inflammation Archives - Hudson Valley Chiropractic & Wellness

Barefoot: 5 reasons to ditch your shoes for better health

April 18, 2016 by drchrista 2 Comments

People going barefoot is not something you see often in modern Western society outside of a swimming pool or similar body of water. And what a shame! There are many health benefits to be gained from going barefoot.

April is National Foot Health Awareness Month, so before I get into some of the specific benefits let’s talk a little first about your feet, what they are capable of, and a little bit of their anatomy, because form = function.

Fun fact: 25% of your muscles & bones live below your ankle. (Another fun fact: your foot is a hydrostat. That means it can change its shape without changing it volume- like an elephant’s trunk.) There are 33 joints that make up your foot and your foot has a very similar anatomy to your hand. Now, imagine for a moment what your life would be like if an evil person came along and put your hands in casts from the moment you started crawling around on them and you wore these casts 75% of your day. It wouldn’t be pretty right? Your hands would be more like paddles or fins than hands. You certainly wouldn’t have all the dexterity that you do now. Wearing stiff shoes from the first moments of walking is really no different.

‘Sure Doc, but we don’t walk on our hands like we walk on our feet. Shoes protect our feet from glass, and sharp rocks and things like that.‘

True enough. But again, that is because most of us walk around on altered foot. If we have a shoe to protect our feet, we don’t build up callouses or tougher skin on the soles of our foot. With shoes, the muscles and other tissues of the feet become weaker and lose their ability to respond quickly and reflexively to sensory stimuli from the bottom of the feet. Remember those 33 joints in your foot? In a fully articulating foot, you have the ability to move them independently of each other, allowing you to ‘lift’ one part of the foot off of a sharp object without unweighting or lifting the entire foot.

Imagine that I took your hand and quickly & forcefully pushed the palm of your flattened hand down on a table. Your hand would stay flat. Now imagine we repeated this experiment, but this time I placed a tack, sharp side up, on the table and lined up your hand to land right over top of this. Hopefully, you wouldn’t let me do this to you, but if somehow I did manage to slam your hand down on the tack, you could articulate your hand in such a way that it tented up over the sharp end of the tack so as to lessen and potential injury from the tack. Your feet innately have this exact same capability when it comes to sharp objects on the ground. Hopefully, you use your eyeballs to scan for any potential danger and avoid stepping on them, but in case you miss it, or miscalculate how sharp the object is, reflexes in the foot should engage to protect you from most injuries.

The reflexes become extremely dulled by shoe wearing for most our lives, so at first going barefoot may be a painful experience to you. With time and patience though, your feet will ‘toughen up’ as your reflexes, range of motion, and muscle strength come back.

If it’s going to take some work, time patience and little pain to get your feet ready to go barefoot, why even bother??? I’m glad you asked. Here’s 5 reasons that going barefoot can help improve your health.

Improved balance. In senior citizens, the greatest health risk is falling, which is directly related to a lack of balance that seems to come with aging. You don’t have to lose your balance just because you are getting older though. We lose our balance because we don’t use it enough. If your feet are articulate enough to go barefoot regularly without pain, then you’ve trained those reflexes in your foot to a very high level, which means you will have much better balance. Better balance = less falls = less likely to break a bone. In fact, I would say that if your are worried about keeping healthy, strong bones as you age, but aren’t regularly working on your balance, you’re missing a huge opportunity to prevent broken bones.
Better posture. You might not wear ‘high heels’ but even most athletic sneakers have a positive heel. That means your heel is higher than your toes relative to flat, level ground. Structurally, even a few millimeters of height difference pitches your skeleton forward. You don’t fall forward though because your muscles along the back of your body- the calves, hamstrings, gluts and low back muscles- overly tense in order to keep you upright. If you walk around like this all the time, those muscles will eventually physically shorten by decreasing the number of sacromeres- the repeating contractile units that make up the muscles. Once they are shortened, they stay that way, unless you give them enough stimulus to lengthen again. Going barefoot puts you in a ‘zero drop’ or neutral foot position and allows your skeleton to achieve a balanced, “stacked” position over the feet without having to shorten your muscles.
Less foot/knee/hip/low back pain. As above, if your muscles have started to physically accommodate their length to keep you from falling over, they are probably very tight too. This means they are putting an increased amount of force on the bones to which they are attached and the joints which they cross. For example, the calf muscles attaches to the lower part of the femor (thigh bones) in the back and the hamstrings cross the back of the knee to attach to the lower leg bone, the tibia. If both of these muscles are short and tight, they are going to pull and compress the knee joint. How many people do you know who have “bone on bone” in their knees, or are losing the space (and therefore cartilage) in their knee joint? Do your knees grind, click or pop? Taking supplements to increase the synthesis of cartilage in the knee can be helpful, but if there is no space for that cartilage to grow because the joint is compressed, how effective will that be? Perhaps that real reason clinical trails fail to find a conclusive benefit from taking glucosamine, chondroitin and/or MSM. By walking around on a neutral foot, going barefoot can help correct these imbalances that lead to poor posture and increased compression forces on certain joints. Also, if you have bunions, let me correct a misconception right now. Bunions themselves are not hereditary. The tendency to wear shoes with a narrow toe box that squish the toes together, can be taught or even encouraged by family members, which is why it might seem to ‘run in the family.’ Also, the shape of your foot- how wide or narrow it is, may be under some genetic control. So if everyone in your family has wider-than-average feet, but all insist on cramming them into average width shoes, most people in the family will end up with foot malformations at some point in live.
Less foot odor/nail fungus. Fungi love dark, moist environments. So do most of the bacteria that lead to foot odor. If you want to clear up these conditions, you don’t need a lot of expensive creams, sprays or powders. You do need to let your feet air out and dry out though. Going barefoot around your house or yard more often can be a great way to do this. (Note: if you have an advanced case of nail fungus where most or all of your nails are thick brittle and yellow, please see a doctor for a medication. Once the fungus is cleared, going barefoot more often can help prevent it from coming back. Especially since some of that fungus is probably now living in your shoes….)
Earthing. When we walk with our barefeet directly on the earth, there is a measurable exchange of ions. Specifically, we discharge excess positive ions. Holistic health experts believe that a build up of these positive ions in our bodies can support inflammation and have negative health consequences. One clinician did a small experiment and found that just 15 minutes a day of walking barefoot on the ground helped her patients reduce inflammation. If their inflammatory load was already low, it helped them lose weight.

If you’re excited about and ready to start adding some barefoot time to your life- excellent! Stay tuned for next week’s post where I will give you some guidelines for incorporating this in your life safely and without injury! Can’t wait? Check out my favorite book on this topic by Katy Bowman.

Also, feel free to follow me on Instagram (@primaldoc) for some inspiration from my own barefoot adventures!

Or sign up for my email list with the link below to get my free report and to receive emails with important information for living your best, healthiest life!

Hudson Valley Gluten-free: Celiac disease vs. Gluten sensitivity

February 2, 2016 by drchrista Leave a Comment

Hudson Valley Gluten-free folks- are you eating gluten-free but still having symptoms such as joint or muscles aches, headaches, skin rashes, eczema or psoriasis, migraines, peripheral neuropathy, brain fog, inability to focus, hair loss, or weight loss resistance? Are you taking several long-term prescription medications to address any of the above symptoms or other chronic health conditions? Are you looking for a natural way to feel better, without more drugs?

Let’s start by addressing two common conditions that lead people to adopt a gluten-free diet- Celiac disease and gluten sensitivity. Despite common misconceptions, these are not the same thing. Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease where the ingestion of gluten causes antibodies to be made. These antibodies then mark & tag the cells of the small intestine for destruction by the immune system. Most of the symptoms of Celiac disease are related to the GI track- chronic diarrhea and or constipation, abdominal pain and bloating, even gas.

Gluten sensitivity on the other hand is a genetic predisposition, but not a full-blown autoimmune disease (though it can lead to the development of autoimmune disease!) In this case, ingestion of gluten creates inflammation in the gut. This causes microscopic holes to open in the gut that can let toxins and particles of undigested food cross into the bloodstream, causing more inflammation. And because it has now reached the bloodstream, this inflammatory response can show up in any vulnerable tissue- muscles, joints, thyroid gland, sinuses, even the brain. This is why there can be a such a wide range of symptoms of gluten sensitivity.

A key thing to know is that other grains contain gluten proteins as well. Gluten is a class of proteins as opposed to just one specific one. (The specific problematic protein in wheat is known as gliadin). Because of the similar structure in this class of protein, its common for there to be cross-reactions where the body reacts to other grains in the same way it reacts to the gluten in wheat.

This means that if you are eating gluten-free either because you have Celiac disease or have suspect you have gluten sensitivity, your symptoms will likely improve further by cutting out all grain products from you diet entirely. This can be achieved most readily by adhering to a Paleo diet type diet.

If you are in the Hudson Valley & gluten-free, struggling with Celiac disease or symptoms you believe are related to gluten sensitivity, a grain-free diet may be the solution. If you need help from someone experienced in working with people just like yourself, I invite you to call my office today at 845-687-6387 for your free 15 minutes consultation to learn how I can help you feel better, have more energy and lose weight.

Holistic Solutions for Celiac Disease in Kingston, NY

January 19, 2016 by drchrista 3 Comments

Whole-body wellness for Celiac disease in Kingston, NY

Are you living with Celiac disease in Kingston, NY (or anywhere, really)? Are you frustrated that despite strictly adhering to a gluten-free diet, you still suffer from bouts of diarrhea, constipation, stomach upset, bloating or abdominal pain? Do you frequently have other symptoms like constant fatigue, headaches, achey joints, or muscle pain that leave you feeling run down and unable to accomplish what you need to? Do you have trouble getting enough restful & restorative sleep to feel your best each day?

If you’re looking for better solutions to heal from Celiac disease, we can help!

While it’s true that there is no cure for Celiac disease, your body can heal from the damage caused by CD. Once gluten is completely removed from the diet, we know that cells of the small intestine can repair themselves to create a healthier gut, leading to a decrease in symptoms. However, it often takes more than just removing gluten to restore the integrity of the gut lining and limit antibody formation.

Other foods, particularly other grains, can cause cross-reactivity. This is when there is enough overlap between the protein structures that similar antibodies are made, even though gluten itself is not consumed. Therefore, even on a gluten-free diet, chronic inflammation of the gut can continue to be an issue. This often results in continued symptoms.

If you have been diagnosed with Celiac disease, the imbalance and inflammation in your gut has been occurring for a period of months, probably even years, before you started having the symptoms that lead to your diagnosis. In that time, other changes in gut function may have occurred that are also preventing you from healing from the symptoms of CD, such as gut flora imbalances or SIBO infections (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth). While a gluten-free diet is the first step in recovering from such imbalances, more may need to be done, including the removal of other types of foods that may be ‘feeding’ the bad bacteria in your gut.

Another reason why you may still have symptoms is that there is still an immune system imbalance. While removing gluten from your diet helps stop the damage of your intestine, it may not be enough to calm down the chronic inflammation of your immune system. Left unchecked, this chronic inflammation may lead to develop of other autoimmune diseases in the future.

In the meantime, this chronic inflammation can drive hormone imbalances that lead to poor sleep, chronic fatigue and malaise, muscle aches, joint pain, headaches or brain fog. The chronically elevated levels of cortisol in response to chronic inflammation can also cause depletion of hormones like progesterone and testosterone. This may result in low libido, mood swings, increased PMS symptoms or even infertility.

The symptoms and problems caused by Celiac disease can show up in all parts of the body. That’s why it takes a holistic solution to find true wellness. If you’d like to learn more about a functional medicine approach to Celiac disease, please read this article. You can also learn more about why a gluten-free diet may not be enough of a solution here.

If you are suffering with Celiac disease in Kingston, NY there is a better solution. I work with patients regularly just like you, to help them find the diet and lifestyle based solutions to feel better and have more energy. I offer a free 15 minute consultation if you would like to find out more about how I can specifically help you. Call me at 845-687-6387 to find out how I can help you live better with Celiac Disease in Kingston, NY.

Hudson Valley: Help for your hypothyroid

January 11, 2016 by drchrista 1 Comment

Do these symptoms of a hypothyroid sound all too familiar? You’re tired all of the time. You’re hair is thinning or falling out and you don’t know how to make it stop. Despite dieting carefully and watching what you eat, you seem to continue to gain weight- and can’t ever get it off. You absolutely cannot go without a pair of big thick wool socks in the winter because your feet are cold all of the time. You experience brain fog that takes two or three cups of coffee to ‘fix’ and you wonder if that prescription anti-depressant is helping with that at all.

If you’re struggling with hypothyroidism, you’re not alone. And I want you to know that you’ve come to the right place. I work with patients like you everyday. I help them find relief from their hypothyroid symptoms beyond medication.

You see, there’s a couple of important things you need to know about hypothyroidism in order to get real relief from your symptoms.

You need more than just TSH measured to assess symptoms of a hypothyroid.

TSH simply measures the brain’s ability to stimulate the thyroid gland. However, to truly know what is causing an under-functioning thyroid, a full thyroid panel must be done and considered, including TSH, Total T4, Total T3, Free T4, Free T3, T3 Uptake, Reverse T3 and TPO antibodies. It is totally possible to have ‘normal’ TSH and still have hypothyroid symptoms! If T4 is normal for example, the brain will think there is plenty of thyroid hormone and not make as much TSH. But if there is inflammation in the body, which can inhibit the conversion of T4 to the active form T3, then not enough T3 can get into the cells where it has it’s effect. Thus, leading to signs and symptoms of hypothyroidism, even though TSH and T4 are within normal ranges!

80% of hypothyroid cases in the U.S. are attributable to Hashimoto’s hypothyroid

Many cases of hypothyroidism in the U.S. are actually the result of an autoimmune disease that attacks and destroys the cells of thyroid gland. This results in a decreased ability to produce adequate thyroid hormone over time. These folks often have to keep increasing their dose of thyroid medication in order to feel normal. In others, the right dose for them seems to be all over the map, fluctuating frequently. The only way to confirm Hashimoto’s is to do a blood test for antibodies to the thyroid gland. Thyroid peroxidase antibodies are the most common, but Thyroglobulin antibodies may be present too.

Cases of Hashimoto’s hypothyroid are autoimmune diseases- the immune system needs to be addressed too!

The sad fact is that many hypothyroid patients are giving prescriptions for replacement hormone and told that’s it; that’s all they can do and they will be on the medications for life. However, there is so much more that can be done! Implementing an anti-inflammatory diet and beginning to balance the immune system can retard it’s attacks on the thyroid gland. Focusing on a nutritious diet that decreases the inflammation can also help with stubborn weight loss and even help to regrow thinning hair. More importantly, correcting the immune system imbalance early can help prevent other autoimmune disease from developing in the future.

If you’d like to read some indepth articles I’ve written about hypothyroid and Hashimoto’s, go here, here and here. You can also check out this short video.

If you live in the Hudson Valley, have hypothyroidism and want to learn about holistic solutions for your symptoms, I invite you to call my office and learn more about how I can help you. I offer a risk-free, complimentary 15 minute consultation so you learn about how I can help you. Call me today at 845-687-6387.

Should you try The Paleo Diet?

December 21, 2015 by drchrista Leave a Comment

Paleo. Some call it a “fad diet.” Many associate it with uber-lean, muscle-bound Crossfit-types. It’s been confused with Atkins and the low-carb craze. It’s philosophical underpinnings have been the subject of TED talks and scathing critiques throughout the media. Maligned by vegetarians and vegans, this juggernaut diet trend isn’t going anywhere.

The Paleo Diet is here to stay.

You may be curious about it yourself. You have a coworker or neighbor or fifth cousin-twice removed who lost a ton of weight and swears by it. Or maybe you are thinking that any diet where bacon is heartily embraced is your kind of diet. Perhaps you are enticed by the idea of not having to count calories and still losing weight.

Is The Paleo Diet the right choice for you?

Despite what the detractors say, the Paleo diet is not about trying to recreate the life of a caveman. We can, however, gain some important insights into how our bodies function best by looking to our past. The fact is there is a lot of very modern scientific research that backs up this intuitive & ancestral approach to eating. That’s why having my patients adopt a Paleo-type diet is one of the first steps in their nutritional treatment protocol. It’s about more than just rock hard abs. Here’s why I recommend it and why I think you should do it too:

Nutrient-density. The Paleo Diet is the most nutrient dense diet on the planet. A paper published by Mat LaLonde, a chemistry professor at Harvard, showed that for the same number of calories, a Paleo Diet contained more vitamins, minerals and essential fats than the SAD (Standard American Diet.) Not especially surprising, but what was enlightening is that even when he tried to add dairy or whole grains, he could not come up with more vitamins & minerals without adding more calories. This raw data for this came straight from the USDA’s own database of the nutritional content of foods. When you give the body the nutrients it needs, it doesn’t crave more empty calories in a misguided attempt to get them. While eating a nutrient-dense, whole-foods diet, most people spontaneously lower their calorie consumption, without trying or having to resort to willpower.
Anti-inflammatory. Wheat, dairy, soy and peanuts (a legume) are common allergens, yet are absent from a typical Paleo diet. Gluten in particular has been shown to increase the amount of an inflammatory protein in the gut called zonulin. This protein opens up spaces between cells of the gut lining called tight junctions. When these tight junctions are opened up, it leads to a leaky gut. (In the scientific literature this is referred to as ‘increased intestinal permeability.) Pieces of undigested proteins than cross the gut lining where they meet the GALT- Gut Associated Lymphoid Tissue. Made up of the same white blood cells as the rest of your immune system, its estimated that up 70% of your immune system is hanging out in your gut. When the GALT starts having to react to pieces of undigested protein, it creates inflammation, both in the gut itself as well as the rest of your body. If you have aches or pains, brain fog or memory loss, depression or hormone imbalances (all of which can be caused by inflammation), you really should give the Paleo diet a try.
Whole-foods based. We can argue all day long about what cavemen did or didn’t eat and whether those foods still really exist, but at the end of the day I think we can all agree that whole-foods are way better and more nutritious for you than anything processed. Fresh meats and eggs from pastured and grassfed animals, wild seafood, plenty of vegetables in an array of colors and some fruits. Nuts and seeds. These are not controversial health foods, they’re just common sense.
Sustainability. Diets that leave you hungry and starved are not sustainable. For sustained fat loss and long-term recovery from inflammatory conditions, a diet has to be one that you can follow over the long haul. There are so many resources now; the number of Paleo cookbooks has exploded in recent years and the number of Paleo recipe blogs has grown exponentially. There really is no legitimate reason for getting bored on the Paleo Diet.
Lifestyle Factors. There’s more to health & fitness than just food, yet so many ‘diets’ fail to account for this. Many people will say that Paleo isn’t just a diet, it’s lifestyle. What that means is that food is just the start. Beyond diet, a healthy lifestyle should also include plenty of quality, restorative sleep, stress management, frequent movement & exercise, good posture & alignment, relaxation and time in nature. To heal from a chronic disease, all of these factors must be addressed.

Is Paleo the right choice for you? I think it happens to be the right choice for anyone who wants to build or maintain their health. Want some help getting started on your journey to more energy, less fatigue, clearer skin and less pain? Call my office today at 845-687-6387. I help people like you implement and tailor a Paleo approach to meet their health goals.

January is just around the corner. If you have been thinking of starting a Paleo diet as part of your commitment to get healthier in the coming year, but are a bit overwhelmed or unsure how to get started, check out my New Year, New You! whole-foods based cleanse program. To learn more, click here.

Celiac disease: What your doctor hasn’t told you

November 24, 2015 by drchrista 3 Comments

It can be difficult to adjust to a gluten-free life after being diagnosed with Celiac disease, especially if the only thing your doctor has told you about your new diagnosis and lifestyle is “don’t eat gluten.” Thankfully, now there are many groups and organizations to help the newly diagnosed find the information they need. There are also many more food choices available in the marketplace and they are more accessible now than ever. Even most large chain grocery stores have a gluten-free section now.

It wasn’t always this way. I remember when my mom was first diagnosed with Celiac disease. There were only one or two organizations providing reliable information. The ‘can have’ and ‘can’t have’ lists changed rapidly, especially regarding certain food additives like ‘modified food starch’ and its ilk. But the worst was the few gluten-free foods available. Pastas and breads made with brown rice flour that tasted like eating sand. I still remember attending a meeting of a local Celiac support group and a woman holding a gluten-free product in her hands, exorting the group “this is not a health food.” That stuck with me.

As I started to study more functional medicine, and learn more about leaky gut- what causes it and how to heal it, and why its such a key part of addressing all autoimmune disease, including Celiac disease- I finally started to understand what this woman meant.

If you have Celiac disease, going gluten-free may be enough to make your GI symptoms go away. You might not feel the bloating or have the constant diarrhea that you experienced before, but that doesn’t mean its enough to heal the damage caused by the Celiac disease in the first place. That’s the part your doctor probably left out. So if you really want to heal- to get to the root cause of the issue- these are a couple things you need to keep in mind.

Other grains can cause cross-reactions of the immune system that still lead to antibody formation.

In fact, its not uncommon to see patients on gluten-free diets develop sensitivities and intolerances to other grains. I’ve seen patients become sensitive to corn, amaranth, tapioca, even rice. In general, when I have a patient with Celiac disease report to me that they are stilling having symptoms of inflammation, even on a gluten-free diet, I have them do a trial elimination of ALL grains right away.

Gluten-free processed foods are no healthier for you than their wheat-laden counterparts.

I’m sure you’ve looked at the ingredients on the package of a gluten-free bread or pasta. (You do still read the ingredients even though its labeled gluten-free, right?) Potato starch and tapioca starch are often used because they have a finer texture than rice flour- which often gives the product that aforementioned ‘sand’ texture. The problem with these starches though, is that they are highly processed- most of the nutrients are processed out and what is left is the pure carbohydrate. This changes the speed at which the carbohydrate is digested and usually leads to a high blood sugar spike afterward. The higher the blood sugar goes, the higher insulin needs to go. Over time, this mechanism leads to insulin-resistance or what many refer to as “pre-diabetes.” Along the way, this increase in insulin may make it harder to maintain your weight, lead to increased cortisol production and belly fat, and cause imbalances in several hormonal pathways. It doesn’t matter that these products are gluten-free. Gluten is a protein; the refined and processed starches in these products are the often the real problem.

Your Celiac diagnosis is the end stage of a long process that has been going on in your body for years.

It is now accepted that gluten-intolerance and its symptoms are better represented by a spectrum. There are folks in the middle who have various negative symptoms when they eat gluten and feel much better when not eating it, but have not yet reached the threshold for a diagnosis of Celiac disease. Current research from Dr. Alessio Fassano’s lab (he’s the guy publishing a bulk of the research on Celiac disease today) suggests that if these people continue to eat gluten despite their reactions to it AND have the gene the express Celiac disease, they will eventually express full-blown Celiac disease. (Note here that even if they don’t have a gene for CD, but for perhaps another autoimmune disease, this gene may be triggered the same way). If you look back at your own health history, its pretty likely that you’ve known something wasn’t right for years before your diagnosis. Chronic depression, severe PMS, chronic diarrhea or stomach upsets, anxiety about eating out or whether there would be a bathroom nearby when you needed it, acne or chronic skin issues, headache or brain fog, unexplained neurological symptoms- you’ve known these things weren’t ‘normal’ but nobody could tell you what they were. Once you were diagnosed with Celiac disease, a lot of those chronic symptoms began to make sense. They were subtle ways your body was telling you something was wrong.

Because this has been a drawn-process, happening over years, true healing is going to take time to work through. And very likely it will take more than just going gluten-free. The damage in your gut has lead to poor nutrient absorption and there may have even been negative compensations that have developed over time in response to the lack of key nutrients. Vitamins and minerals will need to be replaced. They will need to be replaced in a smart and efficient way, not by just taking a multi-vitamin pill and calling it a day.

The best way to go about this is to work with a functional medicine practitioner who understands Celiac disease and will help you find an integrative, whole-body solution to healing. If you’re ready to start the journey to a deeper level of healing and want some experienced guidance, give me a call at 845-687-6387. I work with patients locally in the Hudson Valley region, but I am also available to consult with non-local patients via telephone or Skype.

Not sure if you’re ready to commit yet? That’s OK too- I still want to do what I can to help you.

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WHO links red meat to cancer- what you need to know

October 27, 2015 by drchrista 1 Comment

On Monday, the World Health Organization announced that processed meats like bacon & sausage were classified as “causing cancer” and red meat as “probably causing cancer.”

Let’s just say, its caused quite a stir. So does this mean that a Paleo or low-carb diet is going to kill you???

No. But there are a few things you should know before eating loads of bacon with impunity.

The risk is small

The report stated that 50g of processed meat a day (less than 2 pieces of bacon) caused an increase in colorectal cancer of 18%. What does that 18% increased risk really look like though? Let’s say 6 out of 100 people get bowel cancer in their lifetimes. And all of those 100 people eat an extra 50g of processed meat a day. An 18% increased risk means 7 people will develop develop bowel cancer instead of 6. That’s one extra case of cancer per 100 people eating 50g of processed meat every day.

The risk is still smaller than that from smoking or alcohol consumption

Cancer Research UK put it this way- 21% of bowel cancers can be attributed to processed and red meat consumption whereas 86% of lung cancer can be attributed to tobacco. In the larger context, 19% of all cancers can be attributed to tobacco, whereas just 3% of all cancers can be attributed to red and processed meat. So it would make no sense to stop eating red meat if you’re going to continue to smoke or drink alcohol excessively.

Red meat can cause cancer

There are several mechanisms by which it appears that red & processed meats can cause cancer. (And it should be noted that these mechanisms have NOTHING to do with whether the meat is of the grain-fed, feedlot-raised variety. That is, eating only grass-fed red meat will not protect you from these potential cancer-causing pathways.) One of those pathways is the digestion of the heme protein. Cytotoxic compounds can be created that damage the gut lining and can lead to cell proliferation- and increased cancer risk. Another mechanism is the metabolism of L-carnitine, an amino acid particularly abundant in red meat. Gut bacteria metabolize L-carnitine into a compound called TMA (trimethylamine). TMA crosses into the blood stream, goes to the liver and is metabolized into TMAO (trimethylamine-N-oxide). TMAO is strongly linked to cancer and heart disease. Another potential mechanism are mutagens that can be created when cooking red meat, particularly grilling and frying (heterocyclic amines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons).

All these mechanisms are modified by vegetable consumption

Chlorophyll (the compound that makes plants green) and heme have almost identical chemical structures. Because of this similarity, chlorophyll can block the metabolism of heme into toxic, gut-destroying compounds allowing it instead to be metabolized to inert (inactive) compounds.

Indoles found in cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, kale, cabbage, and cauliflower have been shown to suppress the growth of tumors caused by heterocyclic amines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

As for the link between L-carnitine and TMAO, that is a little more complex. In turns out that a particular species of gut bacteria, Prevotella, is mostly responsible for increased blood levels of TMAO from L-carnitine consumption, according to a 2013 study published in Nature Medicine. Conversely, gut microbiomoes that have more Bacteroides sp. instead of Prevotella converted significantly less L-carnitine into to TMA and eventually, TMAO. Prevotella specialize in fermenting polysaccharides in grains (but not those in fruits & vegetables), so they appear to predominate in the microbiomes of those with high consumptions of grains. Though we can’t say this conclusively yet, it appears from what we currently know, that eating a grain-free diet and getting most of your fiber from vegetables helps moderate the danger of processed and red meat consumption from this particularly pathway.

So I don’t think anyone needs to give up red meat or enjoying bacon from time to time. It comes back to the same, basic, intuitive advice: eat a variety of foods (mix in white meats & fish in for protein sources) and make sure to get at least 5 servings of vegetables a day. That means that there should be veggies on your plate at every meal. I encourage folks to think of building their plates around 4 ounce of animal protein (about 1/3 of their plate) and to fill in the other two-thirds of plate with vegetables. Not only is it a simple way of creating a meal, but it helps ensure that you get the healthiest balance of animal to plant foods.

For further reading check out here and here.

How to REALLY heal after surgery

August 19, 2015 by drchrista 4 Comments

Last week, my husband had a bad accident at work that resulted in an open compound fracture of the tibia and fibula. He was rushed to the hospital for emergency orthopedic surgery to place pins to internal fix his ankle. He will be fine, but has been instructed to not place any weight on the ankle for 5 weeks. He’ll need at least 3 months of physical therapy and rehab after that.

I am not surgeon, but I do know how to heal & grow new bone and recover from surgery. Several years ago I had to have a series of surgeries myself to remove a tumor from my jawbone. My post-op progress had to be measured with periodic x-rays. The prognosis was that it would take 3 years for the bone tissue I lost to fully grow back. I replaced the bone I lost from the surgery in about a year. I plan to employ these same therapies to help my husband heal and recover from his fracture and subsequent surgery as well.

If you have had surgery, or have an impending surgery, here are some of the strategies that you can use to help you heal quickly and recover fully.

1. MOVE. As soon as your surgeon gives the OK, start moving as much as you can within your pain tolerance. Tissues in your body undergo a process called “immobilization degeneration” that can be measured at the cellular level within 24 hours of immobilization. Many tissues, particularly the cartilage in your joints, rely on movement in order to pump nutrient-rich blood in, and waste-product-filled lymph, back out. Try to get out of bed and start walking around as soon as your doctors and nurses give you the green light. Use assistance if necessary (and those socks with the sticky little grips on the bottom. You might be a little unsteady on your feet due pain meds and lack of food. Expect your balance to be if-y.)

2. VITAMIN D3- Many people know that Vitamin D is important, but they don’t know exactly why. Vitamin D has many functions in the body, but one particular one is supporting the function of T-regulatory cells. If you think of your immune system as a symphony orchestra, than T-regulatory cells are the conductor. Vitamin D helps the conductor conduct- and having the immune system all reading from the same page of music is going to be important in recovering well. If you’re recovering from some sort of orthopedic surgery, I would recommend a good quality cod liver oil, something with Vitamins A, D, and K, which are all extremely important in proper synthesis of new bone tissue. The product that I took after my surgeries and that my husband is currently taking is the Blue Ice Green Pastures fermented cod liver oil/high vitamin butter oil blend. My research indicates that this is the highest quality cod liver oil supplement you can take. Unlike many cod liver oil supplements that process the natural vitamins out of the cod liver oil and then add synthetic ones back in, the Green Pastures product uses an ancient fermentation process that concentrates the natural vitamins. In addition to taking a product like this, get out and get some sunshine. The fresh air and sunshine will do wonders for the body. It’s no accident that before we had the benefit of antibiotics, patients with tuberculosis would go to sanitariums/solariums for rest and rehabilitation. Laying in the sun and developing a tan was a way to increase Vitamin D production. You have to do this without sunscreen however, as that blocks the production of Vitamin D (and never try to tan under glass either). So be smart about your sun exposure. If you are very pale or burn easily, start very slowly and work your way up as your tan deepens. Make sure you can go inside or get out of the sun as soon as you notice the first signs of pink on your skin to avoid overdoing it and getting a sunburn. I spent a very pleasant week at the beach in September healing from my last surgery. The Vitamin D I stored not only helped me heal, but also avoid a period of depression that winter that I had thought was normal.

3. BONE BROTH. Acai and goji and cocao get all the credit. Probably because of their rich, vibrant colors. Bone broth might not be much to look at it, but it is at least as much as superfood at those Amazonian juggernauts, maybe more so because it can be made from the leftovers & scraps. Its an excellent way to get the most bang for your buck from the grassfed and pastured meats you are buying. Not only that, but its is full of calcium and minerals for bone growth as well as collagen synthesis. I made a big batch of bone broth before my surgeries so that I could sip on it for the weeks after I recovered. I’m giving my husband a mug of broth just about everyday. The key to really nutritive bone broth is to let bones sit, covered with water for about an hour with 1/4-1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar. The acidity of the vinegar will help pull the minerals out of the bones and into the broth. Broth, especially if knuckle bones, chicken or pig’s feet are used, will also be really rich in gelatin, which helps with cartilage and soft tissue synthesis. A good quality gelatin supplement from grassfed cows can also be used. I have been using the product from Great Lakes, but I also just ordered the Vital Proteins Beef Gelatin and Collagen Peptides products for my husband and I. (So stay tuned and you may see a future post from me about my experience with the Vital Proteins products.) Another great thing about broth is that your system might not tolerate a whole lot of food after surgery. Broth is easy to get (and keep) down while providing infinitely more nutrition than sugar-laden ‘juices’ and saltine-type crackers with almost no nutrition whatsoever.

4. PROBIOTICS. You will have to take some amount of antibiotics after your surgery to reduce the risk of a post-op infection. Unfortunately, this can wreck havoc on your gut microbiome and lead to imbalances in your gut bacteria that may lead to the overgrowth of opportunistic parasites and a slow erosion of your health. Make sure to discuss this with your pharmacist and physician first, but start a course of probiotics as soon as you can. Either while you’re on the antibiotics if cleared to do so, or as soon as you finish them. Look for a good probiotic supplement that has a wide range of types of bacteria and yeasts in it and at least 30-50 million CFU in a dose.

5. MANAGE STRESS. Repairing from surgery is major stress on the body, a good and necessary one, but still a stress. Unfortunately, too much stress can cause the adrenal glands to output too much of a hormone called cortisol. Cortisol has several functions, but one of the things it does is suppress the immune system. Since it is the immune system that is helping us heal and repair after surgery, this is generally not ideal (unless we are talking about organ transplant surgery.) Do what you can to slow down and take it easy on yourself as you recover. My beach vacation after surgery was not just about Vitamin D, but decreasing stress as well (I’m generally not a lay on the beach and no nothing for my vacation kind of gal- I usually prefer to use that time to scale a mountain side somewhere). Take it easy when you first go back to the gym. Don’t expect to do a lot of high intensity work. Plan to walk, do yoga, tai chi or other gentler forms of exercise. Breathe, meditate, or just lay in the sunshine and take a mental break. Delegate tasks to those offering to help and take as much time off from work as you can afford.

Most importantly, take the time to be really nice to your body. Feed it good quality food, with lots of nutrient-dense, colorful fruits and vegetables. Use the time to hit a “reset” button on your system and do as much as you can to invest in getting as healthy as possible.

6 “hidden” sources of stress

July 21, 2015 by drchrista Leave a Comment

Stress. It is ubiquitous in this modern age, so much so that most of us consider it inevitable. However, our relationship with stress over the last hundred years or so is vastly different from our relationship with it for the vast majority of our evolution as a species.

For most of our time on this Earth, stress was a punctuated, limited experience. The saber-tooth tiger chased us, we ran away and once safe in our cave, we could rest, relax and repair wounds, tissue damage and even metabolic damaged incurred on our getaway.

Unfortunately, nowadays that ‘rest, relax and repair’ phase never comes and so the damage builds and builds. Even if we don’t feel ‘stressed,’ our bodies may be experiencing stress. Though most of us associate ‘stress’ with psychoemotional stressors, we can experience ill effects from physical stressors too- and the body does not distinguish between physical and mental stresses.

So what are some ‘hidden’ sources of physical stress that might be contributing to your overall stress and slowly eroding away your health?

1. Food intolerances. Intolerances are different immunologically than a true food ‘allergy’ so the symptoms can be a lot more subtle. Headaches, fatigue, joint pain, skin rashes, and other chronic conditions can be symptoms of a gut being assaulted regularly by foods it doesn’t tolerate. Since the majority of the your immune system resides in your gut, this can create imbalances that can set the stage for autoimmune disease.

2. Poor sleep. Not just a lack of sleep, which most of us have experienced as a stress, but a lack of quality, restorative sleep. Sleep apnea is an all-to-common manifestations of this. If your body is not getting enough oxygen and alarms are constantly going off in your brain to wake up and breathe, you can be in bed ‘sleeping’ for 8-10 hours and still be tired and fatigued throughout the day. Another thing that can negatively impact your sleep quality is electromagnetic radiation from any electronics. Current evidence suggests that EMR disrupts the circadian rhythms that govern our sleep-wake cycles deep in a part of the brain called the pineal gland. Set your phone to ‘airplane mode,’ turn off the wireless router and unplug whatever electronics you can at night. They draw a small current even if plugged, but ‘off.’ Put all bedroom electronics on a power strip so you only have to unplug one thing to kill the electricity to them all at night.

3. Nutrient deficiencies. Most of us have moved away from eating nutrient-dense whole foods for most of our calorie intake. Modern farming practices can often deplete the soil of important minerals like magnesium and selenium and because of this, even organic produce may not be as nutrient dense as the food our grandparents ate. Additionally, in trying to digest process foods, our bodies are often depleted of more vitamins and minerals that we receive from the food itself. In dealing with increased stress, we use up our stores of B vitamins, Vitamin C and magnesium.

4. Blood sugar imbalances. Have you ever experienced the feeling of being ‘hangry,’ when you are so hungry your mood tanks and you get mad at everyone and everything until you get something to eat? Or have you ever had that afternoon ‘food coma’ where all you want to do about an hour after lunch is take a nap? These are symptoms that your blood sugar is unbalanced. One way that your body deals with low blood sugar is to secrete cortisol, our stress hormone, which mobilizes stored glucose from the liver in order to make it available to brain cells. Though this is a key survival adaptation, particularly in times where food is scarce, when this leads to elevated cortisol levels on a daily basis, it can suppress the immune system and lead to problems regulating our inflammatory response.

5. Sex hormone imbalances. Cortisol is made primarily from progesterone, but can be made from estrogen, testosterone and DHEA as well. Poor libido, changes in menstrual cycles, changes in PMS, infertility and erectile dysfunction may all have their route cause in stress that robs of us of our sex hormone balance.

6. Exercise. Bet you didn’t see that one coming? Exercise is a stress, usually a good one. But too much, too frequently, especially ‘cardio,’ can overtax the adrenals and result in overproduction of cortisol. In a healthy person, this is not problematic, in fact, it helps the body be better prepared for future stresses, but if you have a chronic health condition, or any one of the hidden sources of stress listed above, it may useful to reevaluate what kind of exercise you are doing and for how long. Strength training workouts are less ‘stressful’ to the adrenal glands then long steady-state cardio workouts. Additionally, short, high-intensity interval workouts appear to be less taxing on the adrenals glands than a steady-state cardio workout as well. If a patient is suffering from stress from too much of the wrong kind of exercise, I will also recommend moving more and exercising less. Focus on things like walking, playing outdoors, standing instead of sitting, gardening, etc.- activities that are fun, can be fit into your daily routine (as opposed to having to carve out extra time in an already hectic schedule to go to the gym) and move your body in new and novels ways, instead of the repetitive motion of most cardio exercises.

Glutathione: What it is and why you need (more of) it!

September 29, 2014 by drchrista Leave a Comment

The short answer here is that glutathione is your body’s main antioxidant. As with any antioxidant, its main function is to reduce free radicals within the body. The damage caused by free radicals accelerates the aging process, as the free radicals destroy essential compounds and tissues, like the lining of your arteries or even your DNA itself.

Inflammation can also increase the production of free radicals and therefore the need for glutathione. In fact, almost any inflammatory condition can be helped by ensuring the body is adequately synthesizing glutathione.

Outside of inflammatory conditions that might call for more glutathione synthesis, we may become deficient in glutathione because of insufficient dietary intake of the necessary building blocks of glutathione. In particular, the amino acid cysteine, which is rare in food, is often a limiting factor in glutathione synthesis.

Magnesium and selenium are two minerals also necessary for the production and function of glutathione. Due to modern farming practices, both of these minerals can be hard to come by in adequate amounts through just diet alone. Vitamin D3 has also been shown to augment glutathione synthesis.

So how can you insure that you have adequate amounts of this very important antioxidant on hand?

Whey protein has been shown to increase glutathione synthesis.
Supplementation with N-acetyl cysteine has been shown to be useful. SAMe has also shown to be beneficial
Optimize your Vitamin D levels by making sure you get 15-20 minutes of sun (or more if you have darker skin) on unprotected skin daily, year around. Consider supplementation if this is difficult.
Make sure you get adequate magnesium and selenium. Magnesium is a safe & effective supplement that almost everyone should be on. Three Brazil nuts eaten daily can help insure adequate selenium levels.