Search Results for: breath

Book Review: Breath – The New Science of a Lost Art

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I am so thrilled. I’ve been wishing for years, maybe even a decade, that my funny, deep thinking, well read, amazing yoga teacher, lawyer friend Kim Blanc would do some book reviews for the hundreds of books she reads every year. Over the years, we have had many illuminating discussions about what she learns. She’s so well spoken, in a relatable and inspiring way, that I’ve always believed that her knowledge needs to reach a wider audience. Today is that day I’ve dreamed of. I am so happy to share her review of James Nestor’s book, “Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art”, that has the yoga world buzzing. Without further ado, here’s Kim’s reflections:

These days, more than ever, we need to take responsibility for our own health. Currently, our healthcare system is over-burdened and healthcare costs are through the roof. As individuals, there are simple things we can do not only to maintain our health but even improve it. Improving diet and exercise, reducing toxins and stress can have a profound and lasting effect on the prevention and treatment of most chronic ailments and diseases. However, there is nothing more important to our health and well being than the way we breathe.

I’ve just finished reading BREATH: The New Science of a Lost Art, by James Nestor. I honestly believe that if the whole country read this book, and learned to breathe better, there would be no health care crisis (physically or financially) in the US (COVID-19 aside). “Modern research is showing us that making even slight adjustments to the way we inhale and exhale can jump-start athletic performance, rejuvenate internal organs, halt snoring, asthma, respiratory issues and autoimmune disease, and even straighten scoliotic spines.”

In a nutshell, Nestor’s research, dating as far back as 500 BCE, and citing ancient wisdom and modern science, tells us that for optimal health we need to breathe through our nose, day and night, and breathe less by slowing down the breath. The perfect breath being to breathe in slowly for about 5.5 seconds and breath out for about 5.5 seconds. That’s 5.5 breaths a minute for a total of about 5.5 liters of air.

As part of his research and under the supervision of an Otolaryngologist (a nasal and sinus surgeon) at Stanford, Nestor conducted an experiment where he plugged his nose and breathed only through his mouth for ten days. At the end of the ten day period Nestor’s snoring had increased 4,820 percent, he experienced, for the first time, sleep apnea which dropped his oxygen levels some nights to 85%. When oxygen drops below 90% the blood cannot carry enough oxygen to support body tissues. If this continues for too long, he writes, this can lead to heart failure, depression, memory issues and early death. In addition to a whole host of other miserable symptoms, Nestor’s blood pressure rose to the level of stage 2 hypertension, his stress related hormones spiked, suggesting that his body was under physical and mental duress, and his heart rate variability plummeted. Luckily, when he removed the plugs after ten days and began to breathe through his nose all system returned to normal. Since he is now primarily a nose breather, and regularly practices breathing exercises, his overall health has improved significantly.

Most of what I read in this book was not a big surprise to me as I have been practicing yoga and its recommended breathing techniques for ten years. In reading this book I appreciated so much all of the research and science that Nestor brought to light. I won’t bore you with a litany of my own past ailments, but suffice to say that the quality of my life has vastly improved since I began practicing yoga with an Ujjayi breath (slow steady balanced breath with an inhale for 5 and an exhale for 5 through the nose while constricting the back of my throat to created an ocean sound) and other forms of pranayama (breath exercises). A mouth breather my whole life, especially during sleep, and the host of health issues that went with it, I now sleep with my mouth closed and I no longer suffer from periodontal disease, sore throats, a whole host of sinus issues, anxiety and the misdiagnosis’ of many doctors. I now take responsibility for my own physical and mental health by breathing better and consistently practicing yoga and as a result, I have not had to see a doctor in years. This isn’t to say that I don’t appreciate doctors, I certainly do, but I take as much responsibility as I can to avoid having to see one in the first place and breathing better most definitely helps.

Let me close by saying that if you snore and/or experience sleep apnea, try placing a one inch piece of surgical tape over your mouth before going to bed. Nestor describes it as a Hitler mustache dropped down one inch over the lips. Don’t worry if it doesn’t last the night. Just keep doing it night after night. You will eventually train yourself to keep your mouth closed. If your sinuses are blocked try some saline spray before bed. By employing these two strategies, over time, your sinuses will open and enlarge and your overall health will improve, guaranteed! The nose is a use it or lose it apparatus! Use it!

Read the book! You’ll never breathe through your mouth again. Improving your health is that easy and it’s free!

(Note from Lisa – Thank you Kim!)

He who half breathes…

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… half lives.

Or as one yoga student amusingly misquoted, “He who doesn’t breathe, doesn’t live.”

In our culture, we tend to only think about breath when it becomes a problem, like when doing burpees or after eating garlic. Or more accurately, when someone else eats garlic (and then joins you in the sauna*). We assume breathing is more of a subconscious activity, and there’s no need to think twice about it.

So, it may come as a surprise to learn that breathing is the new yoga (as MM Owens pointed out in his magnificent article Breathtaking). Breath exercises, known as pranayama, have been an integral part of yoga for thousands of years. Many popular styles of Westernized yoga relegate pranayama to a few deep breaths in the beginning of class and “coordinating movement with breath”. Although these are vital for yoga, there’s a whole world of breath techniques to discover – breaths that calm, energize, focus the mind, “polish the skull” (no kidding), detoxify, enlighten, and even tranquilize, if that’s what you’re looking for. Just like the tagline “there’s an app for that”, there’s probably a breath for that.

There’s even a type of breathwork that’s been described as “20 years of therapy in 1 hour”. Mystical and legendary, it goes by many names; integrative, holotropic, kriya, and more. I was first exposed to this practice at the Energy Intensive program at the Kripalu. As much as I believed in the power of breathwork, I found myself scheming how to skip this portion of the workshop because it sounded so dreadful. But out of my immense respect for our instructors Sudhir and Shoban, I showed up.

They set you up in small groups with a dedicated coach. You lie down, get super comfy with pillows, blankets, and bolsters – whatever you need – and then commence the breath technique. It’s a very simple practice actually. I can only describe it as those little breath spasms that would come after crying really hard when you were a kid. It’s a quick inhalation, with a long, “letting go” exhalation. That’s it.

And you do it for an hour.

The first 10 minutes aren’t fun. It feels like it’s going to take forever and be tedious and your mouth is going to be dry, yadda yadda yadda. But then something takes over, and the breathing becomes automatic; you don’t even have to try anymore. If you do happen to space out out, your coach will gently remind you to begin again.

What happened to me the first time blew my mind, and still does to this day. My coach, Laura Mushenko, asked me early on if I needed anything to get more comfortable. I asked her to roll up a blanket under my neck. After she did that, I asked her to make it just a little bit higher. Here’s where it got bizarre… As soon as my neck relaxed on that perfectly rolled blanket, I started instantly bawling like never before. Totally out of the blue, like someone flipped a switch. I cried so hard for so long that my face twitched. It was ugly crying at its finest.

Although I was probably in an altered state, what I experienced felt very real. I saw myself as a newborn, alone and scared in my crib, with terrible stomach pains. (After I was born, they called me “Screamer”, and the doctor assured my parents that crying alone in the crib was good for babies.) My adult heart broke for that little baby. But understanding the suffering that I endured so early on, felt profoundly like “healing my inner child”, and I didn’t even know there was an inner child to heal. All that crying was soul cleansing, letting go of an incredible sadness that I didn’t even know I had. It. Felt. So. Good.

So yes, it really was like decades of therapy in one hour.

I became a huge fan of this technique. I went back for a second session at the Kripalu a year later, which surprisingly turned out to be more blissful than anything. Then I arranged another small group session for my friend’s 50th birthday. Because who wouldn’t appreciate the gift of crying until your face twitched?

That angel who perfectly supported my neck, and wiped my tears and boogers for an hour, flew in to our area to lead our birthday group in this process. It takes a very special person to hold the space for people to go through something that intense, and Laura is that special. She led us lovingly and expertly.

With this type of experience, there is a deep respect for our own innate intelligence, and we trust that what needs to happen will happen. That said, I honestly would have liked to hear my friends cry more (wahahaaa!) because I wanted them to have the same depth of experience I had the first time. But even though there was less emoting than I expected, I believe good things happened. After the session, everyone looked so refreshed, relaxed, and kind of sparkly. In the week that followed, I heard reports of lightness, vivid dreams, and feeling more alive.

My own experience the third time felt metaphysical, deeply meditative, and expansive. At one point, I stopped breathing for what seemed like a very long time, and floated in that pristine stillness. Admittedly, I kind of wanted to cry hard again myself, but this was probably just as good. When it was over, I felt cleansed and refreshed, even without all the tears, and was reminded of just how powerful breathwork is. When you bring a subconscious process under conscious control, you may catch a glimpse into your own subconscious. You also enhance your sense of vitality, joy, and clarity, especially through regular practice. Practicing simple techniques like the full yogic breath for a few minutes each day can make you feel calm, energetic, and focused. Who wouldn’t like a little more of that?

Image credit: Tasha Marie

* That was me… sorry Karen and Beth!

Breath Techniques for Energy, Calm, and Clarity

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There is an ancient proverb that says, “He who half breathes, half lives.” One of my yoga students took the concept a little further and said, “He who doesn’t breathe, doesn’t live.” While we obviously need to keep that in mind (lol), the main problem is that most of us are shallow breathers. Breathing rapidly into the top part of your lungs is a result of stress and also creates more stress hormones in a negative feedback loop. As we know, stress is damaging to the body, drains our energy, and steals our joy. To feel relaxed and energized, as much as you can, breath deeply and fully, right down into your belly. You know, like you did when you were a baby. Babies are little yogis who can teach us a thing or two!

There are also numerous breath exercises that help bring about peace, calm, energy, clarity of mind, and more. If there is a state you want to achieve, there is a breath technique that will help get you there. Below are links to a few of our most common yogic breath exercises with a summary of the benefits, the “how to”, and a minute or two of practice. A daily breathing practice will help keep you relaxed, your energy stable, and your mind clear. You can also use these in times of need, when you need an infusion of energy, clarity, or calm.

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Mind Your Mouth

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Not to complain, but right now I feel like Edward Scissor Hands brushed my teeth for about 3 hours straight, and it’s rather unpleasant. This week, I had gum surgery to repair some recession. This was my third and, thankfully, final one. (They only do small areas at a time.) I’m grateful that this helped prevent me from becoming toothless in my old age, but it would be way better not to get in this situation at all.

Preventing gum issues isn’t only about keeping your teeth and avoiding painful surgeries either. The health of your mouth, teeth, and gums has a massive impact on the health of the rest of your body. Chronically inflamed gums are strongly correlated with many chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, arthritis, cancer, and even Alzheimer’s. The inflammation simmering in the gums can spread to other parts of the body. Because inflammation is at the root of all chronic disease, controlling inflammation in your mouth is an important part of prevention. Also, when your gums are inflamed, weakened, and injured, bacteria can more easily get through and start trouble around the rest of the body.

Brushing, Flossing, and More!

We all know to brush and floss at least twice a day, preferably also after meals. Yadda yadda yadda. But here are a few refinements, some of which I learned only recently.

  • An electric toothbrush like Oral B or Sonicare really do clean your teeth better than a regular toothbrush. I couldn’t believe how much cleaner my teeth felt after I started using one 20 years ago. It almost feels like you had a professional cleaning every day!
  • My hygienist told me that recent dental research has found that slowing down, and spending a few seconds on each area is much more effective than mindlessly moving the toothbrush around the mouth, like I used to. I think of this new (to me) approach as “mindful brushing”. A little more mindfulness is always a good thing!
  • It’s also recommended to angle the brush into the gumline, GENTLY wiggle it, and slowly angle the brush so that you clean the rest of that tooth. Let the brush do the work. Don’t be like me and grind the brush into the gums. There are youtube videos showing this – it’s called the modified Bass technique.
  • When flossing, bring the floss down the inner edge of the tooth into the gum, rather than slamming it into the top of the gum between the teeth, if you can picture that. My gums are apparently scarred from doin’ it wrong.
  • Now, the next topic makes me want to run screaming down the street wearing an old bathrobe, waving a toilet plunger in the air. Get this – some floss is coated with teflon, that forever chemical that is being phased out because its so toxic and persistent. There are flosses with no teflon, like Cocofloss. Only get the mint flavor though, because the others have synthetic fragrance at this time, which makes me want to put my head through the monitor. (Okay, breathe and relax, Lisa.)

Mouthwash Kills!

You know how the intestinal microbiome (the good bacteria in the gut) is so incredibly important for every aspect of our health? Well, your mouth has a microbiome too! It’s made up of 20 billion microbes with 600 different organisms, all highly organized in different neighborhoods in your mouth.

It might sound gross but those critters are an important part of your immune system. They keep pathogenic microbes in check and help you digest food. We should not kill them. Listerine, first developed to sterilize operating rooms, demolishes the protective ecosystem you have in your mouth. If you really want to swish something around in your mouth, try oil pulling with coconut or sesame oil. This is an Ayurvedic practice that’s excellent for gums and teeth, whitens your teeth naturally, and helps you to detoxify. Check here for more info.

Lactobacillus species are particularly important for a healthy oral microbiome. You can “repopulate” your mouth by eating yogurt with active cultures or other fermented foods on a regular basis. Some experts even suggest letting the yogurt sit on your tongue for a few moments. The non-dairy options are excellent and better for you overall. Forager vanilla is almost dessert like, but does contain a little sweetener. I really enjoyed the Kite Hill plain as well, especially after I put some berries in it.

Tongue Scraping

It’s not as bad as it sounds. In fact, once you start tongue scraping, you’ll never go back. Tongue scraping is another Ayurvedic technique to cleanse the bacterial debris (they call it “ama”) off your tongue. It’s usually recommended first thing in the morning.

To scrape your tongue, you can get a stainless steel or copper tongue scraper, like Banyan Botanicals’ Tongue Cleaner. Stick your tongue out and and gently move the scraper across the surface of the tongue back to front five times, rinsing the scraper after each round. Follow with brushing and flossing.

Trust me, you’ll love it!

Mouth Breathers Beware!

I always thought “mouth breather” was just an insult kids hurl at each other. Turns out, there are health related reasons not to breathe out of your mouth. Our saliva is important for maintaining pH, cleansing the oral cavity, nourishing the oral microbiome, and facilitating healing of any gum injuries. When you breathe through your mouth, your saliva evaporates and the oral cavity dries out. You also lose more hydration when you breath through the mouth vs the nose. You end up with more plaque, which causes gum recession, inflammation, and bad breath. Research has found that mouth breathing actually changes facial structure in kids, resulting in an elongated face, crooked teeth, gummy smile, and more.

So breathe through your nose! If your nose is stuffy, investigate the cause. It could be food sensitivities (especially gluten and dairy), synthetic fragrance in your home or detergent, or allergies. After my friend Kim told me about “Breath” by James Nestor, I’ve been working really hard to breathe through my nose during exercise, which has a nice side effect of increasing cardioprotective nitric oxide.

If you tend to breathe through your mouth when you sleep, they actually suggest putting a bit of tape on your lips. It won’t stay the whole night, but over time can train your brain to keep your mouth closed. The good news is that as you retrain yourself to breathe through your nose, the passages open up more and nose breathing becomes more natural.

Dental Armageddon

As if we aren’t dealing with enough, some experts are concerned that the pandemic is also ushering in a “dental armageddon”, from missed or delayed appointments, stress, or possibly even masks. There have been reports of increased gingivitis in patients who never had that before, an upswing in broken teeth possibly due to stress-related teeth grinding, and complaints of “mask mouth”. Masks increase the temperature of your mouth area by 2 degrees C, which modulates the oral microbiome. Compounding that, people may tend to breathe through their mouth when they wear a mask. When wearing a mask, be sure to breathe mainly through your nose and stay well hydrated. As you know, steer clear of antiseptic mouthwash, because that will only exacerbate the issues.

Nutrition for Gum Health

After I already was committed to doing the surgeries, I came across “Nutritional Medicine” by a Alan Gaby MD. It’s a treasure trove of natural health approaches to a huge variety of medical issues. He recommends excellent nutrition for gum health including avoiding refined carbohydrates, and taking specific nutrients like Coq10 (ubiquinol), folate, zinc, vitamin E, vitamin D, and ensuring sufficient copper and calcium. (Don’t supplement with calcium or copper without verifying there is a need.) He also shared this amazing case report:

“I saw a 49-year-old woman with moderately severe periodontal disease who had been told by her periodontist that she needed extensive surgery. She was advised to take 60 mg/day of CoQ10, to use 5 ml of 0.1% folic acid mouth rinse twice a day, and to brush buffered vitamin C (calcium ascorbate) powder gently into the gums once a day. After 1 month of treatment, the periodontist remarked with surprise that her condition had improved substantially and that she no longer needed surgery.”

If you’ve been warned that you’re heading toward gum surgery, this might be a cool experiment that could save you some physical and financial pain. Be sure you get the exact vitamin C recommended – calcium ascorbate.

You can read the entire chapter for free here.

Summary to Smile About

We’ve known for decades how important it is to take care of our mouth, teeth, and gums. In these wacky times, it’s more important than ever, and maybe even more challenging than ever, to practice excellent oral hygiene. Just as the eyes are the windows to the soul, the mouth is the gateway to the body. Oral hygiene is an important pillar of overall health.

3 Effective Strategies for Dropping the Covid “19”

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As if things aren’t crazy enough, many people are experiencing a significant side effect of the pandemic – weight gain (a.k.a. the “covid 19”). If you’ve been feeling that, you’re not alone! Many people are wondering why this is the case, when they’re still working on working out and even avoiding the oreos most of the time. Read on for some simple, effective solutions to the top three causes.

About Those Steps

Pre-pandemic, we were out and about, shaking and groovin’. Now, instead of 10,000 steps, it’s more like 10. That short walk from the home office to the couch just isn’t cutting it. And if we’re being completely honest, the home workouts aren’t always as challenging as the ones we do when we’re in front of others, right? So let’s step this up. Take a walk every day even if you worked out, pick it up in the workouts, and get up and move every hour. Set a timer on your phone as a reminder. Just say no to extreme sitting!

Could it be Stress Weight?

And now we’re stressed, legitimately, over real things like finances, health, safety, politics, confusion, uncertainty… Stress all by itself causes weight gain. When stressed, your body thinks there’s an emergency and hangs onto calories. Don’t be mad at your body, it’s just trying to ensure your survival. Well you know what the tough ones do in tough times? They meditate furiously! Here’s a great resource that I’ve been loving. They also exercise, hug their loved ones, breathe deeply, and walk in the woods. Forest bathing (or “Shinrin Yoku” in Japanese) has been shown in research to reduce stress hormones. Stress reduction is an important, and often missed, part of any weight loss strategy.

Resistant Starch for Resistant Weight

Refined carbs like conventional bread, bagels, pasta, and cookies raise your blood sugar, which spikes insulin, which stops fat burning. Besides the calories, this is how refined grains and sweeteners contribute to fat accumulation.

But resistant starch (RS) is your friend! This type of starch acts like fiber – you barely absorb any carbs from it and research shows that it reduces insulin, even in the next meal! So RS is exceptionally good for blood sugar control and weight loss. Another huge benefit is that RS feeds your microbiome, another important factor in health and weight management.

Two examples of RS are cooked potatoes that have been fully cooled, and a great product called Miracle Noodle. They’re made from the konjac root, like the shirataki noodles that have been eaten in Japan for over a thousand years. It might look weird when you buy it, but the noodles are seriously good and wholesome. I loved the Pad Thai version (I added fresh sauteed tofu and broccoli, tamari, and hot sauce). The plain noodles are extremely versatile – you can add any sauce or accompaniments you have a hankering for. You can learn more here.

If your microbiome isn’t used to a lot of fiber, it’s best to start slow. Only eat a portion of a serving the first couple times and gradually increase the amount you consume. We need to give our microbiome time to adjust (in a good way!).

This is my new favorite thing. I’d love to hear how you like them!

What Could Be Worse Than Corona?

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Out of all this craziness, one silver lining is that we’re not taking our immune system and overall health for granted anymore. Covid19 has been like a crash course in public health. Like “flatten the curve”, terms like “metabolic health” and “systemic inflammation” are on everyone’s lips because almost all (94%) of Covid19 victims have underlying metabolic disease and systemic inflammation. These simmering dynamics aren’t random bad luck. They’re directly caused by diet, especially ultraprocessed food, which unfortunately makes up the majority of the western diet.

Every day the numbers of corona virus deaths are plastered all over the news. But did you know that our western diet kills ten times more people than Covid19 every single year? Ten times! Yet there’s no massive public health effort to save these lives. Where’s the outrage?

There will never be a vaccine for ultraprocessed diet. It’s on us individually to save ourselves and families. Fortunately, it’s really not that difficult. In his epic book, “In Defense of Food”, Michael Pollen boiled all the data down to one, memorable phrase, “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”

  • Eat food. By food, we mean food – real, whole, and natural. Not ultraprocessed “edible food-like substances”. Look at those hot dogs, fluorescent mac and cheese, and neon candies with more disdain than you’d look at some bare faced villain coughing on your child.
  • Not too much. We’re going to have to stop using food as entertainment, stress relief, and comfort and start dealing with our emotional stuff the real way (with wine – just kidding!). Using food to sedate ourselves is a temporary fix that just makes more and worse problems. Instead, meditate, breathe, exercise. They work better.
  • Mostly plants. Eat the rainbow of veggies, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds. We know that plants have really great things like vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants. But did you know that many of the phytonutrients in plants are actually part of the plants’ immune system? Fascinatingly, when we eat them, they inform and strengthen our immune system! How cool is that? If you’d like to learn more about this, check out this podcast with two Functional Medicine titans – Dr Mark Hyman and Dr Jeffrey Bland. I bet you too will be googling Himalayan Tartary Buckwheat.

Let’s translate our new vocabulary to action in the kitchen. Grab a whole food, plant based cookbook like Forks Over Knives, anything by Isa Chandra Moskowitz, Engine 2, or Thug Kitchen (which is hilarious but contains abundant profanity). If cooking isn’t really your gig (yet), new clean brands, restaurants, and food delivery services pop up every day that feature delicious, whole, natural, organic plant foods. We’ll be strong, resilient, and ready next time a mutant virus comes around. (Fist pump!)

 

Corona – Reducing your Exposure AND Susceptibility

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All of the advice we’re hearing about social distancing, washing hands, and disinfecting, is to reduce exposure to the Corona virus. Hopefully these important measures will slow down the infection rate. But there is an equally important aspect that needs to be emphasized more…

We need to start taking better care of our immune system to reduce our susceptibility to Corona virus, as well as Lyme disease, Lyme coinfections, Eastern Equine Encephalitis, the flu, etc.

We can’t avoid every microbe, even if we sit alone in our houses for a year. So, we really need to keep our immune system healthy and balanced so we aren’t as susceptible to the ravages of these infectious diseases, as well as things like cancer and autoimmunity.

Louis Pasteur, the father of germ theory, concluded that, “The microbe is nothing. The terrain is everything!” He was referring to whether our inner tissues are hospitable to microbes or not. Is our immune system nourished and balanced or suppressed and depressed?

If you were to design a diet and lifestyle that would decimate the immune system, it would be the Standard American Diet and Lifestyle! As a society, we are sleep deprived, stressed out, toxic, sedentary, and eating nutrient poor food. The fact that we’ve survived this long is a testament to our incredibly intelligent immune system and biochemistry. Your body is doing the very best it can, within the environment you’re asking it to live.

Let’s improve that environment to the extent we can, so that we can better weather current and future health threats. As a bonus, because everything in the body is interconnected, an immune supportive lifestyle and diet is also a boon to our overall health.

Below are key recommendations to support your immune system. Although numerous research papers and books have been written on these topics, I will do my best to summarize action steps that you can take right away.

Prioritize Sleep

• Your immune system and general wellbeing depend on regular, excellent quality sleep.
• Aim to go to bed around 10 PM and wake up with the sun. Being a night owl (self imposed night shift work) suppresses your immune system.
• Practice good sleep hygiene by avoiding screens (TV, phones, and tablets) an hour or two before bed and remove all ambient light while sleeping. This will help to maximize melatonin, your primary sleep hormone and potent internal antioxidant.
• Create a relaxing bedtime routine. This isn’t just for kids!
• If you have trouble falling or staying asleep, try the heavy blanket! It’s like swaddling a baby – except you’re the baby. The gentle, constant compression activates your parasympathetic nervous system (known as the rest and digest nervous system), which helps you to relax and sleep like a baby.
• Magnesium is known as the relaxation mineral. Low magnesium may make it harder for you to relax enough to fall asleep. Magnesium is one of the top three deficiencies in the US. Get more magnesium by eating more leafy greens, nuts, seeds, and legumes. If you opt to supplement, magnesium threonate or magnesium taurate are more relaxing options that increase the action of GABA in the brain.

Reduce stress

• When you’re stressed, your body de-prioritizes immunity because getting over a cold is way less important than escaping from a tiger. Deadlines, relationship stress, financial worries, etc might not feel like being chased by a tiger in your mind, but your body experiences it that way. There’s enough evidence about the negative impact of stress on our whole body. Now is the time to become aware of your stressors and do something about it. Yoga, meditation, exercise, breathwork, and Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction are all effective strategies. Choose one that resonates with you.

Optimize immune nutrients

• Yes vitamin C is good for your immune system, but it also needs vitamins A, vitamin D, zinc, and protein.
• Start your day with fresh lemon juice in water for vitamin C with all of its cofactors. Oranges, red peppers, broccoli, kiwi are also great sources of vitamin C and other nutrients.
• With sunnier days coming, get out in the sun without sunscreen for 20 minutes so your body can produce vitamin D. If that’s not possible, supplement with D3 drops.
• Eat your darkly colored veggies for beta carotene (which gets converted to A).
• Snack on pumpkin seeds for zinc (these are a great option because they’re sprouted, and therefore more digestible and nutritious).
• Most people get ample protein, but you may want to double check that you’re getting at least 45-55 grams per day from varied sources. If not, plant based protein powder in your smoothie can easily and tastily fill in the gap. (Lately I’ve been liking Orgain best.)

Other dietary considerations

• Some foods we eat are a constant challenge to the immune system, making it less able to fight actual threats.
• A high sugar meal suppresses the immune system for hours… Just in time for your next obscenely decadent latte or snack. If you think about it, most Americans are immune suppressed all day long due to regular sugar spikes.
• The chemicals in pesticides hamper the cellular metabolism of all cells, including immune cells, by multiple mechanisms. Choosing organic foods whenever possible reduces this toxic burden.
• Subclinical food allergies and sensitivities are rampant, and result in chronic activation and depletion of the immune system. The top two food sensitivities are gluten and dairy. For most people, avoiding them helps the immune system stay balanced, which not only makes it more effective in fighting microbes, but also helps reduce the inappropriate immune reactions such as allergy and autoimmunity. There are many delicious dairy alternatives out there now for milk, yogurt, cheese, butter, and even ice cream. Switching from wheat to naturally gluten free grains like rice and quinoa has many benefits.
• Dairy causes most people to produce more mucous, which then provides a breeding ground for bacteria and viruses.
• Garlic, onion, and mushrooms are fantastic for your immune system. Try to eat them every day! I’m going to be writing more about mushrooms in a future post. They are amazing!

The immune system in the gut

• Did you know that two thirds of your immune system is in your gut? The microbiome, or the good bacteria in our gut, is so vital to our health that some consider it an organ.
• Most of what we do decimates that line of defense, including many medications (NSAIDs, antibiotics, oral birth control, SSRIs), fake sugars like sucralose, glyphosate (the herbicide heavily sprayed on many grains), alcohol, sugar, and conventional animal foods which contain antibiotic residues. Minimize all of that whenever possible.
• Boost your microbiome by consuming probiotics (beneficial bacteria) daily whether through unpasteurized fermented foods like Real Pickles veggies, Fire Cider, Kombucha, and/or Gut Shots or a probiotic supplement. Those good critters live on fiber, so feed them with lots plant foods.

Stay hydrated

• Dehydrated mucous membranes are more vulnerable to microbes. Drink a couple glasses of water first thing in the morning (with fresh lemon juice as a vitamin C bonus!) and then sip water throughout the day.
• Minimize things that dehydrate you like coffee and alcohol.
• Eat lots of fresh plant foods that contain lots of water.
• Consider using a humidifier when the air is dry.

Exercise!

• You know it, but here’s a journal reference if you need one. Just do it.
• Outside in the woods is especially helpful. Being out in nature increases natural killer cells. Plus it’s fresh, nontoxic air, with plenty of space between germ infested people.
• But don’t over do it. Exercising too much raises your stress hormone cortisol, which suppresses your immune system.

Your immune medicine chest

• These are the things that I have found extremely effective for both cold triage and prevention. It’s a great idea to have them on hand.
• Epsom salt baths. Soaking in the hot tub functions like a fever – it heats up your body causing the viruses to die off and may boost the immune system. The steam also helps to clear your sinuses. Baths are relaxing, and when you’re relaxed, your body can prioritize immune function. I always add the Epsom salts to the bath because it’s a great way to get more magnesium and sulfur (which gently supports detoxification). If you’re congested, you might want to add a bit of eucalyptus essential oil as well.
• Oregano essential oil. Put a drop of oregano oil in a shot of water and throw it back. Two or three times a day if you’re sick. This is quite potent, so don’t over do it or splash on your face. I was actually paranoid that I might be getting sick the past couple days because I was extremely tired. I had a drop of oregano oil in water a couple times each day, and I’m good as new!
• Drink tea. Lemon balm and cats claw tea are antiviral. I usually multitask with both teabags in the same mug. Throat Coat is really nice for soothing your throat, and these herbs are soothing for the rest of your digestive system! Another benefit to green tea is that it strengthens and balances the immune system. What doesn’t green tea do?! Matcha green tea (the powdered version) has the most nutrients. Be sure all tea is organic, otherwise the first time the pesticides are washed off the leaves are in your mug.
• Fruit and vegetable extracts. My kids and I have been taking Juice Plus for 10 years, and we rarely get sick. When I feel something coming on, I double it up.
• Elderberry syrup and lozenges (which may have added zinc as a bonus) are also very helpful for colds.

I hope that this has inspired you to take great care of your immune system. There’s a lot here, which can be overwhelming. But even if you start with just one thing, that is a step forward. Comment below if you have any questions. I’d also love to hear what your remedies are!

Image attribution: CDC

Spring Colds & Allergies

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Just as allergies are kicking in, it seems like everyone is getting colds too! Caring for your immune system will help reduce the severity of both colds and allergies.

Here’s my emergency protocol for getting over a cold quick:

  • Take a hot Epsom Salt bath. Soaking in the hot tub functions like a fever – it heats up your body causing the viruses to die off and may boost the immune system. The steam also helps to clear your sinuses. Baths are relaxing, and when you’re relaxed, your body can prioritize immune function. I always add the Epsom salts to the bath because it’s a great way to get more magnesium (which is good for just about everything) and sulfur (which gently supports your spring detoxification). If you’re congested, you might want to add a bit of eucalyptus essential oil as well.
  • Do a shot of water with a drop of oregano oil. This is quite potent, so don’t over do it or splash on your face. Do one drop per day until you feel better.
  • Tea to the rescue! Lemon balm and cats claw tea are antiviral. I usually multitask with both teabags in the same mug. Throat Coat is really nice for soothing your throat, and these herbs are soothing for the rest of your digestive system!
  • Your gut microbiome health is intimately tied to your health and immune system. So be sure to tenderly care for your microbial friends. Send them some more good guys with probiotic capsules, fermented foods, Fire Cider, Kombucha, and/or Gut Shots. Variety is fun and effective, so it’s great to have lots of options on hand. The benefits of a strong, balanced microbiome go way beyond colds and allergies.
  • Diet to the rescue! In addition to all your fermented fun enjoy hot soups like this one and anything with lots of onions and garlic. Avoid dairy (because it increases mucous) and sugar (because it suppresses the immune system). There are many delicious plant based yogurts, cheeses, and ice creams out there now, so you don’t have to be deprived at all.
  • Supplements to the rescue! My kids and I have been taking Juice Plus for almost 10 years, and we rarely get sick. When I feel something coming on, I double it up. Elderberry syrup is also very helpful once a cold sets in. If you get sick/allergic often, you may want to consider vitamin D, zinc, and possibly vitamin A for short periods of time. Your doctor may be willing to test your status of these immune nutrients. {Functional medicine tip: Red Blood Cell (RBC) nutrient tests are more accurate because they reflect longer term status.}
  • Daily use of a neti pot washes microbes and allergens from your sinuses, and also clears out accumulated mucous so you can breathe again.
  • And all that stuff your mom told you… good quality rest, staying hydrated, and stress reduction are all vital for your immune system. In its wisdom, your body will not prioritize healing from the flu when it thinks you’re being chased by a tiger! Go to bed by 10, sip water all day, and breathe and relax, and do yoga. Just do it.

Two more tips specifically for allergies:

  • A daily teaspoon of raw, local honey can help inform your immune system that pollen is not stranger danger.
  • Quercetin is a natural antihistamine with additional antioxidant benefits.

Bless you!

Image credit: Lisa Mair

Cleansing is the New Diet

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Spring is when the body is primed and ready to clear out toxins, stagnation, sludge, excess weight, and inflammation, according to Ayurveda. Come spring, many of us are so ready for this. I know I am!

We can help that natural cleansing process along with a multifaceted cleanse. But it’s more common to turn to diets to spur along spring weight loss. There’s a big difference between diets and cleanses. Although diets can help you lose weight, they aren’t the best strategy, as research consistently shows. In a diet, the goal is to lose weight at any cost, usually through some variation of calorie deprivation and exercise intensification – the classic calories in vs calories out approach that relies on sheer willpower. Although calories do matter on one level, there are several other important factors that diets usually ignore – such as detoxification, oxidative stress, nutrient density, food sensitivities, stress, and how and why we eat. Aggressive weight loss without attention to these areas is not only an uphill battle, but likely to increase inflammation and initiate a vicious and frustrating weight loss cycle. Which, as we know, is very common.

If you want to lose winter padding, boost your natural spring cleansing power, and get healthier along the way, be sure your spring strategy more holistically addresses these concerns:

Detoxification. Whenever you lose weight, toxins are released from the fat cells, where they are commonly stored. If you don’t have abundant nutrient support (such as sulfur containing veggies, antioxidants, fiber, minerals, b vitamins, etc), toxins will not get excreted from the body. Instead, they get pulled out of the cells and recirculated through the body, where they cause more damage and make you feel terrible. Supporting detoxification along with any weight loss is vital. In its wisdom, the body may actually resist fat loss in an attempt to keep toxins in the fat cells where they do the least damage. Getting them out of the body in a safe effective way will help with successful long term weight maintenance, energy, and overall health.

Nourishment. This brings us to nutrient density. Whole, unprocessed plant foods offer tens of thousands of phytonutrients, antioxidants, and fiber, all of which are your best friend for losing weight and cleansing toxins. Phytonutrients reduce inflammation and free radical damage, support detoxification, and help your body actually repair itself. The fiber keeps you regular, so that you can most efficiently excrete the toxins that made their way to the intestines. Constipation doesn’t feel good for many reasons, toxicity being one of them. You can lose weight eating highly processed diet wafers, bars, and shakes, but these don’t offer the array of healing nutrients that whole plant foods do. Do yourself a million favors by centering your diet on abundant fresh, colorful veggies.

Food sensitivities. Another hidden factor in stubborn weight is food sensitivities. When we regularly eat foods our bodies don’t like, we set up an inflammatory dynamic that causes all manner of annoyances like eczema, arthritis, psoriasis, fatigue, and – you guessed it – stubborn weight. Uncovering your food sensitivities is vital for overall health and thinner peace. At the top of the list are gluten and dairy. Try avoiding those for a few weeks and see what happens!

Stress. No discussion of weight loss would be complete without addressing stress. When you are stressed for sustained periods of time, your body is going to hang on to every calorie for dear life. Not only that, but stress often results in emotional eating. Furthermore, stress diverts energy away from digestive organs (because who needs to digest your meal, when you’re being chased by a tiger and about to become a meal?), so you don’t digest well. Maldigestion/malabsorption paves the way for nutrient deficiencies, which can suppress the thyroid, which slows your metabolism, and things just keep getting uglier. Meditation, deep breathing, yoga, exercise, laughter, and mindful eating are all excellent ways to reduce stress.

Sustainability. The plan you use to achieve your desired wellness and weight should be something you can sustain long term and even enjoy. If not, you’re likely to revert pretty quickly to old habits. And that’s not good for the body or mood.

I hope it’s obvious that weight loss is much more complex than the simple calories in – calories out equation. And also that weight loss without concern for nutrient density will ultimately be damaging and keep you in the vicious weight loss cycle.

If you’ve been struggling with stubborn weight and feeling like you have no will power, please know that it is so much more than that. Processed food, toxins, stress, food sensitivities, and even our gut microbes strongly influence our cravings and stamina for making healthy changes.

This is why I included all of these vitally important areas in one comprehensive, life changing program called the Ultimate Rejuvenation Cleanse. It’s a gentle, supportive, 4-week, online program that optimizes your spring cleansing and detoxing. Your health will noticeably improve in several areas, and weight loss will be a natural by product. The spring cleanse begins April 14th. I hope you’ll join us! To learn more or join the cleanse, click here.

Image credit: Nicoleta Ionescu

3 Simple Steps to Thrive

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If you want more energy, clarity of mind, to be in a better mood, to love and be comfortable with the skin you’re in, to heal from chronic symptoms, be stronger, love better, sleep better, poop better, and more… we wrote this for you.

All of those goals are your natural state of being. If you’re not feeling optimal, there is nothing wrong with you. It’s just a mismatch between how you want to feel and the environment you’re asking your body to live in.

“We are not designed to be stressed, toxic, inflamed, infected, malnourished, & unrested and still find a way to thrive, grow, reproduce, be thin, and have great sex. This combination would be Not Natural.”

Tracy Harrison, the founder of the School of Applied Functional Medicine

So the question is, are we stressed, toxic, inflamed, infected, malnourished, and/or unrested and what are we willing to do about it? For most of us, wellness usually comes down to optimizing diet/digestion, reducing stress, and releasing toxins. Yes, genetics does play a role, however we do have the ability to control which genes are activated through diet and lifestyle. This  exciting field called “epigenetics” assures us that we are not doomed by our genes; our genes just tell us how we should be living.

Methods for optimizing our genes are often so basic and seemingly obvious that we tend to ignore them. We love shiny objects, new pills, ancient secrets, new workouts, etc. But the answers have been hiding in plain sight for years. We can dramatically increase our energy and vitality through simple practices like mindfully eating whole, nutrient dense food, reducing stress (and having fun!), and perhaps a bit of gentle detoxing. This is all easy to say, but when the rubber meets the road, people are often at a loss because we’re so deeply entrenched in our processed food, stressful western way of life.

Follow these three simple steps to get more thrive into your life:

  1. Eat & Digest Nutrient Dense Food: Ditch all processed food (including anything made with flour, refined sugar, and chemicals) and eat more organic produce. Plant foods are nature’s medicine chest, and you get thousands of healing, anti-inflammatory compounds with every serving of fruits and vegetables. Eat mindfully, in a relaxed state, and chew well.
  2. De-stress (+ have fun): Make stress reduction a process of continuous improvement. Many people are so used to being stressed, they don’t even realize they are! Even the busiest people can fit a little meditation, deep breathing, fun, and attitude adjustment (if necessary) into their day. You can too. It’s just a matter of recognizing the importance and making it a priority. You can start with just 5 minutes, if that’s all the time you feel you can spare. The many online resources for meditation, including Head Space and the Chopra Center’s 21 Day meditation series, make it easier than ever. Breathe deeply in the car,  while waiting in line, when your computer hangs up, etc. Let those inconvenient moments be like mindfulness bells. When you catch yourself dwelling on negative thoughts, replace them with gratitude. Check out your local yoga, Pilates, and fitness studio – lots of resources there!
  3. Detox: Up your intake of detox veggies, including broccoli and cauliflower, onions and garlic, radish, cilantro and parsley. Drink lots of water throughout the day. Sweat and move daily. Be sure to have at least one bowel movement per day and if you don’t, click this green text. Upgrade the toxic products in your home and personal care. If it’s not too much trouble, consider giving your liver a break from alcohol for a week or two. We promise – you can relax and have fun without wine. 🙂

We cover all this in great detail in our gentle 4-week program “The Ultimate Rejuvenation Cleanse”, where we guide you every step of the way into more relaxation, more nutritious foods, and more self care. We provide daily inspiration, all of the how to’s and the why’s, SO MANY delicious and easy to prepare recipes, and multiple ways to connect with us and other cleansers. Our next group cleanse begins on January 20th. We’d love for you to join us. To learn more, click here.

Wishing you glowing health, energy, and joy in the coming year!

Image credit: santypan