An Ancient Oil that Can Help You Sleep

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Sleep. When it’s going well, we don’t think much of it, but when it’s not…it impacts EVERYTHING else. Sleep is an important function to recharge your mind and body so that you are refreshed, alert, emotionally well-balanced, and have stable energy.
 
When you sleep, your brain works to prepare you for the next day. While you are sleeping, your brain maintains nerve pathways that let you learn and create new memories. Sleep also performs some sort of housekeeping by removing toxins from the brain that accumulate while you’re awake.
 

If you have a good night’s rest, you learn more quickly, have greater access to creativity, stay alert, think clearly, concentrate, and solve problems appropriately. The damage of sleep deprivation is widespread: it can lead to increased accidents (because of poor concentration) or can accumulate over time and increase your risk of chronic illnesses.
Sleep also plays a big role in keeping you healthy physically. Here are some examples:

  • Involved in healing and repairing your heart and blood vessels.
  • Balances your hormones that make you feel hungry and full. So you tend to be hungrier when you don’t get enough sleep. In fact, sleep deficiency is associated with obesity.
  • Involved in how your body reacts to insulin. If you lack sleep, your blood sugar levels increase. This puts you at risk of diabetes.
  • Keeps the immune system healthy. You may have trouble fighting common infections if you are always sleep deprived.

Just like food and water, sleep is essential for survival, and quality sleep is a vital key in good health and well-being. And when I say quality sleep, I mean getting the right amount of sleep at the right times and being able to go through all the stages of sleep.
 
However, poor sleep is becoming a problem–maybe because of lifestyle, work, stress and anxiety, an underlying medical condition (discuss with your healthcare provider), or medication side effects. 
 
If you’ve been trying to get quality sleep, naturally–without sleeping pills, an ancient oil–the Black Cumin Oil, may do the trick.

Black cumin oil is an amber-colored oil extracted from the tiny black seeds of Nigella sativa, a plant native in Southwest Asia. It has been used for thousands of years to treat a wide range of conditions.
Aside from aiding in a good night’s rest, black cumin oil has other health benefits!

  • Supports digestive health!
  • Promotes healthy skin and hair
  • Manages inflammation
  • Aids in weight maintenance
  • Fights seasonal allergies
  • Soothes joint pains
  • Equalizes blood pressure

So how does black cumin oil help in getting you a better sleep?

The black cumin oil acts on the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal (HPA) system. The HPA system has three components: the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and the adrenal glands. This system is important in maintaining homeostasis (balance) in the body by mediating the effect of stressors by regulating our physiologic functions. One of these physiologic functions is sleep.
 
If you have a hyperactive HPA system, the adrenal glands produce too much cortisol, which in turn increases your blood pressure and decreases your quality of sleep. With the help of black cumin oil, the hyperactivity of the HPA system is prevented and you get the quality sleep that you so deserve.
 
After taking black cumin oil, some people have reported they have vivid dreams! This is great clue that their quality of sleep has improved. Dreams occur during the rapid eye movement (REM) stage, the fourth stage of the sleep cycle. Studies have linked REM sleep to memory consolidation, the process that converts recently learned experience into long-term memories.
 
Among the many brands available in the market today, I recommend the Black Cumin Oil of Activation Products. Check out their site for more info on black cumin oil and reviews of their product.
 
It is my passion to work with people like you whose health symptoms are getting in the way of you living life fully and with a sense of freedom in your body. I can help you to regain your health so you can feel great and free to enjoy life fully.

If you’re ready to discover where your best health has been hiding, I’d love to connect with you!
Apply for a complimentary Unstoppable Health Discovery Session. bit.ly/schedulinghealth (subject to availability).

Until next time, I’m wishing you unstoppable health!
~Rebecca

Top 3 Best Healthy Sweeteners

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Sugar. We all know it’s not good for us and yet…many of us struggle to avoid it. Sugar negatively impacts every facet of good health including your teeth, joints, gut, thyroid, adrenals, skin, liver, weight, sleep, longevity…you get the picture! That’s why artificial sweeteners or sugar substitutes have attracted many health-conscious individuals, fitness enthusiasts, and diabetic patients.

Today I want to explain the difference between artificial sweeteners and healthy sweeteners as well as share my favorites with you.

An artificial sweetener is a food additive that duplicates the taste of sugar. It is about 200 times sweeter than sugar but it usually has fewer calories. With the trend in health and fitness awareness rising, artificial sweeteners have become really popular.

Since artificial sweeteners are commonly placed in “sugar-free” food products, they’re associated with weight loss, dental care, and managing diabetes mellitus and reactive hypoglycemia. However, artificial sweeteners pose health hazards such as brain tumors, bladder cancer, and weight gain in animal studies. There is some evidence that artificial sweeteners have carcinogenic effects in humans as well.

In this newsletter, I’ve compiled three healthy sweeteners that you can choose instead of sugar or artificial sweeteners to support your healing journey. These are better for your teeth, gut, weight, etc.

1. Monk fruit — Also known as lo han guo, monk fruit is a small green melon fruit named after the monks that cultivated it centuries ago. Native to southern China, it is famous in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and has recently gained attention among health-conscious individuals because of its natural sweetness that can replace sugars.
Monk fruit sweetener, an extract derived from the dried monk fruit, is classified by the FDA as “generally recognized as safe” (GRAS) for everyone. Unlike artificial sweeteners, monk fruit has no known side effects. It is completely natural but with a mild taste. The only downside is that it is expensive, and to make it affordable, it is often mixed with other sweeteners like stevia, erythritol or xylitol.

Since it has zero calories and carbs, it is generally safe for those with diabetes. It does not increase the sugar levels in the blood. However, don’t assume that all food products containing monk fruit sweeteners are carb- and sugar-free because they might still contain other sugars or undesirable ingredients.

The sweetness of monk fruit is due to the natural compounds called mogrosides. In a 2011 study, monk fruit was used in TCM to relieve sore throat. It is said that mogrosides have anti-inflammatory properties and may help prevent cancer.

2. Stevia — Stevia is a sweetener derived from the leaves of the stevia plant, which is native to Brazil and Paraguay. The active compounds of stevia are called steviol glycosides, which are 30-150 times sweeter than sugar. Thus, you only need a tiny amount to get the sweetness of sugar. The downside is it has a licorice-like, bitter aftertaste and is expensive as well. Some people have reported experiencing bloating and gas too, but the way stevia is processed can make all the difference. I really like the liquid SweetDrops as they are cleanly processed and generally well tolerated. To offset the aftertaste, stevia can be mixed with other sweeteners and is great for low-carb desserts, tea, and coffee.

The FDA classified stevia as GRAS as well.

3. Erythritol — Erythritol is a sugar alcohol used as a food additive and sweetener. This chemical compound is naturally occurring by fermenting the glucose from corn or wheat (so make sure you look for gluten-free, non-GMO on the label!). The taste is 70% sweetness of sugar and does well in baked products as well as non-baked desserts. It is affordable and ranks zero on the glycemic index scale–meaning it doesn’t cause a spike in blood sugar or insulin.

We don’t have an enzyme that breaks down erythritol, so what happens is it goes to the bloodstream and is excreted through the urine without any changes at all. And since it does not increase blood sugar levels, it is a great sugar replacement for people with diabetes. It also tends to be better tolerated than other sugar alcohols by the gut (though, like any food, test it for yourself).

There are other natural sweeteners available in the market, but these three are just my favorites. Staying healthy does not mean not ever indulging in sweets from time to time. Thanks to these natural and healthy sugar alternatives, it’s easier to do that without the backlash!

It is my passion to work with people like you whose health symptoms are getting in the way of you living life fully and with a sense of freedom in your body. I can help you to regain your health so you can feel great and free to enjoy life fully.

If you’re ready to discover where your best health has been hiding, I’d love to connect with you!
Apply for a complimentary Unstoppable Health Discovery Session. bit.ly/schedulinghealth (subject to availability).

Until next time, I’m wishing you unstoppable health!
~Rebecca

What Triggers IBS?

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Irritable Bowel Syndrome is a functional disorder of the digestive system characterized by a collection of symptoms that negatively impact a person’s quality of life. The signs and symptoms of IBS in both adults and children include food intolerance, bloating, cramping, abdominal pain, and either diarrhea or constipation, or a combination of both.

Quick reminder first that I’ll be co-hosting a free online class on Natural Solutions to Inflammation with Maverick Chiropractic & Wellness Sept 21st. You can find the details and sign up link here.
 

Because the symptoms of IBS are really complex there are subtypes to classify it according to the predominant symptoms:

  • IBS-D — diarrhea predominant
  • IBS-C — constipation predominant
  • IBS-M — mixed diarrhea and constipation
  • IBS-U — unspecified

 With IBS, there may not be overt damage in the tissues in the GI tract: the problem lies in the motility or movement of the bowels. So the treatment plan for IBS is tailored according to your presenting symptoms and also by knowing the possible causes of its development.
 
Plenty of factors may cause IBS. The most common possible reasons are an altered gut microbiome, increased inflammation and intestinal permeability, and dysfunction in the immune system.
 
Let’s take a look further at the root causes and triggers of IBS:

  • Impaired absorption

According to studies, malabsorption of bile acids triggers IBS symptoms like diarrhea. Bile acids or BAs are produced in the liver and converted from primary BAs to secondary BAs in the intestine with the help of bacterial action. Aside from helping in the absorption of fats, BAs keep the gut microbiome in balance so that when there is malabsorption of BAs, the gut microbiome is subsequently affected leading to an increase in intestinal permeability and inflammation. 

  • Disrupted homeostasis in the gut

A healthy gut has diverse gut microbes, but in patients with IBS, studies have shown that they have less gut microbial diversity. This leads also to less bacterial function such as BA transformation in the intestine and triggering the onset of inflammation.
 
Dysbiosis occurs when there is an imbalance in the gut microbiome. Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) and fungal overgrowth (SIFO) are both manifestations of dysbiosis. According to studies, patients with IBS showing symptoms of abdominal pain, diarrhea, distention, and bloating have increased SIBO. In another study, IBS-D patients have increased SIFO as well.

  • GI infection

Infection in the GI tract is caused by either acquired infectious agents and/or pathobionts. Having gastroenteritis can increase your risk of developing IBS by about 2-3 times. And among acquired infectious agents, the most common to cause IBS are the protozoal agents, then bacterial, and then viral.
 
Pathobionts, on the other hand, don’t come from the environment. Instead, they are part of our natural gut microflora, which means they are beneficial to us. However, they do have the potential to cause disease if their environment is disrupted…as caused by antibiotic abuse, bad diet, and exposure to toxic substances.

  • Adverse food reaction

If you have IBS, you may have noticed that there are certain foods that when eaten trigger your IBS symptoms. These foods usually have fermentable oligo-, di-, and monosaccharides and polyols (FODMAPs), lactose, fructose in excess of glucose, fructans, or gluten.

  • Stress and anxiety

Remember that your gut and brain constantly communicate with each other. So negative emotions also have a negative impact on your gut function! According to some literature, mood disorders cause GI symptoms, but there is strong evidence that GI symptoms appear first before mood disorders occur. Patients with IBS-C have the most common occurrence of depression and anxiety according to the data so far.
 
If you suffer from IBS, it’s likely stemming from one or more of these causes: an unhealthy microbiome, increased intestinal permeability, and immune reactivity. Diet and lifestyle that really supports a healthy microbiome along with testing to explore which specific imbalances to support most can be a game changer.
 
It is my passion to work with people like you whose health symptoms are getting in the way of you living life fully and with a sense of freedom in your body. I can help you to regain your health so you can feel great and free to enjoy life fully.

If you’re ready to discover where your best health has been hiding, I’d love to connect with you!
Apply for a complimentary Unstoppable Health Discovery Session. bit.ly/schedulinghealth (subject to availability).

Until next time, I’m wishing you unstoppable health!
~Rebecca