We all know “stress” is bad, but how does it actually translate into poor health?
We all know INFLAMMATION is bad, but how does it translate into poor health?
Reviewing “Tryptophan Steal” which may provide a better understanding of the above:
BONUS:
Tracking Inflammation and thus potentially saving your Serotonin, Melatonin & Overall Health.
Posted in Health & Wellness, Stress & Sleep
Tagged 5thp, addiction, adrenalglands, alcoholism, Alzheimer's, Anxiety, autism, brainhealth, constipation, cortisol, crp, cytokines, dementia, depression, detox, excitonoxicity, fibromyalgia, guthealth, gutmotility, inflammation, insomnia, interkeukins, mci, melatonin, mentalfitness, methalhealth, neurodegeneration, OCD, pain, panicattacks, paranoid, rage, seizures, serotonin, sleep, stress, tnf, toxins, tryptophan, tryptophansteal
In keeping with the generous theme of the now upon us, “most wonderful time of the year,” we’re going to keep it a little lighter this article and bestow upon you some easily implementable biohacking tips that can enhance your quality and quantity of life, training included.
The term biohacking is a relatively new term with a wide range of interpretations and definitions depending on who you talk to. For the purpose of this article, we will refer to biohacking as anything you can do to naturally hack into or alter the way your body works. You can literally apply knowledge and attempt to hack into your biology, leading to beneficial internal cellular and chemical consequences. This is no doubt a loaded topic with a variety of approaches, but for the sake of this article, we will touch on four of the main pillars of health; diet, exercise & training, sleep & stress.
GET YOUR ZZZs
We all know how important adequate sleep can be, and how detrimental it can be to get a lack of it, especially for the recovery process, but also implicated in a host of chronic issues from mental fatigue, obesity and diabetes to immune dysfunction and cancer. In addition to triggering your circadian rhythm by getting natural light exposure during the day, (which leads to the formation of the feel good hormone serotonin, the precursor of the sleep hormone, melatonin) it turns out exposure to artificial blue light, especially in the evening, has a major effect on how you sleep.
According to Authority Nutrition:
“It turns out that perhaps the single biggest contributor to our collective sleep problems is the use of artificial lighting and electronics at night. These devices emit light of a blue wavelength, which tricks our brains into thinking that it is daytime.”
This wave length of light emitted by our phones, tablets, computer monitors and TVs actually inhibits the body’s ability to manufacture melatonin and thus can disrupt restorative sleep. This blue light can also induce photoreceptor damage to your eyes which is one of the main reasons we are seeing a market demand for and built in phone settings that block this type of light.
If decreasing or eliminating all unnecessary usage of blue light emitting devices in the evening isn’t possible, there are apps such as iflux or the nightshift setting on the iphone that actually block the blue lights. You can also take it a step further and purchase a pair of blue light blocking glasses to fashionably don around your domain in the evening. This $12 pair pictured below are the ones I’ve been utilizing to optimize potential for deeper regenerative & restorative sleep; much to the comical delight of my family.
DON’T UNDERCUT YOUR TRAINING
We all have our reasons we get after it the way we do. Some are motivated by performance, some to keep the weight off and stay fit. No matter what your motivation, we never want to be put in a situation where we undercut our own efforts and performance.
We often find ourselves at a crossroads between choosing the path that favors optimal athletic performance or life longevity. One is commonly sacrificed for the other and most are constantly striving to find that perfect balance between the two.
This is never more so true than when it comes to the fuel we chose to power our bodies. The Gu & Gatorade roller coaster ride may do the momentary energizing trick, but it is in no way, shape or form the best way to fuel the body. These are high carb, high sugar substances that lead to a spike in blood sugar and subsequent insulin, that peaks and dips, leading you to repeat the cycle continuously.
It is now well known and acknowledged that spikes in blood glucose and insulin can be detrimental to your health. What can be even more frustrating about this carb spiking habit is that the release of insulin inhibits the body’s ability to burn fat as fuel; rather it encourages the opposite, in the form of fat storage. So you are admirably doing all you can to get after it out there, with hopes of knocking or keeping the pounds off, but are actually continuously utilizing high carb fuel sources that block your body’s ability to do so.
Without getting into suggesting ketogeneic diets and intermittent fasting, there do exist better options to provide a steady supply of slow burning energy, without the insulin spike and subsequent blockage of fat burning. There are more and more athletes (present company, and a number of our patients included) successfully utilizing products like UCAN, which provide this type of fuel source, divorcing you from the energy spikes and drops and enabling you to encourage your body to burn that unwanted fat for fuel.
It should be stated, that other than making it available to our patients, we have no stake in UCAN. However, we were so impressed with its fascinating conception out of necessity, along with the physiologically sound science and research behind it, that we were excited to add it to our own regimen and offer it to those who might also find benefit in its utilization.
(BIOHACK BONUS:
Let’s face it, for many people a major factor or added benefit from working out and intelligently fueling with items that enhance the body’s ability to burn fat, is the weight loss and a better body. You can also ramp up the body’s fat burning ability by taking a 5 minute cold shower post training session.
Many wellness enthusiasts and top thinkers implement this form of therapy first thing in the morning in order to bombard the nervous system with sensory stimuli and heighten alertness and focus. However, it is the metabolic benefits we are focusing on here.
If you are willing to withstand the initially uncomfortable temperature, you can reap the benefits of the body generating and activating brown fat cells as a way to create heat to counteract the cold waters. You have two main types of fat or adipose tissue, that being white and brown. White adipose tissue is less metabolically active and plays more of an energy storage role in the form of body fat. The more metabolically active brown fat not only generates body heat by burning calories, but has been correlated with better blood glucose control and insulin sensitivity, as well as increased metabolism.
Top this off with having limited carbohydrates derived from a slow burning source like UCAN or even having done your pre-frozen shower workout first thing in the morning before eating and thus in a mini fasted state courtesy of the previous night’s slumber, and those calories being burned to generate the heat can be derived from the catabolic breakdown of body fat; a state of metabolic nirvana if you will. But let’s climb out of this rabbit hole and get back on track.)
STOP MOUTH BREATHING!
Tweaking the oft overlooked action of proper breathing is another quick easy biohack. We touched on the benefits of proper, diaphragmatic, abdominal breathing in October’s SCR issue, and here we will take it one step further and make the case for breathing through your nose, especially when training.
When performing any physical activity we would all be well served to possess the ability to utilize the oxygen we breathe in the most efficient manner. Subsequently, we would also greatly benefit from that oxygen being delivered to our muscles with speed and volume.
When we breathe through our nose it triggers the release of Nitric Oxide (NO) in our bodies. This NO cause bronchodilation, meaning it opens or expands the passage ways in your lungs, allowing more oxygen to reach the blood. Bronchodilation is such a useful biohack that many competitive athletes utilize an inhaler normally reserved for asthmatics in order to exogenously prompt and increase this phenomenon. Conversely, many asthmatics have found benefit and attenuation of symptoms by training themselves to nose breathe, despite the fact that on the surface it appears to be counterintuitive if you are having trouble breathing.
NO production prompted by nasal respiration also triggers vasodilation. This is an expansion of the blood vessels to your tissues, especially those muscles being utilized during physical activity. This is good news as it provides more oxygen rich blood that the muscles can use as fuel for energy via aerobic respiration.
Nasal breathing throughout the day will also lessen the likelihood of over breathing, which can disrupt the intricate balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in your body. It also increases tolerance to CO2, which can lead to more stamina and decreased occurrences of fatigue during those all-out efforts.
SLOOOW DOWN
To truly embrace a comprehensive approach to optimizing performance, the full body must be addressed. Never is this so true than with runners, as the need to strength and stabilize outside of the repetitive uniplanar movement pattern, can prove advantageous for better form, stability, strength, and thus better function.
One of the most common excuses for not incorporating cross training is lack of time. Being a father of two, and owner/operator of a small business, I get it. However, if you recognize the benefits to be gained and choose to make a cross training session a priority, you can make it happen, especially if you implement the time saving strategy described below.
An S3 (Super Slow Strength) session is a time efficient and convenient way to increase strength and stability in as little as 1 to 2, 20 minute sessions per week. You can also utilize body weight, bands, kettle balls or free weights so the inability to get to the gym can be eliminated from the list of potential excuses.
An S3 session consists of performing an exercise at you guessed it, a relatively super slow speed. This equates to a 10 second concentric contraction, followed by a 10 second eccentric contraction. That ends up being a 20 second repetition, and depending on the exercise and weight used, a 3 minute set if 9 reps are performed. You can play with the configuration to your liking or goals, but if you perform just 1 set for 5 different body parts at the intervals laid out above, with a minute in between each set, you have yourself a 20 minute session.
Performing at this super slow speed enhances the cross bridging between individual muscle fibers, increasing strength and stability while limiting some of the needless wear and tear put on joints as speed increases. Eliminating momentum and continuously having to generate power activates full body muscle recruitment and regardless of the body part worked, all muscles play a role and thus also reap the benefits.
Still not convinced? Check out the book in the references by Dr. Doug McGuff which touches on the cardiovascular benefits obtained through this type of strength training, 
which are noted as being comparable to those gained during a long run. Other worthwhile benefits include increased mitochondrial density (another topic for another time, but just rest assured this is a very good thing) and improved lactic acid buffering.
If it sounds too easy, give it a shot. As with anything I suggest, I have implemented this approach as well, and can attest to not only feeling that “good hurt” the following day, but always appreciate breaking up the sometimes mindless “picking things up to put things down” that can eventually serve as an impediment to continuing a much needed strength training session.
LAST BUT NOT LEAST…
We’ve covered biohacks aimed at sleep, exercise and diet, but we would be remiss if we didn’t touch on another major player in the whole body approach; stress. The internal chemical consequences of stress is not restricted to the emotional or mental disruptions that we commonly refer to as stress. Environmental toxins, food allergies and sensitivities, as well as physical stress from overtraining can all have the same consequences. And while these are all different ways to generate stress, our biohack here will be aimed at the traditional sense of the word.
Study after study shows one of the best ways to combat the emotional and mental stressors is through some sort of meditation. The word can intimidate or outright turn off a lot of people, but it’s best thought of as a general term for finding a way to reset or quiet and calm down mentally. This method is highly individualized and can be thought of as anything from the aforementioned meditation to reflection, prayer, zoning out, calming the mind pond, becoming a silent observer of one’s thoughts, or simply being still and in the moment.
If you are having trouble finding your way with this, simply being outside is a good place to start. Nature therapy where children spend more time outdoors has been shown to quiet the mind and attenuate symptoms of ADD and ADHD. The simple act of removing your shoes and “grounding” or “earthing” also provides an anti-inflammatory and calming effect through the exchange of electrons that occurs between your body and the grass or sand.
The trick is to find a method that works for you. Do not be turned off by traditional definitions or get hung up on adhering to one method or another. These should simply serve as ideas to apply towards your own practice. This should be all about you and provide a moment of quiet clarity in an otherwise noisy chaotic world. As stated, those who report meditating in some way, shape or form report benefits across the board. And in a constantly changing world filled with inevitable stressors and the subsequent internal consequences including inflammation and disease, adding some sort of routine game plan to approach general stress is a must for any truly holistic approach.
If you still experience symptoms of stress, or other issues with your endocrine system (thyroid, sex hormones, blood sugar handling, circadian rhythm disruption, etc.) and can’t seen to get over the hump, addressing the adrenal glands may also provide some help. We have witnessed many patients respond well to various herbs known as adaptogens and the guidance of diagnostic tests like the adrenal salivary index (ASI), enabling us to tap into and positively alter the physiology of the internal stress work horses, the adrenal glands.
So there you have it. From one biohacker to another, I wish you happy holidays and success in implementing any of the strategies we touched on. Obviously books could be written on each topic and you should always consult with your trusted healthcare provider before making any major changes, but hopefully these will fuel your curiosity to master one’s biology even further. If you ever have any questions about any of these topics or more, feel free to reach out (321-848-0987, Dr.RClarke@gmail.com) as these are only the tip of the iceberg as far as empowering yourself towards true holistic health.
In the meantime, perhaps I will run into you nose breathing, with blue light blocking glasses on while running barefoot on the beach.
Enjoy the holidays and have a safe and healthy new year.
Good luck in 2017.
REFERENCES:
Buteyko technique use to control asthma symptoms. Austin G(1). Nurs Times. 2013 Apr 24-30;109(16):16-7.
Cold acclimation recruits human brown fat and increases nonshivering thermogenesis. J Clin Invest. 2013;123(8):3395–3403. doi:10.1172/JCI68993.
Body By Science: a research-based program for strength training, body building and competitive fitness in 12 minutes a week / Doug McGuff /John Little; Northern River Productions. 2009
A potential natural treatment for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: evidence from a national study. Kuo FE(1), Taylor AF. Am J Public Health. 2004 Sep;94(9):1580-6.
The effects of grounding (earthing) on inflammation, the immune response, wound healing, and prevention and treatment of chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. J Inflamm Res. 2015 Mar 24;8:83-96. doi: 10.2147/JIR.S69656. eCollection 2015.
Posted in Health & Wellness, Nutrition, Running, Sports, Stress & Sleep, Supplements, Weight Loss
Tagged adaptogens, adrenal glands, adrenal salivary index, biohack, biohackers, blood sugar spike, blue light blockers, borwn fat, broncodilation, cold thermogenesis, cross train, fat burn, health, holistic, insomnia, insulin spike, intermittent fasting, ketogenisis, ketosis, meditate, melatonin, nose breathing, sleep, stabilize, strength, strength training, stress, UCAN, vasodilation, Weight Loss, wellness
The four major pillars of health and longevity are diet, exercise, sleep, and stress. In order to truly elevate the quality and lengthen the quantity of your life all must be addressed and pieced together to solve the puzzle of true wellness.
This holds true for all, but especially athletes. Often times due to the substantial time put in at the gym, pounding the pavement or on the bike, individuals take a more liberal approach with the fuel they put in their bodies. This often leads to the paradoxical presentation of the overweight marathoner or even triathlete. Simply put, as much as some may try or conveniently convince themselves otherwise, you simply CANNOT out exercise a bad diet.
In one way or another, the saying “garbage in, garbage out,” holds true. You may even be able to get by aesthetically or performance wise for awhile, but trust that the internal systemic destruction caused by “garbage in,” will eventually catch up with you on one, two, or all fronts.
When speaking of athletes, it seems logical that you would do all that is possible to optimize performance. The topic of sports nutrition is a loaded one with many different chapters, but today we will again present a physiologically sound explanation for another intelligent dietary modification.
We’ve spoken before on the importance of the pH (acid v base or alkalinity) maintained internally:
(https://clarkechiropracticwellness.com/2015/06/30/running-essentials-vol-2/)
For numerous reasons well beyond the realm of fitness, we would be wise to strive to maintain a slightly higher or basic (base = alkaline) pH. This has been cited as a method to controlling inflammation (the underlying factor behind virtually every disease), to preventing cancer.
When you engage in strenuous physical activity, a metabolic consequence of that activity is a drop in pH or a shift towards acidity. Although a small window of wiggle room exists, the body will do all it can to maintain an optimal, slightly basic pH. As the acid level within our body rises (dropping the pH) due to physical activity, the body will combat this increase in acidity by breaking down muscle. This is the same muscle you are working so hard to attain, build and utilize for peak performance.
A way to offset this is by divorcing the outdated and antiquated way of carbohydrate bombardment by way of grains, starches, cheeses, and salt laden processed foods, as these foods yield acidity within the body. Instead, the bulk of your diet and carbs should come from the alkaline producing fruits and vegetables.
According to Loren Cordain, PHD and creator of the Paleo Diet: “All foods, upon digestion, report to the kidney as either acid or alkali (base). The typical American diet is net acid producing because of its high reliance upon acid yielding grains, cheeses, and salty processed foods at the expense of the base producing fruits and veggies. The athlete’s body is even more prone to blood acidosis due to the by-products of exercise. One way the body neutralizes a net acid producing diet is by breaking down muscle tissue. Because the Paleo Diet for Athletes is rich in fruits and veggies, it reverses the metabolic acidosis produced from the typical grain and starch laden diet that many athletes consume, thereby preventing muscle loss.”
So there you have it; another physiologically sound explanation on why you should step up your produce game in place of breads, pastas and foods in a box or wrapper. Obviously this is not a standalone solution, but serves as an intelligent addition to your “eating to live” and “striving to thrive” repertoire.
Eat SMART. Live better. ENJOY LIFE.
Happy Holidays.
Posted in Nutrition, Running, Sports
Tagged alkaline diet, athletes, diet, exercise, grain free, muscle, nutrition, Paleo, peak performance, sleep, stress, training
Posted in Drug Discovery, Nutrition
Tagged diet, digestive dysfunction, drugs, fish oil, healthcare, inflammation, intestinal, kidney, laser, Laser Therapy, liver, natural, NSAID, omega 3, pain, stomach, stress, stroke, Supplements
Are you one of the millions of Americans who are feeling negatively affected by the ever evolving heathcare reform? Elevated premiums, ridiculous deductibles, limited network provider selection has patients and providers sick to their stomachs (pun intended).
As promised, change did indeed come, and was definitely needed. And while an abrupt upheaval and reconfigurment of an intact system can be quite unsettling on numerous fronts, only time will tell how the future chapters of this book will be ascribed; for better or for worse.
The question we are left with is: now what? How is one to advantageously navigate this new system in order to reap optimal available benefits, while mitigating the economic blow as much as possible?
Like it or not, it is what it is for the time being. And alas, we are left choices. There is always the option to whine, complain, bitch, moan; even get angry and stressed, which will make healthcare all the more necessary for you.
Unless you plan on getting involved in politics and joining the ranks of policy proposers and lewd lobbyists, then the aforementioned option doesn’t do anyone any good.
Let’s talk about an intelligent strategy here to hopefully save some dollars, sanity and ultimately, your health.
First off you will either need to continue to carry a now inflated health insurance or pay a fine for rolling the dice without. This is still an option and the appropriate alternative varies dependent upon your specific situation. This part appears to be an unavoidable reality at the moment so unless you plan on joining the circus in D.C., you may as well come to terms with your decision and move on.
Let’s now talk about how you can really take control of the situation. Are you infuriated by your seemingly unattainable deductible? Are you disgruntled because you feel you have been forced to change physicians or pay them thousands to join their preferred, VIP patient club?
Well, a simple solution exists to eliminating both of these issues. Stop sitting back complaining while you consume the same diet that perpetuates the need for frequent doctor visits in the first place. Stop sitting altogether. Stop talking about exercise or becoming more active, and get up and do it.
The information, research and evidence implicating lifestyle (diet, exercise, stress, sleep, toxins, etc.) as the main driver of genetic expression (epigenetics) and thus chronic disease (diabetes, arthritis, heart disease, auto-immunity, Alzheimer’s, cancer, etc.) now exists, and is thankfully becoming more mainstream. Ignorance is no longer an excuse. The information, and thus the knowledge and power exists to play a more active role in your health, well being and life than ever once imagined.
You see if you don’t like the current sickcare, excuse me, healthcare system, then take a stand on a personal level and remove yourself from it as much as possible. Stop playing the loud, opinionated, helpless victim who does nothing to help themselves.
No matter where you sit on the spectrum of health, there are basic foundational changes that can be implemented and built upon from there. The stronger that intelligently constructed foundation, the less of a need for all those prescriptions and visits to the specialist.
Thus you have improved two aspects of your relationship with healthcare in that you can now pick a plan that makes emergencies more economical, rather than routine visits to attenuate this new symptom and modify dosage of that med. You have also now enabled yourself to take some space from the this new provider who you didn’t much care for to begin with.
Now I realize everyone’s situation is different, especially when it comes to health. Some people may need plans for frequent specialist visits and access to medications, and that’s all good. That’s what they’re there for.
However, the majority of the population can do themselves a service and make the effort to take the proactive step towards optimal health, and thus more independence from the system they declaratively loathe.
The seemingly healthy individual can arm themselves with knowledge and begin to cultivate a lifestyle relatively free of issues down the line; true responsible, wellness care. The boomers and elder set can break some of the lifelong habits and be sure to attentuate the inevitable degeneration as much as possible, leading to a higher quality of life in those golden years. Even the individual with seemingly hopeless, devestating disease diagnosis can explore all options, and do all they can to stack the remainig deck in their favor.
With the abundance of information out there, getting started can be a daunting, seemingly insurmountable task, but it doesn’t have to be. There exists forward thinking healthcare providers like myself, who are passionate about collaborating with individuals in order to unlock the potential to thrive.
Find one you can develop a relationship with, along with some level of trust. Find one who will take the time to not only listen, but explain the anatomy, physiology, and logic and reason behind each aspect of a plan; ultimately creating a more knowledgable, independent advocate of their own health.
This is what we pride ourselves in doing professionally and personally, and are here to guide all those looking to take their lives into their own hands.
Posted in Health & Wellness
Tagged Alzheimer's, arthritis, auto-immunity, baby boomers, cancer, Diabetes, diet, epigenetics, exercise, healthcare, obamacare, sleep, stress, toxins
Clarke Chiropractic and Wellness 