Empowered Health Podcast: Recent Episodes

View Details

Australia is in a unique position we have animals and plants that cannot be found anywhere else in the world due to our geographical isolation. This has meant animals and plants have had to develop in isolation into something quite special and unique. Due to the vast conditions of this land the plants have had to develop strong abilities to survive which has endued them unique and exceptional attributes. A lot of which we are just beginning to understand in this modern world and how they could provide medicinal benefits. This knowledge of the land and its plants was held for thousands of years by the aboriginal Australians who are the custodians of this beautiful land I get the privilege to live on and feel so strongly connected to. My history personally is not an Aboriginal one but an ancestry of 5 generations of convicts and settlers in this land.

I would like to acknowledge and pay my respects as to the traditional custodians of country across Australia and honour the rich history, resilience of the people and endless wisdom of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. I pay my respects to elders past and present. And i would like to acknowledge and recognise that our First nations people were the original farmers and caretakers of this land and this sovereignty has never ceded. Always was and always will be, Aboriginal land.

I just have the privilege to share this land and history- so I want this to be said before we dive into the amazing Superfoods!

The benefits of these plants are only just being shown in modern research even though traditional it was well known. These food are putting other superfoods around the world to shame with the constituents and nutrients they are composed of. Eucalyptus is well known for its benefits but cannot be consumed as it is poisonous. But there are:

over 5000 species of native foods used by aboriginal peoples

And below we will explore the few with significant research into them so far.

I would love to see these foods available publicly in the stores like coles and woolies widely accessible, affordable and part fo the standard diet just like European fruits and vegetables. And once you learn about these few you will understand why!

And I can’t wait to see what science reinforces around these amazing foods.

What is a Superfood? This term is thrown around all the time. Superfood is a term used to confer that there are health benefits resulting from exceptional nutrient density.

Blueberries are often used as the benchmark for defining whether a food fits into this category or not. So it is often used as a comparator.

They often contain antioxidants, fibre or fatty acids that are beneficial for health, minerals, vitamins and/or anti-inflammatory components.

Most commonly thought of superfoods include:

• blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, cranberries
• dark green easy vegetables (kale, swiss chard, collard greens, turnips, spinach)
• green tea
• eggs
• legumes
• nuts and seeds
• kefir & yougurt
• garlic
• olive oil
• ginger
• turmeric
• salmon
• avocado
• sweet potato
• mushrooms

• seaweed

  Australian Superfoods At the moment foods that are showing benefits are being put to shame by the Aussie superfoods.

These include:

• Yam daisy (Microseris lanceolata) aka Murnong
• Bush tomato (Solanum centrale)
• Davidsons plum (Davidsonia pruiens)
• Desert Lime (Citrus glauca)
• Finger Lime (Citrus australasica)
• Kakadu plum (Terminalla ferdinandiana)
• Lemon aspen (Acronychia acidula)
• Lemon myrtle (Backhousia citriadora)
• Muntries (Kunzea pomifera)
• Quandong (Santalum acuminatum)
• Tasmanian pepper berry (Tasmannia lanceolata)
• Riberry (Syzygium luehmanni)
• Anise myrtle (Syzygium anisaturn)
• Wattleseed (Acacia spp.)
• Illawarra plum (Podocarpus elatus)
• Macadaemia nuts ( feel like they need to be on the list!)

• Kangaroo meat ( it has more protein and less fat than beef!)

  Yam daisy (Microseris lanceolata) aka Murnong As an example when compared to blueberries contains 18 x the iron (and we all know iron is important for making red blood cells in particular Harmaglobin, reducing fatigue, growth, boosting the immune system) 4x the copper/magnesium/calcium and 2x potassium of blueberries.

They are also really high in inulin which can help with regulating the metabolism of carbohydrates and fats therefore lowering blood glucose and improving insulin sensitivity. Therefore eating this will have positive effect on cardiovascular health, cholesterol balance and blood glucose regulation. As inulin is not easily digested by our body it is a great fibre source and prebiotic food to feed gut bacteria. So it assists microbiota balance, prevents constipation and assists with general gut health.

So why is this not in the fruit and vegetable section of supermarkets?

So lets put some data here for those comparisons!Want to see just how amazing these foods are? Well see below i’m going to nerd out and get into the details.

                              Are you overwhelmed by that data! I am So what were some stand outs for the nutrients in al of that!

• Antioxidant capacity- Kakadu plum ( at least 8x blueberries) and Tasmanian Pepper leaf
• Zinc - Tasmania Pepper leaf
• Vitamin C -Kakadu plum
• Magnesium- Wattleseed
• Vitamin E- Anise myrtle
• Folate - Australian desert lime
• Vitamin A- Tasmanian Pepper Leaf
• Iron- Bush tomato
• Selenium- Wattleseed
• Phosphate- Bush tomato
• Sodium- Quandong dried
• Potassium- Quandong dried
• Manganese- Tasmanian pepper berry
• Copper- Riberry
• Calcium- Lemon myrtle
• Anthrocyanins - Davidsons plum
• Lutein-Anise myrtle
• Chlorophyll- Anise myrtle
• Beta carotine- Tasmanian pepper leaf
• Quercetin- Tasmanian Pepper leaf ( see my anti-aging post on why this guy is important! )

Vitamin E

Compared to Western fruits (NUTTAB). For example, vitamin E levels on average are 10 times higher in native fruits (3.1 mg/100 g) than Western fruits (0.3 mg/100 g). The highest vitamin E level was recorded in Kakadu plum (6.1 mg/100 g), followed by quandong (4.8 mg/100 g) and bush tomato (4.6 mg/100 g) (Table 1). In comparison, the vitamin E content of Western plum is about 0.82 mg/100 g (highest values in western fruits), while cherry tomatoes have 0.2 mg/100 g vitamin E. Among the analyzed Australian native fruits, Tasmanian pepperberry has the lowest vitamin E content at 1.2 mg/100 g, which is still 10 times higher than the lowest value for vitamin E in Western fruits (banana 0.12 mg/100 g).

Australia has a higher level of solar UV radiation speculating that the high exposure to the sun could positively affect the levels of accumulation of phytochemicals, such as vitamin E in native plants.

Vitamin C

Finger lime, desert lime, and Kakadu plum have shown high levels of vitamin C, with up to 58.5, 188.6 and 7000 mg/100 g, respectively. Kakadu plum, also known as billy goat plum or salty plum, is one of the most popular Australian native fruits and is well-known to have the highest vitamin C concentration in the plant kingdom at up to 7000 mg/100 g DW.

Vitamin A

Vitamin A levels in Australian native fruits are found to be lower than other vitamins. With only Davidson’s plum and quandong were found to contain vitamin A in 13 and 10 mg/100 g retinol equivalents, respectively.

Calcium

Native fruits are notable for their calcium concentration and possess higher concentrations of the trace elements iron, copper, and zinc compared to Western fruits (Brand and Cherikoff Citation1985). Kakadu plum, for instance, is particularly high in minerals including magnesium, zinc, calcium, potassium, sodium, iron, phosphorus, manganese, copper, and molybdenum, and has shown high potassium:sodium ratio. Riberry was found to have a high calcium content.

Finger lime and Tasmania pepperberry were found to have the highest calcium content (34.34 and 13.6% Recommended Dietary Intake (RDI), respectively) as well as magnesium [30.56 and 31.9% RDI], phosphorus (15.43 and 11.59%RDI) and potassium (35.56 and 26.80%RDI) per 100 g (Richmond, Bowyer, and Vuong Citation2019). Comparatively, 100 g of Western limes has 2.2%RDI calcium, 2.68%RDI magnesium, 1.80%RDI phosphorus, and 3.95%RDI potassium (NUTTAB).

Magnesium

Green plum contains significantly higher levels of magnesium (120 mg/100 g) in comparison to mango (10 mg/100 g) and Burdekin plum (32 mg/100 g) (Fyfe et al. Citation2020).

Iron and minerals

Bush tomatoes were found to be rich in iron (6.1 mg/100 g) and copper (2.8 mg/100 g), and Tasmanian pepper berries are significantly higher in manganese (31.1 mg/100 g) compared to riberry which has the second-highest level of manganese (2.002 mg/100 g) (Richmond, Bowyer, and Vuong Citation2019).

Amino acids

A study by Lim et al. (Citation2020) showed that Davidson’s plum, finger lime and Tasmanian pepperberry had high amounts of essential amino acids. Lysine was found to be the most abundant essential free amino acid in Davidson’s plum (74.11%), finger lime (53.74%) and Tasmanian pepperberry (67.88%). Other amino acids including isoleucine, cysteine and histidine were also reported in relatively high levels in the three fruits. Furthermore, Davidson’s plum had 11, finger lime had 19 and Tasmanian pepperberry had 14 free amino acids (Lim et al. Citation2020).

Polyphenols

Tasmanian pepperberry (21.13 μmol/g FW) and Illawarra plum (19.39 μmol/g FW) were abundant in anthocyanins, a subtype of the polyphenols, which was higher than that of any fruit in the study as well as most well-known berries. The anthocyanin mixtures of both native fruits were predominated by cyanidins, the most common anthocyanins found in food (Netzel et al. Citation2006). Illawarra plum was also reported to have a high content of anthocyanin-rich phenolics in other studies (Netzel et al. Citation2007; Symonds, Konczak, and Fenech Citation2013).

Chlorophyll

Konczak and Roulle (Citation2011) demonstrated that the lipophilic fraction of Kakadu plum rich in chlorophyll a and b, α-tocopherol and lutein exhibited 26.66% activity in the ORAC assay which was comparable to avocado with 28.6% activity (Konczak and Roulle Citation2011).

Western fruits are considered a poor source of lipophilic antioxidants (Prior et al. Citation2003).Several studies have reported that in addition to vitamin E, different Australian native plants consist of potent phenolic antioxidants.

What are the implications of this for health and preventing disease? **Anti-cancer**

Studies have shown that including antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables in the diet can reduce the risk of intracellular oxidative stress-related chronic diseases and cancer (Block, Patterson, and Subar Citation1992; Jideani et al. Citation2021).

Previous epidemiological studies have suggested that dietary phytochemicals from fruits and vegetables can significantly reduce the occurrence of many cancers (Block, Patterson, and Subar Citation1992).

The in vitro studies described demonstrate that phytochemicals in Australian native fruits and vegetables naturally act as antioxidants to reduce cellular oxidative stress, disrupt proliferative signaling, and induce the cell cycle arrest leading to apoptosis in a wide range of cancer cell lines.

A study by Tan et al. (Citation2011a) examined the antiproliferative activity of polyphenols extracted from Illawarra plum, Kakadu plum, muntries, and native currant against a panel of cancer and normal cell lines containing AGS (gastric adenocarcinoma), HT-29 (colorectal adenocarcinoma), HL-60 (acute promyelocytic leukemia), CCD-18Co (colon normal), Hs 738.St/Int (mixed stomach and intestine normal) and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). The authors reported that each fruit selectively inhibited the growth of cancer cell lines in a dose-dependent manner. Kakadu plum showed strong antiproliferative activity against the HT-29 with an IC50 value of 0.385 ± 0.036 mg/mL. All fruit extracts induced apoptosis (caspase-3 mediated) and DNA fragmentation in the HL-60 cells. In addition, Kakadu plum was found to activate the intrinsic apoptosis pathway. When testing natives against HeLa cervical adenocarcinoma and the CaCo2 colorectal adenocarcinoma cell lines. All the tested methanolic and chloroform extracts strongly inhibited the growth of the HeLa cells while only two of the aqueous extracts (muntries and Illawarra plum) significantly reduced the HeLa cell proliferation in a dose-dependent manner. A study by Symonds, Konczak, and Fenech (Citation2013) reported that anthocyanin-rich Illawarra plum extract inhibited HT-29 cell proliferation in a dose and time-dependent manner. These findings indicated that the Illawarra plum extract may induce cell death of HT-29 via apoptotic pathways and possibly induced autophagy (Symonds, Konczak, and Fenech Citation2013). Overall, the anthocyanin-rich Illawarra plum inhibited cell proliferation by blocking signal transduction pathways, regulating gene expression, and inducing apoptosis.

The current literature does not report any direct in vivo studies exploring the anticancer activity of Australian native fruits and vegetables. However, the major phytochemicals present in these fruits and vegetables have been investigated in isolation against different in vivo models of cancer. This section underlines the key phytochemicals (that are also reported in Australian native fruits and vegetables) with potent in vivo anticancer activity.

The flavonol quercetin has been extensively studied against several cancer types in vivo and it is highly abundant in Illawarra plum (Symonds, Konczak, and Fenech Citation2013), Kakadu plum (Shalom and Cock Citation2018), and Davidson’s plum (Sakulnarmrat, Srzednicki, and Konczak Citation2014).

Furthermore, Zhou et al. (Citation2010) and Mouria et al. (Citation2002) demonstrated that quercetin exerted anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic effects (Zhou et al. Citation2010), decreased primary tumor growth and prevented metastasis (Mouria et al. Citation2002) in a nude mouse model of pancreatic cancer.

The fruit and leaves of the Kakadu plum have shown very high levels of vitamin C (Gorman et al. Citation2020). Despite a few controversial opinions (Hoffer et al. Citation2008; Hoffer et al. Citation2015), there has been a growing scientific interest to investigate the therapeutic potential of vitamin C against cancer as demonstrated in several in vitro and in vivo studies (Reang et al. Citation2021).

      **Anti-inflammatory**

The role of inflammation in the pathology of chronic diseases including rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, atherosclerosis, and neurodegenerative diseases is well-validated (Campbell Citation2004; Chen et al. Citation2018; Leyva-López et al. Citation2016). Additionally, inflammation also plays an integral part in cancer development and is defined as the seventh hallmark of carcinogenesis (Hanahan and Weinberg Citation2011). Hence, many anticancer agents often have anti-inflammatory activity. Australian native fruits and vegetables that have been reported in the literature with anti-inflammatory activity.

Anti-diabetic

Australian fruits and vegetables may offer promising prospects for the isolation and identification of novel agents for the treatment of metabolic syndrome and diabetes. The Australian native fruits and vegetables studied to date for their anti-diabetic activity and the effects on metabolic syndrome are- Davidson’s plum, quandong, lilly pilly, quinine bush (Petalostigma banksii), yellow mangosteen (Garcinia dulcis), anise myrtle and Tasmanian pepperberry.

An in vivo study on high-carbohydrate and high-fat diet rats demonstrated the potential of Davidson’s plum to ameliorate the symptoms of metabolic syndrome. The fruit decreased abdominal fat and adipose cells size, reduced the level of triglycerides, and improved liver function (John, Mouatt, Majzoub, et al. Citation2019). Davidson’s plum was found to alleviate metabolic syndrome symptoms across multiple body systems, including the heart, liver, and bone (John, Mouatt, Majzoub, et al. Citation2019). It was anticipated that anthocyanins were the primary constituents responsible for this activity, however, it was also emphasized that additional polyphenols, such as quercetin, may act synergistically with anthocyanins to produce the observed changes to the body systems (John, Mouatt, Majzoub, et al. Citation2019).

Quandong is an effective inhibitor of the pancreatic lipase (Sakulnarmrat, Srzednicki, and Konczak Citation2014). Pancreatic lipase is one of the main digestive enzymes that break down dietary carbohydrates and lipids in the human digestive system. Therefore, inhibition of pancreatic lipase is an attractive approach for the treatment of high blood sugar and obesity (Buchholz and Melzig Citation2016). Further studies are required to investigate its antidiabetic activities.

Antihyperglycemic, antihyperlipidemic and antioxidant activities of the oral administration of the aqueous extract of lilly pilly fruit (100 mg/kg) have recently been evaluated in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats (Konda et al. Citation2019). The results showed that the fruit extract has a potential effect on oxidative stress, glycemic control, and dyslipidaemia. It improved insulin secretion via β-cell restoration capacity (Konda et al. Citation2019). The leaves of the plant were also suggested to have potential anti-diabetic properties

It has been observed that the anise myrtle plant contributed to the modulation of diabetic neuropathy through the regulation of digestive enzymes that are linked to the T2DM (Deo et al. Citation2016).

Illawarra plum, Kakadu plum, and bush tomato were reported to have high antioxidant and phenolic contents. Although there are no direct reports on these fruits and vegetables related to their effects on T2DM and metabolic syndrome, several studies have demonstrated that polyphenols can interfere with enzymatic activities of α-glucosidase and α-amylase in glucose metabolism. The inhibition of these key enzymes of glucose metabolism can reduce the absorbance of carbohydrates from the gut and ultimately reduce the blood glucose (McDougall et al. Citation2005). Similarly, as aforementioned Illawarra plum and Kakadu plum have been linked with anti-inflammatory activity.

Anti-microbial

Kakadu plum displayed antibacterial activity against both reference and clinical strains of Acinetobacter baylyi and Pseudomonas aeruginosa with MIC values of >1000 µg/mL in the disk diffusion assay. The extracts exhibited no toxicity. Evaluated the antibacterial activity of different solvent extracts of Kakadu plum against Bacillus anthracis (the pathogen responsible for anthrax) and it was effective. It also was shown ti inhibit MRSA (staph aureus) however the extracts were unable to inhibit the growth of β-lactam-resistant E. coli. Do you know how amazing that is? Given all the antibiotic resistance occurring?*

Tasmanian pepperberry (methanolic, aqueous, and ethyl acetate) inhibited the growth of the tested Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial strains (Winnett et al. Citation2014).

**Gut Microbiota**

Tasmanian pepperberry (methanolic, aqueous, and ethyl acetate) inhibited the growth of the tested Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial strains (Winnett et al. Citation2014). Carbohydrate- and fat-rich diets disturb the gut microbial composition through a reduced concentration of the Bacteroidiaspecies and an increase in the presence of Clostridia species (John, Mouatt, Majzoub, et al. Citation2019). Supplementation of yellow mangosteen was observed to attenuate these alterations to the gut microbiome in rats and effectively reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome and other inflammatory processes as a result of these changes (John, Mouatt, Majzoub, et al. Citation2019). Davidson’s plum. This native fruit is rich in anthocyanin, which also exerted anti-obesity effects in rats via the regulation of the gut microbiome composition (John, Mouatt, Majzoub, et al. Citation2019). The findings elucidated that anthocyanin extracts led to increased growth of Akkermansia muciniphila, which has a positive influence on the gut microbiome through improved metabolic outcomes, such as a reduction in the gut and systemic inflammation, and an increase in gut mucin secretion in rats (John, Mouatt, Majzoub, et al. Citation2019).

Whilst all this is exciting what’s even more amazing is how many foods there are and that you can start using in your cooking today. Below is from Shop natives at Warndu. A great guide to get using these ingredient in your home and what it compares to with flavours you might be more used to using in cooking.

         The implications of this is huge! For so many health conditions. I hope this has sparked your interest into looking into using Australian bush medicine. Because food is medicine and these plants have helped to keep aboriginals healthy for thousands of years. The implications of these plants is not only in health but beauty applications as well.

References:https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2022.2057913

https://eprints.utas.edu.au/23810/1/02%20McPhail%26Woodward%20F.pdf

https://www.academia.edu/1599675/Fructan_and_free_fructose_content_of_common_Australian_vegetables_and_fruit

https://anfab.org.au/edit/research_publications/Health%20Benefits%20of%20Australian%20Native%20Foods.pdf

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/10408398.2022.2057913?needAccess=true

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0055/7462/3278/files/NativeIngredientSubtitutionGuide.pdf?v=1593989216&_kx=0CtCDFW3tXOwB0DZkXVV49BfXg01hpbCOi1fzprvHuo%3D.MX8MCR

View Details

In this post we are going to explore all things sleep and hopefully after reading this you will appreicate it more and get some more zzz.

What is sleep and why we do it?Put simply, sleep is a natural physiological process that allows our bodies to rest, promote healing and repair, and replenish our energy for the day ahead. When we sleep, our body goes through different stages of sleep, each phase with its own purpose.

We have evolved to sleep but interestingly there is a theory that maybe we were in a sleep like state and evolved to have wakefulness. Because sleep leaves us in a very vulnerable position unable to defend ourselves, unable to gain resources such as food or reproduce - so you would think that from an evolution perspective we would have got rid of it. But it carries on in many animals so let’s look at sleep closer.

Sleep is when so much repair and regulation occurs. In fact in some stages of sleep our brains are 30% more active than in a wakeful state. They have even found sleep like state in earth worms (some of the oldest living creatures). So sleep has evolved and stuck around showing how important it is.

We spend roughly 1/3 of our lives asleep so it is something that we need to be conscious of. And if we spend 1/3 of our lives doing it, it must be important right?

**Stages of Sleep**

There are two main stages to sleep REM (rapid eye movement) and non-REM. Non-REM sleep is further broken down in to 4 stages (1-4).

The first stage of sleep is the lightest form of sleep, where our body is still semi-conscious and we can easily be woken up. This is often called Stage 1 sleep. As we progress through stages 2 and 3, our brains emit slow-wave patterns, our heart rate and breathing slow down, and our muscles relax. It is during these stages that our bodies experience recovery from the previous day's activities.

The final stage of sleep is called rapid eye movement sleep or REM. This stage of sleep is vital for cognitive functioning, but it also promotes memory, learning, and creativity. During REM, our brains become active, and our eyes move rapidly back and forth, hence the name.

NON-REM

• Stage 1: Light sleep, characterized by slow eye movements and relaxed muscle tone.
• Stage 2: A bit deeper, characterized by a decrease in heart rate, and a decrease in breathing.
• Stages 3 and 4: The deepest stages of NREM sleep (also known as “slow-wave sleep” or “delta sleep”), in which the brain waves slow down even more, and breathing becomes very slow and steady. This is where a lot of the body repair and healing occurs.

REM

REM on the other hand, is a phase in the sleep cycle that is characterized by the rapid movement of the eyes. It is also called “paradoxical sleep” because many of the processes that are more active during the day have greater activity during REM sleep. This is when we dream and consolidate memories from the day. REM sleep is our emotional regulation- if you don’t get enough REM sleep you are more like to be emotionally volatile and suicidal. REM is when you lay down pathways from learning and helps you find new pathways to do with problems.

The irish proverb “ a good laugh and a long sleep are the two best cures for anything”.

You don’t just stay in one state for slow linearly and stay in a REM state. There is this battle between all the stages of sleep that cycles every 90mins. In the first half of the night get more non-REM sleep than REM in these 90min cycles. Then in the second half of the night we get more REM than non-REM. All stages are critical and you cannot do without one - sleep deprivation can be fatal.

**Why Sleep is Important?**According to research, regular and adequate sleep plays a vast number of roles in the maintenance of our body while providing time for rejuvenation of the whole system. During this time, several actions and physiological activities take place in the body, including:

1. Repair and Healing

   • Sleep is an important part of the body's self-healing process. While we are asleep, the body has the chance to repair the wear and tear suffered during the day.

   • Brain Function

   • Sleep plays a key role in cognitive processes such as memory, attention, and decision-making. During sleep, the brain processes vast amounts of information gathered throughout the day.

   • Hormone Regulation

   • Sleep also regulates hormone production, aids growth, and regulates appetite. The body's circadian clock also influences when hormones such as cortisol, melatonin, and growth hormone are released.

   • Improved mental health:

   • Adequate sleep is essential for maintaining good mental health. It helps to regulate mood, reduce stress, and improve cognitive function. Lack of sleep can lead to anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues.

   • Enhanced physical health:

   • Getting enough sleep is important for physical health as well. It helps to maintain a healthy weight, reduces the risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease, and boosts the immune system. It is also when muscle repair and growth occurs.

   • Better productivity:

   • When you get enough sleep, you are more alert and focused, and your memory and decision-making skills are improved. This leads to increased productivity and better performance in both work and personal life.

   • Improved relationships:

   • Lack of sleep can lead to irritability and mood swings, which can negatively impact relationships with family, friends, and co-workers. Getting adequate sleep can improve communication, patience, and overall relationship satisfaction.

A solid night's sleep is essential for cell repair and rejuvenation, bolstering the immune system and aiding overall metabolism. It's no secret that poor sleep translates into poor work performance, disturbed moods, and depression.

All in all, we spend roughly one-third of our lives asleep, with good reason. Sleep deprivation can impair multiple body systems such as endocrine, cardiovascular, immune, and cognitive functions. Though many of us know this all too well, few of us have grasped just how significant undersleeping can be in our lives. Sleep is a natural state of rest that is essential for human well-being. It is a cyclical process that occurs periodically in humans and several other animals. There are two primary types of sleep: non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.

**Neurotransmitters and sleep** * **Adenosine**- major sleep molecule- improves quality of sleep and amount of sleep+ REM

• Melatonin- regulates circadian rhythm
• Serotonin- involved in sleep and precursor for melatonin ( tryptophan is procurer for serotonin).

• GABA- inhibit neurotransmitter and makes everything quieter in the brain ( at least 30% lower levels of this in insomniacs)

  What Body Systems does Sleep Improve?Sleep is linked with the repair and healthy function of several body systems. It is essential for building immunity and is vital for cardiovascular health, metabolic, and emotional well-being.

What is normal sleep?* The CDC currently recommends a minimum of 7 hrs sleep * But for most adults 7-8hrs is adequate. * We know children require more sleep and as we age the amount of time we sleep becomes less. * According to the national sleep foundation - duration recommendations :

+ 14-17 hours for newborns
+ 12-15 hours for infants
+ 11-14 hours for toddlers
+ 10-13 hours for preschoolers
+ 9-11 hours for school-aged children
+ 8-10 hours for teenagers.
+ 7-9 hours is recommended for young adults and adults
+ 7-8 hours of sleep is recommended for older adults.

Anyone who says they sleep 5hrs and are “doing fine” is lying. They have accommodated to the new low normal and just don’t realise how much better they would function with more. It like your glass has frost over it and you don’t realise how har it is to see out of until you clean it.

We know this from the “day light saving experiment” and a number of other studies including those involving sleep apnoea correction.

Adolescents when given 1hr extra sleep by a later schools starting time in the US showed a reduction in car accidents by 70% (number 1 killer of adolescents before suicide).

Your brain is still developing until the age of 15years. A s child u are laying down the maps and highly connecting neurones until age 5. The in adolescent years is when the “pruning” and pathways are made more efficient. This process causes a change in sleep pattern in adolescent compared to children and adults. Where they go to sleep later and get up later.

**What happens if we under sleep or don’t get quality sleep?****Reproduction/sex hormones**

• Young healthy males- when their sleep is reduced to 4-5hrs sleep for 3-4 consecutive nights - testosterone levels drop to those of men 10years their senior! And that impact not only sex drive but performance in a number of areas.
• Same happens for women - women get decreased FSH that leads to mensural irregularities and difficulties with conception.

Blood glucose

• Sleep helps us regulate blood glucose levels -with less than 6hrs sleep we get a 40% reduction in normal function & become pre-diabetic. To do this otherwise you would need to gain about 10kg of fat overnight to see that kind of effect on blood glucose. Thats how powerful sleeps affect is on blood glucose and metabolism.

Gene expression

• A UK study, where people slept for six hours, showed it can dysregulate gene expression. A massive 712 genes were dysfunctioning from the reduced sleep. 50% of those genes were down regulated 50%, where up-regulated. Some of the down regulated genes were responsible for your immune function. Some that were up-regulated involved genes to do with metabolism, Reduced sleep turns up the production of the stress response in the body.

Cancer/Dementia/Alzheimers

• In fact one night of poor sleep (for four hours) decreases immune anti-cancer cells response by 70% (NK cells). And with just one night of reduced sleep (4hrs) increased beta amyloid protein in the circulating blood and CSF (cerebro-spinal fluid). Beta amyloid is a key sticky protein that is linked to alzhemier’s and dementias.

Heart disease

• Sleeping less than 6hrs a night regularly cause a 200x increased risk or heart disease and heart attack. And a 200-300x increased risk of coronary artery calcification.
• Sleep decreased your heart rate, relaxes your blood vessels -think of it like the best blood pressure medication

Weight changes

• When you under-sleep and workout your body - the body weight you are trying to loose will not be in the ratio you would like. Of the body weight lost 70% will come from lean muscle mass. The body when under-slept becomes stingy with fat. It will loose muscle as the preference for the fuel source and hold onto fat. Not only this but leptin and ghrelin signalling goes wrong. We end up with more gherlin and less leptin - which make you hungry and you don’t feel full - making it more likely you will overeat.

Mental health

• There is not a single psychiatric condition where sleep is not affected. Even your addiction potential is higher if you are a sleep deprived person.
• If you are sleep deprived you can develop psychosis and even die (when it is prolonged & continuous).

Why We Don’t Get Adequate SleepSeveral reasons can cause insufficient sleep: work schedules, electronic devices, stress, and medication.

First and foremost, the habit of electronic devices, such as phones and the internet, can also impede good sleep as it arises from their ability to emit an intense wavelength of light, which suppresses the secretion of the hormone melatonin and interferes with circadian rhythm.

**What Can We Do to Improve Sleep?**There are several things that you can do to promote healthy and restful sleep, including:

1. Establish Regular Sleep Patterns:

   • Give yourself time to get proper sleep. Prioritize a regular sleep schedule and commit to it.

   • Establish a Relaxing Sleep Environment:

   • Ensure that your sleep zone is dark, cool, and quiet with comfortable mattresses and bedding.

   • Limit Electronic Usage at Bedtime:

   • Immediately before sleep, limit exposure to intense light-emitting devices.

   • Support Natural Circadian Rhythms:

   • Ensure that you have sufficient exposure to bright natural light each day.

Hormones and sleep During sleep, a number of hormones are released that help regulate various physiological and behavioural processes in the body. Some of the key hormones involved in sleep regulation include:

1. Melatonin:

   • Melatonin is a hormone secreted by the pineal gland that plays a critical role in regulating sleep-wake cycles. Melatonin levels increase in the evening as it gets darker outside, signaling to the brain that it's time to start winding down and preparing for sleep.

   • Growth hormone:

   • Growth hormone is a hormone that is essential for growth and repair of the body's tissues. It is primarily released during deep sleep, particularly during the first few hours of the night.

   • Cortisol:

   • Cortisol is a hormone released by the adrenal glands in response to stress. It follows a diurnal rhythm, with levels being highest in the morning and gradually decreasing throughout the day. However, disruptions to the sleep-wake cycle, such as night-shift work or insomnia, can disrupt this rhythm and lead to abnormal cortisol levels.

   • Leptin and ghrelin:

   • Leptin and ghrelin are hormones that help regulate appetite and metabolism. Leptin levels tend to be higher in people who get adequate sleep, while ghrelin levels tend to be higher in people who are sleep-deprived. This can lead to increased cravings for sugary and high-fat foods, which can contribute to weight gain and other health problems.

   Glymphatic System The glymphatic system is a recently discovered waste clearance system in the brain that is responsible for removing harmful waste products from the brain, harmful proteins, heavy metals and other debris from the central nervous system (CNS), including the brain and spinal cord. It was first identified in 2012 by a team of scientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center.

The glymphatic system is made up of a network of microscopic channels that run through the brain, allowing cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to flow through it. This fluid carries away waste products such as beta-amyloid, which is associated with Alzheimer's disease, and tau proteins, which are linked to other forms of dementia.

The glymphatic system works by using a combination of blood vessels and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to flush out waste products from the brain. The CSF is a clear, watery liquid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord, providing them with nutrients and cushioning them against shock. This system also has it’s own microbiome and immune system too. called the Glyo dependant lymphatic system. Glyo cells specifically astrocytes regulate the flow of water and lymph. The brain shrinks to about 60% of size at night. Lymph can then flow along arteries and this is how it gets into the brain.

The system works by pumping CSF through the brain at a high rate, which helps to flush out waste products from the interstitial spaces between brain cells. The waste products are then carried away by the blood vessels and eventually eliminated from the body. One of the key components of the glymphatic system is a protein called aquaporin-4, which is found in the cells that form the walls of the blood vessels in the brain. Aquaporin-4 helps to regulate the flow of CSF through the brain and into the interstitial spaces, allowing waste products to be removed efficiently. Astrocytes (immune cells) have N feet aquaporin -4 channels that regulates the flow of lymph and waste removal. As it flows along the brain it needs to exit brain- as we have a skull there would be too much pressure if the fluid stayed there. We don’t want pooling of lymph for this reason and because we don’t want the waste products it’s flushing to stay. We will get neurodegenration and disordered firing if this happens.

The glymphatic system works when we sleep, allowing CSF to flush through the brain at a faster rate than during waking hours. That's why it's important to get a good night's sleep to ensure that the glymphatic system can do its job effectively. During sleep, the brain undergoes a process called the glymphatic clearance cycle, during which the glymphatic system becomes much more active. This allows for more efficient removal of waste products from the brain, helping to prevent the buildup of harmful substances that can lead to neurological disorders. By removing waste products and other debris, it helps to protect the brain and spinal cord from damage and dysfunction, and may even play a role in preventing neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson’s.

The glymphatic system is also affected by lifestyle factors such as diet and exercise. A healthy diet that is rich in antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds can help to support the glymphatic system and improve brain health. Exercise has also been shown to increase the flow of CSF through the glymphatic system, promoting waste clearance.

If you have a history of strep -infections, viral etc in your tonsils -due to the proximity of this tissue to brain- there can be migrated immune cells to brain through the cryptocorn plate. This then causes microglial activation. There is a reservoir of pathogens in tonsils and tonsils help with lymph drainage- think of the tonsils as the “toilet of the brain”. Pans and pandas patients- sometimes need tonsillectomy’s to prevent chronic reinfection and spread of these pathogens.

A lot of heavy metals and certain infections love the brain issues such as lead, aluminium, mercury, & lyme disease. Lead is often stored in the bones and leaches out as we age r when women are breast feeding ( breast feeding is very energy intensive and pulls on all the bodies reserves including the calcium and nutrients stored in bones). Any structural damage to the brain such as TBI (traumatic brain injury) can also affect the flow of lymph with this system.

Animal sleep types - Chronotypes Dr Michael Breus popularised the discussion of people sleep patterns based on animal chronotypes. There is a quiz online you can do to also tell which animal you are. This is intended to help you learn hoe to optimise activities during the day and what sleep timing may suit you best based on this.

Chinese medicine clock With Chinese medicine different times of the day are linked to different body systems. This can be useful if you are feeling sleepy or getting symptoms at certain times of the day. Also if you are waking constantly at say 3am this could point that your liver needs more support with detoxification.

Sleep apnoeaIf when you breathing is affected during sleep essentially causing a lack of oxygenation to reach your brain and this causes you to either wake up frequently from seep, mouth breath, snore etc. It is often linked with obesity and other ling conditions such as COPD.

Long term it has detrimental affects on your health by not having adequate oxygen supply to the brain. Sleep apnoea patients when given a CPAP machine (continuous positive airway pressure machine) to make sure they are getting oxygen into their lugs during sleep. A study showed a 50% compliance rate with the CPAP. Those on the CPAP and compliant pushed the onset of alzheimers back by 10-15yrs compared to the non-compliant group. If we don’t have enough oxygen and aren’t maintaining sleep we loose the capacity for neurogenesis when asleep.

What about naps?Polyphasic sleep- or sleep with regular gaps such as awake for 4hrs and asleep for 2hrs has not been shown to be beneficial. We are not designed to sleep in this way it doesn’t allow us to get to deep sleep adequately or cycle properly into REM.

There is support for “siesta” style sleeping with a nap in the afternoon. Research that was done in Greece showed when they stopped this practice the incidence of heart attacks rose over the 5years it was in place and this law has since been revoked- to allow the practice to continue.

The trouble with having multiple little naps is it stops the “ sleep pressure” or tiredness building that will lead you to have quality and easy onset sleep later. Its like having a snack before dinner- you aren’t as hungry when dinner does around. We want to stop this so we can fall asleep easily. We need that build up of adenosine that makes us fee sleepy and to not release the pressure so to speak.

**What can we do?****Sleep hygiene strategies**

There are so many different resources out there for sleep hygiene such as black out curtains, eye masks, chilli pads to go on your mattress ( to keep core temperature low), weighted blankets etc.

The premise being we want it to be a cool, dark, quiet environment for sleep. We need a core body temperature drop of 1 degree Celsius and it seems 18 degrees Celsius is optimal for air temperature.

Sleep hygiene can also mean the routine at which you sleep. Having a set routine is key to train your body when it needs to get up and when it needs to rest and that can include things you like to do before hand to wind down into sleep.

Stimulus control

Exercise is a great way to ensure that you can wind down into sleep later in the day Those who regularly exercise have better sleep patterns and report less insomnia. So exercise isa way of controlling stimulation in the body.

But other stimulus control is avoiding tv, or screens late at night, because they keep your brain active and the light itself doesn’t let your body know that it's time to sleep.

Light restriction- we are a dark deprived society in this era- we need darkness in order to stimulate melatonin release. Don’t just stay away from blue light but the hour before bed dim the lights in the house as well.

But in the first half of the day we need sunlight at least 40mins of sunshine to slow down melatonin to make us feel more alert.

Sleep restriction

Try not to nap and try to stick to the same sleep and wake times. Even if you didn’t get a good night sleep try to still get up at the same time and not sleep in even on weekends.

Cognitive therapy/Relaxation techniques

Most insomnia is caused by anxiety. So anything that can help that racing mind settle and become in control of our thoughts will help us with sleep. Meditation is a great way to help us settle the mind and get the mind and body back in alignment.

Other considerations

If you feel groggy in the morning it might be that the lymphatic system isn’t cleaning properly and we may need binders for heavy metals if suspected (with melatonin). EMF have been shown to increase the excretion of melatonin (in urine) and disrupts our circadian rhythm.

Some people feel better improving the lymph drainage by raising the head of your bed. 5 degree angle or by cranial compression -rhythmic compression can do before bed before going to sleep.

There are also devices now that can track your sleep - but we don’t want to get obsessive there is now a condition call orthosomnia- where people become so obsessed about tracking and their sleep that affects their sleep giving them insomnia.

**Diet considerations** **Caffeine**

Try not to have caffeine late in the day. Caffeine even if you are a fast metaboliser (process it quickly) it can decrease the amount of REM sleep you get even if you fall asleep easily. The Half- life of caffeine is 5-6hrs and it can decrease deep sleep quality by 20% . How do you know if you are a fast or slow metaboliser and have this polymorph? You can get testing however an easy way to know if when you have coffee do you feel wired and jittery even after 1 cup? Or can you have multiple and not feel much happen at all? If you are the jittery one you are more likely to be the slow metaboliser and if you don’t feel anytime the fast metaboliser. It just means your liver process it differently. The caveat being that you haven’t having excessive caffeine here.

Alcohol

Alcohol increases the frequency you wake at night. As you detoxify the alcohol it causes a “rubber band” reflect that causes you to awaken. Thus is because it stimulate stress hormones to be release or the SNS system. Alcohol itself is a depressant/sedative but doesn’t match normal sleep brain waves. So the idea of a “night cap” may not be being you get the quality sleep you are looking for even though it does sedate you.

Protein

Amino acids are good to have before bed (cysteine and adenosine) assist with sleep.

Banana contains tryptophan (see pathway above) and this is why the old recommendation of say warm milk ( ie protein) before bed was said to assist.

Other high tryptophan foods are:

• Banana, turkey, fish, eggs, seeds, meat, seafood, kiwi fruit, yogurt, milk, legumes

Sugar

We want more stable blood glucose levels and not give ourselves a “spike” before bed- as this can be stimulatory and stimulate stress hormone release. Sugar is a stimulant If the blood glucose levels go too low we can get rebound hyperglycaemia during the night again it can cause stress hormone release.

Meal timing

Having a large meal late at night can also affect sleep so we want to have a lighter meal or not eat too close to bed time.

Melatonin rich foods

Melatonin is important to help us feel sleep and get to sleep and stay asleep.

Melatonin rich foods include:

• Corn, rice, wheat, barley, oats, olives, tomatoes, dairy, walnuts.

Essential fatty acids

Essential fatty acids- eicosanoid is required for sleep and neural membrane function. The pineal gland is high in poly-unsaturated fatty acids especially arachadoinic acid and DHA. If the ratio between omega 3 and 6 is out it can also affect sleep.

Gut health

We want a heathy working gut as the majority of our serotonin is made in the gut- serotonin ( see picture above is the precursor for melatonin. So if you have gut issues it can affect your sleep for this reason ie the microbiome is out of balance.

Supplments/herbs Melatonin

Regulates the timing of your sleep & helps you fall asleep, but it doesn’t help as much in the quantity or quality of your sleep. It is great short term but we don’t want to give excess melatonin to the body all the time. otherwise your body will shut down the natural melatonin production. Melatonin at 0.3mg-5mg can be used but over 5mg is not going to give additional benefits.

Tryptophan

Tryptophan -5-HTP is a precursor for serotonin and thus melatonin. 200mg at 9pm and 400mg at 11 pm in a small study showed an increase in REM sleep.

Magnesium/ B vitamins/Zinc/ essential fatty acid

Cofactors for a number of reactions for sleep and neural signalling.

Collagen

Of note- some people feel after taking collagen/gelatin find that their sleep can be affected.

Herbal remedies Herbal sedative/hypnotics are much more gentle than pharmaceuticals ones. They don’t seem to have the “hangover” or “knock out “ effect that pharmaceuticals demonstrate. They also take about 2 weeks to see affect but some people report noticing improvement straight away.

• Hypnotics induce drowsiness/sleep
• Sedatives decrease nervous system activity and nervous tension
• But other herbal products such as nervines, anxiolytics, adaptogens, analgesics are also useful for sleep.

Hypnotics like: Valerian, Hops and Chaste tree -improve sleep by modulating the circadian rhythm.

Whereas the reduce excitability/tension:

• Sedatives- California poppy, Zizyphus, Valerian, Vervain, Passionflower, Hops
• Anxiolytics- Passionflower, Lavender, Kava
• Nervines- St Johns Wort, Oats, Skullcap, Damiana

Improving stress response:

• Adrenal tonics- Rehmania, Licorice
• Adaptogens - Withania

Reducing pain that maybe affecting sleep:

• Analgesic herbs- Cramp bark, Jamaican dogwood, California poppy

Referenceshttps://www.thensf.org

https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/index.html

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31416797/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5557027/

http://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1217154110

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7871104/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21300732/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17296887/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2603528/

View Details

Lets start with some protein basics;Protein is made up of smaller building blocks called amino acids.

There are 20 structural amino acids in the body of which:

• 9 are essential amino acids ( essential means our body can’t make them so we need to get it in the diet) - * these are totally indispensable

  • Lysine * - think hormones, tissue repair and calcium
  • Threonine *- recycles protein
  • Histidine *- growth especially kids (found in seawed)
  • Leucine- growth hormone + muscle repair (mTOR)
  • Methionine- fat emulsifier, digestion, cardiac protective , heavy metal removal
  • Phenylanine- dopamine+ memory+ mood
  • Tryptophan- pain, sleep/wake regulation, serotonin
  • Valine- muscle production, recovery, endurance

  • Isoleucine- muscle production, recovery, endurance, haemoglobin (in blood)

    • Three called branched chain amino acids (branched chain chemical structure): Isoleucine, leucine, Valine.
    • 11 are non-essential in the body (ie. we can make them) * well 6 are considered semi-essential

  • Alanine

  • Glycine *
  • Serine
  • Arginine *
  • Proline*
  • Cysteine*
  • Aspartate/aspartic acid
  • Glutamate
  • Tyrosine*
  • Asparagine
  • Glutamine*

  So now you are thinking there are so many how do i make sure i get them all?We don’t need all types of protein at each meal- the aim should be to get a mix over the day or week. As we have an amino acid pool (skeletal muscle)in the body to draw on and that is stored. But for vegetarians and vegans they ned to be a lot more conscious of this than meat eaters.

• Legumes: contain Isoleucine, Lysine

• Grains; Methionine, Tryptophan
• Soy: is a good protein for vegetarians and vegans as it is closet to animal sources + quinoa. But remember soy can worsen mensural symptoms in some women and may interfere with thyroid function.
• Of note animal sources of protein are rich in leucine and are considered “complete”. Eating meat is the easiest way to get in protein.
• Legumes also contain a lot of physic acid which is why they need to be soaked- can cause gastrointestinal inflammation and issues.
• Egg: is a great source and 99% of the protein in eggs are absorbed they are considered the “benchmark” for protein food or a “1st class” protein source.

As a note for vegetarians/vegans its important to heck for deficiencies such as: protein, B12,B2, Vit D, Calcium, Zinc, Selenium, Iron. And supplement accordingly as it is difficult for you to obtain the correct amounts through plant sources.

**Importance of muscle/protein** Proteins are required in literally every process in the body. From brain health, neurotransmitters, hormones, to being used in detoxification by the liver, transporting chemicals/nutrients in the body, repairing tissue the list literally goes on and on. The skeletal muscle tissue is essentially the biggest reservoir of this in the body. Not only that but skeletal muscle is what helps us to move and be functional not only that you can think of muscle our our body’s, well body armour. It maintains you in times of fasting, illness, injury, age and cancer. We know survivability in old age and cancer depends on the amount of muscle mass you have.

The body is designed for movement- the human machine was designed for hard physical labour. balance, strength, flexibility survivability. The body is made up of approximately 40% skeletal muscle.

Whilst it’s not easy to put muscle on: it takes time, attention and diet changes. As you get older you are not as primed for anabolic growth (much easier to put on muscle when you are younger). Skeletal muscle is one of the primary sites for insulin resistance. Insulin resistance beginsin healthy 20 year old that are sedentary before changes are seen in the blood, to insulin secretion , blood glucose levels, liver abnormalities, triglyceride levels etc. And insulin resistance is linked to so many conditions. This is more important to look at than adiposity (fat we are holding). 80% of glucose disposal is in skeletal muscle. If you destroy skeletal muscle where is the glucose going to go or be stored? Utilising glycogen, fatty acids if skeletal muscle can’t do it where are these metabolites going to go?

While we are mentioning insulin resistance the liver when it has beomce saturated with glucose and thus signalling from inulin to take it up (insulin resistance). you can’t detect circulating blood glucose levels as well- so the liver pumps the glucose back out into the blood stream (this is what happens often in fatty liver). The P-PAR receptors regulat what energy to use and is what tells the liver not to release sugar. Glucose tolerance factor (GTF) makes insulin more 3 times more effective. It is made up of guess what? 3 amino acids (glutamic acid, glycine, cysteine), chromium and B3. High insulin levels also cause IGF-1 (insulin like growth factor) to become resistant as well ( it is stimulated by calorie intake to increase muscle mass). Excess triglycerides, free fatty acids, and glucose, coupled with physical inactivity, perturbs metabolism in skeletal and cardiac muscle.

We can’t make our kidneys bigger, our liver bigger, we can’t change a lot of other organs in the body but we can grow more muscle.

**Muscle is an endocrine organ**Muscle is an endocrine organ that we can directly control. When muscles contract they release their own chemical messengers -the most well studied been IL-6 (interleukin 6), myokines, IL-10. In a low glycogen state.

Myokines are protein factors including cytokines and peptides secreted into the blood scream using muscle contraction. One of the myokines released from muscle contraction is BDNF (brain derived neurotrophic factor) often though of as the brain morale grow molecule ( see post on BDNF). this is part of why working out makes you fee so good as well as endorphins.

Under optimal conditions skeletal muscle regulates energy balance in the body ( the more muscle mass you have the faster your metabolic rate). It's a major site for carbohydrate disposal, fat burning and is a reserve for amino acids. Obesity is a symptom of unhealthy muscle that is dysregulated.

Exercise interfaces with the immune system- it increase natural killer cells (NK cells) and reduces the risk of cancer, cardiovascular conditions reduces inflammation in the body overall; in fact exercise helps with nearly all medical conditions. There is no such thing as healthy sedentary individuals. Exercise also bypasses insulin with glucose uptake (GLT-4).

Middle age is when we really need to be training and using the amount of muscle on our bodies to see ourselves into old age. As we age it becomes harder to put on muscle mass, as skeletal muscle ages it becomes less efficient at recognising protein to uptake it, skeletal muscles insulin resistance, decreased ability to use glucose.

P**rotein diet recommendations** RDA is set at 0.8g/kg -based on nitrogen studies on 19 year old men extrapolated from animal data. it has not changed in 40year! Higher protein diets always does better than baseline RDA- double the RDA is supported for most conditions for health. The RDA is currently 50% too low to maintain normal function. 1.6g/kg should be the recommendation at a minimum. Protein intake has been tested up to 3g/kg with no abnormalities being detected. For individual amino acids the range has been tested up to 250-300g or protein a day with no abnormalities.

What about my kidneys?There is a lot of old information that high protein will damage your kidneys. The only time we need to consider the protein strain on ur kidneys is in chronic renal failure.

According to the journal of nutrition meta analysis and systemic review of more than two dozen studies (PMID: 30383278) invoking hundred of participants in processing large amounts (>=1.5G/KG) of protein DOES NOT I will repeat DOES NOT lead to a decline in kidney function.

**mTOR** mTOR is in every tissue in the body, in skeletal muscle it is very sensitive to dietary protein. It requires a specific amino acids to stimulate it and that is Leucine. As we get older the tissue becomes less sensitive to dietary protein and we need double the amount of protein in order to stimulate mTOR and maintain healthy muscle mass. The minimum amount of dietary protein to stimulate the mechanistic target of Rapomysin based on Leucine is -2.5g Leucine which mean the minimum amount of protein needed is 30g dietary protein to stimulate MTOR ( so we should aim to have this amount as a minimum at each meal). As you get older you need closer to 50g in order to stimulate MTOR and build muses in older years. You either stimulate mTOR or you don’t. There is not a little bit of stimulation (exercise/resistance training also stimulates mTOR).

The health benefits of resistance training and aerobic exercise * Resistance + aerobic training

+ Glucose homeostasis
+ Body composition
+ Mobility
+ Mitochondrial funciton
+ Cognitive function

• Resistance training

  • Mitigating decline in muscle mass
  • Muscle strength
  • Aerobic exercise
  • Cardiovascular funciton

Why you should build muscle* Improve your longevity * Decrease risk of cognitive decline * Correct your body composition * Maintain activities of a fulfilling life * Better blood sugar regulation * To be strong AF!

**Benefits of higher protein intake for older adults** * Higher bone density

• Slower rate of bone loss
• Slower rates of muscle loss
• Increased resilience

One you are over 50years muscle mass decreases at an annual rate of 1-2%. The decline in muscle strength is even higher. The cause is likely a combination of disuse, inadequate nutrition, lower hormones, injury and inflammation. Often the loss of muscle is replaced by body fat, reducing muscle strength and mobility as well as disruption our metabolism- a condition called sarcopenia obesity.

Older people need more dietary protein than younger adults to support good health, promote recovery from illness and mating functionality.

Alzheimers study and exercise?Recent research is showing that exercise is a great way to prevent and help treat alzheimers.

in a 2021 study using mouse models, the team showed that genetic deletion of irisin impairs cognitive function in exercise, aging, and Alzheimer’s disease, which was in part caused by alterations of newborn neurons in the hippocampus. The hippocampus is the compartment of the brain that stores memories and is the first to show signs of Alzheimer’s disease. At the same time, the study found that elevating irisin levels in the bloodstream improved cognitive function and neuroinflammation in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease.

**Exercise effects broader than weight loss** When we are active we are able to activate the parts of our human nature that brings us joy. We are designed to move! Movement is one of the few things that can actually changes the structure of your brain. Movement is also how we engage with life. Exercise is an anti-aging elixir, that spins the biological clock in reverse. When you look at the health of centenarians a commonality amongst all of them is that movement is a foundational part of their lives.

A big reason that movement is such a vital component of health and longevity is that it regulates the epigenome (our gene expression controls), including via DNA methylation. Positive, exercise-induced DNA methylation changes have been found in the following areas:

• Obesity, diabetes, and fat storage (this particular study showed profound, beneficial changes in type 2 diabetics who started exercising in just six months!)
• The inflammatory response and inflammation-associated diseases, when moderate exercise is practiced regularly over time
• Learning, memory, and neuroplasticity (the ability of brain cells to form new connections)
• Suppressing cancer – and this effect is more pronounced the older you are
• Reverting global DNA methylation patterns to those of a younger person
• Our exercise habits are heritable! You can hand down DNA methylation changes (favorably or not) to your offspring. Can you hand down those 6-pack abs? Probably not, but you can lower risk for diabetes and heart disease in offspring based on your habits.

It sensitises the brain to pleasure- it changes the function and structure of the rewards system. It teaches your brain to expect things to be pleasurable and enhances your capacity to enjoy everything from good food and a beautiful sunset to connection with friends, family etc anything you find pleasure. It makes your reward system more robust and responsive: endorphins work better and endocanibinoids work better in the brain. It makes you more resilient to stress and is a great antidepressant- and can enhance how antidepressant therapies work.

The “joy- gap” with exercise - people dramatically underestimate the pleasure they get from exercise- yes even for people who don’t like exercise. We think it’s going got be so hard, so uncomfortable and so awful. But when people actually exercise they self report afterwards - “I feel better, I feel more optimistic, I have more energy not less energy”.

Your muscles recreate hormones into the body that affect every part of the body as mentioned. It is an endocrine organ. They secrete hormones and proteins that are fight cancer cells and good for heart health and also for brain health. “Hope molecules” (aka Myokines- one of the main ones being BDNF) are excreted when you exercise (contract your muscles) that make you resilient to stress and act as a natural antidepressants.

Have you heard of the “runners high” that feel good sensation that goes from exercise and overriding the pain? Why do we get that? Well because in caveman days wee needed to hunt and to get food and to do this we needed to move and our body designed to make it pleasurable so we would engage with life and work hard. But not only that the endocannibinoid system helps us be more cooperative and compassionate. So once we killed the “woolly mammoth" for example instead of keeping it to ourselves it makes us more likely to share it with our tribe. It helps lower inhibitions, makes us more social, reduces anxiety , makes us feel good and helps us to connect with others. It gives us more pleasure from being cooperative and sharing with others. It helps make us willing to do the hard things and it feels good to do those hard things and be the person who contributes to community and it feels good too. You don’t have to run to get the runners hight- you just need to do something that is moderately physically challenging for you! Get your heart rate up, muscles contracting and moving!

When cultures want to strengthen ties traditionally or deal with grief- they use movement be that dance etc. It helps with all these feel good chemicals and also releases oxytocin. Moving is a form of social grooming- holding, touching etc. When you work doing labour together, walk in synchrony it helps bond you just like hugging.

If you block endocannibinoids you make people unable to have pleasure and bond with others. There was a drug developed that was a cannabinoid blocker “Remonabant” whose intention it was to be a weight loss drug. Block the endocannabinoid system and you won’t feel hungry . However unintended side effects where increased suicidal tendencies and depression. Because it reduced your ability to feel pleasure and bond with others. In mice studies it cause the mother mice to abandon their children and it makes them antisocial.

Those who exercise regularly is directly correlated with purpose and meaning in life. Those who move on days they move/exercise find more meaning in their life. When people are forced to be more sedentary their meaning in life decreases for those who are sedentary and when you increase that they gain more meaning.

Can you get addicted to exercise?People can get addicted to exercise. A small percentage of people will get hooked in an unhealthy way but this is always inked with other addiction challenges. The majority of people experience a different kind of addiction ; they love it, they feel dependant, they know they need it, they feel withdrawn if they miss a workout.

The difference with this type of addiction to say drugs like cocaine etc. is with these drugs there is such a huge amount of neurotransmitters release it overwhelms the brain and your brain decided this isn’t safe and it reduces receptors and kicks in the“ anti-rewards system’.

Exercise does the opposite it boosts the natural rewards system and increases receptors that will respond to neurotransmitters. It also helps repairs brain that have been damaged from those that have had damage to their rewards systems from drug use.

So “exercise addition” is more a recognition of the benefits of exercise rather than an addition that affects regulation in a negative way.

The research coming out around protein intake, skeletal muscle and even exercise is becoming more and more compelling for why we need to move on a daily basis. I hope this encourages you to look at what movement you enjoy and how you can incorporate into your life. We want to be happy strong and healthy as we age. And even just so we look and feel good now! This is where the fitness industry meets science and the health industry- we need to stop looking at our bodies in isolation but the whole package of what can give us vitality and optimal health.

Referenceshttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4241903/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5820209/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16960159/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4398026/#R7

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6563593/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3174102/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30383278/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK560813/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4848650/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5828430/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31952571/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29177585/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30627775/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25104777/

https://www.nature.com/articles/s42255-021-00438-z

View Details

Australian bush flower essences are some of my favourites. I feel so much more connected to them than the Bach flowers given they are native to the land I grew up in and love. Now flower essences have less of a scientific logic to them and more of a spiritual and energetic one. The only evidence that the principles of flower essences can be linked to is the work by Masaru Emoto, the groundbreaking author of “Messages from Water”, found from his research in photographing the crystalline structure of melting frozen water, that both gratitude and love were equally the highest vibrations of any word or feeling. Showing that energies can be imprinted in water. And these energies from the flowers are what is used for healing. Energy cannot be created or destroyed. It can only be changed or transferred, from one form to another. Richard Gerber and Gurudus have tried to show evidence of this effect but I cannot say its of a robust nature or of the quality seen in randomised double blind placebo controlled trials.

Gurudus claims that flower essences cleans the aura and subtle bodies so that balances will stop bringing about ill health. So it's not so much a logical healing system but an emotional/spiritual one.

What are flower essences?For thousands of years Australian Aborigines have used flowers to heal emotional imbalances and physical injuries. The Australian aborigines obtained he beneficial effects from the flower essence by eating the whole flower. The essence in the form of dew made potent by the sun would thus be consumed with the flower. At the same time the aborigines benefited from the nutritive properties of the flower. Often they didn’t distinguish between the flower and plant and ate both or simply ate it for its taste (especially if it was rich in honey). If the flower was inedible they would sit in a clump of flowers to absorbs its healing energies and vibrations of the flower. The use of flowers for the purpose of healing was always seen by aborigines as a pleasurable rite. They certainly know of many flowers that could be used for resolving specific emotional imbalances.

Flower Essences were also used in Ancient Egypt, as well as India, Asia, Europe and South America. The earliest European recorded use of Flower Essences was by Abbess Hildegard von Bingen in the twelfth century.

This system of healing was rediscovered and popularised eighty years ago by Dr.Edward Bach with his use of English flowering plants. Naturopath, Ian White, a 5th generation Australian herbalist, has further developed this method using plants from all over Australia. Ian grew up in the bush and was taught from an early age the healing power of Australian plants. He has spent many years travelling Australia researching and developing a range of 69 specific Bush Essences.

Why Australian Bush flowers?The Bush Essences are a system of healing that anyone can use for themselves or prescribe for others. Although Flower Remedies have been used by many cultures for thousands of years, the Australian Bush Flower Essences meet the great need for remedies that help people address the issues of the 21st century - sexuality, communication skills and spirituality to name but a few.

Australia has the world's oldest and highest number of flowering plants exhibiting tremendous beauty and strength. Also Australia is relatively unpolluted and metaphysically has a very wise, old energy.

At this time there is a tremendous new vitality in this country. This, combined with the inherent power of the land, is why the Australian Bush Flower Essences are unique. Practitioners and prescribers world wide are now incorporating the Australian Essences to form an integral part of their therapy.

How do they work?We all have gut feelings or what some people call an inner knowing which helps guide us. If we choose to ignore this and continue on the wrong path these intuitions usually become louder and more noticeable until finally if we fail to notice we feel like we have been “run over by a semitrailer” - metaphorically speaking. We have all had moments in our lives where we look back with hindsight and see the tremendous advantages that flowed from the seeming bad event or was a major turning point in our lives. The bush essences help you by keeping your life running on course, keeping you away of and acting on your intuition so that you can avoid being flattened so often haha. And if you do experience a crisis then bush flower essences are available to help you work through your feelings and experiences and recover more quickly. The bush flower essences bring forth the positive qualities that are deep within each of us. The activation allows us to replace fear with love, insecurity with self-confidence etc. It works on the subconscious and higher self rather than the conscious mind.

We are constantly creating situations to reinforce the particular beliefs that we hold. We rarely have conscious awareness of those beliefs formulated early in our lives or even later. This is why your mental monologue and the words you use matter as well as the intention of how you speak to and about yourself.

A person can be viewed as having many emotional layers and bush essences hep you work through those layers. They operate as a gentle catalyst and only work up to the point a person is willing to go. Of course the more self aware people are and growth orientated through parties such as meditation and a willingness to explore their feelings the faster the remedies will work. They are completely safe and can be used in adults, children, the elderly and pets. As this is working on energies not the physical body.

Aboriginal Tjukurpa a term that was misconstrued by early white people as meaning “dreaming” or “Dreamtime”- which was not an adequate translation. The Anangu aborigines describe Tjukurpa as existence itself, in the past, present and future. It is the law that governs all behaviour.

What are flower essences used for?Flower Essences are produced by imprinting a flower's unique vibrational healing signature onto the carrier solution and are used to treat imbalances at a higher level, bringing about emotional and spiritual balance and wellbeing in the whole person. Flower Essences are the best and most effective modality to reach and treat the subtle-energy bodies, along with the meridians.

How is that different to herbal tinctures and essential oils?Herbal extracts and tinctures are derived after macerating parts of plants and trees i.e. root, bark, leaves in alcohol for a period of time before straining and bottling. Herbal remedies are generally recommended for a specific ailment and only work on the physical body, they are far cruder in nature and their chemical constituents can be analysed and measured.

Essential Oils are extracted from the flower, bark, sap and leaves of plants and are aromatic /scented residues that work via the olfactory sense. Essential Oils are far less specific in addressing emotional imbalances. Flower Essences can be effectively used in conjunction with all of these other modalities.

How long do they take to work?The Australian Bush Flower Essence remedies can work immediately in certain situations, but as the effects of flower essences are cumulative, for long-term issues, it will take a couple of weeks to one month to see changes.

How many Australian Bush flower essences are there?Currently there are 69 that have been researched from elders and traditional use to form the current Australian bush flower essences available.

   How do you pick which one to use?There are so many ways: using insight cards, statements a person makes can help guide you to what they need, by a particular concern emotional or physical, by feeling draw to a particular flower image or if you have a strong reaction to the image (even feeling repulsed), by reading about the flower and seeing what you feel you need the most etc. There is no right or wrong you will be guided to what you need by your intuition.

For example today I asked myself what do I need ? I shuffled my card deck and this card jumped out for Freshwater Mangrove.

**Freshwater Mangrove** when pounded crushed and then placed in water- the bark and leaf of the tree release a substance that aboriginal people use to temporarily stun fish making them easier to catch. This flower essence is as shakespeare said “nothing is either good or bad but thinking makes it so”. It heals and releases mental prejudice often sown from generation to generation or when you have a concept of someone you haven’t even met yet formed an opinion without giving them a chance. It helps open the heart when it has been closed due to mental prejudice or you have predetermined expectations of people. It helps you to be open to new experiences and new experiences with people without judgement. It opens us to the awareness that there are other ways of doing and perceiving things from what we have done before.

We are constantly bombarded with information and stimuli and only let through with our filters that which confirms our beliefs. The early Portuguese explorer Magellan recorded in his log book that when he sailed in to Tierra del Fuego the native people were oblivious to his ship for the first 3 days of arrival- it was invisible to them. The totally unfamiliar large object was so foreign and different to their reality that they physically could not see it. Not until their canoes kept bumping into the boat and they fell in the water and climbed aboard, could they see the ship for the first time. It then became visible to the rest of the tribe! How crazy is that for what we can filter out with our minds! What does that have to do with this flower essence? Freshwater mangrove has the potential to allow us to fully experience and be open on a heart level to all the changes occurring.

Negative condition it addresses

• heart close due to expectations or prejudices which have been taught and not personally experiences
• refusal to try new things for no good reason

Positive outcome

• openness to new experiences, people and perpetual shifts
• healthy questioning of traditional standards and beliefs

And that’s just one essence there are 68 more!

                        You can also visit the Australian Bush flower essences page or contact me for more information.

See which flower you are draw to and what yu might be needing

Much love Courtney x

View Details

That is a bit extreme! But adaptogens do help you deal with stress and we are all a little stressed these days. SO lets explore stress and how adaptogens assist with this.

What is an Adaptogen?Though this word is a relatively new concept to western medicine, China and Eastern medical theory has employed their use for centuries. The intent behind their use is the very basis of a preventative approach to health and well being. Basically their action is one that improves the body’s adaptability, enabling the body to avoid reaching a point of collapse or over-stress. It defined as a substance that increases the body resistance or adaptation to physical, environmental emotional or biological stressors and promotes normal physiological function .

Adaptogens can have an overall tonifying effect or provide benefit within specific organ such as the circulatory, respiratory, digestive, reproductive and nervous systems. They improve vitality and energy, increase wellbeing and physiological reserves. They can help a person out of the exhaustion phase and into a healthy resilience phase.

**How Adaptogens Work**Despite their long traditional use, more and more research continues to appear regarding the present day use of these remedies. The core of their action appears to be in **helping the body deal with the physiology of stress.** When we’re unable to cope with external pressures it leads to internal repercussions, and the manifestation of illness can develop in many diverse forms. Adaptogens seem to increase the threshold of resistance to damage through supporting the adrenal glands and possibly pitutiary gland function. Their normalizing effect leads to contradictory actions depending on the body’s needs. The restorative quality of these herbs is a unique feature of herbal medicine unlike any in the pharmaceutical index.

Adaptogens are capable of restoring normal tone and function to the HPA (hypothalamic/pituitary/adrenal) axis and SAS (sympatho-adrenal system) and therefore to the entire body. As the adrenal glands underlie much of the body’s response to external and internal stressors. While improving resistance to stress they help to prevent some of the more common symptoms of stress including poor concentration, sleep disturbance, fatigue, decreased immune response, and decreased resistance to infections.

• Promote the production and/or reduce the breakdown of some stress hormones.
• Protect the adrenal glands from wasting under chronic stress.
• Enhance all aspects of performance.

Quick definition of stress:

Stress is any demand on the body to adjust, it is any arousal be it negative ( fear, injury) or positive (falling in love).

And yes falling in love stimulates this response. What we normally mean with stress is “distress” -a stimulus the overrides our normal ability to cope or adjust.

During stress physiological reactions take place starting in the hypothalamus via the pituitary gland to the adrenals (and often other end organs such as the ovaries and thyroid). This is commonly referred to as the HPA axis (hypothalamus pituitary adrenal axis). Stress left unmanaged causes a lot of inflammation in the body and the breakdown of normal processes leading to a host of various conditions and disease states.

The general adaptation syndrome aka GASIs known by 3 phases: alarm, resistance and exhaustion.

Now our adrenals never truly “exhaust” or run out of the ability to make hormones or we would be dead! But the name refers to a more extreme loss of ability to manage stress and the physical illness that then set in as a result.

Alarm:

• This is what we typically think of as the “fight or flight”. Fear is a very strong activator of this system. Immediately noradrenaline and adrenaline are released from the renal medulla by the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) by the hypothalamus.
• These hormones alert and mobilise the body resources for immediate physical activity. Because we either have to fight the bear or run away from it.
• When the SNS is activated the parasympathetic nervous system is damped (PNS) which controls actions such as digestion, relaxation and reproduction because hey we don’t need those right now we are under stress and have to act- now! At the same time but moving a little bit more slowly is the hypothalamus telling the anterior pituitary via CRP (corticotrophin releasing hormone) to secrete ACTH( adrenocorticotrophic hormone). ACTH triggers the release of what are called glucocorticoids (cortisol) from the adrenal cortex.
• Cortisols response is much slower in the body than adrenaline and it hangs around a lot longer. Why do we need both? Well think of adrenaline as really dramatic gets the heart racing etc so we can run or fight and cortisol is more to deal with the aftermath. Cortisol keeps glucose pumping in the body by breaking down protein and fat, reduces inflammation (incase we got injured so we can keep moving) and elevates the pain threshold.

Resistance:

• When the stress has passed and we have returned to near normal reactions after adjusting. Ie moving is stressful but once you adjust to your new home it becomes the new normal. Alarm and resistance are normal and we flutatue between the 2 in our lives it how we grow as people. But when we can’t handle the stress and don’t develop resistance we enter what is termed exhaustion.

Exhaustion:

• Now as i mentioned it’s not true exhaustion but a failure to deal with the stress and build resilience. We are continuing to release hormones When we continually release these stress hormones not in an acute context it leads to contains such as diabetes, high blood pressure and caner etc. You never stop making cortisol you can’t run out as i said or you would be dead but the levels in your body due to prolonged use can cause abnormal readings and fluctuate. Not to mention the flow on effects to other systems ie hormones and thyroid as will be demonstrated below

  Lets talk some pathways Adrenal Cortex: produces cortisol, aldosterone, DHEA(all steroid hormones are cholesterol derived)

Adrenal Medulla: produces Adrenaline, Nor-adrenaline (Tyrosine derived)

  This is why men who are chronically stressed have issues with low testosterone and women can loose their periods.

  -Oestrogen is broken down by the liver: phase1 (CYP1A1, CYP1B1, CYP3A4), phase 2 (methylation: SAMe & glucoronidation)

-Sex binding globulin transport hormones in the body and is made by the liver- it binds strongest to testosterone ans its production is stimulated by high oestrogen.

-There are 3 types of Oestrogen: E1= Oestrone, E2= Oestradiol, E3= Oestriol

*Oestradiol is 18x more potent the other oestrogens!

-Oestriol is mostly produced in fat cells and in pregnancy.

-The gut plays a major role sin metabolism of hormones and excretion. If you are constipated thatn you will get more reabsorption of oestrogen.

• So when we have high cortisol we get low DHEA and low testosterone (high blood sugar levels, smoking and digoxin toxicity also decrease these)
• High cortisol interferes with the HPT (hypothalamic pituitary thyroid) and this may contribute to autoimmune thyroiditis due to adrenal dysfunction and then immune dysfunction. Thyroid binding globulin increases when cortisol increases. High cortisol decreases the conversion of T4-T3. High cortisol causes thyroid hormone resistance - can’t bind to the receptors properly. High cortisol increases insulin resistance and sex hormone imbalances and resistance.

• Neurotransmitters become out of balance due to chronic stress and GABA decreases. Monoamine metabolism becomes altered and so there is reduced melatonin and serotonin. Growth factors in the brain (survival and neurone regeneration- especially the regions for mood/emotion/behaviour) become depleted.

  CAR- Cortisol Awakening Response Lets quickly mention CAR. CAR occurs within first 10-30min of waking- it sets you up for the rest of your day. . When sunlight hits your eyes and tells your body (adrenal glands) we need to make cortisol fast. Now if your body can not make enough quick enough or it makes too much too fast it can cause symptoms.

Symptoms such as:

• Anxiety.
• Depression.
• Inflammation.
• Worse energy levels.
• Increased risk autoimmune.
• Worse blood sugar response.
• Not feeling resilient.

CAR too high or too low:

Too high:

• This maybe releated to the Somogyi (so-MOH-gyee) effect in diabetes that happens when a low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) episode overnight leads to high blood sugar (hyperglycemia) in the morning due to a surge of hormones. You can have an early spike in cortisol before you wake up which in turn can increase glucose production. The brain and adrenal communication is inappropriate and you wake up with elevated blood glucose levels.

Too low:

• If don’t have a strong awakening response ie. you don’t make enough cortisol- then you wake up low blood glucose -wake up feeling tired, so you wake up in a fasting body state as your body is not breaking down fatty acids to make glucose like it should before you eat. It means you can also wake up shaky and hungry.

You should go from awake to fully conscious in 30-60mins.(Sleep apnoea really affects this).

To try and determine how CAR is working for you ask these simple questions?

• What are your repeat patterns? - ask how stressed are you in the morning -running around. Do you needs lots of coffee?

• When you go on vacation how do you feel? Anticipatory stress? Does it take you 4-5days to relax? Type A personalities find it harder and longer than this sometimes to wind down when they do take holidays.

  Circadian rhythm and CAR:

Circadian rhythm is really important for proper CAR. We need to have a cyle of light to dark not constant light (ie think about all that screen time). In the morning we want light exposure. But at night we need things to be dark- so try ans minimise that screen time or at least dull it 1hr before sleep so your body get ths message it can start to swtich off and stop making so much cortisol and keep the melatonin flowing. Melatonin and cortisol should be in a wave to one another.

The importance of sleep for CAR:

• If you hit all your stages of sleep and get at least 8hrs you will be more resilient and can handle your day- whaterer stress might be thrown at you. Especially if we can’t get rid of all your stress- we need to put things in place to best manage it.
• Deep sleep restores and heals the brain via the glymphatic system and cleans our brain. Most of which is done in first part of sleep.
• 10-11pm for alot of people is the best time for sleep.
• Teenagers are often in the alpha wave state more which is why they wake up to sounds easier than adults.
• Its a good idea to have alarms with lights to wake up like sun. Alarms themselves do not affect awakening response. How do we know this think about when you have to shift your usual alarm to catch a flight - you feel that change don’t you but it’s not CAR.

CAR and the damage it can do when out of wack:

• CAR has an effect on energy, resilience and mood, memory/recall and even cancer- increased mortality.

• If your CAR isn’t working properly then you are also at increased risk of autoimmune conditions.

  • If your cortisol isn’t flowing in a nice wave throughout the day with a peak in the morning and lull in the evening - if its more at a constant rate throughout the day your body can struggle to kill cells that have failed their inspection so to speak and have gone rogue. This is what happens in autoimmune conditons and your T-cell (type of immune cell) start attacking your body’s tissue when it shouldn’t.

  • Under stress you can’t remember- properly .

  • Cortisol can cause destruction to hippocampus cells or restructure that area is long standing. The flip side to this is we need a little cortisol to help with recall and when leaning to lay down the pathways. So a little in bursts is good a lot long term not so good.

  • Drugs (like steroids), traumatic brain injury , car accident- can also affect the hippocampus and affect CAR same as the hypothalamus.

  • Isotrerionine - affects hypothalamus and cortisol as can Opioids, Benzodiazepines and steroids as mentioned ( its very difficult to correct CAR if on steroids).

  • Your RAS (reticulating activating system)- could cause restructure in this system for the better . But it takes time and effort to change patterns.
  • Melanoma and breast cancer rates are increased in flight staff/ shift workers and this maybe partly due to them haivng a worse CAR.

What do we do about CAR that is out?

• We can’t fix the reproductive rhythm until we fix the circadian rhythm.
• We need to sort out sleep and try and stop stimulating cortisol at the wrong times of the day. Which will depend on an individual’s circumstances and what they are doing that is impacting this rhythm.
• Adaptogens & Vitamin B5 can help modulate and get CAR working properly.
• We can try and correct the cycle with melatonin -it is anti-inflammatory, get the correct sleep wake cycle and melatonin drives reproductive rhythm.

• Melatonin:

  • Original research based on physiologically- 0.3mg a day.
  • However most supplement companies make 1-5mg. People do better 0.3-0.5mg daily.
  • Antioxidant effects of melatonin -20mg for cancer -more potent than glutathione!

Herbal Examples of adaptogens:* Glycyrrhiza glabra (Licorice) * Panax ginseng (Korean ginseng) * Panax quinquefolium (American ginseng) * Eleutherococcus senticosus (Siberian Ginseng) * Rhodiola rosea (Rhodiola) * Schizandra chinensis (Schizandra) * Withania somnifera (Ashwagandha) * Astragalas membranoccocus (Astragalus) * Codonposis pilosula (Codonposis) * Centella asiatica (Gotu kola) * Andrographis paniculata (Andrographis) * Asparagus racemosus (Shatavari) * Bacopa monniera (Bacopa) * Ganoderma lucidum (Reishi) * Grifola frondosa (Maitake) * Lentinus edodes (Shitake)

There are often broken into:

• HPA-axis adaptogen tonics
• Withania - supports the nervous system and endocrine systems. It’s good for balancing.

• Rhodiola- good for fatigue and cardiovascular problems, generalised anxiety and sleep disorders

• Adrenal restorative

• Used more longer term to restore balance
• Licorice
• Rehmania- also anti-inflammatory and reduces fatigue, “cooling herb"

Herbs useful For emotional stress;* California poppy * Corydalis * Jamaican dogwood * Kava * Mexican valarian * Skullcap * Damiana * St Johns wort * Valarian * Zizyphus

Herb useful For physical stress: * Korean ginseng * Licorice * Rhodiola * Sarsaparilla * Schisandra * Siberian ginseng * Tribulus leaf * Withania * Rehamania

Quick summary on a few of the herbs:Panax Ginseng (Korean Ginseng)

• 25 different ginenosides at least in this plant.
• High yield ginsenosides in the root (lateral) and root hair traditionally however the main root is used.

• Quality of h root extract was a ration 1:2 of Rg1 : Rb1.

  • Rg1 is stimulating and a sympathomimetic.
  • Rb1 is sedating and a parasympathetomimetic.
  • Even though we use less Rg1 it tends to dominate the mix.

  • Actions;

  • Powerfully stimulating adapting, cardiotonic(mild), anti-aging( small does in middle age).

  • Uses:

  • Acute stressful stimuli requiring maximal physical and/or mental performance( especially bursts of speed/strength), debility related to age- especially rapid ageing.

  • Caution:

  • Can be over stimulating especially with other stimulants ie coffee, avoid long term use especially in healthy young people, may care insomnia is taken in the late afternoon/ evening.

  • Contraindications:

  • People with a tendency towards mania/aggression, pregnancy, hypertension and acute infection.

Withania somnifera (Withania aka Ashwaganda)

• See longer post where I went into more detail about this herb on this blog.
• Use the root of the plant.

• Actions:

  • Relaxing adaptogen, immunomodulator, mild sedative.

  • Uses:

  • Debility resulting from chronic stressful situations, chronic stress where the person tends to respond with anxiety, mani or aggression, chronic viral infections leading to considerable debility and weight loss, debility in late stages of pregnancy.

Eleutherococcus senticosus (Siberian Ginseng)

• Root of the pant is used.
• Eleutheroside E is a marker of a good quality product.

• Actions:

  • Moderate stimulating adaptogen, immunomodulator.

  • Uses:

  • Chronically stressful situations requiring maximal physical/mental performance ( especially endurance and mental agility), lethargy and debility, insomnia due to stress, chronic viral infections.

  • Caution:

  • May cause some over stimulation.

  • Contraindicated:

  • Acute infections and anticoagulants.

Want to know more about adaptogens and stress? I will do more on individual plants soon but i think next we should explore the nervines as a grup.

Much love Courtney x

View Details

Adaptogens are a particularly favourite group of herbs for me- so we are going to go into more detail about one of them. This plant has been used in various cultures for centuries for its health benefits. But i will do a post soon on adaptogens in general.

History:Rhodiola was an indispensable source of power to vikings who conquered the seas. They used it to reduce fatigue and assist with strength. It’s also been used by cosmonauts to boost their physical and mental performance on demanding space journeys. The Russians have researched the health benefits of it ever since the 1960´s. The Chinese emperors used it to try and extend life and it has been used in Sweden, Iceland, Ukraine, France, Greece and central Asia for centuries.

Rhodiola is a plant that grows in cold regions and at high altitudes in Europe and Asia. The roots and rhizomes of rhodiola have been used in traditional medicine. Due to the golden colour of its roots it is often referred to as “golden root”. But the name rhodiola comes from the Greek word for rose ‘rodon’ because when the root is dried, it is said to have the scent of roses.

Since the 1960s rhodiola has been one of the most researched plants thanks to the soviet union and was even included in the Russian pharmacopeia. It has been used in Siberia for centuries to help people deal with the harsh winters and symbolised health and fertility – it was even given to newlyweds before their wedding night. As it is said to have aphrodisiac properties and assist with preventing premature ejaculation.

The Mongols are reported to have used it to help with tuberculosis and during the long winter months. The Tibetan monks drank it to calm their minds before meditation and Sherpas used it to help with oxygenation of the blood during high altitude trails.

In Chinese medicine it is referred to as Hong jing tian and was used to support energy-Qi, the heart and spleen, mental function, cleanse the lungs, calm the nervous system and strengthen the immune system. It said to help move the blood and boost spleen and kidney Qi.

As it is a very astringent plant it was used traditionally also to help heal wounds, address diarrhoea and stop bleeding.

Reported properties:Adaptogenic, Antiaging, Antiarrhythmic, Antibacterial, Anticancer, Antidepressant, Antidiabetic, Antihypertensive effect, Antihypoxic, Anti-inflammatory, Antioxidant, Antiviral, Anxiolytic, Athletic performance enhancement, Cardioprotective, Central nervous system, Cognitive, CYP450 inhibitory, Hepatoprotective, Hypolipidemic, Immunomodulatory, Neuroprotective, P-glycoprotein inhibitory.

Rhodiola is considered to be an adaptogen due to its purported ability to reduce fatigue, increase energy, stamina, strength, and mental capacity, and increase resistance to chemical, biological, and physical stressors

Energetics: cool, dry

Taste: astringent and sweet.

It contributes to normal blood circulation, which is associated with brain performance and reactivity and contributes to optimal mental and cognitive activity.

Rhodiola gives endurance for sports performances. It is an adaptogen that protects during physical stress. It also helps maintain normal function of the circulatory system, in this way providing cells with oxygen and nutrients. It also decreases blood glucose and increase glutathione (a master antioxidant).

Key indications for use:* Debility, emaciation, cachexia, chronic immune deficiency * Fatigue, physical stress, convalescence, failure to thrive * During chemotherapy and radiotherapy for cancer * To improve physical performance and impotence * As a tonic in the elderly * To improve mental performance, concentration and memory, especially when under stress * Chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, post viral syndromes.

Safety: When used orally and appropriately, short-term there are no reported safety concerns. There is some clinical research showing that taking rhodiola extract up to 300 mg twice daily has been used without adverse effects for up to 12 weeks.

Pregnancy and Lactation: Insufficient reliable information available; avoid using.

Adverse effects: Orally: Dizziness, increased or decreased production of saliva.

Interactions:

• Are more theoretical for lowering blood glucose (additive effect with other agents that do the same). So, it is considered safe- however if you are on medication due to its effects on the CytP450 its best to tell your dr, pharmacist or health practitioner before starting to make sure it won’t be a problem. Because depending on the importance of the medication its better to be safe than sorry.

Mechanisms of action: Ok I’m going to nerd out here so ill put the more detailed information or those keen and then summaries it.

In addition to its multiplex stress-protective activity, Rhodiola rosea extracts have recently demonstrated its anti-aging, anti-inflammation, immunostimulating, DNA repair and anti-cancer effects in different model systems. Molecular mechanisms of Rhodiola rosea extracts’s action have been studied mainly along with one of its bioactive compounds, salidroside. Both Rhodiola rosea extracts and salidroside have contrast molecular mechanisms on cancer and normal physiological functions. For cancer, Rhodiola rosea extracts and salidroside inhibit the mTOR pathway and reduce angiogenesis through down-regulation of the expression of HIF-1α/HIF-2α. For normal physiological functions, Rhodiola rosea extracts and salidroside activate the mTOR pathway, stimulate paracrine function and promote neovascularization by inhibiting PHD3 and stabilizing HIF-1α proteins in skeletal muscles. In contrast to many natural compounds, salidroside is water-soluble and highly bioavailable via oral administration and concentrated in urine by kidney excretion.

In English please? It has been shown to reduce cancer growth by stopping MTOR activation but is smart enough to turn it on to cause growth in normal cells. It somehow can tell the difference and stimulate the action we want. How cool is that!

Rhodiola rosea extracts act as an adaptogen to provide nonspecific resistance to physical, chemical and biological stresses. The stress-protective effects of Rhodiola rosea extracts have been shown to be engaged with the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and several key mediators of stress responses, such as heat shock proteins (HSP) stress-activated c-JUN N-terminal protein kinase 1(JNK1) , Forkhead box O (FOXO) transcription factor DAF-1, cortisol , nitric oxide and beta-endorphine . Xia et al reported that Rhodiola rosea extracts reduced the serum levels of corticotropin-releasing hormone and corticosterone via down-regulating the expression of c-FOS in the hypothalamus of rats subjected to stress.

In English again thanks? It modulates the stress pathway in our body to make us better able to handle stress whether that is physical stress, emotional/chemical stress on the body.

Rhodiola rosea extract also protected C2C12 myotubes from oxidative stress by increasing the expression of HSP70 and HSP72 and the release of neuropeptide Y (NPY). Salidroside as a predominant compound in Rhodiola rosea extracts protected against beta-amyloid (Abeta) peptide induced oxidative stress by inhibiting its mediated phosphorylation of JNK and p38 MAP kinase, but not ERK1/2, which suggested the usefulness of salidroside for treating or preventing neurodegenerative diseases.

Translation? It’s a great antioxidant and can protect against oxidative damage. This effect also makes it great for Alzheimer’s prevention.

It increase the expression of antioxidant enzymes (e.g. GPx) and activate the nuclear erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) pathways in rats to protect against bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in rats and to reverse ultraviolet B induced DNA damages in HaCaT cells , respectively.

Moreover, accumulating evidences have supported that chronic stress promote cancer progression in many experimental models. Based on these results, the unique property of Rhodiola rosea extracts for enhancing resistance to general stresses deserves its further investigation in both anti-aging and cancer prevention.

Rhodiola rosea extracts increased total CD3+ and memory CD4+ T cell pools, but decreased the number and function of cytotoxic CD8+ T cells in a mouse model of caecal ligation and puncture-induced sepsis

Translation again? It helps modulate our immune system so it can attack what it needs to.

Specific components to the plant:More nerd talk first

The applicable part of rhodiola is the root. Rhodiola contains over 30 compounds including phenlyethanoids, phenylpropanoids, flavonoids, cyanoglycosides, monoterpenes, and triterpenes. The phenylpropanoid glycoside called salidroside, rhodioloside, or rhodosine is thought to be responsible for many of the stimulant or "adaptogenic" effects of rhodiola. Other constituents isolated from rhodiola include rhodioniside, rhodioloside A-E, rhodiolin, rosin, rosavin, rosarin, rosiridin, rosiridol, rhodalgin, acetylrhodalgin, and lotaustralin. The constituent rosavin is specific to Rhodiola rosea and distinguishes it from other species in the Rhodiola genus. Rhodiola also contains the tannins gallic acid and caffeic acid, as well as chlorogenic acid and flavonoids such as catechins and proanthocyanidins. The amounts of active constituents in rhodiola can vary significantly depending on the source of plant material and plant material collection period.

What does that mean? Well, there are lots of compounds in the plant that give it the actions we see, and the quality and amounts vary depending on the quality of the plant.

Effects of the plant **Adaptogenic effects**: Animal studies are reported to show protection from stressors such as cold and radiation, increased work capacity, decreased fatigue, and improved learning and memory.

Antiaging effects: : Preliminary evidence from animal research suggests that rhodiola may increase life span by reducing oxidative stress. Also, salidroside, a constituent of rhodiola, protects human fibroblast cells from premature aging by modulating oxidative status.

Antiarrhythmic effects: Rhodiola extracts demonstrate antiarrhythmic properties and protection against reperfusion injury after ischemia. These effects can be abolished by naloxone infusion, suggesting that the mechanism might involve an increase in endogenous opioids.

Antibacterial effects: Rhodiola extract has antimicrobial activity. Extracts inhibit Staphylococcus aureus in vitro. When administered to pneumonia patients in combination with standard antibiotic therapy, rhodiola appears to reduce the duration of the acute phase of the disease by about 2 days compared to treatment with standard antibiotic therapy alone.

Anticancer effects: Rhodiola seems to have anticancer activity. In vitro, rhodiola extracts inhibit prostate and liver cancer cell lines. Rhodiola extract also reduces experimentally induced mutations, possibly by increasing the efficiency of intracellular DNA repair mechanisms. In animals, rhodiola extract decreases tumor regrowth and metastases in rats with Pliss lymphosarcoma following partial hepatectomy. Rhodiola extracts also demonstrate myeloprotective effects against cyclophosphamide toxicity.

In vitro, the rhodiola constituent salidroside appears to inhibit the growth of estrogen receptor-negative breast cancer cell lines, as well as other human cancer cell lines, by inducing cell-cycle arrest and apoptosis.

Antidepressant effects: Animal research suggests that rhodiola may improve mood by regulating the activity of serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. Compounds isolated from rhodiola roots appear to inhibit monoamine oxidase A in vitro. Active compounds that have been associated with the antidepressant effects of rhodiola include rhodioloside, salidroside, and tyrosol. It has been shown to be as effective as the antidepressant Sertraline.

Antidiabetic effects: Rhodiola might have beneficial effects in diabetes patients. In animal models of diabetes, a rhodiola extract decreases blood glucose and has antioxidant effects demonstrated by reduced lipid peroxidation and increased levels of reduced glutathione. Extracts of rhodiola, used alone or in combination with cranberry, also significantly inhibit alpha-glucosidase activity. The rhodiola component salidroside has been shown to stimulate glucose uptake in muscle cells by activating AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and increasing the phosphorylation of AMPK and ACC in vitro.

Antihypertensive effect: In vitro, the ethanol and water extracts of rhodiola inhibit angiotensin-converting enzyme activity .

Antihypoxic effects: The rhodiola constituent salidroside has been found to protect neuronal pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells against hypoxia/re-oxygenation injury in vitro . Other in vitro evidence suggests that salidroside reduces erythroblasts apoptosis caused by the hormone erythropoietin, which is released by the kidneys when tissue oxygen levels are decreased, and protects erythroblasts against hydrogen peroxide, which accumulates in cells in response to oxygen deprivation . In addition, salidroside appears to protect endothelial cells against apoptosis induced by cobalt chloride, a hypoxia-mimicking agent, possibly via antioxidant effects .

Anti-inflammatory effects: Some evidence suggests that rhodiola extract has an anti-inflammatory effect and can decrease C-reactive protein (CRP) levels. Healthy volunteers, who took a specific rhodiola extract (Rhodax, Phoenix Labs) for several days before and after exhausting exercise, had lower C-reactive protein levels compared to people who took placebo . The clinical significance of this finding is not known. Evidence from animal research also shows that rhodiola extract inhibits various enzymes related to inflammation, including cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1), cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), and phospholipase A2 (PLA2) .

Antioxidant effects: Most preliminary evidence suggests that rhodiola extract has antioxidant effects, which may be higher than other adaptogens such as Indian gooseberry or Siberian ginseng . In vitro evidence suggests that rhodiola root extract protects keratinocytes against oxidative stress . Rhodiola root extract also appears to protect erythrocytes against hypochlorous acid-induced oxidative damage by protecting against glutathione (GSH) depletion, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) inactivation, and hemolysis . Animal research suggests that rhodiola extract increases reduced glutathione levels in the liver of diabetic mice . It also appears to protect against streptozotocin-induced neuronal damage in rats by increasing malondialdehyde (MDA) and reducing glutathione reductase (GR) and glutathione (GSH) levels in rats . Other laboratory evidence conducted in fruit flies suggests that rhodiola extract protects against oxidative stress by decreasing endogenous superoxide levels . However, some in vitro evidence suggests that rhodiola root extract protects against oxidative stress without activating antioxidant defenses .

The rhodiola constituent salidroside decreases apoptosis of neuroblastoma cells exposed to hydrogen peroxide in vitro, suggesting that it might protect against neurodegenerative diseases associated with oxidative stress . Also, salidroside protects against 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP(+))-induced apoptosis in pheochromocytoma cells in vitro by inhibiting the nitric oxide pathway . Evidence from animal research suggests that salidroside protects against acetaminophen-induced liver toxicity by preventing and alleviating intracellular GSH depletion and oxidative damage .

Antiviral effects: Laboratory research suggests that salidroside, a constituent of rhodiola, possesses antiviral activities against coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) in vitro and in animals . Also, flavonols isolated from rhodiola appear to have anti-influenza viral activity in vitro .

Anxiolytic effects: In mice, rhodiola extract significantly induced anxiolytic-like effects .

Athletic performance enhancement effects: For improving athletic performance, rhodiola is theorized to improve adenosine triphosphate (ATP) turnover in muscle . However, a study in healthy athletes found no effect on muscle ATP during exhausting exercise . Rhodiola extract has also been shown to reduce C-reactive protein and creatinine kinase levels following exhausting exercise, suggesting that it may protect muscle tissue from exercise-induced damage . Animal research suggests that rhodiola may protect against oxidative stress induced by exercises such as swimming and increase glycogen content during exhaustive exercises, which may improve athletic performance .

Cardioprotective effects: Rhodiola extracts might prevent stress-induced cardiac damage by preventing rises in cardiac catecholamines and cyclic-AMP. Animal research suggests that rhodiola extract reduces the incidence of ischemic/reperfusion ventricular arrhythmias during 10-minute ischemia and 10-minute reperfusion in rats with postinfarction cardiosclerosis . The rhodiola constituent salidroside appears to inhibit myocardial apoptosis in rats with induced acute myocardial infarction by increasing phosphorylation of protein kinase B (Akt) and decreasing activation of caspase-3 . Also, salidroside appears to decrease cardiomyocyte injury following ischemia/reperfusion in vitro by increasing protein O-linked N-acetylglucosamine levels .

Central nervous system effects: Rhodiola appears to have significant central nervous system activity. In animal models, a rhodiola extract containing 3% rosavin and 1% salidroside has antidepressant, anxiolytic, and stimulant effects . There is some interest in using rhodiola for symptoms of hypothyroidism, due to its antidepressant, antioxidant, and fatigue-reducing effects; however, this theory has not been tested in humans . In animal models, the salidroside constituent also has sedative effects . Rhodiola extracts also demonstrate potential for improving learning and memory .

Cognitive effects: A single dose of rhodiola before maze training facilitated some aspects of learning and memory in animals . However, rhodiola does not appear to protect against electroconvulsive shock-impaired learning and memory in an animal model .

Hepatoprotective effects: Rhodiola extracts and the rhodiola constituent salidroside have demonstrated hepatoprotective effects against drugs such as doxorubicin and acetaminophen in animals.

Hypolipidemic effects: The rhodiola constituents rhodionin and rhodiosin have been shown to inhibit lipase activity in vitro, with IC50 values of 0.093 mM and 0.133 mM, respectively . In animal research, these compounds also suppressed postprandial elevations in triglyceride levels .

Immunomodulatory effects: In humans with bladder cancer, rhodiola extract has been shown to improve parameters of leukocyte integrins and T cell immunity . Also, taking a combination of dried ethanol/water extracts from maral root, rhodiola root, Siberian ginseng root, and schisandra fruit (AdMax) increased numbers of CD3, CD4, CD5, and CD8 T cell subclasses, as well as IgG and IgM, in patients who completed chemotherapy .

Neuroprotective effects: Rhodiola root extract appears to inhibit the activity of monoamine oxidase B (MAOB) in vitro, which suggests that it may have protective effects against MAOB-related neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease or Alzheimer's . Animal research suggests that rhodiola extract protects against cognitive deficits and neuronal injury caused by intracerebroventricular streptozotocin in a rat model of Alzheimer's disease. This effect has been attributed to the antioxidant activity or rhodiola .

Alzheimers: Salidroside, a constituent of rhodiola, appears to protect against beta-amyloid-induced oxidative stress in human neuroblastoma cells, suggesting that it may help prevent or treat neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease .

Menopausal symptoms: Preliminary clinical research in patients experiencing menopausal symptoms shows that taking a combination product (Menopause Relief EP, EuroPharma USA) containing rhodiola extract 400 mg and black cohosh extract 13 mg daily for 12 weeks improves psychological symptoms of menopause when compared with placebo or black cohosh alone . It is unclear if these findings are due to rhodiola, black cohosh, or the combination.

Pre-mature ejaculation: Preliminary clinical research in adults with lifelong premature ejaculation shows that taking a specific combination product (EndEP) containing rhodiola 200 mg, folic acid 200 mcg, zinc 10 mg, and biotin 50 mcg once daily for 90 days increases time to ejaculation by about 29 seconds and improves control of ejaculation in about 60% of participants when compared to baseline. These improvements disappear within 90 days of discontinuing treatment. The validity of these findings is limited by the lack of a control group. But would not be a bad place to start if your partner suffers from this.

References:De Sanctis, R., De Bellis, R., Scesa, C., Mancini, U., Cucchiarini, L., and Dacha, M. In vitro protective effect of Rhodiola rosea extract against hypochlorous acid-induced oxidative damage in human erythrocytes. Biofactors 2004;20(3):147-159. View abstract.

Kelly GS. Rhodiola rosea: a possible plant adaptogen. Altern Med Rev 2001;6:293-302. View abstract.

Panossian, A., Wikman, G., and Sarris, J. Rosenroot (Rhodiola rosea): traditional use, chemical composition, pharmacology and clinical efficacy. Phytomedicine. 2010;17(7):481-493. View abstract.

De Bock K, Eijnde BO, Ramaekers M, Hespel P. Acute Rhodiola rosea intake can improve endurance exercise performance. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab 2004;14:298-307. View abstract.

Bystritsky A, Kerwin L, Feusner JD. A pilot study of Rhodiola rosea (Rhodax) for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). J Altern Complement Med 2008;14:175-80. View abstract.

Darbinyan G, Aslanyan G, Amroyan E. Clinical trial of Rhodiola rosea L. extract SHR-5 in the treatment of mild to moderate depression. Nord J Psychiatry 2007;61:343-8. View abstract.

Fintelmann, V. and Gruenwald, J. Efficacy and tolerability of a Rhodiola rosea extract in adults with physical and cognitive deficiencies. Adv.Ther 2007;24(4):929-939. View abstract.

Kasper S, Deniel A. Multicenter, open-label, exploratory clinical trial with Rhodiola rosea extract in patients suffering from burnout symptoms. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat. 2017 Mar 22;13:889-98. View abstract.

Gao L, Wu C, Liao Y, Wang J. Antidepressants effects of Rhodiola capsule combined with sertraline for major depressive disorder: A randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial. J Affect Disord. 2020;265:99-103. View abstract.

Pkhaladze L, Davidova N, Khomasuridze A, Shengelia R, Panossian AG. Actaea racemosa L. is more effective in combination with Rhodiola rosea L. for relief of menopausal symptoms: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Pharmaceuticals (Basel). 2020;13(5):102. View abstract.

Hernández-Santana A, Pérez-López V, Zubeldia JM, Jiménez-del-Rio M. A Rhodiola rosea root extract protects skeletal muscle cells against chemically induced oxidative stress by modulating heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) expression. Phytother Res. 2014;28:623–8. doi: 10.1002/ptr.5046. [PubMed] [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]

Verpeut JL, Walters AL, Bello NT. Citrus aurantium and Rhodiola rosea in combination reduce visceral white adipose tissue and increase hypothalamic norepinephrine in a rat model of diet-induced obesity. Nutr Res. 2013;33:503–12. doi: 10.1016/j.nutres.2013. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]

Panossian A, Hambardzumyan M, Hovhanissyan A, Wikman G. The adaptogens rhodiola and schizandra modify the response to immobilization stress in rabbits by suppressing the increase of phosphorylated stress-activated protein kinase, nitric oxide and cortisol. Drug Target Insights. 2007;2:39–54. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Xia N, Li J, Wang H, Wang J, Wang Y. Schisandra chinensis and Rhodiola rosea exert an anti-stress effect on the HPA axis and reduce hypothalamic c-Fos expression in rats subjected to repeated stress. Exp Ther Med. 2016;11:353–359. doi: 10.3892/etm.2015.2882. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]

Tang H, Gao L, Mao J, He H, Liu J, Cai X, Lin H, Wu T. Salidroside protects against bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis: activation of Nrf2-antioxidant signaling, and inhibition of NF-κB and TGF-β1/Smad-2/-3 pathways. Cell Stress Chaperones. 2016;21:239–49. doi: 10.1007/s12192-015-0654-4. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]

Cai T, Verze P, Messenio P, et al. Rhodiola rosea, folic acid, zinc, and biotin (EndEP) is able to improve ejaculatory control in patients affected by lifelong premature ejaculation: results from a phase I-II study. Exp Ther Med. 2016 Oct;12(4):2083-87. View abstract.

Pkhaladze L, Davidova N, Khomasuridze A, Shengelia R, Panossian AG. Actaea racemosa L. is more effective in combination with Rhodiola rosea L. for relief of menopausal symptoms: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Pharmaceuticals (Basel). 2020;13(5):102. View abstract.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6208354/

View Details

So you know what genes are right? These are the codes for your body that makes you well you within your cells. We know that certain genes have certain actions and that genes interact with one another in complex arrangements: 1+1 doesn’t = 2 in the case of gene interaction. But whether certain genes are turned on or off is due to methylation a biochemical process involving donation of a methyl group. This turning on and off of genes is called epigenetics.

SNPAnd a variation within these genes expression called a “SNP” ( pronounced snip)- single nucleotide polymorphism. Some SNPs matter others don’t, there are literally millions of SNPs. The good news is yes you might have inherited some traits from your ancestors that may or may not be serving you. But the good news is you can work with your SNPS turning them up or down in volume as you need by diet and lifestyle choices.

One SNP that gets a lot of attention is the MTHFR ( Methylenetetrahydrdofolate reductase) gene. This is the rate limiting enzyme in the conversation of folate to its bioactive form. Which is in turn used for homocysteine production and methionine. You need folate processes so it can make DNA and modify proteins. This is quite a common variation, but we aren’t exactly sure on the % in the population. It is involved in over 200 reactions in the body.

MTHFRThe MTHFR can create a whole heap of health problem (can doesn’t have to). Everything from irritability and obsessiveness to birth defects and cancer. The MTHFR is the master methylation gene. It’s your ability to methylate, a key process that affects your stress response, inflammation, brain chemistry, energy production, immune response, detoxification, antioxidant production, cell repair and genetic expression. So it is kind of important that it works well.

Strength of having a MTHFR SNP (or genetic variation):

• Intensity
• Alertness
• Productivity
• Determined to solve problems
• Focus
• Improved DNA repair
• Decreased risk of colon cancer

Weakness

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Autoimmunity
• Migraines
• Increased risk of stomach cancer
• Autism
• Pregnancy complications
• Downs syndrome
• Birth defects

• Cardiovascular conditions i.e. heart attack, stroke, thrombosis

  The liver helps out here Now 85% of methylation occurs in your liver so if your liver isn’t being supported than SNP or no SNP you aren’t putting it in the best place to be working optimally.

What does that involve put simply:

• Drink alcohol in moderation or avoid all together
• Avoid industrial chemicals and heavy metals in the air, food and water
• Avoid unnecessary medication and recreational drugs
• Help your body detoxify by drinking plenty of water and adequate supportive nutrients

During pregnancy you’re methylating for 2!

• It’s even more important to support your liver that’s why nausea, vomiting and gallbladder issues are common in pregnancy as the methylation requirements have increased.
• We have all heard the warning s about neural tubes defects and cardiac defects and so mums are being prescribed folate tablets. But it’s not a folate deficiency it’s a methylation issue. Which will make sense as we delve into MTHFR.

Methylation is great because it:* Produces creatine which is a compound used by your brain and muscles as fuel. * Produces phosphatidylcholine, which is needed for cell wall integrity, regulates cell death, bile production. * Genetic expression- turning on and off genes. * Neurotransmitter production such as serotonin, dopamine, adrenaline and noradrenaline and this also affects your stress response. * Detoxification of external and internal chemicals ie oestrogen – methylation affects your ability to make glutathione ( a master antioxidant). * Methylation helps you immune system find its sweet spot not too aggressive (autoimmune) not too passive chronic reoccurring infections).

Well give me a Supplement to overcome this thenSNPs are important to consider but taking supplements to address a certain SNP might help but a single SNP is not usually the reason for your health problems. So, taking a supplement is not going to be enough. You need to look at everything going on in your life and body. There is “no pill to cure every ill”. We are not a machine, and it doesn’t work like that. So we are back to holism principles and please don’t think having a SNP is the answer to everything.

FOLIC ACID VS FOLATE I hope this picture helps explain things because everyone gets very confused about folate and folic acid and what this means with a MTHFR mutation.

* The **natural** form of **B9** is called **FOLATE**.

• The active version of that is called METHYLFOLATE- which is a key compound in methylation.
• The artificial form of B9 is called FOLIC ACID.

Even if your methylation is sluggish taking lots of folate will help ensure there is sufficient around i.e. spinach, mustard greens, collard greens, turnip greens and romaine lettuce. Think greens that are leafy.

Artificial B9-Folic acid

Artificial Folate is found in vitamin pills and packaged foods. It is not useful to your body until it is processes into the active usable form. However FOLIC ACID resembles FOLATE it binds to your folate receptors and prevent natural folate from getting to where it needs to be in your cells. If the natural folate can’t get in it can’t be turned into methylfolate and you can’t get proper methylation.

A lot of MTHFR polymorphs can’t convert this artificial folate properly and we end up with this problem. Well then you say to me fine I won’t take folic acid supplements problem solved. The trouble is folic acid has been added to a lot of foods on mass a a public safety initiative- to enhance them due to the spinal defects occurring and lack of it in people’s diet.

So you will find artificial B9- folic acid in:

• Bread
• Cereal
• Cornmeal
• Flour
• Pasta
• Rice and other grains.

If you are methylating well and not eating huge amounts of those fortified foods, you can compensate. But if you are struggling then you will encounter problems with methylating as listed above.

So what does MTHFR do?Your MTHFR gets the methylation process going by passing a methyl group to folate. That methylfoalte then interacts with another chemical called homocysteine. Now when homocysteine is methylated it becomes methionine. Finally, the methyl group also gets passed to SAMe (sai “SAMMY”). What can SAMe do?

• It helps with creatine, phosphatidylcholine and melatonin production.
• It can also donate a methyl group to arsenic, histidine and estrogen to help it be expelled from the body.

When SAMe is finished being Oprah and giving methyl groups to everyone it becomes homocysteine.

Homocystine

Think of homocysteine as the excess cookie dough. You made a sheet of cookie pastry cut out all the cookies and what is left is the homocysteine. Now your body can roll the cookie dough up and reuse it (homocysteine is re- methylated and goes back into the cycle) OR you can make something different with the left overs- that something different is glutathione.

Now if there isn’t much stress in the body and toxin levels are low, we will use that left over cookie dough to make more cookies. But if its not then we will start making more glutathione.

What’s wrong with measuring Homocystine levels to see how things are going then?* The levels determined to be “normal” by pathology labs are way too high (above 7micromoles/L)- we don’t want above 7 as it blocks the methylation cycle. * Labs only report on excessive high number and not when it is low. * You can have high homocysteine for a lot of reasons not just methylation problems and you can have normal levels and still not be methylating properly. * Elevated homocysteine, is a strong marker for increased risk of hypertension and cerebrovascular disease, possibly due to atherosclerosis.

How does methylation go wrong?Poor diet

• First you need protein, then B vitamins and a variety of other nutrients. Think of methylation as a fire you need big logs and kindling to keep it going so there are a number of nutrients needed to do this process. The basic nutrients are the logs the other cofactors are the kindling.

Folic Acid

• See information above

Wrong amount of exercise

• A study at the Karolinska institute in Stockholm had young healthy men and women bicycle at a moderate pace only with one leg. After 3 months they analysed the DNA in each leg. The leg that was mobile in the muscle genome showed new PATTERNS OF METHYLATION. Exercise is great for methylation as long as you don’t do too much and it then becomes a stressor on the body.

Poor sleep

• When you don’t sleep properly you don’t methylate, when you don’t methylate you don’t make enough melatonin which helps you sleep. It’s a vicious cycle so break it by making sure you get good sleep.

Too much stress

• Too much stress and you use your methyl groups faster. To make more methyl groups you need more nutrients (building blocks) that are methyl donors.

Exposure to harmful chemicals

• Poor methylation and poor detoxification go hand in hand. SO if you have too much of a toxic burden on the body by excessive chemicals it has to process methylation will, suffer as a result.

Other barriers to good methylation:

• Alcohol
• Antacids
• Heavy metals
• Infections
• Inflammation
• Intestinal yeast overgrowth
• Nitrous oxide
• Oxidative stress
• Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) and other gut infections

Personality profiles seen with MTHFR* Some days you are blue or depressed while others you are anxious. * On good days you focus and get stuff done and bad days you have performance anxiety a temper and or headaches or are just irritable. After eating a salad you feel great.

Prevalence and what does this mean if I have it?* Italians for example have a high rate of the SNP to their MTHFR that makes it 30% functional. Most of them don’t supplement with B vitamins even when pregantn andh yet we don’t have a higher rate of birth defect in Italy than anywhere else in the world. Why? * Because they eat leafy green vegetables (diet), interact often with family and friends (stress relief) and live in a great climate (less stress). Their foods are not generally factory made (lower toxin exposure). Using diet and lifestyle to essentially counteract this genetic predisposing.

What do we need then?To do its just properly and methylate we don’t just need folate as mentioned but also B12 (methylcobalamin). If either is missing the process cannot work properly, they are besties and both need to be in adequate supply. But not only this Bs don’t work in isolation B2, protein and Magnesium as well as B12 and B9 help the methylation cycle work effectively. Vitamin C is also an ally and doesn’t hurt to ensure its in sufficient levels.

This is where taking an active B complex can help if you’re struggling with diet alone or need to see a response quickly.

• B2: liver, lamb, mushrooms, spinach, almonds, wild salmon, eggs
• B9: (Foalte): green vegetables, beans, peas, lentils, squash
• B12: red meat, salmon, clams, mussels, crab, eggs
• Protein: animal sources beef, amb, fish, poultry, eggs and dairy; vegan/vegetarian sources inc. beans, peas, lentils, broccoli, nuts, seeds
• Magnesium: dark leafy greens, nuts, seeds, fish, beans, avocados, whole grains.

This polymorph of MTHFR seems a problem why does it exist?* Helps store adrenaline and noradrenaline due to shutting down COMT – this means stress chemicals float around longer making you more hypervigilant and able to “escape” something. * Recycled oestrogen due to MTHFR also helped keep women fertility up when starvation was occurring.

The Choline shortcut If your body doesn’t have methylated B9 or methylated B12 it sees the problem and uses choline. Where is choline found? Eggs, red met, poultry, fish, caviar, liver and other organ meats. Although you can get it from plant sources it just isn’t usually in sufficient amounts- spinach and beets. Vegans and Vegetarians really should be supplementing their B12 anyway even if there are no MTHFR issues due to their diet preferences. The trouble with this shortcut is its just that it’s a shortcut not along term option. It will put too much pressure on your kidneys and liver long term, so you need to make sure you are getting adequate support for your methylation pathway.

References:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25733650/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25733650/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19706381/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12920077/

https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/consumer/nutrition/folicmandatory/Pages/default.aspx#:~:text=What%20foods%20are%20fortified%20with,flour%20don't%20have%20to.

https://mthfrsupport.com.au/2021/04/why-are-foods-fortified-with-folic-acid/

https://www.whatisepigenetics.com/the-epigenetics-of-sleep-3-reasons-to-catch-more-zzzs/

View Details

Diet ConfusionThose of us that grew up in the 90’s and early 00’s we were saturated with ideas such as

“Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels”.

This built some poor mental images women in particular had of their bodies. We all wanted to be as skinny as possible and associated that with beauty and health. We wanted to be like the models we saw and were starving ourselves away.

Fast forward to now and it’s become how juicy can your butt be but maintain a tiny waist. Whilst this is a healthy aspiration in some instances, we are advocating to get to such large sizes in some cases that it is not healthy for us as an individual.

“Big is beautiful”

is the other end that is trying to counter that original poor image of being so skinny. But your body weight is not your worth or your beauty. That is also very different to what healthy is. Which I will discuss later, because healthy on my body, versus healthy on your body looks totally different due to my size, shape and genetics vs yours. So this is not a big vs skinny debate one is not better than the other, I’m not trying to shame anyone but talk about finding your healthy medium your healthy size – not the extremes. And this has nothing to do with the weight on the scales. We want balance in all things and the body likes balance.

Just like fat shaming is not ok- we are more than our size and shape and its more complicated than everyone being a certain weight and shape.

Fear Mongering With Diets- Which Is Best?There has been NO proven diet by science that is superior to the other. The diet with the most research and health benefits associated that can be proven is the Mediterranean diet. Which has oils/fats, meat, breads, pasta and lots of vegetables and fruit.

The Mediterranean diet has been shown also multiple times in trials to improve mental health as seen in the SMILES trial (in particular major depression). These patient with depression 3x fold increase in remission from those with the diet intervention. Please also see me eBook on anxiety where we go into the benefits diet can have on mental health balance and conditions. And explore the impacts of stress which is what anxiety is on the body.

What we can agree on is that we need adequate protein for your body (not excessive), more vegetables and fruit, less sugar/processed sugar and more fats from plants than animals.

A diet is something you can adhere to and makes you feel your best. There is going to be conflicting information as there is no right diet for everyone. For example, if you have Celiac disease, lactose intolerance, or ethical concerns and personal preferences; than certain diets are not going to be right for you. Cultural differences play more of a role than genetics in a lot of diet preferences. That doesn’t mean your diet is superior to any other it just means it is right for you.

Vegan is not superior to the ketogenic diet (keto), the keto is not superior to the vegetarian the vegetarian is not superior to the alkaline diet (although the alkaline diet is not a real thing and I fell pray to this in my early 20’s). We will talk adequate protein in another discussion and dive into what we should be having for brain health and longevity.

Food is not good or bad- there are just some foods that contain more nutrients and will provide more benefits when we eat it than others. In knowing this not fearing food but knowing that it can serve different needs and how to balance that, that is what is crucial in people’s diets.

If you live on a super strict diet thinking its “healthy” depriving yourself and then once you have finished the diet (because its too hard to stick to) you binge and put on a whole heap of extra weight that is more detrimental to have these high and low yo-yo diet swings than it is to have some of those sweets and things you love in there regularly.

Orthorexia is a thing

We all now about anorexia and bulimia but orthorexia is a way of hiding an eating disorder pretending to be “healthy” whilst severely restricting your intake under the guise of health and its becoming a big problem as we fear food and shame each other for food choices.

A diet needs to be something you enjoy, that meets your goals it is not a punishment and is not something to religiously beat other people with just because you found something that works for your body.

**Intermittent Fasting**There has been a lot of hype that came out studies particularly in 2015 around lowering calories increasing longevity. That a 25% reduction in calories and in particular sticking to eating within a restricted window (around the circadian rhythm) will increase longevity by as much as 10-15% (mortality reduction). A similar benefit as seen by smokers stopping smoking.

However, the benefits in further studies from the CALERIE to the DunedinPACE have failed to show this as the superior way to eat. That time restricted eating versus just a reduction in calories is no different. So skipping breakfast is not needed to loose weight. In fact, a lot of people if they eat a larger meal at the start of the day will feel fuller for longer and that might help them stop snacking later in the day. The weight loss benefits come from the fact that if you time restrict eating you just can’t eat the same number of calories in a day as you do when you have 3 main meals. Its just simply harder to do as you have less time.

But the idea that you body “turns off” digestion when we don’t eat makes the assumption that your body is a machine and turns on and off like a robot. But our bodies don’t every stop it’s a living organism. Not eating for 12hrs is not really fasting because your body will still be processing food, metabolising that food you had eaten before the 12 hrs. If you are truly fasting it needs to be days! This is more time restricted eating when you don’t eat for 12hrs for example and only have lunch and dinner.

Now there was a study last year that came back with a lot of negative press: A 2022 cohort study looking over 25year period with 24,000 people.

• 40% increase in cardiovascular disease mortality if they just skipped breakfast.
• 30% relative risk increase in the groups eating 1 meal per day vs 3 per day of mortality
• 80% relative risk increase in mortality if they ate 1 meal per day

Does this mean intermittent fasting/time restricted eating is bad for you?

No this was one study -If this approach works for you then it works for you as a way to manage what your intake is i.e. shift workers might find this beneficial. But it depends on what works for you- if you are feeling hungry, angry and binge out on this diet, then it’s not ideal for you. Look at spreading your calories more evenly throughout the day. It’s about finding a diet that works for your lifestyles and activities and having the calories and macro targets to match your goals. One size does not fit all.

**Genetics With Diets** People of various background may have susceptibility to different conditions. For example, east Asian and south Asian background people cannot get as “large” BMI wise before becoming at risk of type 2 diabetes compared to Caucasian people and Polynesian people- who can have larger BMI’s and not get type 2 diabetes as fast. African Americans are more likely to get heart disease for example so some things with health are clearly linked to genetic predisposition. The saying goes:

“Genetics loads the gun but your diet and lifestyle pull the trigger. “

So don’t see genetics as something you will be a future you must have.

There are more than 100 genes for weight gain. There is a gene that has been labelled the “obese gene” when this study was conducted in mice that affects Leptin regulation in the body. It lets your body know how much fat you have on board and to feel full.

MC4R is like a thermostat and there are thousands of mutations for this gene- you can predict how much someone will eat if this is 50% function versus non function. 0.3% of people have this mutation making them more likely to have obesity because they can’t regulate what they eat- they don’t get the signalling they are full.

Body shape plays a role where do you hold your fat (stomach, lower body), how tall are you etc. and how healthy that is. How heavy is heavy in you before it becomes a problem.

We can test genetically and also look for intolerances- such as lactose intolerance, ability to metabolise caffeine, alcohol as well. Because these are linked to single genes.

Looking at Coeliac- you need to avoid gluten or it is extremely detrimental to your health. Coeliacs disease is serious. And this can be done via a tolerance test with subsequent blood testing to look for antibodies as well as a gastro-scope/endoscopy to look at the health of your intestine. This is done by your doctor and a referral to a gastroenterologist. If you think you have Coeliacs you should see your doctor and get tested because the repercussions of not sorting this can lead to cancer and the lack of ability to absorb any nutrients later. Due to inflammation causing the “microvilli” to flatted in the gastrointestinal track- we need these ridges and grooves to absorb food from the gastrointestinal tract. The also house enzymes, immune cells, bacteria etc.

Lactose intolerance develops in certain populations as we grow up. As babies we can handle lactose (so we can drink breast milk) but as we age 65% of adults loose the lactase enzyme. The gene is turned off in most adults so our tolerance and ability to absorb and breakdown lactose decreases. 15% of white northern Caucasians can handle milk and this doesn’t get turned off as well as some populations in northern Africa- where milk drinking continued from goats, sheep and cows and they do not turn off the lactase gene.

Intolerance the other hand makes your body work harder does stimulate some inflammation but isn’t as extreme as an allergic reaction. Gluten for example is something a lot of people have an intolerance to (this is different from coeliac) as it can be very irritating to the gastrointestinal tract. Most people can handle this minor irritation but for others if their immune system or gut is already inflamed they cannot.

**Body Set Point**Our body likes to keep us at our “body set point”. Set point theory states that the human body tries to maintain its weight within a preferred range. Many people stay within a more or less small range of body weight throughout their adult life. In set point theory, if you suddenly start eating fewer calories, the way your body burns fuel (your **metabolism**) will slow down. You will burn fewer calories even if your activity level does not change. Your body may also change the way it absorbs **nutrients**. Your hormones could change and make you hungrier. These factors could make it easy for you to put weight back on. ‌

We have a body set point due to our body being designed to live in an environment for a feast and then famine environment. So out body wants to keep us at a stable weight for survival. When this set point is threatened we subconsciously change behaviours and also have some metabolism changes to adapt to thIs.

• Lower calorie burn. Having a smaller body means that you use fewer calories. You may have to cut your intake again in order to keep your weight from returning.
• Hormonal adjustments. Your levels of leptin may go down. Leptin is the hormone that makes you feel full. You may have to eat more to feel full. You may experience rises in ghrelin, the "hunger hormone." Your appetite may increase.
• Focus on food. People who restrict calories often think about food more often. Research suggests that their sense of smell may be enhanced. When food smells and tastes better, we often eat more.

Now does that mean you can’t gain a new set point?

No- interestingly research is slowing if you keep weight off for 1-3years you can get a new set point. It is theorized that losing more than 10% of your body weight causes the body to fight back and make it more difficult to maintain weight loss. So Loosing weight in stages can help offs et this as your body adjusts to you new “normal”.

In 2021 a study published in Nutrient found probiotic supplementation helped slightly reduce body weight and fat percentage. If you’re thinking about supplementing or eating more probiotic-rich foods, talk to an RD or your doctor first to see how it can fit in with your goals.

Our metabolism itself doesn’t dip in our 40’s like many think- it dips in our 60’s. Why do we see weight gain in the 40’s/50’s then?

• Metabolically the most active part of your body is your muscles. So the more muscle mass you have the faster your metabolic rate. Hence when you see those big muscle builder guys in the gym they can eat some crazy amounts of calories just to maintain that mass.
• As we get older we exercise less and loose muscle mass due to this reduction in activity.
• Women hormone changes as become peri-menopausal in later life and then menopausal – which affects metabolic rate and metabolism due to hormone changes.

The amount of muscle mass is one of the main factors for longevity that determinants for our health. Therefore exercise is so so so important. It should be its own prescription for health. But exercise is beneficial for so many other reasons such as the mental benefits etc. This mean resistance training in particular but cardio training is good for general health as well. That doesn’t mean a run but walking to increase NEAT.

The moment-to-moment calorie burn is known as non-exercise activity thermogenesis (NEAT). When you’re losing weight (and taking in fewer calories), you tend to subconsciously move less as your body wants to conserve energy and maintain weight. The fix: Add more NEAT to your life by taking the stairs, working at a stand-up desk, tending to your garden instead and cleaning up around your house when you have downtime.

Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the number of calories your body burns when you’re at rest (aka when you’re just sitting around breathing or while you’re sleeping). One way to shift your weight into a healthier range is to raise your BMR,

The weight on the scales is a tool. But if its triggering for you there are ways to track progress without using it.

BMIBMI is another tool that helps look at populations for how we are tracking.

BMI= weight (kg) / height (m2)

At an individual level it is not so useful. Why? Because it is only taking height and weight into consideration, not bone structure, muscle mass etc. On a population level the higher the BMI usually the higher the body fat. But that’s my no measure should be used in isolation.

What is the problem with obesity- its not the weight itself it’s the diseases that are associated with this. I’m not saying big can not be beautiful and no matter your size you aren’t worthy of love. But overall we are becoming larger in society and that isn’t great for our health. But what that looks like for each individual is very different I’ll use me as an example: me at 90kg would be obese but on someone with a bigger bone structure more height that might be completely healthy and sexy 😊

We don’t gain fat cells

Now I used to think this in my 20’s as well if I gained weight- if I gained fat I must be gaining fat cells. But they don’t work like that. we have a certain number of fat cells in our body. But what they do is they soak up the excess carbs convert them to fats and the excess fat not used and become larger like a balloon being blown up. They can only store so much before there isn’t room left in these cells and then fat start being stored in the liver and elsewhere causing major health issues especially for the cardiovascular centre. Everyone fat cell’s ability to expand out and hold fat is different and this is based on your genetics. So a little bit of excess fat on me might be a problem but on your body with your genetics completely ok- because you can store more. That is why you can see skinny people with type 2 diabetes and larger people that are healthy. We each have our own safe fat carrying capacity. So this is why we need to judge less for those that are “fat” and those that are “skinny”. Because you don’t know if that is healthy or not just looking at the person.

We know that the “apple” shape holding fat around our midsection it is more likely to be visceral fat, than subcutaneous fat. Visceral fat hugs the organs and impacts their function it not where we want fat to be and is the fat associated with increase cardiovascular risk. It is proinflammatory and as we know fats secrete hormones- the visceral fat cells for example have 4x the cortisol receptors of subcutaneous fat. Some studies have even shown that with an increasing midsection with this visceral fat that there is shrinking in the brain (lower brain volume).

**Food Principles And Calories**Protein makes you feel fuller for longer, in the hierarchy protein makes you feel fullest, then fats, then carbs. Why is that? Because protein has a more complex chemical structure and therefore it takes longer and more effort to break it down into its amino acid components.

As a rule of thumb anything that has to travel further down in the gut to be processed will make you feel fuller i.e. fibre, protein.

Hitting your protein target first is the main priority and then making up your diet with carbs and fats.

Protein requires more energy to process into amino acids. When we metabolise protein, we are only ever able to use 70% of the protein we eat. Therefore 30% is used up in this process of metabolism and energy required to digest and then use the amino acids. Therefore if you eat 10 cals of protein you can only use 7 cals by your body.

Calories tracking is great for helping you track what you are intaking. But the important factor with this is you need to track the protein, carbs and fat breakdown within this. What people call “tracking your macros”. That is way more beneficial than just counting calories alone. Because you can hit your calories and loose weight but you can loose your muscle mass if you don’t have adequate protein. It’s also important for women to have adequate fats as they are required for hormone production.

Caloric extraction of a food is how many calories you can get from that food versus how much you intake. An example is corn- you eat corn from the cob and most of that you will not absorb (you will see it in you stool/poo the next day). But grind corn up and turn it into a wrap you will absorb more and intake those calories. So say you had 100 cals of corn on the cob and ate 100 cals of corn wrap you will absorb more calories from the wrap than the cob. Even though its both still corn.

Why? Because some foods are harder for us to digest raw or on their own and cooking or processing them i.e. grinding them up help with the digestion process. Even celery because of all the fibre- eat a raw stick and that is 6 cals but cook it and eat it is now 30cals.

This is why when you are sick it’s good to have slow cooked stews, bone broths, soups etc because it is easier for your body to digest than foods like a raw salad. Where your body must work harder to break it down and absorb those nutrients. The cooking helps speed up the digestion process.

Why say all this and cause confusion?

So you know calorie counting is a tool not the be all and end off of a diet. It helps you stay on track and learn about foods but is not the only measure we need to look at. But it certainly does give us results and helps us actually have something to measure even if it is relative.

Supermarket labels are also allowed to be up to 20% inaccurate with what they say on there. But if you are wanting to see what you are actually having calorie and macro counting in particular is a really useful tool to get you where you want to be. Especially if you have a coach helping you get to what the particular goal is ie grow muscle or loose weight. I’ll explain what “toning” is in another post.

So whether you want to tweak your diet for health reasons, loose weigh or gain muscle food can be the medicine you need. Food is something we need to eat everyday and if you want to know more sign up to my nutrition coach or have a holistic health consultation to review your needs.

I have a My Fitness Pal guide that is pretty helpful too for those that do sign up 😊

References:

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abk0297

https://bmjopensem.bmj.com/content/8/1/e001206

https://www.nature.com/articles/s43587-022-00357-y

https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00427193

https://www.webmd.com/diet/obesity/what-is-set-point-weight

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7922558/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35964910/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0268005X1630340X

https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12916-017-0791-y

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2933649/

Mediterranean diet evidence

1. Willett WC, Sacks F, Trichopoulou A, Drescher G, Ferro-Luzzi A, Helsing E, Trichopoulos D. Mediterranean diet pyramid: a cultural model for healthy eating. AJCN. 1995 Jun 1;61(6):1402S-6S.
2. Gifford KD. Dietary fats, eating guides, and public policy: history, critique, and recommendations. Am J Med. 2002 Dec 30;113(9):89-106.
3. Fung TT, Rexrode KM, Mantzoros CS, Manson JE, Willett WC, Hu FB. Mediterranean diet and incidence of and mortality from coronary heart disease and stroke in women. Circulation. 2009 Mar 3;119(8):1093-100.
4. Lopez-Garcia E, Rodriguez-Artalejo F, Li TY, Fung TT, Li S, Willett WC, Rimm EB, Hu FB. The Mediterranean-style dietary pattern and mortality among men and women with cardiovascular disease. AJCN. 2013 Oct 30;99(1):172-80.
5. Ahmad S, Moorthy MV, Demler OV, Hu FB, Ridker PM, Chasman DI, Mora S. Assessment of Risk Factors and Biomarkers Associated With Risk of Cardiovascular Disease Among Women Consuming a Mediterranean Diet. JAMA Network Open. 2018 Dec 7;1(8):e185708-.
6. Estruch R, Ros E, Salas-Salvadó J, Covas MI, Corella D, Arós F, Gómez-Gracia E, Ruiz-Gutiérrez V, Fiol M, Lapetra J, Lamuela-Raventos RM. Primary prevention of cardiovascular disease with a mediterranean diet supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil or nuts. New England Journal of Medicine. 2018 Jun 13. [Note: reference updated in June 2018 due to retraction and republication]
7. Food and Nutrition Board, Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids. The National Academies Press, 2005. Accessed 10/16/17.
8. Salas-Salvadó J, Bulló M, Babio N, Martínez-González MÁ, Ibarrola-Jurado N, Basora J, Estruch R, Covas MI, Corella D, Arós F, Ruiz-Gutiérrez V. Reduction in the incidence of type 2 diabetes with the Mediterranean diet. Diabetes care. 2011 Jan 1;34(1):14-9.
9. Loughrey DG, Lavecchia S, Brennan S, Lawlor BA, Kelly ME. The impact of the Mediterranean diet on the cognitive functioning of healthy older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Advances in Nutrition. 2017 Jul 6;8(4):571-86.
10. Aridi YS, Walker JL, Wright OR. The association between the Mediterranean dietary pattern and cognitive health: a systematic review. Nutrients. 2017 Jun 28;9(7):674.
11. Bhushan A, Fondell E, Ascherio A, Yuan C, Grodstein F, Willett W. Adherence to Mediterranean diet and subjective cognitive function in men. European journal of epidemiology. 2017 Nov 17:1-2.
12. Crous-Bou M, Fung TT, Prescott J, Julin B, Du M, Sun Q, Rexrode KM, Hu FB, De Vivo I. Mediterranean diet and telomere length in Nurses’ Health Study: population based cohort study. BMJ. 2014 Dec 2;349:g6674.
13. Samieri C, Sun Q, Townsend MK, Chiuve SE, Okereke OI, Willett WC, Stampfer M, Grodstein F. The Association Between Dietary Patterns at Midlife and Health in Aging: An Observational Study. Annals of internal medicine. 2013 Nov 5;159(9):584-91.
14. Shai I, Schwarzfuchs D, Henkin Y, Shahar DR, Witkow S, Greenberg I, Golan R, Fraser D, Bolotin A, Vardi H, Tangi-Rozental O. Weight loss with a low-carbohydrate, Mediterranean, or low-fat diet. NEJM. 2008 Jul 17;2008(359):229-41.

View Details

75 years! I know what a long time to conduct a study. That was in 2017 when the research was first published but it is now up to 85 years worth of data in 2023.

This has been the longest study in history and has had over 4 groups of researchers work on this from Harvard.

It started with just white male participants in Boston in the 1930’s but expanded to include females and various other ethnic groups over time. It followed adults for their entire lives from the age of teenagers and into adulthood. And they have now started studying the children from the participants of this study. This study tracked how life really unfolds, not how we remember them. As our memory isn’t always reliable- which is another topic of conversation as to why.

It was initially set up to look at harvard college undergraduate students who were seen to be “prime” examples and to look at how they would develop over time. There was also a trial going at the same time that was looking at boys from Bostons poorest and most troubled families and to see why some children from difficult background stayed out of trouble and on healthy developmental paths. So they studied men who didn’t get into trouble even though there were in environment not conducive to that.

Indicators of human happiness the number 1 factors was seen to be the quality of our relationships. Another top finding was taking care of your health and our body.

• Getting decent sleep
• Regular exercise
• Access to medical care
• Eating well
• Not abusing alcohol and drugs.

A participants was quoted as saying:

“ Take care of your body as though you are going to need it for 100 years”

The people who lived the longest had the best and warmest connections with other human beings. It has a major link with stress. As relationships help us manage stress and powerful negative feelings. We can’t prevent bad things from happening, but this research found that having someone you can talk to about this and debrief your day (either in person or on the phone who is a good listener) helped people monitor and regulate stress. If you have conflicting relationships/abuse/ constant unhappy arguing and diffciltuies never resolve take a toll. It keeps us in flight or flight reins (ie stress). Which is meant to be a temporary response. But if we have relationships that keep us in this state we keep these process going that we don’t want constantly triggered.

My Anxiety ebook explores this in more detail which you can purchase from this site.

Different types of wellbeing were explored:

• Hedonic wellbeing - what we think of as having a good meal, enjoying a good party, having a good conversation.
• Eudemonic wellbeing- We want a sense of purpose a sense of meaning. Feeling you are doing meaningful activities. . Eg. you have a small child that wants a book read for the 8th time and you are tired. You don’t want to but you do because it has meaning to you. You care deeply about what you are doing even if it is difficult
• Psychologically rich life- going to new places, having interesting experiences and doing things we have never done before.

We want a mix of these 3 areas but people often have a predisposition to one area more than another.

When we invest in things outside of ourselves we feel happier for longer. This comes traditionally from religion. We want a sense that life is worth living.

They asked people in the study who are now 80+ years old- what is one thing they look back on their life what do they regret the most. The most common response

“I wish I hadn’t spent so much time wondering about what other people thought. “

 To check in on this this is where reflective practice helps to check in with yourself. Either with meditation, journalling etc. what makes us feel alive and what depletes us. What can we do to turn towards the thinks that being us energy and turn away from the things that drain us. Making sure to distinguish between things not serving us and not actuarial work. Its about checking in with ourselves and how we are actually feeling. We have to learn to checkin and ask ourselves questions to really gt to know how we are feeling at the moment.

What are the things we need to reward in one another to create positive relationships?

We should reward people taking risks with us- ie telling us how they really feel. ‘ I was upset when you said that” and to not get defensive when you get such feedback. To thank someone for being willing to say that. Our relationships deepen we trust each other and realise that you won’t criticise but be curious and welcoming abut something difficult.And rewarding each other for doing new things and taking risks.

When we are triggered often it is because we don’t allow ourselves to do that thing. When you don’t support people in their choices it distances you or feel not understood. It shows something internally we need to look at rather than the other person.

Love = safety and understanding When you are doing something ordinary such as washing the dishes- ask yourself

‘What is here now that I have never noticed before? “

And this goes for relationships we think we know so well such as a partner or friend and share that with them. How tuned in we are with someone we we first meet them versus when we have been with someone for years as we think we know them. We have curiosity about them in th beginning. But we need to keep that interest and curiosity. There is always something we can learn about someone even if we think we know someone rally well. And unlearning misconceptions as well from the past.

We find it challenging to have people we love change and ourselves change. So how do we allow yourselves and others to change?

Our suffering happens when we try to freeze things and force things to stay as they are. Our core values stay the same but we express the differently.

We often think “ they are perfect the way they are right now” and then over time you realise how imperfect they are ( and how imperfect you are) or how they change over time. Yet we expect people to stay as the image we give them initially. it takes some effort to pay attention to the changes as they happen over time.

A lot of our values and beliefs come from our families, which were meant to be a source of safety and refuge. But is often people don’t feel that way they feel they are “ toxic” or “negative”. The first step is to reflect on the positives and what you can preserve. Sometimes you need to walk away from your family. But first see what can you invest in, what can be appreciated if it is there. As family often cares about you the most. A lot of the difficulties come when they don’t allow you to grow or change over time. If we don’t go down the abuse or severe dysfunctional path of course.

As part of the reflection towards happiness:

• What are the 2-3 values you couldn’t live your life without?

  • Then write down how you demonstrate this in your weekly life
  • Who are you close to and would like to be close to or mend your relationships with?
  • What are some of the biggest challenges/transitions you had to make so far in your life and what strengths did you bring to manage those transitions ?
  • And what do you see coming ahead for you in life and how can you use those strength you already have?

“A sad soul can kill you far quicker than a germ “

Being in a chronically stressful relationship can cause breakdowns physically in the body. So how do we discern when to step away and when it can be worked on? There are conflicts in any relationships with any depth and many can be worked out. And working them out can be a source of growth and can often strength the relationship so it’s important to try and work them out where you can. But it takes discernment to determine when it can’t be worked out and you need to leave.

We are often raised to avoid difficult conversations. It’s important to ask yourself is this my idea or someone else’s? Before starting an argument or difficult conversation. To pause and take a long view what do I want with this person in the long term? Do I care if they are around in 6mth, 3years? As you will adjust your response depending on what you want out of that relationship depending on its duration. To try and have no loser and no winner- as that causes disconnection. You won the argument so what? The other person will feel shitty and you still have caused disconnection with them. If you suppress the problem and don’t talk about it you become resentful. Which is not a great alternative either. You want both of you to win in the conversation to preserve the relationship. Take the time to pause before reacting or responding and think what is the most skilful way I can deal with this? Sleep on it and talk when the iron is cool not hot. What feels right right now might not feel right then.

Feedback should be given in 3 key areas to help each other grow:

• Make someone aware of your standards ie I want a relationship where we are both happy and grow - do we both want this together?
• Reminding the person you trust and believe they can rise to that standard ie. I know we can do this together.
• What are we both willing to do to get there ie. Putting things in place to meet the standard and agree.

Social fitness and keeping our relationships in shape?

• Many people felt in the study they weren’t spending enough time with those that meant something to them ie. actively keep in touch
• We all need to feel we have some sort of social safety net.
• Everyone needs to feel securely attached to other humans even if it’s just one person.

So if you haven’t already it might be time to reflect on the relationships in your life and how you can foster the ones you want and need. And remember no-one on the planet is happy all the time, life is filled with joys and sorrows, ups and down. You are not having a bad life if there is a mixture of boring days and extraordinary ones. Become the surfer and ride the waves knowing it will come up again rather than trying to fight it putting yourself in a position where you are drowning.

View Details

Please find below example diet diary and gratitude diary you can use to help keep you conscious of what is happening in your day.

• 7 day Diet Diary
• 7 day Mindfullness Chart

Why would you want to record a diet diary? To see where intolerances are, where yo might be missing necessary food groups- its not just a weight loss tool.

A gratitude diary helps you check in with yourself to see how you are feeing on a day to day basis. This can be helpful if you don’t journal or meditate to really help start the process of listeing to you inner wisdom and your body. How are you actually feeling? And why are you feeling that way- do you know? Or are you going around reacting all day and upset without figuring out why and what you need to sit and give to yourself to address it.

For example : I break the plate by dropping it while I make my breakfast which annoys me to clean it up but I do it, then I stub my toe as i’m rushing to work and yell at the dog for being in my way, I spill my coffee on my work top meaning I have to sit in a stained wet shirt all day as I couln’t get it out completely in the sink. I’m distracted and annoyed at everyone today and I feel like it’s just because I had a bad start to my day and it continued. Or did it? Why was I really annoyed all day. Was it the plate first thing breaking that set my tone? If I sat and felt it through and thought about it. Those little things wouldn’t bother me if i was in a good head space, if my resilience cup was full. So why did I let it continue that way for the day. I was really annoyed by conversation that didn’t go my way. I didn’t want to hear what was said and it was ruminating in the background of my mind. And since that conversation I didn’t sleep well and I keep carrying that story around with me and seeing everything since then as an annoyance. But really it was i was annoyed at what was said, hurt, feeling like I wasn’t seen or valued, frustrated I let it get to this point and I’m taking that out in my day to day with these little moments. By meditating, journaling or having some sort of reflecting process to tune into yourself you can get to the route and give yourself or your inner child what it needs in that moment to not carry the story all day. To create a better story and refocus on what you want and not what you don’t want.

View Details

How are we trying to stop ageing and is it possible?There are a lot of theories around why we age. At the moment there are 4 main areas being explored as pathways to target to prevent ageing. There is not one way to stop ageing:

1. NAD - is one of the big ones being looked at. As we age NAD goes down and down. It is the energy used for a lot of DNA repair enzymes in the body.
2. AMP-K pathway - looking at optimising this pathway. When we stimulate M-TOR we inhibit AMP-K. These two are in balance. If we activate one we don’t want to be activating the other. When we stimulate AMP-K we stimulate autophogy.
3. M-TOR pathway- M-TOR- is responsible for muscle/protein synthesis. So think of it as building up the structures in the body.
4. Autophogy - how we stimulate this to best effects. Autophogy is the body ability to clear away old dead or not as well functioning cells. It’s believed as we age we build up these old components/organelles such as mitochondira and we do not flush them away correctly, decreasing the overall efficiency of our cells. If we can flush away these malfunctioning cells and stimulate new cell growth it is thought we can decrease the ageing process. Autophogy can be stimulated by exercise, fasting, infrared saunas, spermidine, metformin, quercetin, fisetin, and Berberine.

Why haven’t I mentioned antioxidants here?

We were very excited at one point to think that antioxidants would be the solution as they would neutralise any radical/ free radical damage in the body and keep our cells happy and functioning optimally. However the studies when direct antioxidants were administered and directly react with oxidants and neutralise them- it didn’t show the benefits we hoped. What appears to be better is stimulating our own pathways in the body that stimulate antioxidant activity. NRF-2 is the pathway and cell cascades that get rid of oxidants in our body. When we look at heart disease and specifically the cruciferous vegetables (broccoli is the most well known) that were shown to decrease mortality. Cruciferous vegetables contain glucoraphanine and microcynase and when they mix together in the gut they form sulfurofane. Sulfurone if a really potent activator of NRF2. Vit C is unique in that it is an antioxidant but it also stimulates the body natural production of antioxidants.

**What are some ways to stimulate these potential anti-aging pathways ?**

Spermidine

What is it?

Spermidine is a Polyamine. Our cells can make this themselves (which is why it isn’t classed as a supplement) but the levels found in our cells are highly dependant on the amount we take in through our diet and eating choices. So we can boost our levels through our diet alone and don’t need to supplement it. In mice studies it was able to suppress the age related decline in cardiovascular function and increase overall longevity by 10%. There isn’t much spermidine in meats but there is higher levels in fruits and vegetables. Vegetable sprouts, peas, mushrooms, broccoli and cauliflower have high amounts and spermidine is heat resistant- so cooking food does not decrease the spermidine levels in that item. The amount of spirmadine for example in mushrooms is 160mcg per gram where as meat has 20mcg per gram. It is readily absorbed from the gut so we get 40-80% uptake of the amount consumed.

How it works?

Stimulates autophogy pathways to clear away old cell to allow new cells to replace them. Auotphogy is “self eating”. Now with autophogy we don’t want to be stimulating this continually- ie eating ourselves away non-stop. We want to stimulate autophogy in cycles and allowing enough time in-between for our cells to rebuild themselves. It is also referred to as a calorie mimetic agent due to its autophogy effects.

In long term studies when they look at Spermidine a certain level within the diet shows that decreased death rates and cardiovascular disease as well as recused cancer risk. The SMARTAge study currently underway is looking at it’s effects on dementia and comparing it to placebo.

One of the population age study with 1000 people the death rate decreased with increasing spermidine intake. In patients that are healthy at 100 years old they looked at their spermidine levels and they found those that were healthy at 100 had spermidine levels comparable to people 30-50years their junior.

Quercetin and Fisetin

Quercetin and Fisetin are both polyphenols called flavanoids. There are 1000s of polyphenols but we are just scratching the surface on what polyphenols do in the body. And we aren’t sure yet how many we should use but quercetin and fisetin have shown real promise. We do struggle to absorb polyphenols, they do like to be absorbed with a fat. So if you have it in a capsule in a supplement form with out fats you only absorb 10%. However if you have quercetin with olive oil or fish oil you get much higher rates of absorption and benefits.

Dasatinib and quercetin study in 2021 used in patients with lung scarring ie pulmonary fibrosis. They wanted to see if we stimulated autophogy would that improve long function and decrease the scarring. This was the first trial to show in human there is a benefit. Most other trials have been in mice and shown real promise. But it needs to be used in a “hit and run’ approach. Where it is taken short term nd a break is given for the body to repair and rebuild.

Exercise

Now we need to just mention this anyway even though it’s not a supplement. (But maybe it should be seen as one)

if we look at exercise purely for a longertivity perspective. It has a bell-shape curve in terms of benefits. A little bit improves your health then we hit a peak or optimum point but when we do too much it has actually been shown to increase our death rate. The “optimum” point is 4-5 days of exercise. Which again lends to this principle we was to stimulate the body but then have sufficient rest time for our body to build itself back up again. Exercise activates M-TOR. When we exercise it increases oxidative stress/damage, which we need a little bit of oxidative stress ignorer for our mitochondria (the powerhouse in our cells) to work more efficiently. our mitochondria need to be more efficient to deal with this stress, but we don’t want to do too much. We want a combination of resistance training and cardiovascular training. Again too much of either is not great our body like balance not extremes.

Protein Intake

Now again with protein intake we want a high protein diet to increase m-TOR activation. But there again is a sweet spot. We don’t want to be constantly activating this pathway if we do it has been linked to increased mortality rates. Particualry if you are having constant high protein intake with one amino acid- Leucine. As Leucine is a potent activator of M-TOR. And if constantly stimulated it can increase the ageing process. Now don’t freak out if we didn’t activate M-TOR we will become frail. If you don’t have muscle going into your older age it will increase mortality. We need enough muscle but not too much. One of the big markers for morality is muscle mass. So think about the frail old lady- if she gets an infection it’s going to be much harder for her to fend this off compared to someone who is fit and healthy and larger at the same age.

Protein is made up of amino acids. Now Methonine is another amino acid that seems to be linked with ageing as well (not just Leucine). High intake of Methionine has been linked to increased ageing. Meat and animal products have higher levels of methionine than plant proteins. We want to as said earlier activate M-TOR but not too much. Which maybe why Pea proteins could be a good alternative to whey based products. Having said that meats are a more complete source of protein than plant based sources and more easily uptake and digested. Its not one way is better than another if you are vegetarian for example for various reasons. But how can we work with that to optimise your protein intake given we know protein is anti-aging.

Salmon- Contains a compound called Astroxanthan - which is a potent activator of NRF2. But it isn’t as good at activating NRF2 as surfurophane. We don’t know yet if we gt additional benefits by activating this pathway through multiple ways or whether one is enough.

**Creatine**

Is one of the few supplements that has evidence in the sports world. The interatiationl society of sports nutrition concluded it is the most effective supplement available to date to increase lean body mass, increasing high intensity exercise capacity. It also reduces muscle damage and enhances recovery from intense exercise. Whilst it did have it’s issues it has been shown to increase memory in older adults ( there is a great paper on alzheimers about this). In terms of safety studies up to 5 years have shown no adverse effects in taking this. The myth is it increases hair loss but this has been proven invalid. So how much creatine? I feel it needs its own post and a deep dive but 5g daily is beneficial for most adults.

Collagen Supplements

There is now a meta-analysis for 10 differen randomised trials that shows improved overall skin health including: moisture, elasticity and reduced wrinkle number. 10-15g appears to be the recommended amount to reach these benefits.

Hyloronic acid for skin

Is the backbone of our connective tissues. Helps build up cartilage and assist with blood vessel health that also has shown promise in anti-aging. The amount in our skin decreases as we age. A 75year skin is found to have on average 1/4 the amount that a 19year old has. We have multiple randomised controlled trials that show in humans that hylorinic acid improves skin health. The latest to come out in 2021 compared to placebo , hylorinic acid supplements improved water content of the skin, reduced wrinkles and skin elasticity. There was a fear it would increase cancer growth by supplmenting! Not what we want but a trial in mice that had tumours helped show there was no proof of such effects. 200mg daily is what is currently recommended for these effects.

Keto diet

At the moment the evidence is lacking to stay in a ketotic state, but it appears the keto diet just helps people achieve their protein targets and not over consume carbohydrates- this in turn keeps their blood glucose levels more stable. I’ll talk about myths with diets but no diet is superior to any other- it really does come down to some basic principles such as: eat adequate meat/protein (not excessive), enjoy some fats (preferably from plants sources), eat carbohydrates not to excess ( as this is often where people go to excess causing erratic blood glucose levels, weight gain due to excessive calorie intake of carbs). Carbs are protein sparing so we don’t want to cut them out of our diets and we also need them for energy. Again no food group or food is inherently bad it’s just do those nutrient components in that food meet my needs. That should be the question we ask rather than being so judgemental about food.

Fibre

Psyllium husk 5-10g is one supplement outside of gaining fibre through the diet that can help feed our micorbiome. See my previous post on why the gut microbiome is so important. A 2016 Cochrane review showed it lowered total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol when you have increasing fibre intake. It also helps keep you feeling fuller for longer. At the moment we don’t know if there is certain strains of gut bacteria we should be enhancing to improve longevity. But increasing fibre in the diet in general, not artificial sweeteners but soluble and insoluble fibre appears to have the most benefits. The trouble with artificial sweeteners is when the gut bacteria expend energy eating these articifical sugars there are no calories that come from them using energy to eat them,. As the gut bacteria didn’t receive any energy it causes a cascade of signalling to make you feel even more hungry and unfortunately studies have shown people that eat artificial sweetens like Sucralose often end up eating more calories than those who just ate the sugary products due to this. Does that mean they are bad? No. It just means you might need more self control or hey just eat the sugary item but in a smaller portion to satiate that craving. Because trying to trick you gut bacteria just makes them more noisy and demanding. So pick your battle here.

**Berberine and Metformin**

Both stimulate AMP-K. Metformin is a diabetic medication-so we have seen this in the fact that metformin can increase weight loss but on the flip side metformin decreases the exercise benefits. Exercise increases M-TOR and Metformin stimulates AMP'-K so it was canceling out the benefits. At the moment there is more evidence around metformin due to the extend of patients with type 2 diabetes compared to berberine (which is a herbal product). If you are going to use stimulate AMP-K you would want to use product on your rest days not training days. They are currently undertaking a trial going metformin to healthy patients to see what effect it has on longevity.

Insulin/anti-diabetics

High levels of insulin accelerates ageing. Now if you have have high sugar in the diet and have diabetes for example having that sugar run rampant in your body causes a lot of inflammation and damage to cells. So it’s not as simple as if you are a diabetic i want to stop insulin to slow ageing. Because the damage excess sugar does of cells is far more detrimental. But high insulin levels are not great for the ageing process and so we want to have a diet for exempt that doesn’t cause constant spikes or keep big swings in variation.

SGLT2 Inhibitors eg empagliflozin show promise for anti-aging with avoiding this scenario. As they essentially help make the kidneys excrete glusose through the kidney. They are having positive results on heart disease and kidney disease. But the verdict is out on whether they will help with ageing affects. GLP-1 receptor agonists eg. exenitide helps patients to feel fuller for longer and is also used in diabetes management. It is showing promise for patients keeping weight off over the long term (yrs).

But saying all this diabetes is a topic on its own. Its important for type 1 to have insulin as they can’t make it on their own and they can die if they don’t have their medication and when it comes to type 2 we need to be advocating diet and lifestyle changes such as exercise to reverse this metabolic disease. If we can control lifestyle factors we can stop the need for insulin use in type 2.

Resveratrol

In 2003 it gained a lot of traction, this particular polyphenol and its research and was going to assist with heart disease and longevity. But the trial data so far is lacking, the data in mice looked promising but that hasn’t translated into the long term data in humans.

While we are talking mice studies- Dr David Sinclair injected transcription factors into the eyes of mice that were ageing and reversed the eye ageing damage. These factors are working on the autophogy pathway.

Omega 3

The Mayo clinic recently published a meta-analysis that showed it statistically significantly reduced in the risk of heart attacks with high grade certainty. So fish oil is great for your cardiovascular function- so enjoy your oily fish.

TMG (Trimethylglycine)

A meta- analysis looking at risk factors for dementia -one of the main risk factors was high level of homocysteine in the blood. By taking TMG we can lower homocysteine. TMG is found in foods such as beets, spinach and whole grain breads. 100-300mg daily should be the target for YTMG to have this dementia lowering effect.

Glycine and NAC

From the age of 45years the effect of anti-oxidants from our body appear to decrease and the levels of glutathione decrease. Glycine and NAC are building blocks for glutathione, that older adults when supplemented with these two supplements corrected their glutathione levels and improved their mitochondria performance or power health of their cells. Does this mean you need NAC? Not unless you are over 45year or know your levels are low.

There are many other multivitamins in smaller amounts but another day that’s enough for now right :P

https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/artic... https://academic.oup.com/nutritionrev... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32436... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34933... https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24894... https://www.cochrane.org/CD011472/VAS... https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24791... https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12398... https://academic.oup.com/biomedgeront...
https://academic.oup.com/nutritionrev... https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/artic... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34933... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24894... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23783...

https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/artic... https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25921... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Exe... https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35984... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32436... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24894... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... https://www.cochrane.org/CD011472/VAS... https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com... https://medlineplus.gov/druginfo/natu... https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NB... https://www.bmj.com/content/356/bmj.i... https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056... https://www.endocrine.org/news-and-ad...

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29955... https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32634... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30648... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17578... https://www.nia.nih.gov/research/dab/...
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40610-021-00145-4 https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/british-journal-of-nutrition/article/enhancing-sulforaphane-absorption-and-excretion-in-healthy-men-through-the-combined-consumption-of-fresh-broccoli-sprouts-and-a-glucoraphaninrich-powder/DE6710B9C0F9D1E1F1418D3ABF76AA52

View Details

Lets talk nuts for a minute? No, not girl interrupted style but the food ones

What are some of the benefits you get from different nuts?Almonds

• lower cholesterol
• lower the risk of heart disease
• contain magnesium
• stabilise blood glucose levels
• contain copper, manganese and the antioxidant Vitamin E
• rich in monounsaturated fats, fibre antioxidants and riboflavin

Cashews

• lower cholesterol
• lower the risk of heart attack/heart disease
• good for mood
• contain Vitamin E, Vitamin K and B6
• assit in weight loss
• contain magnesium, iron , selenium, copper, phosphorus, zinc

Walnuts

• good for most things from bone health to cancer
• balance blood glucose
• support arterial function
• good for brain health
• good source of omega 3 (ALA)
• boast the highest phytochemical, flavonoid and antioxidant capacity amongst tree nuts
• Rich source of fibre, protein

Pecans

• high in manganese and copper
• as powerful as walnuts as antioxidants
• help balance triglycerides and cholesterol

Brazil nuts

• high levels of selenium
• good for metabolism, digestive health and thyroid function
• help with detoxification
• protect against arthritis

Hazelnut

• good for endothelial function
• keep LDL cholesterol from oxidising
• double the antioxidant capacity of almonds

Pistachio

• abundant in arginine- amino acid
• produces nitric oxide which improves arterial function and blood flow

Macadamia

• contain same amount of monounsaturated fats as olive oil.
• improve overall cholesterol

Good Fats:* Nuts * Seeds * Fatty, Cold water fish * Fatty grassfed pastured meat * Olives * Avocado * Eggs * Coconut

Tell me more about fats? Why would I eat them?Unlike carbohydrates and protein, fat does not stimulate the release of insulin (a fat storing hormone) and slows gastric emptying and stimulates the release of peptide YY to emulsify fasts via activation of cholecystokin (CKK).

Fats also increase satiety (fullness) as they decrease gherlin, they are important for your absorption of your fat soluble vitamins (A,D,E,K) the proper function of your nerves/brain, proper hormone production and cell communication. The length of the fatty acid chang does impact on how much it will increase hormonal signalling in the gut and ghrelin response. If you aren’t eating fats you can develop Essential Fatty Acid deficiency.

What are the signs of Essential Fatty Acid (EFA) deficiency?

• dry skin
• cracked skin on heels and fingertips
• hair falling out
• lifeless hair or dandruff
• slow wound healing
• depression, lack of motivation
• irritability
• soft or brittle nails
• allergies
• high blood pressure
• dry eyes
• aching joints
• fatigue
• difficulty loosing weight
• arthritis
• pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS)
• mentrual irregularities
• painful breasts

As a general rule of thumb, avoid industrialised manmade fats/oils and opt for whole food fats. Here are fats worth incorporate into your diet:

• Coconut oil- is made up of medium chain triglycerides, most of which are comprised of caprylic acid and auric acid. Caprylic acid and auric acid are potent antimicrobials, meaning they naturally kill unwanted bacteria, viruses and fungi.
• Olives- rich sources of monounsaturated fats and contain the powerful antioxidant oleocanthal. Olives are anti-inflammatory and have been shown to be beneficial for cardiovascular health.
• Sardines- high in anti-inflammatory long chain omega 3 EPA and DHA fats for brain health and cardiovascular support, high in protein, rich in B12, selenium, Vit D, phosphorus, calcium and lowest mercury of all fatty fish.
• Flaxseed- rich in polyunsaturated LA Omega-3 fats, flavonoids, high in lignans which act as antioxidants and as an insoluble fibre. Can modulate oestrogen levels (used in seed cycling) and also has blood pressure lowering benefits.
• Pumpkin seeds- is the only seed that is alkaline forming, high in protein, rich in zinc, lignan’s and phytosterols.
• Avocado oil- high in healthy monounsaturated fat, low in fruit sugar, rich in potassium, rich in fibre, source of Vitamin K, folate, magnesium, lutein and zeaxanthin.
• Hemp seed- rich in both ALA Omega 3 and Omega 6 essential fats also rich in protein 10g complete protein per serving.

Chia seed, pumpkin seed, flaxseed, walnuts all have Omega 3 SCFA (short chain fatty acids in them. Where as Algae and cold water fish have Omega 3 LCFA (long chain fatty acids).

Can I cook with any of the good oils?The oils you want to cook with need a high heat tolerance point/ smoking point. This tends to be more of your saturated/mono-saturated fats like coconut oil, grapeseed oil, avocado oil etc. Rather than oils like olive oil which burns and can rancify (oxidise) meaning you won’t get the benefits from that fat- it is better as a salad dressing or on low heat.

If you are eating foods high in Omega 6 its important to remember even if you are adding in lots of Omega 3 fats, Omega 6 will block the absorption of omega 3. There are only enough chairs for everyone to sit at the table and omega 6 tends to get to the table first.

Eating daily flaxseed or hemp oil gives you a combination of Omega 3-6-9.

Fish oil is also a good alternative but ill talk about the additional benefits of eating salmon another time.

Omega 6 is bad right and Omega 3 is good? When talking about Omega 3 and Omega 6 it's not black and white-this one is good and this one is bad. Omega 3 and Omega 6 are classed as PUFAs (polyunsaturated fatty acids)and are vital to pretty much every component of the human cell. The body needs them to balance out hormones, insulate nerves, keep the skin and arteries supple, to keep the body warm etc.

So lets dive into them in their own post ;)

View Details

Testing your microbes in your gut is it important, should I do it? Lets explore the testing.

Why is it important to know how the gut is functioning?The gut appears to be doing a lot of critical functions for health and overall health systems. i.e. liver function, cardiovascular, mental health, immune system etc. The body systems and the gut are in constant communication via mainly the vagus nerve. Which has more influence hasn't been determined yet, the gut telling the body or the body telling the gut.

Who might benefit from testing?As the gut is linked so much into our overall health, its really ideal to have it tests every 9-12mths to see how it is going. Just like you get routine blood tests to check everything is functioning as it should. But if you are experiencing a change in your health/symptoms or finished a course of antibiotics these are also ideal times to get tested and see what is going on.

Post antibiotics- what should i do?You need to take it easy. once you have recovered from the illness it no the time to celebrate by going out partying and drinking alcohol, eating fried/fatty/processed foods or dairy. as the antibiotics have essentially wiped out your microbiota forest and you need to nature and let the healthy “seedlings” grow up rom the forest floor. If you bombard your gut with inflammatory foods at this time you can cause leaky gut and longer term problems. We need to help colonise and grow back the good bugs. People often find after hey have been sick that they are lactose intolerant as the microvilli have flattened somewhat due to the inflammation and the lactase enzymes on there are also wiped out temporarily in this process.

You should be eating easy to digest nourishing foods like bone broths, fermented foods, slow cooked foods, lots of vegetables, garlic, onion etc. Drinking lots of water and taking it easy!!! you know who you are they people that refuse to stop.

Taking probiotics post antibiotics has had mixed reports. Some showing benefits and other showing it delays the restoration of the normal microflora. They think this is because the supplemented probiotic bug take over the function of the bacteria that normally live in your gut and take up space so your natural gut bugs can’t grow back. Whether this is a good or a bad thing short term is unclear. But probiotics do not colonise your gut they only live there temporarily. Some people can take 4-6 weeks for their microbiota to come back others it can be up to 16months!

If you are taking long term antibiotics it changes the microflora permanently.

Which is what they do before you have a faecal transplant. When you have a faecal transplant they bomb your gut and sterilise it and then repopulate it with a good faecal matter in the gut.

So why test and what to test? We need to not only know what bugs are living in there but how many i.e. the . population density etc. and how they are functioning.

When they test the bacteria they take the sample and strip out all the bacterial DNA present and this goes through a sequencing machine. The sequencing machine then builds together all the genome information to create a picture of what is in your gut and what it can do and in what density.

Target PCR tests are looking for a list of organism and reporting that back of what bugs should be on the list. They don't report on any other bugs than the ones they are looking for. This testing can be great, But doesn't give the overall picture. It doesn't tell you what your balance is or how well they are functioning. We all have some unique species or pathogens in the gut, that are almost like our guts finger print. There is lots out there we don’t know what it does or its purpose yet. There is so much diversity and uniqueness in us all that we are still discovering the impacts and knowledge about the bacteria living in the gut. A single result doesn’t give all the answers you need to look at the whole picture. PCR is possibly the best way to test for acute gastroenteritis, because it’s so fast and because it tests so many organisms. And culture is likely best for things that are more chronic.

For example if you think you have a candida overgrowth that is unlikely in the large bowel. If you do have an overgrowth it usually occurs in the small bowel and is called SIBO. Faecal microba testing only looks at the bugs in the large bowel and won’t give you a clear picture if there are imbalances anywhere else. As the large bowel is the powerhouse of gut for producing metabolites, most of the bacteria live and most of the material sits there. There should be limited bacteria in the small bowel. Digestion actually starts in the mouth- how much of the digestive enzymes are in your saliva, if they aren’t there in large numbers there are knock on effect all through the gut thereafter.

Remember there is food you eat for you and your human cells i.e. sugar, protein, fats and there is food you eat for the bacteria in your gut i.e. fibre- inulin, pectin, resistant starch, cooked and cooled potatoes (to get resistant starch), rice etc.

What specific species of bacteria are found in the tests?Within the gut there are things that are potentially good and potentially bad for you. They aren't good or evil they are just doing what they do. An example is Akkermansia muciniphila it help the mucus in your gut grow and keeps it healthy, but if you have too much it can be a problem too. Faecalibacterium prausnitzii there are several species of this, some are good, some are neutral and some do some less than desirable things. FRPrau-B has been connected with atopic dermatitis, where as FRPrau-C produces a lot of butyrate which is great for your gut, for your energy, it feeds gut cells and also produces an anti-inflammatory compound. Both these strains look very similar on the surface, in fact they are almost identical, but a few different genes in their genomes completely change their overall behaviour and effect in the gut.

It’s what the species are doing in the gut that is important. As said earlier FPrau-C can produce butyrate and butyrate is a main functioning compound in the gut -many organisms in the gut can produce butyrate, it lower obesity and type 2 diabetes, it feeds your gut cells and keeps them healthy. So it is helpful to know how many bacteria in your gut can produce butyrate and to test for that. We want to be able to produce butyrate and in sufficient quantities. So if you have a good amount of bacteria (you know this from testing) that can produce it- you need to feed your gut resistant starch and because you have the right bacteria you will get a really good benefit from doing so.

If you don't have these bugs in your gut that can make butyrate. You want to change your diet so that you can encourage their growth. Then feed them the resistant starch they need to make butyrate. Trimethylamine, hydrogen sulfide, urease have impacts on health and can make things worse and these can be produced by gut bacteria, so if you test you can see if you are creating these compounds. There are neurotransmitters connected with the gut such as GABA synthesis, serotonin, vitamin synthesis- ie. certain B vitamins are produced in the gut. How well you might be making these vitamins is by looking at the genes in the bugs living there. With testing you need to look at where is the imbalance and how can I best modulate it? This makes it less like guess work and you can delve in and see what is going on and adjust it.

It’s important if you are having testing to interpret the results with a practitioner…If you have eaten a certain way your whole life and you know how to whip certain things up easily for yourself or your family and then all of a sudden you are told to add 6 cups of vegetables a day and eat resistant starch you might be thinking- how the hell do I cook that? It can be overwhelming, to stop or change those habits and learn new cooking strategies. To help support and drop stress levels its good to interpret your results with a practitioner, changes are not going to work if you don't have support.

A lot of the evidence based research and practice has to do with the practitioner that you work with, the practitioner support they give, what they know and what that practitioner has learnt . Not only that but the personal situation of the person seeking treatment -what the person brings to the table -how they feel, what has happened to them with their illnesses, felling sick etc. It’s far more complex than evidence tells us we need to use “this” and then just implement “that” and “this is what will happen”. So when trying to move forward it’s our experience, our understanding, what we bring as much as what we read in the studies and what we know and how we apply it. So you need someone to help interpret some of the results you are reading and give it context.

How do you collect the poo for testing?New testing dosnt’t require a sample in a jar. Its not just a swob, that comes in a tube, you wipe this swob across a piece of used toilet paper. You then play the swob in the tube to preserves the sample. You place this back Into the back supplied and post it back to the lab for processing. It’s a much easier process now ( and not as gross). The amount of material is small it can give you a clue if there is parasites, but if it detects anything need to go and get a larger sample and test for that.

Is the “microba” test good compared to other tests and companies?The tests give you a snap shot in time right now of what it is doing. And this is important to see- not what was happening 3-6 months ago or whenever you last had a test. As said it can be a good idea to have every 6-9months as routine. The microba test is very elaborate at what it looks at, due to the diversity and metabolites it shows.

Remember if you don't have bacteria to make metabolites such as tyramine you can’t make serotonin. The metabolites are important. So knowing this information about your gut you can take charge of your health. Say you aren’t making tyramine, you then know you don't need those antidepressants -if we improve your gut you can make your own serotonin. Lets fix the route cause rather than taking a pill. Instead of symptom management let’s treat the cause so we can get back to optimal health and with the doctor wean off those meds once you are feeling better/the gut is working.

Is there an age limit on testing?2 years and above can be tested, any child below 2 years will not be tested. The reason for this is the micorbiome is still under flux. It hasn’t settled into what it will be and the immune system hasn’t decided what it likes to talk to, and the flora keeps changing. There are also no defined normal limits in these age groups for that reason.

The microbiome dose change as you get older but there is no limit to the upper age range to be tested. The are still tracking this area to see the significant of this. The production of enzymes does drop off as we age, but we aren’t sure about the impacts of the flora.

So if you are interested in testing have a look at microba website but also make sure you have a practitioner to assist you in interpreting and developing a management plan.

See also the blog on Bugs and your gut- the microbiota.

Happy testing xo

View Details

Get my quick guide on breathing techniques that can be used when your mind is racing to calm it down. Using the physical body and in particular breath can have a very calming influence on the nervous system.

View Details

What does it mean to be vulnerable? And how does shame play into this stopping us from having the connection we so desire? We all want to feel connected, it is a very real human primal drive. Find out what is holding us back from it. Read on…

View Details

Withania is such a versatile herb that has been used for thousands of years in Ayurvedic medicine. It’s an adaptogen but also does so so much more… read on to discover more about this herb and why you may want to be on it.

View Details

Lectins are they good, are they bad? Do I need them? Will they worsen my IBS? And what are FODMAPS -is it a new GPS system? Read on to find out more

View Details

Ever heard of the term microbiota or microbiome? Wondered what it is and what it all means? Is there such a thing as good bugs and bad bugs?

View Details

Introduction- meet our host

The confusion in health

50 shades of grey

Have the best of both worlds

How JSE health can help you

View Details

Ever wondered what the difference between a food sensitivity, food allergy and food intolerance were? Or did you just think they were interchangeable and meant the same thing? Read on to find out the differences…

View Details

Want to know some basics about brain functions, anatomy etc- Read on , it will help keep context for content covered in other posts.

View Details

Want to know what BDNF is? We will also cover how you can increase this brain fertiliser.

View Details

Ever wanted to understand how the brain wires itself? Did you know that the brain is mouldable and can heal itself?

View Details

Inflammation is the driver in most disease pathologies. But what is causing the inflammation? If you want to get rid of inflammation you need to remove the factors causing it in the first place.

View Details

It’s hard to eat organic all the time- especially if you don’t have access to farmers’ markets in your area. Supermarkets are catching up- but what are the foods you NEED to eat organic and which ones can you get away eating that are not?

View Details

Sugar dysregulation can affect your mood.. how does this happen and what can you do?

View Details

Why do we self sabotage? How could this possibly serve us and what are the ways we do it? Tune in to find out how you can stop yourself doing this.

View Details

In Episode 1 we will be exploring the term "Hangry" what is it and is it a real thing? And going through the top 5 psychiatric pretenders. Psychiatric pretenders are physiological states/substances that can make you appear to have mood imbalances.