Throughout my time as a coach, I have stressed the importance of adding in forty minutes per day of some form of stress management. Stress management techniques could include meditation, deep breathing, or even the use of certain phone apps.

A few weeks ago, I was having an email conversation with Robb Wolf and Chris “Squatchy” Williams and they recommended a book to me – The Myth of Stress by Andrew Bernstein. In the book, Bernstein explained where the stress response comes from and how it was key to our survival. He also offered a simple solution for what we see as modern-day “stress.”

Sress Versus Stressors

When I say, “stress response,” I am talking about our fight-or-flight response. In his book, Bernstein mentioned all of the stressors we face today. We no longer face the stress of being eaten by an animal higher up the food chain, but we deal with different issues such as money, traffic, family, and relationship problems.

Bernstein acknowledged that these issues are stressors, but he also argued that the way we internally relate to an external stimulus is what causes the stress. For example, if we do not see a saber-toothed tiger hiding in the brush, then we will not initiate a fight-or-flight response. But if we think there is a saber-toothed tiger hiding in the brush, whether it is actually present or not, we will experience a rise in blood pressure, heart rate, and body temperature – and probably get as far away from the area as possible.

“Imagine if we can control the stress response by simply reframing our thought process? This to me is a game changer.”

Bernstein has his clients start the process of changing their perception of their stressor by writing down how they feel about the situation. For example, “There shouldn’t be any traffic.” He then has them change the sentence to say the opposite. In this example, “In reality, there should be traffic at this time.”

Adding “at this time” helps keep people in the present. They then have to prove the newly constructed thought to be correct. Continuing with our example, the statement could be something like, “In reality, there should be traffic at this time because the roadways were not built to handle this volume of cars.” Bernstein has his clients rate the stressor at the beginning of their session and again after proving the negation correct. The goal is to be able to bump the perceived stress down a few points.

Stress Versus Food

There is also a chapter in this book in which Bernstein applied the same concept to weight loss. As a coach, I cannot stress enough the importance of guiding people to see food in a different way – and to see themselves in a different way. Many people view food as an emotional crutch. Also, many people begin a weight-loss program because they believe “they should weigh less,” which is is the exact example Bernstein used in the book.

I have seen people do some crazy things to attempt to lose a few extra pounds. Things like starving themselves, juice fasts, laxatives, every weight loss program under the sun, and crazy exercise habits. Almost always, it becomes a vicious cycle of losing ten pounds and gaining back ten, or even worse, gaining fifteen.

Changing how we perceive stress is critical to a person’s long-term success in staying on a healthy eating plan. The goal is not to convince you to not lose weight, but to change your perception about the weight loss.

Bernstein suggested changing “I should weigh less” to “In reality, I shouldn’t weigh less at this time.” From here we need to prove the negation to be true. The goal is to come up with as many examples as possible that support why you should not weigh less right now.

Possible options could include:

• “…because I eat more than I need.”
• “…because I do not exercise.”
• “…because I make poor food choices.”
• “…because I am too tired to cook at night.”

If you are someone who thinks you should weigh less give this a try. After proving the new statement, do you feel better?

“Changing how we perceive stress is critical to a person’s long-term success in staying on a healthy eating plan.”

Adopting a New View of Nutrition

This new mindset can help you avoid the weight-loss-quick plan that will only work in the short term and encourage you to start eating a more nutrient-dense diet. When we get stressed out, many of us will reach for that processed treat. The techniques explained above can help reframe your thinking of food. You may see food as something that can either make you lose or gain weight, and shift to thinking of food as nourishment that allows you to do everything you want on a daily basis.

These negations can be utilized for as many stressors as you can think of. If you had a bad day at work, are stuck in traffic on the way home, or your spouse is irritated because you forgot to pick up something at the store, you will be more inclined to reach for that sweet food or alcoholic beverage.

Performing negations on the issue at work, traffic, or home is critical. I am a firm believer that the obesity epidemic is caused by the hyperpalatibility of foods mixed with our chronically stressed lives. Modern foods taste so good that it is hard to choose broccoli over pizza, and when we get stressed, we reach for these foods even more due to their comforting response in our brains. These foods actually elicit a similar response in our brains as some recreational drugs do.

Imagine if we can control the stress response by simply reframing our thought process? This to me is a game changer. If you think this technique could help you, then I highly recommend reading The Myth of Stress. This book provides a simple and sustainable way to mitigate the negative consequences of stress – and it may turn out to be a game changer for those of you, as well.

You’ll also enjoy:

• How to Turn Stress Into a Strength
• How Stress Makes You Crave Food and Store Fat
• 7 Ways Stress Can Harm Weightlifting Technique
• New On Breaking Muscle Today

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post The Myth of Stress:The Struggle Between Stress and Weight Loss appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

A high pollen count may not be to blame for your allergy symptoms.

Right now is the time of the year when pollen count is at its highest. When I leave my windows open for a few hours, my counters become covered in the yellow dust. But is the pollen the culprit our allergies or is it something else? Ask yourself: have these same symptoms continued after you tried switching to a paleo diet?

Histamines and Allergies

Pollen may not necessarily be the culprit, but instead histamine intolerance. Histamine is an organic compound involved in the immune response. Certain foods can actually release histamine in our system. Some common histamine-rich foods are dairy products, avocados, bacon, spinach, olives, eggplant, tomatoes, and even chocolate.

People without histamine intolerance will detoxify the histamine released from these foods. But people who suffer from histamine intolerance do not contain enough of the compounds that breakdown the histamine and will suffer from a wide range of symptoms that include acid reflux, heartburn, vomiting, diarrhea, nasal congestion, and fatigue.

Note: These symptoms are not always related to histamine intolerance. In some cases, the cause is simply a leaky gut. This is when undigested food particles cross the gut lining and enter our bloodstream. Our immune system responds and we suffer from these same symptoms. However, if you have histamine intolerance, healing the gut will not cure symptoms.

A Simple Solution?

You do not need expensive equipment or even to visit a doctor for a diagnosis of histamine intolerance. Simply remove histamine-rich foods and note how you feel.

“This is yet another case of all diseases starting in the gut, just like Hippocrates said. If you feel like you may suffer from histamine intolerance, then healing the gut is part of the treatment protocol.”

Some experts argue that histamine intolerance is not a real thing. But we have been down this road before with things like gluten intolerance and adrenal fatigue. There are enough people out there who have undergone a low-histamine diet to resolve symptoms to make me think there is definitely something to this.

How It Works

Histamine intolerance is commonly seen with some type of gut dysbiosis. Our gut bacteria play a role in how our food is converted in various metabolites. Some of our gut bacteria actually release histamine.¹ So, it makes sense that if we have more of the bacteria that produce histamine compared to the bacteria that produce the metabolites to break it down, then we will run into some problems.

Histamines play an important role in allergic reactions.

This is yet another case of all diseases starting in the gut, just like Hippocrates said. If you feel like you may suffer from histamine intolerance, then healing the gut is part of the treatment protocol. We do this in two ways:

1. Remove all foods that create a histamine response. A simple Google search for high-histamine foods will give you a thorough list.
2. Add a solid dose of probiotics. This is best taken in supplement form, as fermented foods are most likely going to cause symptoms.

Being strict with the low-histamine diet is a crucial component. This can feel extremely restrictive, but as the gut heals and balance is brought back to the microbiome, people tend to be able to handle a little bit more of the histamine-producing foods.

Assess Your Medicine Cabinet

There are also some common medications that can affect our ability to tolerate histamine. These include common anti-inflammatory medications, as well as anti-depressants due to them actually altering the compounds required to breakdown histamine. If you are currently prescribed anti-depressants talk to your doctor about your symptoms and ask about alternative treatments.

When and How to Supplement

But even undertaking all these changes may not help. In order for dietary changes to work by themselves, you need to be able to get your histamine levels below your level of tolerance. This is extremely variable from person to person.

“You do not need expensive equipment or even to visit a doctor for a diagnosis of histamine intolerance. Simply remove histamine-rich foods and note how you feel.”

If you are on a low-histamine diet and have removed foods and medications that may be increasing histamine levels, but still suffer from symptoms, then you may need to add a supplement into your regimen. These supplements are known as DAO (diamine oxidase) supplements.

DAO is the compound that breaks down histamine in the human body, but tends to be low in people with histamine intolerance. These supplements are relatively cheap and can be purchased for about thirty dollars. A small price to pay to be alleviated from some really uncomfortable symptoms.

Adding a DAO supplement can help alleviate uncomfortable symptoms.

Have You Been Misdiagnosed?

If you suffer from seasonal or chronic allergy symptoms such as runny nose, itchy eyes, gastrointestinal distress, fatigue, or one of the many other symptoms associated with an allergy response, all is not lost. You may actually have a histamine intolerance.

Switching to a low-histamine diet while taking a quality probiotic and DAO supplement just may be enough to alleviate your symptoms and improve your quality of life.

Further Reading:

• 2 Strategies for Simple Allergy and Sinus Relief
• Understanding Your Adrenal System: Norepinephrine
• The Whole Truth About Soy Lecithin
• New on Breaking Muscle Today

References:

1. Hemarajata, Peera and James Versalovic. “Effects of probiotics on gut microbiota: mechanisms of intestinal immunomodulation and neuromodulation.” Therap. Adv. Gastroenterology 2013. Retrieved on June 17, 2015.

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post What’s Really Causing Your Allergies? (Hint: It’s Not the Weather) appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

This may be due to the topic being a tough one to talk about and also one that is poorly understood. The health epidemic I am speaking about is that of mood disorders. Mood disorders such as depression and anxiety affect approximately one out of every five people in the United States.

Could the overabundance or processed foods be causing this?

Do Antidepressants Always Work?

Most commonly, people affected by mood disorders are given medication or told, “It’s all in your head.” The problem with medication is that it does not always work, and when it does it tends to be a temporary Band-Aid.

“If you do decide to try a non-medication intervention to treat your mood disorder, make sure you discuss this with your doctor before removing your medication from your daily routine.”

A meta-analysis of the research concluded that antidepressant medications have a similar success rate as the placebo effect in treating mild to minor depression. There is some benefit to taking antidepressants with more severe the depression.¹

I am not saying that antidepressants do not have their place. They most certainly do. However, for the millions of people suffering from mild to moderate depression there are other courses of action they can take that do not come with nasty side effects like medication. If you do decide to try a non-medication intervention to treat your mood disorder, make sure you discuss this with your doctor before removing your medication from your daily routine.

A Look at the Research

If you are dealing with a mood disorder, one of the biggest and potentially most beneficial changes you can make to your lifestyle is your diet. The health of our gut can directly impact the health of our mood. We have more bacteria in our guts than we have human cells in our body. This makes us more bacteria than human.

These bacteria, through evolution, have devised ways to send signals to our brains to help increase their survival. They send signals to every system in our body, including our immune system and endocrine system. These signals can cause a number of reactions, including altering our hormones that affect our mood.

Research has consistently shown that people suffering from mood disorders have a different gut microbiome makeup than healthy individuals. In fact, they have shown that people with major depressive disorder have an abundance of harmful gut bacteria and a reduction in beneficial bacteria.² The changes in gut bacteria could be due to a number of factors. People suffering from mood disorders tend to not exercise as frequently, eat more poorly, drink more alcohol, and take more recreational drugs.

“Research has consistently shown that people suffering from mood disorders have a different gut microbiome makeup than healthy individuals.”

One study used MRI imaging to assess whether a healthy dose of probiotics actually alters brain function. For four weeks researchers gave female participants a fermented milk product with probiotics. The other groups received milk without probiotics or no intervention at all. The group that consumed the milk with probiotics showed an increase in midbrain activity, the area of our brain that controls emotion and our sensory systems.³

How to Optimize Gut Health to Enhance Our Mood

The first step in this process is removing all of the negatives. Avoiding processed junk foods is first. Go into your pantry and cabinets and throw out anything that comes in a box or bag. Basically, if it has a label (outside of eggs and meat), then it is processed – get rid of it.

Replace all of that processed food with lots of vegetables, fruits, meat, fish, eggs, nuts, and seeds. These are the foods that our gut microbiome has evolved along with over millions of years. I know that modern produce is genetically altered and not as rich in nutrients, but you will still be better off by eating more fruits and vegetables than processed foods. Also, removing processed foods can starve some of the harmful bacteria to help us regain our natural balance.

“Replace all of that processed food with lots of vegetables, fruits, meat, fish, eggs, nuts, and seeds. These are the foods that our gut microbiome has evolved along with over millions of years.”

Adding in a good quality probiotic can help, as well. A probiotic matched with a nutrient-dense diet can help lay the groundwork to increase our good gut bugs. Adding in some prebiotics, such as potato starch, may have an increased benefit, as well.

We also need to limit our stress. Stress can actually alter the makeup of our gut bacteria.⁴ In the modern world, we are constantly under a state of stress. We sit all day long, we are sleep deprived, we are nutrient deficient, and on top of all that, we have financial worries, family and relationship struggles, and so on.

Some stress is completely out of our control, but we still need to do our best to manage it. Forty minutes of daily meditation is all it takes to get all of the positive health effects of meditation.

Mind Your Gut

If you are the one out of every five Americans who suffers from depression or anxiety, first look at your gut health. The poor feelings that you constantly feel are not just in your head, but may well be “gut feelings.”

To optimize your gut health, remove all of the processed foods from your diet and replace them with nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables alongside quality protein such as meat, fish, and eggs. On top of changing your diet try adding in some daily meditation as stress can negatively alter our gut microbiome, as well.

I have seen many people make a huge transition in their moods, and you can too with these simple changes.

Further Reading:

• From Diet to Disorder: When Food Control Goes Too Far
• How Food Addiction Can Impact Your Mood
• Diagnosing and Treatin Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
• New on Breaking Muscle Today

References:

1. Kirsch, Irving, et.al., Initial Severity and Antidepressant Effects: A Meta-Analysis of Data Submitted to the Food and Drug Administration. PLOS One (2008). Retrieved on June 3, 2015.

2. Jiang, H, et.al., Altered fecal microbiota composition in patients with major depressive disorder. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity (2015). Retrieved on June 3, 2015.

3. Tillisch, Kirsten, et.al., Consumption of Fermented Milk Product with probiotic Modulates Brain Activity. Gastroenterology (2013). Retrieved on June 3, 2015.

4. Bailey, Michael, et.al., Exposure to a social stressor alters the structure of the intestinal microbiota: Implications for stressor-induced immunomodulation. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity (2011). Retrieved on June 3, 2015.

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post Your Gut Feelings: The Link Between Food and Mood Disorders appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

There is something to the benefits of limiting sugar consumption for weight loss. The health benefits of removing processed sugars from the diet go even further. However, is there a time when consuming sugar may actually be good for us?

The sugar debate rages on, but recent research puts a positive spin on this common dietary additive.

Studying Sugar

Research published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism in May of 2015 suggested that sugar may have an ability to minimize our stress response. Researchers took nineteen women aged eighteen to forty with BMIs ranging from twenty to 34. They were subdivided into groups – one group was given a sugar substitute (aspartame) and the other was given sugar in the form of sucrose. Both were given these doses three times per day for two weeks.

Naltrexone was administered by the participants at home to block any opioid response to the sugar so as to further see the stress response after sugar consumption. MRIs were given to the participants to view the areas of the brain responsible for the stress response and saliva samples were taken to calculate circulating cortisol.

At baseline, both groups were similar in age and chronic stress scores. Post dietary intervention, the group consuming the sucrose showed decreased activity in the areas of the brain responsible for our stress response as well as a significantly different salivary cortisol numbers. The sucrose group also reported less nausea from the naltrexone than the aspartame group.

“The other major part of dealing with stress is to be prepared. This is most people’s downfall.” 

My first thought was that these results make sense. We do need a certain amount of glucose to function. Also, the participants who were at the higher end of the BMI range might not have been able to function on free fatty acids as efficiently, so depriving them of glucose could induce a stress response. This is similar to other weight-loss studies of low-carb diets that noted low-carb groups had a greater cortisol response.

Two weeks is by no means a lot of time and this one study is not going to make me go out and tell all of my clients to start consuming sugary beverages three times per day. But it does make you think for a moment. Could we use sugar in certain instances to help reduce our stress response?

Sugar Can Help When We Are Stressed

Reducing stress may be a positive aspect we never thought of when adding carbs to our post-workout nutrition. Not only does that glucose refuel our muscles, but it also may help reduce cortisol and get the muscle-building process started.

Sugar may also help us during times of acute stress. Let’s say you have to pull an all-nighter preparing a major presentation for your job. There are no food options because you have been working so hard you forgot to go grocery shopping. All you have in your house is leftover cake from grandma’s birthday.

In this situation, you know you will not be sleeping or eating (unless you choose the cake), and stress levels will be high while attempting to get your work done. This study suggests that eating the piece of cake may help to reduce cortisol levels enough to get you through this tough situation.

A little sugar now and then can help get us through our day-to-day stresses.

The Real Problem With Sugar

The problem with sugar does not come from reaching for these foods during times of acute stress, but during times of chronic stress. Most of us tend to be overstressed on a day-to-day basis. We are sleep deprived, sedentary, nutrient deficient, and have to deal with financial and family issues. This can lead us to grab that piece of cake more than the one time it would actually be helpful.

And even with all of that said, there are still better options to handle acute stress then leaning on junk food. This is why active stress management should be an important part of anyone’s weight-loss plan. Try some meditation, deep breathing, visualization, or anything you can think of that helps put you in a state of relaxation. Be creative and find what works for you.

“[I]t does make you think for a moment. Could we use sugar in certain instances to help reduce our stress response?

The other major part of dealing with stress is to be prepared. This is most people’s downfall. Having healthy food options readily available is key to the success of your nutrition plan. I have some clients who prepare all of their food for the week on Sundays. Other clients cook extra every night they make dinner so they will have leftovers.

Research Implications

This study is intriguing, but had some holes in it because it looked at sugar consumption alone. I wonder how a higher fat or protein snack would have done compared to the sucrose group?

Nevertheless this research is interesting. In a really tough bind, when you are under a high level of acute stress, you may be able to hit up that vending machine and not have to stress yourself out over it (pun intended).

Check out these related articles:

• Hack Your Stress Before it Hacks You
• How Stress Makes You Crave Food and Store Fat
• Is All Sugar Simply “Sugar”?
• What’s New On Breaking Muscle Today

References:

1. Tryon, Matthew, et.al., Excessive Sugar Consumption May Be a Difficult Habit to Break: A View From the Brain and Body. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism (2015). Retrieved on May 24, 2015. 

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post The Power of Ice Cream: Sugar Can Heal Stress appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Many of you reading this are attempting to take care of your own health. In your searching, I am sure you have come across an article or two that claims cooking meat, and other foods for that matter, is bad for your health. Before you go and cancel all of your summer cookouts, let’s look at the science behind these claims.

Heterocyclic Amines and Cancer Risk

Research has been trying to damn meat as cancerous for quite some time now. One way meat has been condemned for being cancerous is through cooking. There are three things that alter chemical structure and they are heat, light, and oxygen. From this perspective it does seem as if this claim may be plausible.

“There have been numerous epidemiological studies performed showing that eating well-done meat leads to increased cancer risk.”

One chemical reaction that occurs in meat when you cook it at high temperatures is the formation of heterocyclic amines (HCA). There have been numerous epidemiological studies performed showing that eating well-done meat leads to increased cancer risk.

But epidemiological research is a starting point and not the end point. We know from other studies that people who eat increased amounts of meat also tend to smoke more, drink more, and exercise less. This is due to meat being condemned as unhealthy for decades. Thus, many health-conscious people have avoided meat due to this belief. So, is it the meat consumption making people sick or are there other factors at play?

With that said, the epidemiological research has showed this trend of increased cancer across the board. This makes the epidemiological research hold more weight.

AGEs and Health Decline

Another byproduct of cooking with high temperatures is advanced glycation end products (AGE). AGEs have been linked in the research to a number of negative health outcomes such as cancer, cognitive decline, obesity, and diabetes.

Fat Oxidation and Heart Disease

Fats are also not all made equal. Some fats are more chemically dense and require more heat to alter their structure. This would be saturated fats. Saturated fats have no open hydrogen bonds, making them more difficult to alter. This is why we recommend cooking with fats such as coconut oil.

“When PUFAs are exposed to high temperatures, they oxidize. Oxidized particles can do quite a bit of damage at the cellular level.”

Polyunsaturated fats (PUFA) are less chemically dense and more easily altered by heat. When PUFAs are exposed to high temperatures, they oxidize. Oxidized particles can do quite a bit of damage at the cellular level.

In order to combat this oxidation process, our body does a couple of things. First, we use up our antioxidant stores. This can drain us of key nutrients required in other metabolic processes. Also, our immune system responds by sending antibodies. The antibodies attempt rid the body of oxidized particles, but can actually fall victim to them. When this happens, the antibodies “puff” up like clouds and stick to the lining of the arteries. This is how we can build up plaque associated with heart disease.

But Don’t Cancel the Cookouts Yet

After reading this far, you may be thinking that you should not grill your meat anymore. This is not nearly the case. Research only looks at one aspect and not all of the variables that go into daily living. If you sleep well, have adequate vitamin D, eat lots of nutrient-dense food, exercise, and have solid social relationships, then I do not think grilling your food will give you cancer.

“Most studies suggest that cooking above 300 degrees Fahrenheit is where we get increased HCA production. Cooking at temperatures below 300 is a safe option.”

However, if you are currently experiencing low-grade chronic inflammation, then it may be better to use easy cooking methods (and by that I mean cooking methods that are easier on your foods). Low-grade inflammation can be found in people who have poor sleep and low vitamin D, along with being stressed out, overweight, and sedentary. Easy cooking methods can also be used if you are already healthy and trying to achieve superstar status in that department.

Most studies suggest that cooking above 300 degrees Fahrenheit is where we get increased HCA production. Cooking at temperatures below 300 is a safe option. I personally love the slow cooker. There are thousands of good recipes on the Internet for making delicious slow cooker meals. Other easy cooking methods include boiling, steaming, simmering, and poaching. Changing up how you prepare your meats can also help you not get bored with what you are eating.

Lifestyle Factors Are Key

The research showing that cooking meat at high temperatures may be dangerous to our health is pretty legit. But most research suggests that the temperature needs to be higher than 300 degrees Fahrenheit to produce enough nasty byproducts to be hazardous to our health.

If you are just starting out with your healthy lifestyle or have some troubled lifestyle areas, then you should utilize more easy cooking methods. This includes cooking below 300, using a slow cooker, boiling, simmering, and poaching. But if your lifestyle is squared away, I believe the risk of cooking meat at high temperatures is negated.

Further Reading:

• How to Make Social Events a Strength
• Nitrates and Nitrites: Should We Stop Eating Bacon?
• Why All Humans Need to Eat Meat for Health
• New on Breaking Muscle Today

References:

1.Wei Zheng and Sang-Ah Lee. “Well-done Meat Intake, Heterocyclic Amine Exposure, and Cancer Risk.” Nutritional Cancer 2009. Retrieved on May 7, 2015

2. I. Strapans, et al. “The role of dietary oxidized cholesterol and oxidized fatty acids in the development of atherosclerosis.” Molecular Nutrition and Food Research (2005). Retrieved on May 7, 2015.

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post To Grill or Not to Grill? Why a Summer BBQ Might Be Bad for You appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

I am going to say this right away – it is not your fault. It is not your weak willpower that leads to these cravings. For millions of years, it has been advantageous to our survival for us to be lazy and eat foods high in energy. But only recently, in terms of our genome, have so many high-energy foods become readily available.

In this short time, our wiring has not changed. We get a craving for our favorite junk food and we can easily go and get it. We do not even have to expend much energy to do so. We can walk out the front door, jump in our car, and even use the drive-through.

If it is not your lack of willpower causing these actions, then what can it be? There are four types of food cravings you can experience: emotional, physical, nutritional, and those related to gut health.

You might have an inkling about how cravings work with the first three things in that list, but how does gut health impact our food urges and what can it indicate about our overall health? Let’s take a look.

How Our Gut Bacteria Influences What Foods We Eat

We have more bacteria within us than actual human cells. This makes us more bacteria than human. The bacteria within us have evolved with us for millions of years. They make up the majority of our immune system by controlling what can and cannot enter our bloodstream.

“Our gut bacteria can also influence what foods we eat. They do this by sending molecules out that make certain foods taste great and other foods taste not so great.” 

Just like any evolving species, these bacteria learned how to use their environment to their advantage. The environment in this case is our body. One way in which our gut bacteria take advantage us is by controlling our moods and behaviors.

Our gut bacteria send signals to many systems within our body. This includes our immune system, endocrine system, and nervous system. This is how our gut health can alter our hormones and how well we recover from illness (or workouts). It’s also how our gut microbiome can be the driving force behind nervous system disorders.

Our gut bacteria can also influence what foods we eat. They do this by sending molecules out that make certain foods taste great and other foods taste not so great. They do this for a couple of reasons:

1. They are living organisms and thrive on certain foods. They can alter our tastes and how we feel from eating certain foods to enhance their ability to survive.¹
2. They also use this tactic to starve their enemies. The bacteria in our bodies are constantly fighting each other to take up more real estate. One way to gain an advantage is to cut off the food supply of your enemies.

“Our taste buds are not changing, but our balance of gut bugs is.”

This explains why some children and even adults do not like the taste of vegetables. The “bad” gut bacteria are influencing their taste buds to better suit their needs. Over time, this can lead to weight gain and other ailments. This also explains how over time “our taste buds change.” Our taste buds are not changing, but our balance of gut bugs is.

Diet Plans and Supplements to Improve Gut Health

Many dietary plans out there now focus on gut health. The GAPS diet and the paleo diet encourage foods that feed our good bacteria, while discouraging the foods that feed our bad gut bacteria. This allows our gut microbiome to regain balance and helps alleviate our food cravings.

Supplements may also be a necessary part to a gut-healing protocol. Taking a quality probiotic should probably be part of everyone’s supplement plan. A probiotic supplement gives us some trace amounts of good gut bacteria. If we take the supplement and then feed these beneficial bugs the nutrients they need through a good diet, they should grow and thrive.

“A supplemental protocol of probiotics and resistant starch can help to make your dietary efforts even more effective.”

Prebiotics are another supplement that can aid gut health. Prebiotics are indigestible fibers that supply our beneficial gut bacteria with the nutrients they need. One useful prebiotic is resistant starch. This comes from eating green bananas, cooked and then cooled potatoes, and green plantains. It can be taken in supplement form from potato starch. You want to take in roughly 30 to 40g of resistant starch per day. This equates to four or five tablespoons of potato starch or one or two green bananas. (Note: you may need to start with a smaller dose and work up to the 30 to 40g range due to the risk of gastrointestinal issues.)

Take Action

If you are suffering from food cravings, you need to do all that you can to regulate your gut microbiome. This is done by avoiding processed foods, as those feed our negative gut bacteria, and instead eating plenty of fruits and vegetables, which feed our good bacteria. A supplemental protocol of probiotics and resistant starch can help to make your dietary efforts even more effective.

Implementing these strategies will enhance more than just weight loss. You will feel more energy and have higher immunity, and your mood can even be increased. So, take care of your gut bugs and they will take care of you.

Found this helpful? You’ll also like:

• 4 Things Other Than Food You Might Be Craving
• The Four Rs: How to Restore Optimal Gut Health
• What Our Dietary Guidelines Should Be
• What’s New on Breaking Muscle Today

References:

1. Norris, J. “Do Gut Bacteria Rule Our Minds” University of California San Francisco (2014). Retrieved on April 16, 2015.

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post Food Cravings Are Not Your Fault: Check Your Gut Health appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

The problem is there are many other areas of our lives that can affect both our weight and our health.

When working with clients, I look at six key areas to identify the most glaring weaknesses and correct those first. We already touched on two of the key areas, exercise and nutrition. The other four areas are sleep, stress management, vitamin D, and social relationships.

1. Sleep

This is arguably the most important area to fix first. One night of sleep deprivation can alter our hormones and increase our caloric intake by up to 600 calories without us even realizing it.

According to research, over the course of a week, sleep deprivation of roughly 5.5 hours per night increased caloric intake with no change in energy expenditure. It also altered the leptin and ghrelin hormones, setting the stage to promote obesity.₁ Leptin is the hormone responsible for telling us when to eat and how much fat to store. Ghrelin tells us when we are hungry. Both hormones have been implicated in obesity.

All of our hormones function on a circadian rhythm controlled by a part of our brain called the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). Our circadian rhythm is basically a 24-hour cycle for our hormones. If we do not get enough sleep, our body gets confused about where we are in that cycle and our hormonal rhythms become dysfunctional.

“One night of sleep deprivation can alter our hormones and increase our caloric intake by up to 600 calories without us even realizing it.”

Our SCN controls this 24-hour rhythm by following the cycle of light and dark. The SCN knows it is night when the lights go down and it alters the hormones accordingly. However, if we are in front of too much artificial light, it can confuse our SCN to thinking it is earlier in the day and our hormones get out of whack.

If our hormones get out of sync and drive hunger cravings, we will most likely reach for foods that are not ideal for our goals. How often do you crave broccoli when you’re tired? Most of us will crave our favorite treat.

So, ditch the artificial light sixty to ninety minutes before bed or get some amber sunglasses to filter out the blue light. Make sure you are getting seven to nine hours of sleep in a completely blacked-out room. This will make sure you are recovering from workouts and help make a switch to eating real foods easier due to the decrease in hunger and cravings.

2. Stress Management

Many times in my practice, people say that exercise is their stress management. Exercise is important to help us recover from stress, but it is also a stressor itself. To balance this, we need to actively take part in activities that reduce our stress levels.

Our body is built upon a checks and balances system. We need balance between our sympathetic nervous system (our fight or flight) and our parasympathetic nervous system (our rest and digest). Exercise elicits a response from our sympathetic nervous system, while activities such as mindful meditation, deep breathing, and going for a walk while listening to relaxing music elicit a response from our parasympathetic nervous system.

I just recently discovered this Brainwaves app for the iPhone. I now use it religiously and feel it helps. Magnesium salt baths at night are also a nice way to relax and recover from workouts.

3. Vitamin D

Most of us have probably heard that vitamin D helps prevent osteoporosis, cancer, and cardiovascular disease. New research also suggests that vitamin D may play a vital role in how much food we eat.

“Get your vitamin D checked twice per year and make sure the values fall between 40 to 60ng/ml.”

Researchers injected vitamin D directly into the hypothalamus of the brain of rats. These rats lost 24% of their weight with no change in physical activity and also ate three times less food.₂ This research suggests to me that vitamin D may play a role as an energy homeostatic hormone in the hypothalamus by telling us how much food to eat.

All of this is important because anywhere between 40 to 75% of the population may be deficient in vitamin D. So, get your vitamin D checked twice per year and make sure the values fall between 40 to 60ng/ml.

4. Social Relationships

This is the last area, but certainly not the least important to our health and well-being. A meta-analysis looking at social relationships and overall mortality concluded by stating that social relationships are as important as other lifestyle choices, such as smoking.₄ So, it’s vital to our health to spend time with family and friends.

The reason social relationships may be so important might be due to a hormone called oxytocin. Oxytocin may play a role as an immunoregulatory hormone. It has been shown to be released during times of infection and interact with inflammatory markers.₃

“It’s vital to our health to spend time with family and friends.”

This is important to understand when undertaking a new nutritional plan. All too often people make drastic changes to their diet that can lead to social isolation. Make sure you explain to your friends, family, and coworkers why you are making changes and ask that they be supportive of your work to better your health. If you are having trouble finding supportive friends, there are plenty of communities and groups of like-minded people you could seek out to create positive social relationships.

Fix The Weak Links

When attempting to take control of your health, there are a number of areas we need to pay attention to. Exercise and nutrition are important, but so are sleep, stress management, vitamin D, and social relationships. These areas, if neglected, can lead us to eat more and have higher mortality rates.

Take a quick assessment of your life and see how you are performing in each of these areas. Fix the weakest inks and pay attention to how you look, feel, and perform. I think you will be happily surprised with the results.

You’ll also enjoy:

• Are You Sure You’re Getting Enough Vitamin D?
• It’s Time to Skip the Bedtime Wine: 6 Tips for Better Sleep
• Stress Shown to Impair Recovery From Workouts
• What’s New on Breaking Muscle Today

References:

1. Calvin, Andrew, et.al., Abstract MP030: “Insufficient Sleep Increases Caloric Intake but not Energy Expenditure.” Circulation 2015. Retrieved on March 28, 2015.

2. Endocrine Society. “Vitamin D can lower weight, blood sugar via the brain, study finds.” Science Daily 2014. Retrieved on March 28, 2015.

3. Berczi, Istvan, et.al., “Vasopressin, Oxytocin and Immune Function“. Advances in Nueroimmune Biology 2012. Retrieved on March 28, 2015.

4. Holt-Lunstad, Julianne, et.al., “Social Relationships and Mortality Risk: A Meta-analytic Review“. PLOS Medicine 2012. Retrieved on March 28, 2015. 

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post 4 Areas of Your Health You May Be Neglecting appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

This does not mean those people should ditch the paleo diet for a life of gluttony. There may be some things they can do to help get the most out of the paleo diet.

First – Heal Your Gut

One major issue we often overlook is the state of our intestinal health. Through years of stress, poor sleep, poor food choices, environmental toxins, birth control, antibiotics, and even genetics, our gut health can become compromised. This is commonly referred to as “leaky gut.” This is when the microvilli in your intestines become dysfunctional and undigested protein particles enter the blood.

When these undigested particles enter the blood, it triggers an immune response. This immune response can present itself in a number of different ways. We develop skin conditions, bowel disorders, arthritis, and weight issues. Even diseases like type 1 diabetes and autism have been linked to autoimmunity issues.

“If you took up a paleo diet and have not had the success you anticipated, do not give up. It does not mean the paleo diet is not for you.“

Most of us take up a paleo diet in hopes of fixing our intestinal health. But sometimes this just does not go as planned. We stop eating dairy, legumes, and wheat, but still experience symptoms. We then decide the paleo diet is not right for us and continue to chase after that perfect diet, only to come up short with each attempt.

But our digestive system just may not have been ready for the full-blown paleo diet. If our gut microbiome is compromised, then so is our digestion and our immune response. This means we can continue to suffer the same symptoms even while eating healthy foods.

Second – Ditch Your Trigger Foods, Even If They’re “Healthy”

Some people think the food that triggers their symptoms might be the eggs, or the nuts, or the nightshades. These are all common allergens, but that does not necessarily mean they are definitely your trigger food.

Gut health is very individualized and with that comes an individualized immune response. In order to tell what is causing symptoms, we need to first eliminate any suspicious items and then try reintroducing them. Since it could be a number of different foods causing problems, it is best to remove as much as possible in the beginning. This is the fastest way to identify problematic foods.

This can be a difficult process in the beginning, but I assure you it will be worth it in the end. When we go paleo, we remove grains, dairy, legumes, refined oils, and soy. But to test out a full elimination diet, we should also remove vegetables high in FODMAPs, cruciferous vegetables, fruit, nightshades, starch, eggs, nuts, seeds, and spices. All of these foods can cause irritation to our gut lining and continue to feed any negative gut bugs. I know this is a lot, but bear through it for a month’s period in time. In the long run, this is not that long to feel better.

The diet for the first month should consist of plenty of meat, fish, and bone broth. Healthy fats such as ghee, coconut oil, and extra-virgin olive oil can be used. For seasoning, use cinnamon, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, and fresh herbs. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but by varying combinations you can keep from getting bored for a month.

During this time, be sure to always cook your vegetables and utilize more gentle cooking practices for meats, fish, and veggies. This can include boiling, steaming, and utilizing a slow cooker. Make sure your food is cooked well, as this will aid in the digestion of nutrients. It may be a good idea to add in some digestive support, too.

At mealtime, your plate should contain six to eight ounces of protein and two to three servings of vegetables. Beverages should include plenty of water. You can add lemon for taste and also drink herbal teas.

After the month is over, begin to reintroduce foods. Try just one food at a time and pay attention to how you feel over the following three or four days. I recommend one new food per week. This will allow you to definitively identify problematic foods.

All in all this process of elimination and reintroductions can take up to six months, but again, it is worth it in the long run. The majority of people who undergo an elimination diet also see an elimination of their unwanted symptoms within 24-48 hours. That alone may make the sacrifice worth it.

“If our gut microbiome is compromised, then so is our digestion and our immune response. This means we can continue to suffer the same symptoms even while eating healthy foods.“

During this process, I recommend everyone take a high quality probiotic. Probiotics can help to lay a foundation for our good gut bugs to grow in number and balance out. There are also some great resources out there for those looking to attempt an elimination diet:

• Gut and Psychology Syndrome by Natasha Campbell-McBride
• Digestive Health with Real Food by Aglaee Jacob
• The Paleo Approach by Sarah Ballantyne

Stick With the Process

If you took up a paleo diet and have not had the success you anticipated, do not give up. It does not mean the paleo diet is not for you. I truthfully believe it is the best approach for everyone. You just may need to do a little extra work to optimize it to your own individual needs.

Check out these related articles:

• The Paleo Mystique: Deciphering “Paleo” Eating
• A Paleo Primer: Benefits, Limitations, and Misconceptions
• Grok Didn’t Eat Oatmeal and Other “Directionally Accurate” Paleo Myths
• What’s New On Breaking Muscle Today

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post 2 Tasty Tidbits to Get Your Best Results From Paleo appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

One of the current trends is training in a fasted state for weight loss. To reemphasize that last part, this tactic is used only for weight loss. Those of you looking to increase performance are best served not applying this approach. For those of you looking to drop a few pounds, let us look at what the science says.

What the Science Says About Fasted Cardio

A study performed in 2010 compared fasted training to fed training over a six-week period. Researchers looked at some key areas and compared the two groups. Training was always performed in the morning and consisted of two sixty-minute sessions and two ninety-minute sessions. 

“Both the fasted and the fed groups increased their glucose tolerance, but the fasted group increased it substantially more.”

The fed group was given a breakfast of 675 calories, made up of 70% carbohydrate, 15% protein, and 15% fat. On top of that, they were given 1g of maltodextrin per kg of bodyweight about ninety minutes before training. The fasted group received this exact same cocktail in the midafternoon. The areas the researchers compared were glucose tolerance, GLUT4, muscle glycogen, metabolic enzymes, body composition, and exercise capacity. The results of the study were quite interesting.

Both the fasted and the fed groups increased their glucose tolerance, but the fasted group increased it substantially more. GLUT4 is a glucose transporter that allows glucose to enter muscle cells. The more of these we have, the more glucose gets taken up into the muscles, as opposed to being stored as fat. GLUT4 transporters increased by 28% in the fasted group and only 2-3% in the fed group.

Glycogen stores increased more in the fasted group when compared to the fed group, but there was no significant difference between intramuscular lipid stores. Increased intramuscular lipid stores are seen in obesity and can lead to insulin resistance and mitochondrial dysfunction.¹ 

“Glycogen stores increased more in the fasted group when compared to the fed group, but there was no significant difference between intramuscular lipid stores.”

The only differences in metabolic enzymes were seen in translocase/CD36 and carnitine palmitoyltransferase¹. These two enzymes play a role in our abilities to metabolize both fat and glucose. The fasted group saw an increase of approximately 30% and the fed group did not see an increase. All other metabolic enzymes tested remained the same.

As expected, the fed group had a greater increase in VO2max, but the fasted group showed a greater increase in fat oxidation. As I stated previously, fasted cardio is not a way to increase performance, but instead to lose weight. With less glucose present, it is no surprise that the fasted group showed greater fatty acid oxidation for energy.

The Practical Side of Fasted Cardio

There are other studies that show similar results as the one presented in this article. After reading that study and hearing that other studies back up these findings, you may be ready to jump right into a fasted cardio weight-loss routine – but it’s not for everyone.

“[K]ey areas to assess are sleep, vitamin D, stress levels, exercise routine, and diet. If all of these are squared away, then give fasted cardio a try.”

I have messed around with the fasted cardio component with myself, as well as with clients, and I have experienced a mixed bag of results. For some it worked great, but for others it didn’t. This is something you may have to mess around with for a period to see if it helps. Before doing that, I encourage you to assess your lifestyle and improve upon areas that may be weak. Some key areas to assess are sleep, vitamin D, stress levels, exercise routine, and diet. If all of these are squared away, then give fasted cardio a try.

There are some key points to keep in mind if you do decide to try it:

• This study was performed in the morning, and I encourage you to do the same. Waiting until the afternoon or evening to work out while fasting all day may be too much of a stressor and could have the opposite of the desired effects.
• I also encourage you not to make the fasted cardio something intense. Low-level aerobic activity between 70-80% of VO2max should suffice. Anything more intense may also become a stressor.
• Make sure you take in carbohydrates with your first meal. I ran into this problem with quite a few clients. We use a paleo diet template, and I encourage my clients to get their carbs in the afternoon or evening. This created the habit of them having a large salad with meat and very little carbohydrates for lunch. This didn’t work well for coming off a fast. So, if this sounds like your current lunch make sure to add some fruit or sweet potatoes to it.

Those of you who have tinkered with fasted cardio I would like to hear from you. Let us know how you implemented it, for how long and how well it worked for you. Your experiences may be able to help someone else trying to lose a few extra pounds.

Check out these related articles:

The post Is Fasted Cardio Superior for Weight Loss or Just a Fad? appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

At the time, heart disease was the leading killer among Americans and fixing this issue was at the forefront of research. Ancel Keys, an American scientist who studied diet and health, and his colleagues convinced Congress that saturated fat and cholesterol were the major culprits of this epidemic. This led to the United States Department of Agriculture recommending a high-carb and low-fat diet to the American people.

We were saved. Or were we?

An Increasing Risk of Heart Disease and Cancer

The government has been warning people of the dangers of cholesterol and saturated fat since 1961. Since then, our obesity rates have climbed, along with heart disease and cancer rates. Researchers and doctors expected to see a huge drop in heart disease by handing out new guidelines that recommended eating less cholesterol and saturated fat while increasing carbohydrate intake. When the results did not match their predictions, they thought, “We must lower cholesterol levels even more.” This gave birth to the massive push of cholesterol-lowering medication.

“The government has been warning people of the dangers of cholesterol and saturated fat since 1961. Since then, our obesity rates have climbed, along with heart disease and cancer rates.”

But even with these medications and a high-carb, low-fat diet, heart disease, cancer, and obesity rates continue to climb. After decades of failure, someone should have been questioning these methods. When results are not meeting expectations, we need to go back to the drawing board.

Poor Science Meets Government Do-Goodery

Cholesterol was condemned by Ancel Keys, but he cherry picked epidemiological data to match his hypothesis. Epidemiological research is the starting point, not the ending point, of research. In order for his epidemiological data to hold weight, it would have needed to show an inverse relationship between cholesterol and heart disease across the board.

Research during Keys’s time did not undoubtedly show that saturated fat and cholesterol led to heart disease. Conversely, a 2010 meta-analysis on saturated fat and heart disease risk concluded with this statement:

A meta-analysis of prospective epidemiologic studies showed that there is no significant evidence for concluding that dietary saturated fat is associated with an increased risk of CHD or CVD. More data are needed to elucidate whether CVD risks are likely to be influenced by the specific nutrients used to replace saturated fat.¹

Why do we continue to push these nutritional policies when the evidence is pointing us in another direction?

Ancel Keys carefully selected which the data he would present and then presented this information to Congress. Poor science met government do-goodery and the “saturated fat and cholesterol are responsible for heart disease” mantra was born. (By the way, Gary Taubes has a great write up of this history in his book Good Calories, Bad Calories.)

Is the Government Changing Its Stance on Cholesterol?

Fast-forward to February 10, 2015, and the headline for a Washington Post blog read, The U.S. government is poised to withdraw longstanding warnings about cholesterol. Upon reading this, I immediately thought the government was reversing the stance they took over thirty years ago. I should have known better.

“Cholesterol has been found at the scene of clogged arteries in human subjects post mortem, but that does not mean it is the culprit.”

It seems the government is poised to remove the high-cholesterol warning label on foods such as eggs, shrimp, and lobster. The “experts” now believe that ingested cholesterol does not raise cholesterol levels in the blood for the majority of people. They believe the problem lies with too much consumption of highly saturated foods such as fatty meats, butter, and whole milk. They still caution against the high levels of LDL (“bad”) cholesterol in the blood.

I am not totally in disagreement that too much LDL is bad. If levels are high, it may be a symptom of something else going wrong. Cholesterol has been found at the scene of clogged arteries in human subjects post mortem, but that does not mean it is the culprit. Cholesterol may be there acting as an antioxidant.²

We cannot just look at LDL levels without looking at the bigger picture. HDL (“good”) cholesterol levels and triglycerides are also important factors. LDL-to-HDL ratio is a valuable tool of assessing heart disease risk.³ Most studies condemning fat intake only looked at LDL. But when we examine the relationship of LDL and HDL together, it turns out saturated fat intake raises both of them – which does not change heart disease risk.⁴

Changes in the Right Direction

As irritated as I was from reading this latest Washington Post piece, I took a step back and thought about it. The more I thought, the better I felt. Yes, the government is still missing the boat on a number of nutritional issues. Hopefully, they realize this before another forty years pass. But they are making changes in the right direction. We can’t expect them to change everything at once, especially when commercial interests are at stake.

“Yes, the government is still missing the boat on a number of nutritional issues. Hopefully, they realize this before another forty years pass.” 

The USDA’s dietary guidelines are updated every five years and they are currently under review. The last meeting to discuss the proposed guidelines was back in December, so now we just sit and wait to hear. Some other topics proposed for discussion were sugar intake, omega-3 fatty acids, salt, red meat, and saturated fat. It will be interesting to see the changes that are made.

Are you optimistic that the government will move our policies on nutrition in the right direction? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

References:

1. Siri-Tarino, PW, et.al., “Meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies evaluating the association of saturated fat with cardiovascular disease.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2010). Retrieved on February 12, 2015.

2. Girao, Henrique, et.al., “Cholesterol may act as antioxidant in lens membrane.” Current Eye Research (1999). Retrieved on February 12, 2015. 

3. Fernandez, ML and D Webb. “The LDL to HDL cholesterol ratio as a valuable tool to evaluate coronary heart disease risk.” Journal of the American College of Nutrition (2008). Retrieved on February 12, 2015. 

4. Mensink, RP, et.al., “Effects of dietary fatty acids and carbohydrates on the ratio of serum total to HDL cholesterol and on serum lipids and apolipoproteins: a meta-analysis of 60 controlled trials.” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2003). Retrieved on February 12, 2015. 

5. Whoriskey, P., “The U.S. government is poised to withdraw longstanding warnings about cholesterol.” The Washington Post 2015. Retrieved on February 12, 2015.

Photos 2 & 3 courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post Is the Government Reversing Its Stance on Cholesterol? appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

I was stuck inside and did nothing more than lie on my couch and watch TV. (One of the best parts of renting an apartment in the city is that you don’t have to shovel when over two feet of snow gets dumped on the ground.) Before I knew it, I had eaten a half of a bag of Doritos and some leftover candy from Christmas.

I was not hungry, depressed, or excited. I was just bored.

Identifying the Problem

In my nutritional coaching practice, I cover all areas of emotional eating. Or I thought I did. One area I do not cover, that I need to begin addressing, is bored eating. This can be a serious problem my clients who are attempting to lose weight.

RELATED: How Food Addiction Can Impact Your Mood

The first part in dealing with this problem is understanding what leads us to eat when we are bored. When we are bored, we lack any pleasure or enjoyment, but we are not depressed. It is pretty much a state of no emotions.

“The first step in curing your junk-food binges is to analyze your daily habits. Keep a food-and-mood journal for a week. Write down everything you eat, who you are with, and how you are feeling.”

We have all experienced this type of boredom before. We are sitting around the house when all of a sudden a friend calls asking if we want to go hang out somewhere (most likely a place with food) and we get excited and go do it. I believe this is completely unavoidable. But in order to not devour junk food in these situations, we need to be able to identify that we are bored and find an activity to do instead of eating.

Anhedonia

There is another kind of boredom. This is known as anhedonia. Anhedonia is the inability to experience pleasure from activities that usually give pleasure. I have seen this in clients and myself when it comes to overtraining. Exercise is an enjoyable activity, but when we have pushed it too far it becomes a burden and we no longer feel like doing it.

Anhedonia is a symptom of major depressive disorder, as well as some other psychiatric disorders. Research suggests anhedonia is caused by underactivity of the ventral striatum and over activity of the ventral region of the prefrontal cortex, with dopamine playing a pivotal role. ¹

“There is another kind of boredom. This is known as anhedonia. Anhedonia is the inability to experience pleasure from activities that usually give pleasure.”

Dopamine is our major neurotransmitter responsible for memory, focus, and energy. Dopamine is also the neurotransmitter that gives us a feeling of pleasure as a reward. Issues with dopamine being out of balance can lead to ADHD, ADD, depression, and even drug addiction. So, the fact that dopamine plays a role in anhedonia makes sense.

RELATED: Understanding Our Adrenal System: Dopamine

Dr. Kenneth Blum is a neurologist who does research on addiction and our neurotransmitters. In his literature, he discusses what he calls the reward deficiency syndrome. Basically, this states that if our neurotransmitters are out of balance we will seek out behavior or substances that help balance us out. When we find that balancing behavior or substance, we will become addicted.

For example, cocaine increases dopamine. If we are deficient in dopamine and use cocaine, it can raise our dopamine levels and balance us out – and we become addicted. This may explain why some people use cocaine and do not become addicted, while others do. Dopamine is also affected by our sugar intake in ways that are similar to drug addiction.² 

Pleasure Is About Survival

We will always seek out behaviors that cause us pleasure. It is how we have survived for millions of years. We eat food, dopamine is released, we feel good, and we do it again. When we are bored, we are lacking the pleasure we need at a subconscious level. This can lead us to binge on junk food.

What we need to do is find ways to increase our pleasure response that do not include eating junk. Two facts to consider:

1. Exercise helps to naturally raise dopamine levels.
2. Boredom tends to come about at similar times on a day-to-day basis.

Solution? Keep track of when you are bored and attempt to fill that space with exercise. If getting to the gym is not an option, get up and go for a walk. It is even more beneficial if you can go for a walk outside as vitamin D levels turn on the genes for dopamine production.

RELATED: Six Easy Ways to Enhance Your Brain Health

Challenging your brain with new activities every day can also help raise dopamine levels. Have some crossword puzzles available for the times when you get bored. This challenges your brain to stay sharp and may also give you the increased benefit of decreased risk of neurodegeneration later on in life.

“We will always seek out behaviors that cause us pleasure. It is how we have survived for millions of years. We eat food, dopamine is released, we feel good, and we do it again. When we are bored, we are lacking the pleasure we need at a subconscious level. This can lead us to binge on junk food.”

This may also be a good time to add in some meditation. Most of my clients are severely lacking in their stress-management skills. Meditation can help decrease our heart disease risk, poor mood, and food cravings. It also raises dopamine levels. If you’d like to try meditation, you can get started with yoga instructor Bethany Eanes’s 8-Week Meditation Challenge.

Take the First Step

The first step in curing your junk-food binges is to analyze your daily habits. Keep a food-and-mood journal for a week. Write down everything you eat, who you are with, and how you are feeling. This can help you pinpoint the cause of your binges.

From there, institute a plan of action. This can include some of the suggestions listed in this article or strategies you come up with yourself. The options here are limitless.

References:

1. Gorwood, Philip. Neurobiological mechanisms of anhedonia. Dialogues of Clinical Neuroscience (2008). Retrieved on January 28, 2015. 

2. Avena, Nicole, et.al., Evidence for sugar addiction: Behavioral and neurochemical effects of intermittent, excessive sugar intake. Neuroscience Behavioral Rev. (2009). Retrieved on January 28, 2015.

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post How to Avoid the Slippery Slope From Boredom to Binge Eating appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

This includes all the weight-loss supplements and protein shakes that we and far too many of our friends have tried over time. But none of these magical pills ever deliver on their promises and we end up flushing our hard-earned dollars down the toilet. Let’s be real for a minute. If any one of these supplements truly delivered on their promises, don’t you think everyone would be buying that one magical weight-loss solution?

RELATED:Science Says: Weight Loss Supplements Do NOT Work

But guess what? There is a magical solution to health and sports performance that everyone should be taking. This solution is vitamin D. It can help us lose those unwanted pounds, as well as build new lean muscle. Here’s the science behind the greatest sports supplement you should be taking.

Vitamin D for Performance

Here in the Northern Hemisphere, we are entering the months with the least amount of sunlight. This is problematic for our vitamin D levels, as the sun is our greatest source for this crucial vitamin. But even when we have plentiful sunshine we are often not getting outside enough. Some studies suggest nearly 75% of the American population is deficient in vitamin D.

RELATED:Vitamin D: Is Sunlight Enough?

We have all heard about the health benefits of vitamin D, such as increased immunity, cardiovascular health, and protection against cancers, including skin cancer. What many people do not realize is vitamin D plays a critical role in weight loss and performance enhancement.

“Some studies suggest nearly 75% of the American population is deficient in vitamin D.”

A meta-analysis performed in 2011looked at vitamin D levels and their effects on strength gains and balance. These studies were performed on adults greater than sixty years of age. Subjects were given vitamin D supplementation without any exercise intervention.The authors concluded their study by stating a daily supplement of 800 to 1,000IU had a positive effect on strength and balance.

The reason may be due to vitamin D’s role in testosterone production. Testosterone is one of our major anabolic hormones and its levels correlates directly with vitamin D levels. There are actually vitamin D receptor sites in the male reproductive tract.

Another study looked at 200 healthy (non-diabetic with no other diagnosed health issues), but overweight males and their testosterone levels in regards to their vitamin D levels. Researchers concluded a daily dose of 3,332IU of vitamin D led to an increase in testosterone by approximately 20% over a twelve-month period. Researchers believe this is because vitamin D may block the conversion of testosterone to estrogen and it may also increase the sensitivity of the vitamin D receptors.

RELATED:4 Things to Naturally Increase Your Testosterone

Vitamin D for Weight Loss

Vitamin D also plays a critical role in weight loss. Research suggests that vitamin D levels below 50 nmol/L increase your risk for developing type 2 diabetes. This is due to the role vitamin D plays in glucose metabolism. In fact, vitamin D may play a critical role in insulin sensitivity and even have a direct impact on the pancreatic beta cells.

Research is a bit contradictory here, but the majority of the studies show an increase in insulin sensitivity with the increase in serum vitamin D levels. Some factors that may lead to contradictory data could be the length of the trial, type of supplement used, and the control and research groups.

“Vitamin D also plays a critical role in weight loss. Research suggests that vitamin D levels below 50 nmol/L increase your risk for developing type 2 diabetes.”

One proposed mechanism for vitamin D increasing insulin sensitivity is its role in suppressing parathyroid hormone. In fact, the studies that looked at vitamin D alone without assessing parathyroid hormone may explain the contradictory results among the existing research. The people demonstrating increased parathyroid hormone are the ones with altered glucose metabolism and thosewho may benefit from vitamin D supplementation.

A Guide to Vitamin D Levels

When starting on your journey to lose weight or increase performance, do not spend your hard-earned cash on supplements that do not deliver. The only supplement you may need to go along with your smart exercise and nutritional plan is vitamin D.

RELATED:Are You Sure You’re Getting Enough Vitamin D?

You should get your vitamin D levels checked twice per year and then supplement accordingly. Your levels should be between 100 to 150nmol/L ,or if your lab uses ng/ml it should be between 40 to 60ng/ml. This will assure we have adequate hormones to build muscle and proper metabolism of glucose to lose weight. The best part is you do not need to break the bank to yield vitamin D’s positive health benefits.

References:

1. Lite, J. “Vitamin D deficiency soars in the US, study says.” Scientific American 2009. Retrieved on January 4, 2015.

2. Muir, SW. et al., “Effect of vitamin D supplementation on muscle strength, gait and balance in older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.” Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (2011). Retrieved on January 4, 2015.

3. Pilz, S, et.al., “Effect of vitamin D supplementation on testosterone levels in men.” Hormone and Metabolic Research 2011. Retrieved on January 4, 2015.

4. Teegarden, D. et al. “Vitamin D: emerging new roles in insulin sensitivity.” Nutrition Research and Reviews 2009. Retrieved on January 4, 2015.

5. Kramer, C., et.al., “Prospective Associations of Vitamin D Status With β-Cell Function, Insulin Sensitivity, and Glycemia: The Impact of Parathyroid Hormone Status” Diabetes 2014. Retrieved on January 4, 2015.

Photos courtesy ofShutterstock.

The post The Greatest Sports Supplement You Should Be Taking appeared first on Breaking Muscle.