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How to balance your immune teeter totter!

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Today I’d like to talk with you about in internal teeter totter you might not have even known you had…and that’s between your gut/immune system and your detoxification system.
Now, we could keep this simple or get really complex. I don’t know how you’re doing with our current pandemic, but chances are, your mental bandwidth is a bit tapped out at the moment, so I’d like to keep today’s health tip nice and simple.


 
You know by now that the gut is the root of your health. It’s where roughly 80% of your immune system is.

All your systems work together to keep you alive (and hopefully healthy). They all require energy to run. When one part is under more demand, your body will divert energy to deal with that increased demand. For example, if your body was working on detoxifying some chemicals that you had inhaled (i.e. pollution) and you all of a sudden accidentally cut yourself or fell down and hurt yourself, your body is going to shift priorities!

Likewise, if your body is busy building more white blood cells and addressing an infection and you take in toxins through your diet (i.e. sugar, processed flour, vegetable oils, pesticides), your body is going to shift some energy away from your immune system to address those toxins. Like a teeter totter, both sides aren’t going to be all the way up at the same time!

An action that you can take to balance and support your immune system right now is to reduce the work that your body has to do to detoxify by eliminating or limiting the amount of toxins coming into your body on a day by day basis.

3 tips to support your immune system teeter totter

  1. Drink plenty of filtered water daily. Water helps to flush toxins AND support your immune system…but not if it’s full of toxins. Check here for what toxins were tested in your local water supply.
  2. Eat clean, unprocessed food. Processed foods are full of energy-draining chemicals (trans fats, vegetable oils, sugar, food coloring, pesticides, synthetic additives)…and they are deficient in the vitamins and minerals your body needs to function properly. The more simple you can keep your food, the better. Eat whole foods rather than processed versions (chicken versus chicken nuggets).
  3. Set up mealtimes rather than eating all day. Digestion takes a lot of energy and your digestive system needs a break! If you are eating more often than every 3 hrs, you may need to make some adjustments to what you are eating. I know that in the past when I ate a lot of carbs and not enough fat (for my body), I was constantly hungry! When I tested myself and discovered that my body needed a different approach and then made those changes, I got much better results.

I hope that these tips are helpful for you to keep your body strong and healthy!
 
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. http://bit.ly/schedulinghealth (subject to availability).

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

~Rebecca

COVID-19 and Obesity — Everything You Need to Know

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The COVID-19 pandemic has the world on lockdown. Many of you have paused their lives, trying to find ways to stay healthy. There are some of you who are at increased risk of having a more severe reaction to the virus or having life-threatening complications. Today we are going to look at how obesity and excess body fat contributes to being at increased risk of infection and complications.

According to the World Health Organization, 650 million people were overweight in 2016. That same year, the global rate of obesity was three times what it was in 1975, according to the obesity statistics. 

Now, with the lockdown, obese people can’t visit the gyms or proceed with their weight loss plans, and this is devastating to them. Here’s why obese people are at a higher risk than others: 

  • People with heart disease and diabetes are more prone to COVID-19 infection 
  • Obese people are harder to treat in the in-patients setting, challenging to diagnose, and difficult to transport
  • The pandemic has them trapped inside with limited weight loss opportunities
  • Their wish to lose weight might be suppressed by COVID-19 anxiety 

If you or someone you care about falls into this category, this may inspire you to make some healthy changes or continue with your healthy habits.

Look Around You

Stand in front of a mirror and take a good look at yourself. It doesn’t matter how you’ve reached this point in your life right now. What matters are the choices you can start to make. Start out by asking yourself these questions:

Do I want to feel restricted in movements and/or feel constant pain in my joints? 

Do I still want to be dependent on others to help me in regular activities around the house?

Do I want to be exposed to the COVID-19 risks mentioned above?

Weight loss, to the point of reaching a healthy weight that feels good to you, reduces health risks. It’s good for you and all the members of your family who love you unconditionally, who support you and wish you well.  If it’s too daunting to focus on exercise and meal plans, try shifting your focus to the people in your life and how everyone benefits when you feel better.

There are people in your corner who want you to succeed: friends, family, and/or professionals! What is one action you can take today, no matter how small, to upgrade your habits to support a healthy weight?

Read Success Stories

The Internet is full of success stories of overweight people who were dedicated to their goal and reached it. The ones that keep it off transformed more than just their physical habits: they transformed their mindset as well. You can learn from their experiences. Use their success stories to boost you up and give you strength when you feel you need some motivation or whenever you feel like giving up.

Make mental notes on the time those people took to lose weight, what they did to change their habits and what helped them the most. Isolation is the perfect time to think about how you can upgrade your game plan. It’s important to know that you can be a success story too! You can feel better and be an inspiration for others. 

Summary

If you’re obese or overweight, know that continuing to take action will reduce your risk of getting COVID-19 and complications associated with this virus. You are worth it and you don’t have to do it alone. Look around at who can support you. Sometimes, a simple message to a trainer or a training buddy, a therapist, a nutritionist, or health coach can help you stay on your weight loss journey. I’m rooting for you!

In health,

Rebecca Hazelton & Dusan Goljic

Lifestyle Changes to Prevent and Reverse Memory Loss

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Last week’s newsletter explored diet and lifestyle risk factors for Alzheimer’s and how your diet can impact your brain. Check it out here in case you missed it. 
Your food and lifestyle choices determine if you are at high risk for developing memory loss or not. Today, I want to give you tips on how to create a lifestyle your brain will love as well as foods that nourish your brain (and also ones that are harmful).


Exercise

We all need physical movement to be healthy, especially if your work entails a lot of sitting down. Exercise is also an important therapeutic strategy to reduce risk for dementia.
 
Aerobic exercise uses oxygen to meet the metabolic demand of the body as the cells convert more glucose into fuel or energy. The heart then pumps blood faster to meet the oxygen demand and to eliminate the carbon dioxide, as a byproduct of metabolism. This is why aerobic exercise is also referred to as cardio. Examples include walking, jogging, cycling, running, dancing, and swimming.
Take a moment to evaluate your lifestyle. From 1 to 10, where 1 is sedentary and 10 is active, where are you?
Depending on your answer, look for opportunities where you can improve. For example, squeeze in a 10-minute walk every day. It’s a lot better than nothing! Current recommendations are 150 minutes of walking weekly or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise. Start where you can. Any amount is better than none.

Sleep Well

Poor sleep is a risk factor for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Want to maintain brain health even when you age? Aim for at least 8 hours of quality sleep every time you hit the sheets at night.
 
If you don’t get enough sleep, your brain cannot form pathways for new learning and memories. You might notice that when you lack sleep, it’s harder for you to concentrate and respond quickly.
Consider sleep to be as vital as food and water.

Manage Stress Effectively

Everybody deals with stress, but the way you manage it is a game changer. Stress management techniques such as imagery, yoga, deep breathing, friend time, exercise, and my favorite HeartMath are all helpful. Why I love HeartMath tools for managing my stress so much is because you can do them anywhere and anytime (and that is a great thing because stress can hit us anywhere and anytime…the sooner you can address it, the better!). One super easy HeartMath tool is called Heart-Focused Breathing and all you need to do is to focus your attention on your heart and imagine your breath flowing in and out of your heart or chest area. Make your breath a little slower and deeper than usual.
Doesn’t that feel great?!
Here are 10 other simple tips to help manage and reduce your stress levels.

Eat a Healthy Diet

Certain foods can badly affect your brain. The 7 Worst Foods for Your Brain are:

  • Sugary drinks and food – This causes brain inflammation and memory impairment.
  • Refined carbs – This refers to sugars and highly processed grains like white flour; it also causes insulin resistance.
  • Foods high in trans-fats – These are chemically modified unsaturated fats that have a negative effect on the brain. You don’t need to worry about the trans-fats that are naturally occurring in small amounts in some foods like dairy. Our concern is the artificial trans-fats in shortening, margarine, frosting, microwavable popcorn, frozen foods, and so on.
  • Highly processed foods – Avoid these because they usually are high in sugar, added fats, and salt.
  • Aspartame – An artificial sweetener! Definitely a no-no! Phenylalanine, one of aspartame’s components crosses the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and disrupts neurotransmitter production.
  • Alcohol – Drinking a glass of wine here and there may be fine, but excessive alcohol consumption is not healthy. Binge drinking and drinking to the point of slurred speech is particularly damaging to your brain.
  • Fish high in mercury – Though fish is a good source of protein and healthy fats, you must be aware that fish is highly susceptible to accumulating mercury, most especially predatory fish such as shark and swordfish. Mercury is neurotoxic and can permanently damage the brain.

Instead focus on eating foods that make your brain function optimally. Make sure you get enough healthy fats like omega 3 fats from fatty fish (like salmon and sardines), coconut oil, extra-virgin coconut oil, avocados, eggs, nuts, and seeds.
 
It is also good if you can supplement your diet with high quality multivitamins and other food supplements for brain function, such as probiotics, since good gut health is crucial in brain function as well.
 
These are simple lifestyle changes that can create a big impact in your life, especially during your senior years. Won’t you love the elderly version of you who is still able to think clearly and enjoy all the good memories you’re creating?
 
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. I hope that today’s suggestions are helpful to you.

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. http://bit.ly/schedulinghealth (subject to availability).
 
Until next time, I’m wishing you unstoppable health!
~Rebecca