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And We’re Back! With a Tart Recipe You Won’t Want to Miss!

12/10/2013

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After an extended leave of absence, HËLSË is back and ready to talk about optimal health once again! Thank you all for your understanding over the past few months as we’ve been entirely focused on urgent family matters.

So without further ado, let’s jump right in! As we head into the holidays, HËLSË is busy experimenting with new dessert recipes that are nutrient dense and full of healthy fats to satiate that sweet tooth!

When I was diagnosed with insulin resistance a few years ago, the thought of giving up sweets was pretty much a death sentence! And I was not successful in my attempt to give up sweets, which only further complicated my blood sugar spikes and dizzy spells. After a lot of research on stabilizing blood sugar levels, I realized the benefits of “raw desserts” which utilize the combination of fruits, nuts, dark chocolate, natural sugars (honey, maple syrup), and coconut to make insanely delicious desserts that don’t have any commercial flours or refined and/or genetically modified sugar in them.

As many of you know, I am a staunch advocate for completely removing processed foods from your diet for optimal health. And this includes those tempting little brownies, cookies and cakes that always seem to overwhelmingly creep up on us right about this time of year.

Headed to a holiday party and want to avoid those unhealthy dessert options? Bring your own raw dessert and share with your friends – you will be the hit of the party! Want to learn how? Schedule a Skype session with me today via [email protected] and we’ll make one together.

If you are feeling confident, test your raw dessert chef skills with the recipe from Ryan’s Birthday cake:

Raw Chocolate Almond Tart {Paleo}

Prep Time: 20 minutes; Cook Time: 2 hours

Ingredients

Crust
  • 1 1/2 c. raw walnuts
  • 2 1/2 tbsp. cacao powder
  • 2 1/2 tbsp. raw honey
  • 1/2 tsp. sea salt

Chocolate Layer
  • 2 ripe avocados
  • 5 tbsp. cacao powder
  • 3 tbsp. coconut oil (melted)
  • 6 tbsp. coconut palm sugar
  • 1 tbsp. vanilla extract
  • pinch of sea salt

Almond Butter Layer
  • 1/2 cup smooth raw almond butter
  • 1 tsp. coconut oil
  • 2 tbsps. honey

Instructions
  1. Add walnuts, cacao and salt to the food processor. Pulse until well combined.
  2. Add the honey and continue food processing until a dough forms. Grease an 8” square “baking” dish lightly with coconut oil. Spoon a portion of the dough into the bottom of the dish and use your hands to press it into a flat layer about 1/3″ thick. Place in the freezer while you make the fillings.
  3. Add chocolate filling ingredients to the food processor and blend until smooth. Set aside.
  4. In a small saucepan, melt together almond butter, coconut oil and honey over low heat until combined.
  5. Remove the crust from the freezer, pour a layer of chocolate over the brownie layer, and use the back of a spoon to smooth it out. Then add a layer of almond butter and gently smooth it out, being careful not to mix the layers. Finally, add another layer of chocolate on top of the almond butter and smooth it out.
  6. Place the dessert into the freezer and allow it to freeze for 2 hours. Remove, serve, and ENJOY!
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The Aftermath of Death and How to Handle PTSD 

8/7/2013

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Most readers already know this, but to officially update everyone, following my previous post on dealing with difficult times, it is with deep sadness that I inform you that my beloved mother passed away from acute respiratory failure, sepsis and pneumonia at the end of June.

The unusual thing to me is that I found it somewhat easy to give the doctor’s the go-ahead to take my mother off all life-prolonging medication so she could pass on. But I suppose if you saw how much pain she was in you might have easily made the same decision. Sepsis is horrific and when it gets to your brain (as it did with my mother), the person you love is already gone. The woman who gave birth to me didn’t recognize me anymore and couldn’t communicate with me; she only felt suffering and pain. Her brain was lost to encephalopathy. So my brother and I said our goodbyes and let our mother go in peace and with dignity.

Shockingly that was the easy part.

The aftermath of our mother’s death has been pretty difficult. I mean how do you replace unconditional love from your mother? I’ve thought about getting a dog (this is what I did when my father passed away) and I’ve thought about going to therapy. But neither of them seems to have the desired effect that I am looking for. I always feel judged when I go to therapy and while I would love a dog right now, the responsibility of one seems overwhelming. What I’m looking for is peace of mind and for the world to make sense again. What I’m coming to realize is that the world will never be the same again – not for me and not for my brother. I have to adjust.

What heals me the most right now is just talking to my brother about how great our mom was. Because he understands just as much as I do that we were so loved by our mother. She lived her life with one purpose – her children. Every decision she made was for the benefit of her children. And what she would want most for us right now is to be happy and live a full life. She loved to live vicariously through her children and I’m sure this has not changed! As she said to me before she passed away, she’ll be watching from afar. And I’m sure she will!

And that’s the thing about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), only you know what’s best for you to heal. In fact, I don’t even like to acknowledge that PTSD is a disorder, because it’s not. It’s normal. People should be devastated after the death of a loved one, I don’t have a disorder, I have feelings. When my father died, I was put on antidepressants, which just made things worse. Grieving is a natural process and it has to be felt in order to move on, eventually.

PTSD is a deeply personal experience. What you experience will disturb your very soul, show you what hell looks like and then return you to a place where everyone else around you seems to handle life’s little tasks with complete ease, while you can’t even manage a trip to the market without a breakdown. That’s because your brain needs time to process what just happened and I like to think of PTSD as a transitional period, rather than a disorder. This transition can be a very beautiful experience when you’re ready for it. The moments before this transition happens will be your darkest moments and for some, they may never get out of their dark moments.

When you have PTSD, you feel alienated. You feel like no one can possibly understand what you are going through. While that may be true, in my experience, people really want to help. And when you open your heart to the people around you, you will be amazed at what can happen. This is when the beauty starts to come in, as you find a restored sense of humanity.

So how have I gotten through my transition? Well, for one, I find comfort in talking to my brother lately because we have the shared experience of having her as a mother and we shared the experience of her death. So that’s helped in the healing process, and the next step is to figure out how to get back to a functional life.

To accomplish my transition back into a normal/functional life, I took a page from my health coaching advice journal. When I counsel my clients in holistic nutrition, I give them one to two new things to incorporate or change in their daily routine/life. Because I’ve learned from experience that if you give people too much change, it is overwhelming and stressful.

So that is what I’m doing now. Every week I add one more piece of responsibility back into my life. When I tried to go back to work after my mom died, it was too much stress and I literally had a meltdown in my boss’s office! Obviously my boss understood and said she fully supports my decision to leave the company to focus on healing and recovering from such a traumatic event.

The last thing I’ve done to help my transition back into normal life is visualize what my future will look like in five years. Having hope gives your brain something else to focus on besides pain.

As time continues to march on, the sweet memories of my mother that currently make me cry will be slowly replaced with a big smile. Because time heals, if you let love back into your heart. Forget the bitterness, the anger and unfairness of the situation. How we heal from life’s difficult moments are what make us stronger, happier and more successful.

In the unfortunate circumstance that you find yourself or a friend dealing with the aftermath of death and/or PTSD, I hope the following tips can help:

  • Find comfort in someone or a group that shares a similar experience of what lead to your PTSD. It can be very healing to talk about what happened and/or share the memories you have for a loved one who passed. It helps the heart realize that the sweet memories you have for your loved one won’t fade. If it helps keep a journal and write to them.
  • Understand there will be good days and there will be bad days for a while. Feeling/getting better doesn’t just happen one day. It takes time. You’ll have a great day and think that everything is all right again, but tomorrow knocks you down again. Its okay. Have your day, dust yourself off, and try again tomorrow.
  • Take your fish oil and get some good ‘ol sunshine! Getting enough omega-3’s will help feed your brain and can even lift the fog of depression. It also helps to get outside and get back in touch with nature. Go on a hike, go camping, even if you just go on a walk around your block, the fresh air and exercise will help clear your head.
  • Avoid excessive alcohol because it is a depressant and can worsen PTSD symptoms. Also avoid excessive sugar (especially processed sugar) because it can cause further inflammation in your body, something the stress of PTSD has already put you at high risk for. I’ll talk more about chronic stress/inflammation in my next post.
  • There should be no expectation that life will go back to the exact same way it used to be. Life has changed because this traumatic event has changed how you see the world. How you move on is what’s important.
  • Let go. This is the hardest part. But you realize at some point, that you have to move on and the only way to do that is to let go of the past and start your new chapter in life.
While I’ll miss my father, stepfather and especially my mother for the rest of my life, I know that my life has to go on, even if for now it’s one step at a time. Maybe next month, I’ll try two steps at a time and see how it goes.

R.I.P. Renae Minshall, you were the best mother anyone could have asked for. And as I say my final goodbye to you, please know that I will always cherish our memories together and your kindness. Your unconditional love for your children and your family was selfless and admirable. I am one of Earth’s grateful souls to know such a tremendous amount of love. You taught me how to love through your undying love. But now it’s time to let you go and as painful and scary as that is, you also taught me to be strong. Thank you for giving me life and thank you for showing me how beautiful life can be. I love you and I always will.

Related articles
  • What Works for PTSD (23andme.com)
  • Some soldiers confront reality where PTSD is part of their identity (pri.org)
  • The War Within: PTSD (projecteve.com)
  • Help for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (everydayhealth.com)
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June 28th, 2013

6/28/2013

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PictureLow blue light blocking galsses
If you wake up and still feel tired, this is for you…

In my last article, I explained some of my tips for a speedy recovery from hip surgery, which can also be applied to recovery from a difficult workout. And I’m happy to report that ten weeks after surgery, I’m off my crutches and am back to swimming and cycling (no hills). I ran on an AlterG treadmill last week (thank you FORMA and Dr. Carvalho) and am on target to start running a regular treadmill after the July 4th holiday. The range of motion in my hip is incredible and I hardly have any scar tissue buildup from the incisions (thank you bone broth!). Now the training for the Malibu Tri begins. We’ve got 2 months baby!

In my recovery tips, which again are applicable to daily life as well for overall wellness, I mentioned that I would write a follow-up article to specifically focus on the importance of quality sleep. So let’s jump right in!

If you know me, you know how demanding my schedule is. I get home from work around 7:30 or 9 pm most nights. I have an hour to prepare my meals and pack for the next day, which begins at 4:30 am. With this kind of schedule getting relaxed and to bed quickly is key. But what would life be if I couldn’t sit and watch a little TV with loved ones before bed?! I mean we have to be realistic, right?

So a few nights a week, especially when I get home closer to 7 pm, I allow myself some TV time (read: ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ is starting soon!). As you can see from the not-so-attractive picture here, I wear the dorkiest low blue light blocking glasses one could ever find. And here’s why. When we expose our eyes to the low levels of illuminance in the blue or white fluorescent spectrum of artificial lights, it disrupts melatonin secretion, the so-called sleep hormone. So if you find that you are having a difficult time falling asleep at night, it could be that you’re not giving your body enough time to produce melatonin. Or you ate too much, which I sometimes do!

If you’re time crunched liked me, these glasses allow me to watch TV and walk around the house to make my food and pack for the next day, while still allowing my body to produce melatonin so I can fall asleep quickly.

In addition to my dorky glasses, I also use an Earthing mat while I sleep. Before I explain what it is, let me explain why it’s important. You know that feeling you get when you take your shoes off and walk in the sand or grass? It feels pretty cool, right? Well, that’s basically all that Earthing is. It’s allowing our body to “recharge” from the Earth’s natural energy (something we used to do when we farmed and/or lived off nature – in today’s modern world, we rarely have opportunity to touch Earth with our bare skin). Radiant Life recently wrote about this:

Earthing is the landmark discovery that the ground’s energy upholds the electrical stability of our bodies and serves as a foundation for vitality and health. Modern lifestyles with cars, buildings and rubber shoes however, have limited our direct contact with Earth’s surface, making us more vulnerable to stress and disease. Growing scientific research proves that in this age of rampant chronic illness, reconnecting with the Earth’s energy provides a way back to better health.

This earthing phenomenon is not a simply a pleasant theoretical concept, but is rather based on scientific fact supported by substantial research, laboratory testing and basic physics. Studies have revealed that our Mother Earth emits a constant flow of direct current that it continually stores from the sun’s energy. This current flows in the form of electrons from the earth and moves relatively fast throughout the body, having wide-ranging natural anti-inflammatory effects. We were meant to have this electrical balance in our bodies, and we can all (along with our furry friends) benefit from tapping into this energy force by simply touching the Earth’s surface.

Pretty cool, right? Seeing as how we expose ourselves to pretty toxic stuff throughout the day – I like to give my body its best fighting chance to undo all the damage I did to it during the day. So when I plug in my iPhone to charge at night when I go to bed – I plug myself in too. I have an Earthing mat that I place at the end of my bed, so I expose the bare skin of my calves to it every night while I’m sleeping. Personally, I have to say that I wake up more refreshed (I have a bad case of adrenal fatigue right now from chronic stress: the usual work stress, hip surgery, moving, a very sick mother). Given all the stress I’m under – I remarkably feel very rested when I wake up in the morning, so I’m a believer!

If you have chronic illness or you’re an endurance athlete, I would highly recommend some high-quality earthing time and make sure you are able to get the usual eight hours of sleep per night to give your body enough time to recover/heal.

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Sometimes Life Can Really Knock You on Your Keister!

6/25/2013

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PictureMy beautiful mother and I at a special occasion.
How the expression of gratitude can pull you through the downsides of life...

First off, please accept my sincere apologies for the delay in getting this newsletter out the door. As some of you already know, my mother was sent to the emergency room after a bad fall. She has been diagnosed with atrial fibrillation and vascular dementia (no cure). She’s totally bedridden and will live out her remaining days in a nursing home. My brother and I are devastated and overwhelmed.

While my brother and I have been on a roller coaster ride of emotions this past month (from angry outbursts at one another to laughing fits of hysteria over found memories from our childhood and tearful outbursts brought on by the realization that we’ve already lost the mother we once knew), we’ve bonded over the shared responsibility of caring for our mother and it’s been a beautiful experience. My brother has endured the greatest burden of caring for our mother, as he lives in Las Vegas with her. There was a time when I didn’t even think my brother was capable of taking care of himself, let alone an aging parent. But he has been amazing. It’s strange to me that the most beautiful experiences in life can come from a deeply painful place.

Watching our mother’s rapid decline in health has further renewed and strengthened my commitment to living the healthiest life possible and sharing this knowledge with others. In this day in age, we have so much open communication and access to non-big business sponsored information (read: don’t believe what food companies push off as healthy) that there really is no excuse for not eating and living a healthy life. If you are still shopping in the middle aisles of a grocery market, please join me in my quest to say goodbye to supermarket shopping and hello to locally-sourced, organic food from farmer’s markets and community sponsored agriculture (CSAs).

Starting next month, I will start seeing a limited number of clients for my six-month health coaching program, which will guide you to find the food and lifestyle choices that best support you and your family’s health. I will also help you to make gradual, lifelong changes that enable you to reach your current and future health goals. Reserve your spot now by clicking here.

Sometimes when I talk about preventative health with friends, I’m met with the age-old excuse of “well if one thing doesn’t give me cancer, something else will.” Have you seen someone deal with cancer? It’s horrific! So if you could prevent cancer from occurring in the first place, wouldn’t you want this for yourself and for your loved ones? I wish I would have known ten years ago what I know now…maybe I could have saved my father’s life (he passed away from lung cancer and diabetes).

The thing is – cancer is preventable.

Sure there are some people who are much more susceptible to cancer than others and will need to work much harder than most to prevent the onset of cancer, but again – it’s preventable. So is cardiovascular disease, autoimmune disease, depression, etc. But you have to commit to a different lifestyle – a lifestyle that reduces exposure to environmental toxins, effectively manages stress, eats a clean diet, engages in intermittent fasting, and exercises on a regular bases. Sound like a lot to do in one day? Well, let’s put it this way – the alternative is pre-mature aging and chronic illness. I’ve spent enough time in hospitals and oncology wards to know that it’s not the way to go. And I hope and pray that you feel the same!

Oh, how I digress! Back to keister’s and gratitude. So as I mentioned, recently my brother and I have been at each other’s throats and we’ve laughed so hard at times that someone might have even peed her pants a little bit (hee hee! don’t tell anyone ;). Losing a parent is something we’ve all faced or will face. So how do you get through it?

The same way you get through any of life’s downsides. Be grateful for the good times and remember them often.

When you stop to think about it, life can be downright painful. Failed relationships, the death of a loved one, senseless terrorist attacks, a crappy economy – I mean, what’s the friggin point sometimes, right!? But when I look at my brother now and how much of an impact he’s had on my mother’s life, I’m only reminded of the kindness of humanity. At the end of day we are all in this together: we cherish our good times and bond through the difficult times.

Getting to a more personal level, if there’s one thing I’m a stickler for in a relationship, it’s making a big deal of life’s little successes. These moments will carry you through the difficult times. It’s easy to take your partner for granted, but this will eventually take a toll on your relationship. How much easier is it to express gratitude to your partner every day and foster a relationship based in mutual respect, honesty and love.

One exercise I like to give clients is to have them keep a gratitude journal. Gratitude is a pretty powerful emotion – it’s been called the heart’s memory. And it’s what keeps us going in times of despair. By showing your gratitude, appreciation and love for the people and things around you on a daily basis, more of your thoughts and words become positive, and you'll start attracting more positive people and circumstances. It’s easy to get lost and caught up in the day-to-day boredom of normal life. So when you stop to appreciate the things that make life special, jot them down and you will soon rewire your brain to focus on the positives.

In closing, please keep my mother in your thoughts! I have fond memories of this dear, sweet lady that will be cherished for the remainder of my life.


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Can Antibiotics Relive Back Pain? 

5/7/2013

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Interesting read today in Bloomberg that as many as four in 10 cases of chronic lower back pain are probably caused by bacteria, and treatment with antibiotics may cure them, a study showed. Results from the study show that as many as 80 percent of the participants with persistent back pain following a herniated disc and swelling in the spine reported an improvement after taking antibiotics three times daily for 100 days.

Woah! That’s a lot of antibiotics! And if you follow the news about the overuse of antibiotics and the longer-term damage they can cause to your health (gut damage, eventual antibiotic resistance), then you really have to consider whether your back pain is so limiting that you are willing to take this health risk.

However, as someone who lives with chronic back pain from a herniated disk, I really had to ponder this study some more. So what else did the article say?

“The [back] pain is caused by an infection of Proprione acne bacteria inside the affected spinal disc. The bacteria normally live in hair follicles, on the gums and inside cheeks and may enter the bloodstream after the teeth are brushed and travel into the damaged disc. Patients in the trial who were prescribed the antibiotic were better able to function after one year and they had less lower back pain, less leg pain and fewer days off work due to the condition than those on the placebo.”

Interesting! The results sound so promising, but taking this many antibiotics really concerns me, not to mention most insurance companies would not cover the cost of this type of regime. However, being into holistic approaches to health & wellness, I figured there has to be some pretty powerful antibiotics that already exist from nature, right? And given the results of this study, and my chronic back pain, I am certainly willing to try any form of natural antibiotics for 100 days to see if it can help with the pain. So based on the following recommendations, I’m going to incorporate some of these foods/herbs into my daily routine:

Dr. Oz: Herbal Antibiotic Alternatives


Natural News: The 5 best natural antibiotics and anti-virals that destroy superbugs and just about everything else


Will report back in 100 days to give you an update! :)

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Food and Attitude Matter When it comes to Sports Training, Recovery...and Life in General

4/27/2013

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Picture
First off, I want to dedicate this article to the amazing team of doctors and staff at the UCLA Medical Center. I truly feel blessed to have received treatment from Dr. Sharon Hame who is probably the most respectful and deeply caring surgeons I have ever met. She has an outstanding reputation and is known in the sports world out here as one of the best surgeons in her field. Now I know why, thank you Dr. Hame!

So as I write this blog post, I am just over one week into recovery from surgery to fix a labral tear in my right hip with some massive resurfacing work done to my hip socket. I mean my hip was such a mess that this ‘standard’ two-hour surgery, took four hours. So needless to say, it’s been a painful ordeal so far!

However, upon my first visit to physical therapy, the first question asked of me was whether or not I had a high tolerance for pain. I found out later that the reason for the question was that I was moving rather well for someone in my condition. To be honest, I’m not really sure what my threshold for pain is compared to other people. I think I’m pretty tough, but I’m also the girl who cried at the finish line of the La Jolla Half-Marathon last year…..because…..I was hungry! So I don’t think my threshold for pain is really all that high, I just think I have the ability to not let an injury completely define me. Why this is relevant will become apparent shortly.

The purpose of this article is to share with you what I have done pre- and post-surgery to recover as quickly as possible, with as little pain as possible. What I’ve learned on this journey through friends and research has greatly benefited my recovery progress. My physical therapist has only seen one other person come as far as I have in this amount of time. The range of motion in my hip is remarkable for only one week after surgery and there is hardly any swelling in the hip. I should back to running at least four miles in about five months. Swimming and cycling will happen before that.

While I hope that no one reading this article has surgery any time soon, my reason for sharing my key learning’s with you is because I think these tips can also be applied to training recovery – for faster recovery, and honestly even everyday life. If you live with a chronic disease (diabetes, digestive issues, autoimmune disorders), please consider taking these tips to heart :)

Don’t define yourself by your problem. As I mentioned earlier, I don’t fixate on the fact that I have an injured hip. I learned many years ago to never ‘baby’ an injury or make it the primary focus of your thoughts. Go about your everyday life as though everything is completely normal. Because when you start to fixate on an injury or even a disease, you become defined by it. In healthcare public relations, we never use the term diabetic, we always say someone living with diabetes. There’s a big difference in those two terms.

Now I’m not saying to ignore injuries because that’s just not smart. But what I am saying is that if you think about your body as totally normal and totally healthy, it will be. The brain is very powerful. Right now, I know I can’t walk without my crutches and I wouldn’t try to. However, I do move around like nothing is bothering me. Yes, it is painful to sit in a chair and yes, it is painful to hop around on one foot in the kitchen and my God yes, it is insanely difficult to take a shower, but I don’t ever think about how horrible it is that I’m dealing with this, because then that becomes my reality. If I do something stupid, my body will let me know with a friendly reminder of sharp stabbing pain! Other than that…I am an Olympic hopeful who will be back at training in no time!

How is this relevant to daily life?

Applying principals like this is similar to the philosophy principals of Positive Mental Attitude (PMA). The conversation you have with your brain is your reality. So what are you telling your brain? And for you ladies, if you haven’t watched that video for the Dove ‘Real Beauty’ campaign – what an eye opener! You will cry when you watch it. So take a moment to step back and evaluate the conversation you are having with yourself on a daily basis. And if you are being harsh to yourself, imagine that the voice in your head is a real person. Then ask if you would hang out with that person? I’m guessing you would not – so kick her/him to the curb and change the conversation! Also think about how PMA can change the dynamics of your training sessions. Can’t get to that next level of your training? Pretend your Lance Armstrong (sans the bad attitude and dope ;) on your next ride or in spin class. I do it all the time!

Stop taking your pain meds. You don’t need them and they are not great for you. Now don’t get me wrong, I took my pain meds for three days after my surgery, but then stopped – even though I am still in pain. You need to feel the pain because your body is communicating with you. If you can’t feel the pain, then you run a very high risk of doing something stupid and delaying recovery. Also, these things will absolutely destroy your liver. As an alternative I used Phenocane to help me with the pain.

How is this relevant to daily life?

This is also true in sports. If you finish a workout and find yourself taking anti-inflammatory medication on a regular basis, it may be time to re-evaluate your workout routine. You have to address what is causing the pain in the first place. No one, in my opinion, should be on medications on a daily basis – your body has an amazing ability to heal itself if you give it half the chance. Contrary to current beliefs, food can heal your body – but it has to be real food. Bread, pasta, boxed cereal, and mass-produced frozen and/or packaged foods are NOT real food. You have to make real food in your own kitchen. Most of the food that the food industry sells us today is not even digestible by the human body. So if you’re running and eating whole grains and not losing any weight – ditch the whole grains. Modern wheat is killing this country and if you have not picked up a copy of Wheat Belly, get it! :)

I digress, back to the point.

Food is medicine. Now we get to the juicy stuff. As I’m sure you know by now, I dedicate a large amount of my time to learning about food and its healing properties. I already know there are certain foods that cause inflammation in the body: omega-6 oils (vegetable oils), sugar, wheat, and dairy. Because I want to avoid any further inflammation/swelling in my body, I immediately cut these foods, and processed food, out of my diet to give my hip the best possible chance. But what I wanted to know more about were the types of foods that can help the body recover and support the growth of healthy cartilage. Here’s what I found:

  • Bone broth. Not only can bone broth help repair your gut and restore your healthy mucosal lining, but it is chocked full of collagen, gelatin, glycine, and proline. Bones also represent an entirely different realm of nutritional content than basic muscle meat: calcium and phosphorus, along with sodium, magnesium, and other trace minerals. In my opinion, bone broth is a ‘super food’ that should be incorporated into everyone’s diet on a regular basis. Bone broth is much easier than your body to utilize than popular joint health supplements because it is in liquid form and it’s a natural source of chondroitin and glucosamine. In fact, it used to be a staple in traditional diets, but now most people might be pretty grossed out by the thought of drinking it. Well, if you have arthritis, joint swelling/pain from difficult workouts, or even cellulite – I recommend getting past this taboo and making/drinking your own batch. Please make sure to use clean bones from grass-fed, pasture raised animals. Recipe here: http://scdlifestyle.com/2012/02/how-to-make-nourishing-beef-bone-broth-to-heal-your-gut/.
  • High-quality sources of omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids are known to have natural anti-inflammatory effects in the body. It’s also an essential element of our diet, because it cannot be produced by our body. We have to get it from external sources, like fish. With that said, I have been eating a can of sardines every day. Not only do sardines provide my hip with the omega-3s that it needs, it’s also high in calcium content (twice that of milk), vitamin D, and phosphorous. I also consider these little fishes a ‘super food’ that should be incorporated in the American diet. For more about the benefits of sardines (cancer prevention, cholesterol health, and brain health), check out: http://www.livestrong.com/article/317267-what-are-the-health-benefits-of-sardines/.
  • Blood type diet. Maybe it’s me, but there’s a lot of Paleo and vegans out there these days. And boy, do they love to battle on the points of which diet is better. So which one is better? Well, my personal thought on the issue is that we do need certain nutrients from animals. However, there are many successful endurance athletes out there who thrive on a vegan diet. It really boils down to your blood type and what your body needs. We’ll focus more on this issue in the near future, but in the meantime, the main point with the blood type diet is this: based on your blood type, certain foods are either beneficial (promote healing properties in your body), neutral or should be avoided (can cause inflammation in your body). I downloaded the ‘Eat Right for Your Blood Type’ app and have been trying to incorporate as many beneficial foods as I can, as well as avoiding the foods known to cause some sort of aggravation for my blood type. When you are in the thick of your training and heading towards race day, I highly recommend trying to stick to your blood type diet as closely as possible because you are putting your body under tremendous physical stress and you want to support your body the best way possible and not cause further stress through your nutritional choices. Oh, and if I haven’t said it already….stop eating gluten/wheat! ;)
  • Turmeric juice. Okay, aside from the fact that you just look cool drinking turmeric juice, according to MindBodyGreen (one of my favorite holistic websites for nutrition and wellness advice), turmeric is known to be one of the most powerful healing herbs. It is great for bones and joints as it has anti-inflammatory properties. Turmeric's also a natural liver detoxifier and a kidney cleanser. So turmeric juice is really a two-fold benefit for my recovery. I get the anti-inflammatory effects of the herb, while helping to detox my liver/kidney from all the medication I had to take. Here’s a recipe for turmeric juice: http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-6780/A-Recipe-for-Turmeric-Juice-A-Powerful-Healing-Beverage.html.
  • CapraFlex and MAP. These are the only supplements I am relying on. CapraFlex is a complete bone and joint formula, which contains naturally occurring glucosamine and chondroiton from type II chicken collagen. Master Amino Acid Pattern (MAP) provides eight essential amino acids for building protein and is known to be an effective protein supplement for building muscle and bone. It is also known to promote fast recovery after a hard training session.
Quality sleep time. I’m not going into details on this one because this article is long enough and I want to really focus on key points here. So we’ll save it for the next newsletter ;) stay tuned!

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You Mean to Tell Me That You Still Drink Gatorade?!

4/27/2013

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Come on. Even their ‘natural’ version is full of chemicals, refined sugars, and mysterious ‘natural flavors.’ Let’s think about why we drink sports drinks in the first place. Hydration. Didn’t your mother give it to you when you were sick? I know mine did – gotta stay hydrated! And as a kid or parent how many soccer games did you or your kids finish with a big swig of Gatorade?

Gatorade has become such a staple, go-to source of hydration that we don’t even question/consider the ingredients used in their magic elixir. You don’t need the power of these red, orange or blue flavored commercial sports drinks to hydrate yourself. While Gatorade does what it should – hydrate you – it also adds in an insane amount of nasty, nasty things that just are not needed for the human body to function. In fact, overtime it might even cause damage to your body.

After doing a little digging, I found some natural alternatives to Gatorade – so please, for the love of your body and its ability to perform at high levels, stop drinking artificial drinks (including soda, Crystal light, Kool-Aid, etc.) and use what nature has already provided us to stay hydrated!

How to Replenish Electrolytes Naturally, Food Babe:

  1. Juice Celery + Apple + Lemon - This juice combination works wonders for replacement of electrolytes. The celery has a natural source of sodium, potassium, magnesium, chloride, and phosphorus. Apple provides additional potassium and natural sweetness. Lemon is the highest electrolyte containing citrus fruit.
  2. Stir Sea Salt + Baking Soda + Lemon Juice + Maple Syrup into 8 ounces of Water – This is a great natural remedy for serious endurance athletes – You might think drinking baking soda is a little weird, but it’s been used for centuries to treat various aliments. In this case, it’s added to the mix because it makes the body less acidic and provides an additional source of sodium bicarbonate.
  3. Shake Raw Coconut Water + Chia Seeds - Raw coconut water has a ton of electrolytes and potassium that will not only help you stay hydrated but also keep your body from getting any cramps. It is completely natural and very low in sugar. Combine this with a packet of chia seeds and you have a 1-2 punch! Chia seeds are an incredible energy food – full of omega 3 fatty acids, protein, fiber. These seeds have the ability to keep you from getting dehydrated because of they can hold 9 times their weight in water! There are travel packs available that don’t need refrigeration either – perfect for just throwing in your gym bag or purse.
  4. Blend Frozen Banana + Almond Milk + Kale – This smoothie is extremely hydrating. The banana provides a good source of potassium and magnesium which help regulate your fluid stores. Almonds are extremely rich in magnesium and potassium. When you make your almond milk, make sure you add sea salt (store bought almond milk already has salt added to it). Kale is a superfood and another excellent source of magnesium and calcium.
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Why Sitting is BAD!

4/17/2013

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Lately I have been seeing more studies focus on the dangers of prolonged sitting. And unfortunately it doesn’t seem to matter how much you exercise before/after work and/or on the weekends. It seems that if you sit for more than a few hours without a good break, you can dramatically increase your risk for cardiovascular disease. Now I like having a job and all, but I don't really want to make myself sick because of it, especially when there's some simple strategies to reduce risk. So instead of quitting my desk job and going back to waitressing...I challenge us all to take on 'Cubicle Fitness!'

Let’s do this!

As a first step, I recommend scheduling time on your calendar for these breaks every two to three hours. I realize we are all extremely busy at work, so let’s keep the breaks to about 5 to 10 minutes. I think the important part is to just get the ‘ol circulation moving again. Now if you are anything like me – it’s best if you can find a buddy at work to do this with you. You can hold each other accountable.


Here's some recommendations to get us started.

10 am:
  • desk push-ups and chair/triceps push-ups
  • one-legged squats (hold onto a wall or table for support)
  • if you are feeling confident in the cleanliness of your office floor, throw in a plank or two to get some core work in

12:30 pm:
  • incorporate a 30 min walk into your lunch routine

3 pm:
  • “The Founder” exercise/stretch
  • using a Thera resistance band loop around your ankles, do side leg lifts to help strengthen your hips

5 pm:
  • if you are burning the late hours, try some walking lunges to amuse your co-workers

These are all pretty easy to incorporate into your office routine and shouldn't make you too sweaty! Most importantly, have fun with this. Anything that gets you out of that hunched over position is beneficial in my opinion. I’m also of the opinion that little breaks like this throughout the day will help with concentration and stress as well.

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Heard of SCD?

4/1/2013

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In my continuing focus on gut health, I wanted to provide a great resource for those of you who may be dealing with digestives issues. As my holistic doc says – if you don’t poop within an hour of waking, you’ve got ‘movement’ issues. So on that note, I’d like to introduce you to Jordan and Steve of SCD Lifestyle.

Whenever I have a client or a friend who is dealing with digestive issues – IBS, Chron’s, Celiac or Colitis – I point them in the direction of these two health coaches. Both of them have healed their respective digestive problems by using the principals of the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD) and now counsel others to do the same.

In any event, the SCD is comprised of foods which are grain-free, sugar-free, starch-free, and unprocessed. According to SCD Lifestyle’s website:

The diets guidelines are based on the fact that not everyone’s digestive tract has evolved to optimally digest complex carbohydrates and other man made food products like sugar. The main principle of the diet is that carbohydrates are classified by their chemical structure; they are monosaccharide, disaccharide, or polysaccharide. On the diet only monosaccharide carbohydrates are allowed to be eaten as all others require extra digestion steps to break the chemical bonds down to monosaccharide carbohydrates.

Any food that is not properly digested causes bacterial and yeast overgrowth when undigested carbohydrates are fed on by bacteria and yeast in the intestinal tract. This starts a chain reaction of excess toxins and acids which cause irritation of the small intestine cells damaging them and causing food absorption issues which only helps to continue the cycle.

The diet is an all natural way to break this cycle of bacteria and yeast overgrowth by eliminating the food sources they feed on. By working to restore gut flora to normal levels the intestinal tract is allowed to start repairing any damage by itself.

By eliminating complex carbohydrates, lactose, sucrose and other man made ingredients from the digestive process, the body is finally allowed to start healing. As gut flora levels start to stabilize, the reduction of irritants from undigested foods, toxins and other man made ingredients allows inflammation levels to retreat.

This is accomplished by beginning the diet with extremely easy to digest, natural foods. This “intro diet” starts the healing the process and then more complex foods are added back to the diet very slowly. By carefully adding foods back to the diet the Specific Carbohydrate Diet is individually tailored to each person’s state of injury and digestion abilities.

For a list of foods that are allowed (legal) and foods that are not allowed (illegal) while following the SCD, as outlined in the book Breaking the Vicious Cycle visit: http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info/legal/listing/.

No matter what the status of your digestive health, I highly recommend incorporating these legal foods into your diet, while avoiding the illegal ones to see how you feel. As always, please contact me if you would like help incorporating these principles into your diet.

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My Dance with Sugar

3/3/2013

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A few weeks ago I started a sugar detox with some friends. I thought to myself – this is it. I am finally going to kick sugar to the curb, once and for all. The first week and a half was incredibly easy, in fact I was really surprised. I felt committed to the cause of better health and was so motivated to accomplish my goal of 21 days with no refined sugar. Then I had ‘that week’… stress from early mornings / late nights in the office, hating myself for not working out and feeling like I had no time for myself. So after a week and a half of feeling great because I was strong enough to say no to sugary snacks, I was finally done in by a stack of Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies this past Thursday. Ugh! I’m the worst health coach ever! 

Am I a fraud? Shouldn’t I lead by example? Shouldn’t I be strong enough to get through this? Well, that’s why I am writing this post. 

I have a confession to make. Even though I understand that sugar is toxic and one of the leading causes of chronic disease and illness in this county, I still eat it. Occasionally. And that’s okay. I’m an emotional human being and I still have some not-so-great coping skills just like most people. I mean whose mom didn’t bake Tollhouse cookies after a bad day at school?! 

So my point is this. I’m on a journey – we are all on a journey for better health. And as successful people know, mistakes are how we learn…and grow stronger. 

We are more health conscious today than we were a year ago. While we still may fall victim to the occasional Girl Scout cookie, we know that 80 percent of the time our diet is rock solid. And as I tell my clients who struggle with sugar addiction and feel bad that they just can’t stop eating it cold turkey – just being aware of the fact that sugar is toxic and addictive is half the battle. We spend most of our lives oblivious to how the over consumption of sugar can wreak havoc on our lives, so just knowing this information is key and makes most people think twice about consuming sugar. So we make small strides every day to be healthier and over time they really add up. 

As we continue on our journey in health and wellness, we will continue to make progress every year – and someday we will have the coping skills to say “I love myself too much to eat that Girl Scout cookie.” And we’ll go outside and walk it off. 

However, until we get to this place in our lives, here are some recipes to try out to help mitigate our reliance on refined sugars…because most of us have to deal with that 3 pm beastly sugar parasite:
-        Easy raw fudge
-        Raw pecan bars
 
You can also mix a tbsp. of cayenne pepper with raw honey and the juice from ½ lemon with 20 oz. of water to help you through the sugar cravings (and yes, it is spicy! ;) And when you are ready and have the time to commit to this – read about an elimination diet. If you can ‘reset’ your digestive track and kill off the sugar parasites in your gut, resisting sugar can become much easier. 

If you would like a little more encouragement about why we should make our best effort to avoid sugar, I thought this was a pretty interesting article about the possible connection between sugar and caner (thank you Dana for sharing): http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/cancer-sugar-strategy-selective-starvation-cancer. 

If you’d like more information about how to reduce sugar from your diet and/or how to replace refined sugar with natural sugar sources, please contact me for a free health consultation.
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    Nicole Risdall

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