health tips

A Gut Check for Many Ailments

This is a great article about the brain/gut connection.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204468004577164732944974356.html?KEYWORDS=Gut+Check

More great health tips

The Benefits of Fish Oil
What effect is caffeine having on your body?
Are you constantly tired?
Do you struggle to drink enough water?

The Benefits of Fish Oil

The two active components of fish oil are EPA and DHA:

EPA is important for supporting the body’s natural anti-inflammatory response. It improves heart health and immune function and is beneficial for autoimmune and inflammatory disorders.

DHA is uniquely important to nerve and brain cells. DHA increases membrane fluidity, neurotransmitter activity and improves learning, memory and cognition. Infants require DHA for proper brain, eye and central nervous system development

Almost every disease state will have an inflammatory (pain, redness, swelling and heat) component including:

depression – major depression is associated with a high omega 6:omega 3
chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia
all conditions ending in ‘itis‘

Fish oil can help in the prevention and treatment of all inflammatory conditions.

Why do we need EPA in inflammatory conditions?:

EPA is easily converted to DHA but not vice versa
The delta-6-desaturase enzyme is needed for your body to create EPA, however, many lifestyle factors such as smoking, trans fats, alcohol and diabetes deactivate this enzyme.
The result is that EPA is not made and your body will remain in an inflammatory state.
EPA supplementation is vital for individuals with inflammation.

Cognition and mood

* EPA reduces the liberation of pro-inflammatory cytokines, which have an important role to play in depression and cognitive performance.
* There is very good data stating that omega-3 fatty acids taken throughout the life cycle play a very important role in determining the state of your brain later in life.
* EPA has the potential to be as effective as a well-known antidepressant in some individuals.

What effect is caffeine having on your body?

First the good news – caffeine can give us energy, mental clarity and the ability to take on the day. It can also temporarily help to relieve a headache. When you have caffeine, you can feel on top of the world.

the not so good news – because caffeine is a drug, you can get side-effects when you don’t have it. These can include fatigue, headaches and lowered mood. Caffeine stresses your adrenal glands and can lead to symptoms of anxiety and it also increases insulin production, which can increase the risk of insulin resistance and type II diabetes.

Caffeine is a potent diuretic. For every caffeinated beverage you drink, you will lose at least one cup of water from your body. If you are an average tea, coffee or cola drinker, you can be losing up to 1 litre of water each day. This can lead to significant dehydration when you consider that water makes up 45 to 75 percent of our total body mass. Adults need at least 30ml of water per kilogram of body weight each day, so it is easy to see that most people are dehydrated.

If you choose to drink coffee, try to limit your consumption to one cup per day and make it the best quality possible. I recommend organic, fair trade coffee. If you can’t give up your coffee, drink an extra glass of water for every cup of coffee you have.

If you are thinking of switching to decaffeinated coffee, make sure you choose Swiss water method decaf coffee because most decaffeinated drinks are stripped of caffeine using chemicals. And remember that black tea can have as much caffeine as coffee, so herbal teas are a better choice.

Are you constantly tired?

When you are feeling tired it is easy to use caffeine and sugar to give you a temporary energy boost. For a while they may work, however, in the long term they will only make things worse. Eating sugar and caffeine actually robs your body of energy and removing them from your diet will dramatically improve your energy levels. After a few days of headaches and lowered mood, your energy levels should surge. Going cold turkey on sugar is the key, because having it in small doses will leave you craving more. By eating protein with each meal (meat, fish, eggs, nuts and legumes), you blood glucose levels will remain steady and your sugar cravings will vanish.

Check it out

If you feel that your tiredness is more extreme than normal, then it is worth seeing your doctor to find out if you have anaemia, low thyroid function, sleep aponea, diabetes or even depression. A simple blood test will show you if you have something simple like iron deficiency. Iron deficiency is the most common nutritional deficiency in the world and more than 60% of Australian women do not obtain enough iron from their diet. If you are low in iron, nothing else will improve your energy levels.

Iron rich foods include red meat, fish, chicken, mussels and oysters, green leafy vegetables, dried apricots, figs and dates and whole grains (brown rice, wholemeal flour and rolled oats). Your body absorbs iron most readily from animal foods (haem iron), however, vegetarians can increase their absorption of iron by squeezing lemon juice over food or taking a vitamin C supplement with meals. Vitamin C dramatically increases iron absorption from non haem iron. If you take a chewable vitamin C supplement, make sure you brush your teeth afterward, because they can affect the enamel on your teeth.

The iron found in Ferrograd C is poorly absorbed and can cause gastrointestinal upset (including constipation). Please talk to Helene and Shalom if you need to supplement with iron and they will give you a well absorbed form of iron, that will not upset your stomach and remember that you should only take iron supplements if you have a proven deficiency. Excess iron rusts your body from the inside via free radical damage.

Do you struggle to drink enough water?

If you do, try flavouring your water with chlorophyll to give it a pleasant peppermint taste. Chlorophyll is the plant pigment that gives plants their green colour. It is necessary for photosynthesis and has a range of health benefits including:

Anti-cancer and immune-boosting properties due to high levels of vitamins A, C and E.
It helps to cleanse the body of toxins and impurities. It also has the ability to bind to and remove toxic heavy metals such as mercury from the body.
It acts as a deodoriser, helping to eliminate mouth and throat odours.
It helps to promote healthy digestion.
It is rich in vitamins K, C and folic acid, as well as iron, calcium and protein. It helps to increase red blood cell production, oxygen utilisation and to enhance energy levels.

Chlorophyll is found in all green vegetables, spirulina, chlorella, seaweed and wheatgrass.