

Many people learned the basics of physiology, exercise and nutrition years ago. But, you may have missed more recent scientific studies while navigating your busy life. You can evaluate your own health regularly with labs to identify where your bodily systems are functioning well and where they may benefit from some additional support.

Who has the time to stay current on the latest research? And how can you translate labs into actionable plans without it? Private Online Health Coaching provides the opportunity to help you understand your health better and achieve your own wellness goals in one of three ways:

Book a Complimentary Consultation if you want to explore a specific aspect of your health and identify which labs are appropriate. We will work with you to understand your current health, physiology and lifestyle, and help you to build a plan that is achievable. (Blog source)

Daily Mushroom Immune Support You Need in Your Wellness Routine

Dating back thousands of years, mushrooms have been used for their medicinal properties to improve energy and focus, as well as for their mushroom immune support properties. With clinically backed research, medicinal mushrooms may be something you want to consider adding to your life for the associated widespread health benefits.

What Are Medicinal Mushrooms?

Medicinal mushrooms are powerful fungi that are packed with antioxidants, polysaccharides and other health-benefiting compounds. These nutrients and compounds can help supply your body with brain-enhancing, mood-boosting, immune-strengthening, stress-relieving and anti-aging benefits. (Wow!)

Unlike psychedelics, medicinal mushrooms are safe to consume and don't have hallucinogenic properties. Mushrooms along with other herbs are also considered as "adaptogens" - natural substances derived from plants that work to counteract the effects of different types of stress on the body and help maintain balance. The effects of adaptogens develop slowly over time and while each has unique benefits, taking an effective dose of a high-quality blend can have the most powerful impact.

Top 8 Medicinal Mushrooms

While there are many types and varieties of mushrooms, not all of them are edible and there are a few that stand out for their mushroom immune support benefits. So let's review some of the more common and most beneficial mushrooms for mushroom immune support:

1. Reishi:This shiny, red, kidney-shaped mushroom can help boost your immunity and protect it from exposure to harmful microbes by elevating the activity of white blood cells and protecting them against free radicals. It also has benefits with relaxation and improving mood.

2. Chaga: This mushroom looks like burnt charcoal and has been shown to promote the production of cytokines, which boost immunity by enhancing your white blood cell's ability to defend against bacteria and viruses.

3. Cordyceps:This mushroom, which looks like a long, finger-like body, can help with energy and stamina by stimulating adenosine triphosphate (ATP)—the primary source of energy within cells. It can also help strengthen the immune system to fight harmful free radicals with its immunoregulatory compounds.

4. Lion's mane:This mushroom, which gets its name from its appearance (a white, globe-shaped fungus that has long spines, resembling a lion's mane), has been shown to help enhance brain function, memory, and concentration, help support mood, and even help reduce inflammation.

5. Maitake:This mushroom contains a number of vitamins, beta-glucans, and antioxidants, which can support your immune system. It's also a great adaptogen, which supports a balanced stress response.

6. Shiitake:These mushrooms contain an abundance of polysaccharides like lentinans and other beta-glucans, which are great for cell damage protection, boosting immune system function, and boosting white blood cell production for fighting off microbes.

7. Agaricus:This white cap mushroom can stimulate your immune system and help offset stress — physical and emotional. It is also associated with better-regulated blood sugar levels and a healthy cardiovascular system.

8. Turkey tail:This mushroom that contains large brown and tan rings (looking like a turkey tail) can also boost white blood cells to fight foreign invaders.

How Do You Consume Medicinal Mushrooms?

While you can buy the mushroom as a whole food, there are added benefits of consuming it in a high-quality, blended supplement. You don't have to worry about availability, cooking them up and keeping them fresh. Plus, when you eat them whole, it can be hard to consume the variety and also an effective dose of the compound that provides maximum health benefits.

Reap the Benefits of Mushroom Immune Support

Boost and balance your immunity, enhance your brain, cognitive performance and energy levels with a science-backed blend of powerful mushrooms you can easily incorporate into your daily nutritional supplement routine. This is what makes the Daily Mushroom Immune Support blend the perfect natural addition for overall health and well-being. (Blog source)

How Long Should You Wait Between Meals?

There is a strong — but often overlooked — correlation between how long you wait between meals and blood sugar regulation. Many health-conscious people follow an exercise regimen and eat a whole food diet rich in fiber and carbohydrates from fruit, vegetables and grains that help keep blood sugar levels balanced.

However, when you eat is also a key factor in keeping blood sugar levels within a healthy range. So, how long should you wait between meals?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a normal blood sugar range, measured against the time you last ate, is between 80 and 130 mg/dL (milligrams per deciliter) before a meal and less than 180 mg/dL two hours after eating. These ranges differ from person to person. Eating fiber rich foods can help support blood sugar levels within a normal range.

Your eating schedule affects your blood sugar levels, which in turn can influence your overall health, wellness and ability to lose weight. With some diets suggesting you eat six times a day and others claiming you should eat just once, it can be hard to know what's best for your body and why. Here's where to start.

How Eating and the Timing of Digestion Impact Your Body

Every time you eat, a host of metabolic processes begin to turn food into blood sugar. Cells must absorb the sugar (glucose) in the blood, which provide energy for the body to function. To support this, the pancreas releases the hormone insulin, which helps cells absorb glucose and then store the rest as glycogen in your liver and muscles for later use.

If there is excess glucose in the blood, i.e. more than the cells can absorb or need and the glycogen stores are full, additional glucose can be stored in fat cells. That's why and how high blood sugar levels can lead to weight gain — and why knowing how long to wait between meals can be important.

There are two other natural consequences of metabolism:

First, eating food results in by-products in the form of toxins known as free radicals. Free radicals cause oxidative damage by stealing electrons from cells, which can lead to higher levels of inflammation. That's why a diet rich in antioxidants found in fruits and vegetables are so important — they help protect against free radical damage and detox the body, as inflammation is often an underlying risk factor to other health issues.

Second, the energy that could be used for burning fat is diverted toward digestion. After food is digested and blood sugar returns to baseline levels, the body will tap into fat storage and burn fat cells rather than glucose.

Eating many times a day does not allow blood sugar levels enough time to return to normal, which means the body has less time to burn fat. Not just that, but the body could generate more fat because the liver is storing excess blood sugar in fat cells.

Why Leaving Time Between Meals Is a Smart Move

So, how long should you wait between meals? By leaving time between meals, even allowing yourself to feel hungry again before eating, you stall spikes in blood sugar and insulin while giving your body more time and energy to burn fat.

Generally, it takes two hours after a meal for blood sugar levels to return to normal. If you were eating every two hours, your blood sugar might always be elevated. And over time, this consistent elevation in blood sugar could lead to long-term health issues.

However, eating three meals a day allows three to four hours between meals, which gives the body time to restore its normal blood sugar levels.

Not only that, one research study conducted by the American Heart Association showed that eating at regular intervals with "mindful attention to timing and frequency" could support improved cardiovascular health and an overall healthier lifestyle.

If you are committing to positive change through healthy lifestyle choices, consider cultivating a daily regimen of habits that balance blood sugar to promote optimal functioning. Start by giving yourself plenty of time between meals, exercising and choosing foods high in fiber and complex carbohydrates. (Blog source)

Functional Medicine Lab Testing Explained

While a personalized nutritional plan, restorative sleep and supportive supplementation are three core foundations that go a long way to support our health, there is something even more powerful at your disposal: Functional Medicine Testing. This is a tool that gives you the deepest insight into your individual health data. Real-time, accurate information about what is going on inside your body holds the key to helping identify the underlying root cause behind any symptoms or health conditions you may be experiencing.

There is Always a Reason

When you experience any sign or symptom, it is not your body faltering, but rather a sign it needs additional support. Functional Medicine testing helps to identify nutritional deficiencies and accumulated toxicities in your body that are the reason you might not be feeling well. Once you understand these imbalances, you can then replenish any deficiencies and reduce toxicities through personalized diet and lifestyle adjustments to restore balance and embark on your path to wellness.

The Consideration With Most Laboratory Work

Anyone who has visited a doctor's office has probably been subject to lab tests at one time or another. Running your annual blood work is recommended, or other one-off tests may have been completed based on your current health concerns. But once the results were in, there's a good chance you didn't get to look at the raw data. Instead, your doctor probably gave you their interpretation of the data, with proposed treatment options – often in the form of pharmaceutical medication. There may not be anything inherently wrong with this, especially in the short term. Still, if you continue to experience symptoms after the prescribed recommendations, or where medication is often used to mask symptoms given to your diagnosis, you could be missing out on the invaluable piece you need on what the root cause of your symptoms are and how you can get well -- and that is possible through Functional Medicine lab testing.

Blood testing only looks at the blood at a specific time, and while there are certain blood markers that do hold valuable information about your health, and do form part of functional medicine testing – it is only one small part. Functional medicine testing also includes testing the urine, saliva, and hair samples that take your health data to a whole new level. Blood is a homeostatic fluid that always tries to maintain balance in the body and the range that may suggest "dis-ease" can be far off the optimal range you should try to maintain for your body to function at its best, so you feel your best.

The "Don't Guess, Test" Approach

Functional medicine testing enables you to take an in-depth look at any deficiencies in vitamins and minerals levels, hormone imbalances, gut and digestive function, how your body is coping (or not coping) with stress, overall metabolism and mood. It also identifies accumulated toxicities and when you have all of this information at your disposal, it can clearly outline the underlying reason why you may be suffering from brain fog and low mood, have difficulty losing weight, experience extreme tiredness, headaches, skin issues, digestive upset, reproductive imbalances like menstrual irregularity or low libido and any other health issue.

Take Control of Your Health

Disease is defined as a collection of symptoms and based on a diagnosis you are often given a treatment plan to mask the symptoms instead of identifying the root cause of why this has happened to begin with. At EquiLife, we have seen over and over again how quickly our clients' lives can turn around once they have completed the appropriate Functional Medicine lab testing. When you understand how your body has become imbalanced in the first place, you can then learn what you need to do to restore balance and get well. This is why Functional Medicine lab testing is one of the most popular and effective services we offer – right from the comfort of your own home.

Every test comes with a one-on-one coaching call with one of our certified health practitioners so that you can fully understand your lab results and armed with this data, begin to implement a comprehensive individualized wellness plan that best supports you. After following the recommendations, you have your initial base point and can do follow-up tests that assess your progress and any further adjustments that may be needed.

And if you aren't sure where to start, we have you covered and offer a Free Lab Selection call where you can explain your primary health issue and have the expertise of one of our certified coaches to guide you in the right direction. After your call, you will get the total value back as a credit toward the purchase of any lab or protocol recommended because our aim is for you to take back the control of your health, with the information you need to rebalance your body and live longer, stronger for life.

If you are ready to take your health to the next level – running the Big 5 lab tests will give you the most comprehensive look at your overall health and wellness. You can learn more about why using at-home lab tests to uncover your hidden health issues is so powerful from Dr. Cabral in this podcast. (Blog source)

Ready to learn more? Schedule a complimentary consultation here and we can discuss which lab is right for you!

Food and Mental Health: 5 Small Steps to Get Back on Track

If you find yourself in a mental rut and feeling particularly stressed or anxious, you might gravitate toward sugary, salty or fatty foods. But this so-called pattern of "comfort eating" can make us feel even worse, wherein we continue to eat poorly to offset those feelings and create a vicious cycle.

There is a growing body of evidence on the connection between food and mental health: What you eat can affect your mood. What is great is that with some simple daily changes, you can break this cycle and improve your mood and how you feel.

The Gut-Brain Connection

Your digestive tract has a direct line of communication with your brain and plays a considerable role in your overall emotional well being.

Your gut contains trillions of organisms, including yeast and bacteria, that constitute its microbiome. An imbalance in the gut microbiome can contribute to mood changes, according to Frontiers in Genetics. In addition, over 90 percent of your body's serotonin production happens in the gut thanks to bacteria. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that helps your body regulate mood. It also affects your eating habits, potentially putting you in a positive or negative eating pattern, according to Frontiers in Psychology.

Eating a healthy and balanced diet helps your gut function optimally and can ensure that it is sending the proper signals to the rest of your body.

5 Ways to Get Back on Track

It's not always easy to stop the cycle of turning to food when stressed. The good news? You can always get back on track. You can ease your way into healthier habits by taking small steps. Here are five simple ways to start:

1. Eat more fresh produce: Eating more fruits and vegetables could be the key to improving your mood. Research in the American Journal of Public Health found that getting eight servings of fruits and vegetables a day had a positive impact on mood. If you find this challenging, incorporating a smoothie is great way to boost your intake. Use fresh or frozen fruit, or simply add a scoop of our Daily Fruit and Vegetable Blend. To create a balanced meal with even more nutritional value, include a scoop of our Daily Nutritional Support powder, which contains 15g of protein as well as your daily dose of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, electrolytes and detoxification support.

2. Hold the sugar. When you're sad, stressed or frustrated, you might crave rich, sugary foods. But Harvard Health finds that eating a lot of refined sugar can worsen your mood. Opt for a square or two of dark chocolate, some fruit or try one of our Whole Food Bars instead.

3. Cook dinner at home. Meals at a restaurant often tend to be larger in portions and have higher quantities of salt and sugar. Preparing your meals at home is a great way to know what ingredients are going into your food and how much you are eating. It can also save you money too. If you're someone who frequently eats out, start by cooking just one or two additional meals per week. If you're short on time, create a meal plan and take an hour or two once a week to prep ingredients.

4. Take a probiotic. Your gut bacteria can play a significant role in your mental and emotional health. Taking a probiotic supplement can help maintain the diverse range of bacteria to support your optimal gut environment. There is increasing research and findings that a healthy gut may improve mood and support your mental health, according to Annals of General Psychiatry.

5. Follow a Mediterranean diet. A wide variety and color of fresh produce, fish, healthy fats, lean meat and gluten-free wholegrains may constitute the best diet for your mental health, suggests Harvard Health. Omega-3s from wild fish, pasture raised eggs and grass fed meat, fiber from fruits and vegetables, and reduced sugar can all contribute to better health and a more balanced mood overall.

We cannot ignore the connection between food and mental health as more and more research points to the significant gut-brain connection. Take small steps to reduce consumption of processed foods and start to incorporate healthier choices. Good food translates into a good mood. Your mind and body will thank you. (Blog source)

What Is the Function of Digestive Enzymes?

When you eat a meal, your body needs to break it down into smaller nutrients, so your cells can use these nutrients from your food for energy and function. However, the process of breaking down food is highly impacted by one thing: the function of digestive enzymes.

The function of digestion enzymes depends on which specific enzyme it is. For example, certain enzymes help break down each food type, like carbohydrates, fiber, protein and fats.

Top Enzymes That Help With Digesting Foods

Here's a quick look at the most common enzymes and what foods they break down:

• Amylase breaks down complex carbohydrates, like potatoes and rice, into simple sugar molecules.

• Protease breaks down proteins, like chicken, into amino acids and peptides.

• Lipase breaks down fats, like avocado, into smaller fatty acids that the body can use.

• Lactase breaks down lactose found in dairy products for proper digestion.

• Papain helps break down proteins into amino acids.

• Xylanase breaks down plant fibers found in beans, legumes, and fibrous vegetables into sugar molecules.

• Bromelain helps break down proteins into amino acids

Should You Be Using Digestive Enzymes?

Your body produces some of these enzymes naturally, like amylase, protease and lipase — but only if it's functioning optimally. You can receive other enzymes through the food you eat. It's also important to note the production of your enzymes can be affected by many things, including:

• Your age; as you age, your internal production of digestive enzymes starts to decline.

• If you have common food sensitivities, like lactose (dairy) or gluten, it can be linked to lower enzyme production or other digestive imbalances.

• Imbalances within your body, like low stomach acid, can lead to weakened digestion and also affect enzyme production and their effectiveness.

• Underlying digestive imbalances or diagnosed digestive issues conditions.

• Unhealthy lifestyle choices can increase stress and lower enzyme production and function.

This is why taking a digestive enzyme with whole food meals can provide additional digestive support and increased nutrient absorption and bowel regularity.

How Digestive Enzymes Can Help Your Health

If the production or function of digestive enzymes isn't optimal, it could lead to digestive discomfort, including gas and bloating. If you experience disconfort after eating, consuming a digestive enzyme could support this issue. Let's take a look at how and why this is the case.

Improves Digestion and Absorption

Digestive enzymes can break down food to help with digestion and absorption, as you need first to be able to digest foods before you can optimally absorb the nutrients. This will allow your body to turn the food into usable nutrients to receive more vitamins and minerals required for energy and optimal functioning.

Supports Regular Bowel Movements

Digestive enzymes can also support bowel movements. Proper digestion means your body can break down the food you eat, absorb nutrients and eliminate the rest.

If your body isn't breaking down the food optimally and at an efficient rate, then that food may sit in your digestive system for an extended period. This could lead to slower transport time, the reuptake of toxins into the body, and bacteria to ferment, contributing to increased gas buildup. Taking digestive enzymes may help support slower transport time and increase bowel regularity.

How to Enhance Internal Enzyme Production and External Supportive Supplementation of Digestive Enzymes

Here are a few ways you can improve your internal production of digestive enzymes or look at supportive supplementation as needed:

• Practice mindful eating: this starts with chewing your food properly as digestion begins in the mouth. Chew your food into a paste before swallowing to enable the digestive enzymes to work more effectively.

• Consume foods that contain natural enzymes. For example, bromelain from pineapple, papain from papaya and zingibainfrom ginger.

• Manage your stress: high-stress levels can inhibit the proper breakdown of food as your body needs to be in a relaxed 'rest-and-digest' state to support digestion.

• Take time to eat your meal slowly to avoid overeating

• Incorporate fermented foods as part of your meal, including sauerkraut, kimchi and kefir as they contain natural digestive enzymes.

• Take a daily digestive enzyme with your whole food meals or a supportive supplement with enzymes aimed at specific food sensitivities like dairy and gluten that are often harder to digest and can lead to digestive discomfort

The function of digestive enzymes is vital for optimal health. Supplementing with enzymes can help your body absorb the nutrients it needs from your meals efficiently, enabling your body to function at its best and avoiding digestive upset in the process. (Blog source)

Healthy Lifestyle Stress Management

When we have too much to do and not enough time to do it all, it's a recipe for stress. To keep stress in check, you may have been advised to follow a healthy diet and exercise regularly. But there are additional healthy lifestyle stress management tools you can use to help manage stress further.

Modern-day living can be overwhelming. It can be easy to slide into an unhealthy stress-fueled cycle that can lead to an adverse physical and emotional state. Long-term (chronic) stress can take its toll on the body making it essential to build a healthy day-to-day lifestyle to manage stress before it becomes consuming. Here are some helpful tips to get you started or to regain control if you need some added support with healthy lifestyle stress management.

Make a Stress Management Game Plan

When people are stressed and/or burning the candle at both ends, they can set themselves up for health issues. Create balance and alleviate stress by creating a realistic daily plan to stay on track. Having a plan ahead of starting your day can help manage stress by getting clear on what you need to do and what is achievable. Taking on too much can lead to an overproduction of stress hormones and leave you feeling burnt out. Many people wait until stress has taken over, but taking a proactive approach can support the harmful effects of excessive stress. A nutritional diet and daily movement or exercise are also effective ways to manage overall stress. You may also want to consider the following supportive strategies to help manage stress and any possible imbalance.

Stress Hormone Imbalance

Stress triggers a natural response in the body with the release of stress hormones. The body is designed to deal with acute (short-term) stress, and in the event of a threat, cortisol and adrenalin are released to propel us into action. The body cannot distinguish between different types of stressors, and ongoing stress can cause the hypothalamic, pituitary and adrenal glands to continue to release stress hormones, keeping levels elevated. The persistent effect of elevated stress hormones can lead to an imbalance as the body is not able to get back into a more relaxed state.

Calming down the adrenal gland response and balancing stress hormones can be powerful factors in managing chronic stress. If you feel that stress may be having an effect on your mood, energy levels, sleep, weight management and how you feel overall, a simple at-home functional medicine lab test can help to identify any imbalance in hormones that can be the result of various stressors. You can also work with an Integrative Health Practitioner to understand this at a deeper level with a personalized plan on how to support it and move forward in the right way for you.

Monitor Your Sleep Cycle

Quality sleep is vital to your overall health, so it's no surprise that sleep habits and cycles are directly related to stress levels. The American Psychological Association states that when stress increases, sleep length and quality decrease. This can set you up for further health problems and imbalances that affect energy, memory, mood, metabolism, and many other bodily functions.

The National Sleep Foundation suggests that adults get between seven and nine hours of sleep per night. Proper sleep, including quality and quantity, supports a calm body and mind. Follow a healthy sleep protocol that includes supportive nutrients to help get you back on track when managing stress.

Keep Calm: Breathe and Meditate

Meditation has also shown to have a positive effect on psychological stress and other stress-related health problems, according to a study on mindfulness meditation programs published in JAMA Internal Medicine. There are many types of meditation techniques — mindfulness, transcendental, relaxation, walking and guided — to help you practice being fully present and aware.

A study published in Frontiers in Psychology found that breathwork like diaphragmatic breathing, or deep breathing, may trigger a relaxation response and improve mental function. Deep breathing can also positively affect cortisol levels.

Express Your Emotions Through Writing

An effective way to help reduce stress is to write about your emotions, worries and difficulties. Further studies have found that writing about stressful or emotional events actually improved psychological and physical health. Set aside time to write in a journal, blank notebook, or even just jot your thoughts down on a piece of paper if something is worrying you. Releasing these emotions with pen and paper can also be quite cathartic.

Foster a Positive Mindset

Looking on the bright side is good for you and studies have found that optimism has an effect on the quality of life. This confirms that a positive mindset may be a useful coping mechanism in combating and preventing stress. Practice optimism by expressing daily gratitude in a journal, spend more time with positive friends and family, be aware of negative self-talk and how this may be affecting your mood, speak to a professional who can help you find supportive mindset strategies, and find time for plenty of laughter and doing things you enjoy.

Although it's impossible to avoid all stress, the good news is that not all stress is bad. In fact, "good stress" — also known as eustress — is responsible for motivation and the feelings you have during exciting experiences. Roller coaster rides, challenging work projects, and planning surprises can fall into this category, with eustress working to help you stay engaged and continue with day-to-day life, even during the more challenging times.

It's important to consider all aspects of your current routine and decide where you can implement supportive changes and tweaks that create a healthy lifestyle to manage stress. When you pay attention to both your physical and emotional well-being, it may help you identify any warning signs of stress, making it easier to support them sooner and prevent potential health problems by getting them under control. (Blog source)

It’s easy to see how important sleep is on your stress levels, isn’t it? When you’re ready to get deep, restful sleep so you can finally feel what it’s like to be energized throughout your day, book a complimentary consultation here.

Understanding Toxins and Detox

In our increasingly industrialized world, chemicals are everywhere. We have relied upon these chemicals to help us grow our food, provide our water supply, build our homes, and cure our diseases.

In many ways, these chemicals have been crucial to our development and growth in modern society. But many doctors and researchers have also recognized that some of these chemicals can be toxic and cause serious health problems for those who are exposed to them over time.

The good news is that by understanding the effect of these toxic chemicals, you take steps to avoid an abundance of toxins in your system so that you can feel balanced and well.

Our Body's Response to Toxicity

When many are first introduced to the idea of toxicity as a health issue, they often wonder why their body can't process the chemicals they encounter. After all, if we are all being exposed to the same chemicals, why isn't everyone sick? Doesn't our body filter out toxins?

The short answer is yes. In fact, keeping toxins out of the blood is one of the primary roles your kidneys and liver play in your body. Detoxifying the body is an essential function, and when you are properly nourished, well-rested, and have access vitality in your cells, your body can keep the toxins at bay.

However, when there is a toxicity overload, symptoms can include fatigue, skin issues and unusual body odors.

Identifying Toxicity In Your Environment

Below are some sources of toxicity that may be contributing to your symptoms.

1. Heavy Metals

Heavy metals are an often overlooked source of toxicity, especially because some amount of these metals is present in everyone's body. Toxicity is a matter of the body becoming overloaded by these heavy metals. The biggest culprits are arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, and mercury.

While regulators have caught on to the dangers of many of these heavy metals and have taken some steps to reduce our exposure, all of these compounds were used for decades in everything from lead pipes carrying our drinking water to mercury fillings inside our teeth.

2. Synthetic Foods

The foods we eat on a daily basis can be another source of toxicity. Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are developed in a lab in order to tolerate pesticide use and are prominently used in the production of staple crops like soy and corn, ultimately finding their way into almost all processed foods.

Other toxins in our foods include hormones, preservatives, and artificial sweeteners. In general, if you are ingesting a diet high in processed foods, fast foods, and industrially raised meat or dairy products, there's a good chance that the food you're eating is making you feel unwell.

3. Occupational Risks and Home Environment

Millions of workers in the United States are exposed to chemicals that can cause system toxicity, including those in food services, cosmetology, health care, mechanics, and construction.

And it's not just at work. Our home environment is rife with toxic exposure from the synthetic carpets we walk on to the metal fixtures in our showers. Compounded with the fact that we spend the majority of our time at home indoors, the result is increased exposure to toxic chemicals.

4. Electrosmog (EMFs)

The level of exposure to electromagnetic frequencies in our world today — from computers to cell phones to television sets — is unprecedented in the history of humanity. However, researchers are only just beginning to understand how this exposure can cause increased toxicity in the body.

Toxicity and Your Gut

All of this toxic exposure can cause ongoing damage inside of your gut, which is inextricably linked to your immune system, with about 80% of the cells in your immune system residing in your gut.

When your body is inundated with toxins, your immune system unsuccessfully tries to manage the onslaught. This can lead to an overgrowth of the bacteria and fungi that naturally populate your gut and aid digestion. Eventually, your body must deal with two levels of invasion: clearing toxins from external sources and then managing the overgrowth of bacteria or Candida in your gut.

Ultimately, your digestive system can stop functioning properly and you end up without the nutrients you need to properly energize your cells — making it even more difficult for your body to maintain a healthy balance.

Getting on the Path to Wellness

If you think you're suffering from a toxin overload, you may want to perform a Functional Medicine detox, which can decrease inflammation and toxins in your body. It does so by temporarily removing problematic foods while simultaneously improving the detoxifying power of your liver.

Another option is an at-home toxicity test. Take Casey, for example. Casey was a 45-year-old accountant who had to walk on crutches, was barely able to eat solid foods, and had no answers in terms of what could be making him sick. Before his career in accounting, he had spent several years in his youth working as a firefighter. The amount of toxic exposure firefighters experience can be extremely high, especially since when homes burn, and a wide variety of toxic chemicals are released.

When he completed his toxicity test, it became clear that toxic exposure was wreaking havoc on his body.

Casey was then given a personalized protocol to help him rid his body of these chemicals and fortify it with the missing minerals and vitamins he needed to rebuild. In a few months, he was back on his feet and feeling better than he had in years.

Through our understanding of toxicity in our environment and how toxic exposure happens, we can mitigate and manage how much toxicity we subject our bodies to, find ways to detoxify and finally feel well. (Blog source)

If you’re the type of person who values their health and wellbeing, click here to schedule a complimentary consultation today.

Zinc for Immunity: The Mineral for Robust Immune Health

Zinc is a mineral that the body only needs in small amounts, but is required for many vital functions, including being a key player in cell growth and development, thyroid hormone production, also how quickly damaged tissue or wounds repair and heal. Perhaps most important, though, is the role of zinc for immunity. It's key to warding off harmful germs we are exposed to, and research has shown that zinc can shorten the duration of common seasonal respiratory issues.

As an essential trace mineral, zinc must be obtained through dietary intake or supplementation since the body doesn't produce or store it on its own. It is found naturally in many foods and also added to others. Read on to learn more about how to ensure your body is getting enough zinc and how this crucial nutrient can boost your immune health.

Zinc and Immune Health

Zinc's immune-boosting power comes in its ability to create immune cells that fight foreign invaders like bacteria and viruses. It acts as a germ roadblock, helping to protect the body from illness. That's why it's important to maintain normal levels of zinc in the body and to supplement when necessary. If your body doesn't receive enough zinc, your immune response can be reduced increasing your risk of feeling unwell.

In addition to supporting a healthy immune system, having adequate levels of Zinc is important for its role in many more functions including:

• It is a key player in the creation of our DNA and how genes are expressed

• Supports growth and development during pregnancy, childhood, and adolescence

• Helps balance healthy levels of inflammation

• Supports a healthy gut environment - digestion and absorption

• Promotes efficient wound healing and skin health

• Supports eye health

• Supports metabolic and hormonal function

• Is needed for sense of smell and taste

Sources of Zinc

Dietary Sources

Because the body doesn't produce zinc on its own, we must include foods that are a source of this essential mineral. As it is only required in small amounts, as long as you're eating a variety of zinc-containing foods daily, there's no need to overload on any one type. The following foods are all rich in zinc, and if consumed regularly, can help maintain optimal levels:

• Shellfish including oysters, crab, and lobster

• Chicken

• Red meat

• Whole grains

• Beans and legumes

• Nuts and seeds

Supplementation

While Zinc is found in a wide variety of foods, some plant-based sources can be less utilized by the body than animal foods. If dietary intake of zinc-rich foods is low or a deficiency is confirmed, supplementing with Zinc is important. It is also a powerful immune booster to use at the first signs of illness or to support a healthy immune system all year round.

Your Zinc Solutions

Zinc has been shown in studies to have the ability to function as an antioxidant, stabilize membranes and take on therapeutic roles with positive effects on immune cells. It is just one of three key immunity essentials, the other two being vitamin C and vitamin D.

Zinc comes in several different forms and preparations. Highly absorbable forms include picolinate, citrate, gluconate and acetate; the latter two are more common in lozenges. Common preparations can include capsules, tablets, melts and nasal sprays.

While Zinc is essential for a healthy immune system, long-term supplementation can deplete other nutrients in the body and lead to further imbalances. Choosing a formula that contains the appropriate co-factors including copper, vitamins C and vitamin B6 and is a great choice for long-term use. As the body has no mechanism to store zinc, if levels are low you may want to consider a highly absorbable and usable form to restore levels more efficiently in the short term or to give the immune system a boost if it needs additional support. Adding the powerful immune-boosting trio of vitamin C, Vitamin D and zinc is one of the best ways to give your body the best chance at defending itself against harmful invaders all year long.

Having adequate levels of Zinc is essential from the wide range of functions it supports and if you are unsure whether you are getting enough from your diet or what supplement is right for you, knowing your individual levels is the best way to avoid guessing. You can run a simple at-home lab test to assess all your mineral and electrolyte levels as well as identify if there is a build-up of any heavy metals that can increase the burden on the immune system. Working alongside a certified health practitioner, your results will give you a deeper understanding of your current health and how to restore any imbalances using a personalized wellness plan designed to best support you, your immunity and your overall health. (Blog source)

Understanding Low Thyroid Symptoms

by Caitlin Beale, MS, RDN

Your thyroid, the butterfly-shaped gland found at the base of your neck, is the body's metabolic master. It helps regulate every process in the body — from the number of calories you burn to your internal thermometer, heart rate, and even your digestive tract. So when it isn't working optimally, your body will start to send signals that something is off.

What Are Common Low Thyroid Symptoms?

An under active thyroid is very common, affecting nearly five out of every hundred people in the U.S., with women being more likely to be diagnosed than men.

There are a number of key hormones involved in thyroid function. Your hypothalamus in the brain releases thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), which tells your thyroid gland to make Thyroxine (T4). Triiodothyronine (T3) is also produced by the thyroid gland, but in much lower amounts than T4. Because T3 is the active form, and mostly what the body uses metabolically, an important conversion process that converts T4 into active T3 needs to happen.

Thyroid symptoms occur when these hormones are no longer at optimal levels. A common reason for an imbalance can be linked to the body not being able to convert the hormone into its active usable form (T3), or that thyroid receptors become resistant to the hormones, affecting the signaling pathways.

Without our master metabolism regulator working well, everything slows down, causing symptoms like:

• Moodiness and irritability

• Weight gain, or difficulty keeping weight off

• Cloudy thinking

• Constipation

• Sleep issues

• Higher cholesterol levels

• Hair thinning

• Fatigue

• Dry skin

• Fertility issues

What Are Possible Causes of Low Thyroid?

The problem is that many low thyroid symptoms are subtle, making them easy to overlook. It's often not until symptoms start to compound that you realize something is off. Unfortunately, this delay also allows for certain lifestyle factors that could be causing the issue to go unaddressed.

So what are the possible root causes? While every person's experience is different, low thyroid function can be caused by a range of factors from nutrient deficiencies and increased stress to poor gut health. Unresolved issues in the gut are one of the most common issues that can impact the thyroid. This is because approximately 80% of the immune system resides in the gut, and gut bacteria play a key role in converting T4 into T3.

Deficiencies in the diet — from micronutrients to antioxidants — can also be a reason for a sluggish thyroid. Certain nutrients like iodine and iron are necessary for optimal thyroid health and hormone production. These deficiencies can be related to food choices and can be further compounded by poor gut health.

Lifestyle Factors to Address Low Thyroid

Fortunately, lifestyle changes can reduce symptoms and help bring your body back to a state of balance.

As a first step, you can start to rebalance your hormones with thyroid supporting foods such as pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, Brazil nuts, dark leafy vegetables, mushrooms, lima beans, and certain types of wild caught seafood. These foods and more provide key sources of thyroid supportive minerals such as iodine and selenium.

Next, it's essential to understand your lab values. By doing a Functional Medicine lab test at home, you can look at exactly where you stand when it comes to the key hormones that impact stress, mood and metabolism. Based on these results, you can address hormone imbalances that may be interfering with your body's ability to achieve optimal thyroid levels.

If you feel overwhelmed or are not sure where to start, a comprehensive educational program that outlines and explains all aspects of thyroid health can help give you the confidence you need to understand the reasons behind any imbalance and empower you to take control over your body and your health. (Blog source)

When you’re ready to take the next step, schedule your complimentary call so you can finally uncover the root causes to your symptoms!

Do You Really have a Slow Metabolism?

by Joanna Foley, RD, CLT

You've probably heard that eating less and moving more is all it takes to lose weight. Therefore, you may be surprised to hear that following that method can actually have the opposite effect on your weight and can lead to a slow metabolism.

What you eat plays a large role in how you look and feel, but achieving a healthy body weight is about much more than food and exercise. This article will help explain exactly what your metabolism is, the factors that influence it, and what you can do to promote a healthy metabolism and a healthy weight.

What Is Metabolism?

The term metabolism refers to all the processes that go on inside your body to keep you alive and your organs functioning normally. In addition to things like repairing cells, it is in charge of converting the calories you consume from food and beverages into energy. A healthy metabolism is required to use this energy efficiently and plays a role in your ability to lose, maintain and gain weight.

What Causes a Slow Metabolism?

Factors such as age, body size, gender, genetics, and the amount of muscle mass can all influence the speed of your metabolism. Yet many other things can influence your metabolism as well.

Lesser-known factors that contribute to a slower metabolism include:

• Significant calorie restriction and "yo-yo dieting." Fad diets that promise quick results can be tempting to follow. However, years of going on and off diets, and thus losing weight in an unsustainable way, negatively affects your metabolism and can have the opposite effect than you desired. Drastically reducing calories can cause your body to think you are starving. As a protective mechanism, your metabolism will slow down, making it harder to keep losing weight even on fewer calories.

• Metabolic and toxic imbalances. persistent levels of high stress and an accumulation of toxin exposure can alter your hormones, increase levels of inflammation in your body and interfere with your body's ability to burn calories efficiently. These imbalances are often the hidden root cause of many health ailments, including an undesirable metabolism.

If you suspect you have a slow metabolism, you can run a simple at-home lab test to help identify any possible imbalances. Then working alongside a qualified practitioner you can implement the appropriate diet and lifestyle strategy you need.

How Do You Know if You Have a Slow Metabolism?

It's common to think that weight gain or difficulty losing weight are the only signs of slow metabolism, but there are other common signs and symptoms that may be involved as well, such as:

• Low energy and extreme tiredness

• Cold intolerance

• Irregular bowel movements

• Low mood

How Can You Boost Your Metabolism?

Supporting a healthy metabolism requires a whole-body approach. Here are some things to focus on:

• Focus on your diet. Unhealthy levels of inflammation are often an underlying root cause of slow metabolism and weight gain or the ability to lose weight and keep it off. That's why it is important to prioritize the majority of your diet from anti-inflammatory whole foods. Examples include olive oil, tomatoes, nuts and seeds, leafy greens, oily fish and berries. In addition, taking supportive daily nutritional supplements, can help replenish your nutrient reserves, support natural detoxification, and rebalance your body at the deepest level.

• Balance your blood sugar. Having high levels of blood sugar from eating too many processed carbohydrates and sugar can lead to persistently high levels of insulin in your body. Since insulin promotes the storage of fat, this can lead to weight gain if elevated levels of blood sugar aren't cleared efficiently.. You can help balance your blood sugar by including enough protein and healthy fats in each meal and snack, eating three balanced meals works best for most throughout the day, choosing whole-food carbohydrates high in fiber, reducing your intake of processed sugar and being physically active.

• Balance your hormones. Your hormones are a key player in nearly every process in your body. Balancing your hormones can help support a healthy metabolism overall. The best way to uncover any possible hormone imbalances that might be impacting your ability to lose weight is through testing your individual levels. A qualified healthcare practitioner can then help interpret your results and guide you through a strategy right for you.

• Consider reverse dieting. This is the concept of gradually eating more, not less over a period of time to increase your body's ability to burn calories. Contrary to common belief, this can actually help speed up your metabolism and lead to weight loss if your metabolism has slowed down due to prolonged calorie restriction, long-term low carb diets, or other factors. The key is to eat the right amount of food and type of food to support your body's energy requirements in the context of an overall healthy lifestyle to restore hormone balance and support a healthy metabolism.

• Be active, but don't overdo it. There are so many benefits to exercise, and we all should strive to move our bodies every day. However, this doesn't mean putting in long hours at the gym or participating in overly strenuous forms of exercise. Too much exercise, or workouts that are too intense, can be a source of stress on your body, especially if you are already in an imbalanced state. It's best to choose a variety of workouts you enjoy so you are more likely to stick to them. Remember that little movements add up, so simply being more intentional to move your body more often can make a big difference in your metabolism and overall physical health.

Bottom Line

There may be more behind a perceived slow metabolism than you realize. Focusing on your diet, hormones, exposure to toxins, and level of activity are all effective ways to help rebalance your body and improve your metabolism. (Blog source)

Eventually, you’ll get frustrated with conventional methods of trying to lose weight. If you’re ready to uncover the root causes of your slow metabolism and drop the weight for good, click here to schedule your complimentary consultation.

Immune System Basics: Why Do I Get Sick?

Catching a cold is bound to happen occasionally — it's also a natural part of building immunity. Our immune system is constantly at work to keep us healthy by avoiding germs, defending against them if they do get inside our body and minimizing the extent of possible harm they can cause. If you get ill frequently, it can be a sign your immune system needs additional support.

That's why it's important to understand how you get sick, how your immune system works to fight off illness, and what you can do prevent feeling unwell. Let's dive into some immune system basics.

How You Get Sick in the First Place

Your body is exposed to billions of foreign invaders at any moment including viruses, bacteria, parasites and fungi that can lead to illness, infections and more serious diseases. You are breathing them in and swallowing them. They are on your skin and located in your mucus membranes. However, this doesn't mean you get sick every time. It depends on the strength of the specific pathogen and how well your immune system can respond to it – this is immune system basics.

How Your Body Protects You Against Harmful Invaders

Your immune system responds in two ways when it comes into contact with foreign pathogens:

• Your innate immune response is your body's first line of defense and reacts immediately.

• Your specific immune response develops over time and is specific to certain pathogens (like bacteria and viruses). This response learns, adapts, and remembers the pathogen to fight it better and faster next time.

If it's the first time your body is encountering a foreign invader, your innate immune system will respond. But remember, this is just a general response and it's not as strong in fighting specific invaders.

Your specific, or secondary, immune response then gets notified of this invader, learns how to fight it, and makes appropriate antibodies. The first time it is exposed, it can take some time for your specific immune response to combat the invader and create antibodies. As a result, your symptoms may be more severe.

However, the next time your body is exposed to that specific invader (bacteria, virus, etc.), your immune system may be able to fight the pathogen more effectively. The antibodies created earlier will attach to the pathogen and inactivate it, allowing your immune cells to come in and destroy it faster. This time, you may just have minor symptoms or could avoid them altogether.

Different Types of Immune Cells and How They Work

Your innate immune response uses white blood cells like neutrophils, phagocytes, macrophages, and basophils and sends them to the infected area. These immune cells can open up blood vessels, allowing more immune cells to come rushing in to attack the bacteria. Some white blood cells release chemicals to kill the bacteria; phagocytes can even enclose these germs and "eat" them.

Your specific immune response consists of the B and T lymphocytes. Your B lymphocytes produce antibodies when they come into contact with a foreign invader. When your B cells come into contact with that pathogen again in the future, they alert your T lymphocytes into action to destroy the pathogen quicker. This is why you may experience less severe or no symptoms the second time around.

Why You Could Be Getting Sick More Frequently Than Others

While we all get sick from time to time, some people are more susceptible. Here are a few reasons why:

• Micronutrient deficiency. Vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin E, zinc, and magnesium all play a vital role in supporting a healthy immune system. If your body doesn't have adequate stores of key nutrients, then the immune response may be impaired.

• Hidden stressors. Your body could be putting its energy and resources into hidden stressors, like trying to overcome an infection, a traumatic event or injury, even digestive imbalances. This can weaken the immune system's ability to respond appropriately and effectively to foreign invaders.

• Environmental toxins or food sensitivities. These could be constantly activating your immune system, using up resources, and leaving your body more vulnerable to other harmful invaders.

Tips To Support Your Immune Response

Now that you understand how you get sick, here's what you can do to help prevent your body from getting sick and how you can best support your body when you do.

• Restore your micronutrient levels. For example, vitamin D is essential for the growth and function of immune cells. You can run a simple at-home lab test to assess your levels and work alongside a health practitioner on a personalized wellness protocol to ensure your body has the necessary components for optimal immune function.

• Reduce and manage stress in your life. High levels of stress place a large demand on your nutrient stores. Taking a daily activated multi-vitamin and mineral and including additional supportive supplementation like magnesium, B vitamins and vitamin C, can help to buffer the demands of increased stress on the body.

• Address underlying stressors. Underlying gut imbalances, infections, or high levels of inflammation could reduce the absorption of key nutrients needed for healthy immune function and overall health. Even if you are eating a healthy balanced diet, underlying issues could inhibit your body from being able to utilize the nutrients that support robust immunity.

• Address underlying symptoms. Underlying gut overgrowth, infections, or inflammation could reduce gut absorption. Even if you are eating healthily, hidden issues could inhibit your body from receiving those nutrients needed for immune function.

• Prioritize sleep. Studies show people who don't get enough quality sleep are more prone to sickness when faced with a virus. Less sleep can reduce natural killer cells and can promote inflammation, which can both inhibit proper immune response.

When you understand the basics of immune health, you'll feel confident in the power of your innate immune system to do its job of fighting off unwanted germs. It's also empowering to know there is so much we can do to support a healthy immune system and enable it to function at its best all year long. (Blog source)

It’s easy to see the importance of a healthy immune system, is it not? When you’re ready to take the next steps to empowering yourself with a healthier YOU, click here to schedule your complimentary consultation with a certified level 2 Integrative Health Practitioner.