Zzzzz Zzzzz

Happy February 15th! Yep, that's right.... yesterday was a day to focus on the loves in our life & today is the day to focus on loving ourselves. If you're anything like me on Valentines Day (& lets be honest- pretty much all other holidays & days of celebration), you found yourself over indulging in sweets treats & rich delectable fatty foods. You likely didn't drink nearly enough water to stay hydrated because how could you? You had to further indulge in your favorite adult beverages.

As the hours pass by the hard impact this has on your body is taking affect. It can impact everything from all of your body's vital systems to the quality of sleep you get.

As 4am came & went this morning, I lie in bed awake, accepting my fate of only 4hours of sleep. Oh the frustration!! I laid there & thought about how the two nights prior I had slept pretty well all night long completely unaided. That's right.... no Melatonin, no Benadryl, no Tylenol P.M. or anything else. What happened?!?!! I thought maybe things were headed down the right track & I was starting to sleep well again, yet instead, I lay facing the early hours of the morning once again.

Through the frustration, I began to think about the seemingly obvious connection between the "festivities" I indulged in and their possible connection to my current state of wakefulness. It seemed so obvious, how could I have missed this before? This is when it hit me. I realized that while living in a consistent state of self indulgence your "baseline" is altered. Day after day of 1 or 2 glasses of wine, delicious m

icro brews, or cocktail varieties accompanied with our daily sugar intake we reek complete havoc on the vital systems of our body.

Here is a list of ways sugar can affect your health:

• Sugar can suppress the immune system.
• Sugar can upset the body's mineral balance.
• Sugar can contribute to hyperactivity, anxiety, depression, concentration difficulties, and crankiness in children.
• Sugar can produce a significant rise in triglycerides.
• Sugar can cause drowsiness and decreased activity in children.
• Sugar can reduce helpful high density cholesterol (HDLs).
• Sugar can promote an elevation of harmful cholesterol (LDLs).
• Sugar can cause hypoglycemia.
• Sugar contributes to a weakened defense against bacterial infection.
• Sugar can cause kidney damage.
• Sugar can increase the risk of coronary heart disease.
• Sugar interferes with absorption of calcium and magnesium.
• Sugar can promote tooth decay.
• Sugar can produce an acidic stomach.
• Sugar can speed the aging process, causing wrinkles and grey hair.
• Sugar can increase total cholesterol.
• Sugar can contribute to weight gain and obesity.
• Sugar can contribute to diabetes.
• Sugar can contribute to osteoporosis.
• Sugar can cause a decrease in insulin sensitivity.
• Sugar leads to decreased glucose tolerance.
• Sugar can cause cardiovascular disease.
• Sugar can increase systolic blood pressure.
• Sugar causes food allergies.
• Sugar can cause free radical formation in the bloodstream.
• Sugar can cause toxemia during pregnancy.
• Sugar can overstress the pancreas, causing damage.
• Sugar can cause atherosclerosis.
• Sugar can compromise the lining of the capillaries.
• Sugar can cause liver cells to divide, increasing the size of the liver.
• Sugar can increase the amount of fat in the liver.
• Sugar can increase kidney size
• and produce pathological changes in the kidney.
• Sugar can cause depression.
• Sugar can increase the body's fluid retention.
• Sugar can cause hormonal imbalance.
• Sugar can cause hypertension.
• Sugar can cause headaches, including migraines.
• Sugar can increase blood platelet adhesiveness which increases risk of blood clots and strokes.
• Sugar can increase insulin responses in those consuming high-sugar diets compared to low sugar diets.

.... and sad to say... this list is not complete.

After tossing & turning with no results

I decided to get up & do a little research on my newly developed hypothesis. What I found was a vast amount of information linking blood sugar levels to insomnia. Actually, in many cases it is directly related to blood sugar imbalances, in particular to adrenal function. According to Dr. Datis Kharrazian, DC,MS, CCN, "Clinically, patients with adrenal hypofunction typically will be able to fall asleep, but cannot stay asleep. With adrenal hyperfunction, patients often are unable to fall asleep. Therefore, both adrenal hypo- and hyperfunction have an impact on insomnia. These patients need to learn how to stabilize their blood sugar levels during the day and potentially take some non-stimulatory support for their adrenal glands."

Dr.Kharrazian says the most important step is to learn to stabilize your blood sugar levels during the day. It is recommended that you never skip breakfast, and that breakfast is protein dominant. For example the worst breakfast to eat would be a bowl of cereal with toast & juice due to the high sugar content that causes se

vere stress to the adrenal glands. This is especially true after the body has been in a state of fasting all night. An ideal breakfast would be a high-quality protein shake, eggs, or some type of meat. Kharrazian also recommends eating low-glycemic foods such as nuts, seeds, or vegetables every 2-3 hours. According to Dr.Kharrazian, eating low-glycemic foods every few hours will take the load off of the adrenals and allow them to recover.

Another important factor is stress levels. Stress impacts blood sugar levels and an imbalance decreases a person's ability to deal with stress. Dr.Kharrazian recommends using positive mental imaging prior to stressful events of the day & a contraction-relaxation exercise that can be done lying down in a quite room progressing from your face muscles down to your toes.

Although yesterday was filled with gluttony, today is a new day and a day to spend loving yourself by providing your body with the nutrition that it needs. Month after month we will have reason to celebrate & indulge. As long as these days are kept in moderation they too hold value. We need not b

eat ourselves up after these delicious days but always celebrate the following days & days to

come by loving ourselves and taking care of our body.

"Let food be your medicine, and medicine be your food."

-Hippocrates "Father of Medicine"

Happy February 15th!

Health Supplements- Healthy or Harmful?

Vitamins & Supplements:

Healthy or Harmful?

There was a time when even cigarettes were said to be healthy & aid you in achieving a healthy "slender" figure. We now know their dangerous effects and how far from healthy they truly are.

Sad but true, the “health promoting” vitamins & supplements you take may actually be doing nothing for you, or even worse, causing you harm.

Due to the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, supplements are not subject to the same FDA approval process that food additives and prescription drugs undergo. Food additives and prescription drugs must be proven safe prior to marketing. In contrast, dietary supplements are sold without prior studies proving their safety, or that what is on the label is truly in the container.

FDA's Role:

The FDA requires that supplement labels disclose all of the ingredients used in product manufacture. Labels include the product name, identification as a supplement, and manufacturer contact information. This is NOT your guarantee of product quality. According to Consumerlab.com, an independent dietary supplement testing organization, there are numerous instances of misleading and inaccurate labeling information on dietary supplements and it is only after a supplement is found to be harmful that it is taken off the market.

U.S.Pharmacopeia (USP) Verified Mark:

Before you purchase any dietary supplement, be sure to examine the label carefully for the USP mark. This mark is your best assurance that the supplement has undergone voluntary testing for all of the ingredients listed on the label. The manufacturers of supplements that bare this mark attest to the facts that their product is contaminant-free, that good manufacturing processes were used and that the supplement disperses all active ingredients properly once ingested. The USP is a non-profit organization that operates independently of government regulatory agencies such as the FDA and until measures of regulation are put in effect looking for this mark can aid in quality selections. Additionally, the NSF Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) Registration website is another source to find products that have been voluntarily tested & verified. A list of these products is available on their website.

Increased Visibility of USP Verified Mark for Dietary Supplements:

The USP mark makes it easy for consumers to identify dietary supplements whose quality, purity, and potency have been thoroughly tested and verified. In 2002, Nature Made & Costco’s Kirkland Signature products were among the first to be verified.

http://www.usp.org/

http://www.nsf.org/