Steps to Staying Healthy During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Steps to Staying Healthy During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Minimize Grocery Store Trips

Plan ahead for meals for the next seven days, as well as any other home/car/children/pet supplies you might need. Aim for stepping out once a week if at all possible.

Purchase Nutrition-Packed Foods That Keep

Focus on nutrient-dense foods that can stay fresh for a week or longer. Examples of this are whole grains such as oatmeal, brown rice, whole grain pasta, quinoa, etc. Fruits with longer shelf lives are apples, citrus, watermelon, kiwi, pineapple, melons, under-ripe bananas, under-ripe avocados, and frozen fruit. Good vegetables to purchase would be, celery, broccoli, potatoes, carrots, squash, garlic, onions, Brussel sprouts, peas, corn, green beans, and frozen vegetables. Other foods include, frozen meat, cartons of broth, nut milk, canned or dry beans, nuts, and eggs.

Avoid Frozen Dinners and Snack Foods

These are high in sodium, harmful fats, and processed/artificial ingredients.

Try Grocery Delivery

Having your groceries delivered to your door or even available for you to simply pick up at the store front will help maintain social distance while also saving you time.

Reconnect with Family

Increased time with family members during quarantine can be a stressful adjustment. Reconnect during meal times by involving the family with cooking new recipes. Encourage telling stories or sharing goals around the table. Focus on keeping the conversation light and upbeat.

Maintain a Positive Mindset

Keeping a healthy mindset is critical to getting through this pandemic. Practice stress management techniques such as walking the dog, taking a relaxing bath, calling a friend, or spending time with your children. Stick to a routine as much as possible. Keep a healthy sleep schedule and eat meals at regular times. If you are schooling children at home, segment the day into chunks, focusing on one subject at a time and transitioning to a new activity every 45 minutes to keep kids engaged.

Stay Physically and Mentally Fit

Establish ways to exercise without leaving the house. Examples include, following an instruction video for yoga, pilates, weight lifting, kick-boxing, etc in the living room. Maintain your home’s landscape bushes and trees, or play a ball sport in the backyard with your kids. Keeping mentally fit is just as important as physical exercise. Take time to enjoy your hobbies: cook, read, write/journal, create DIY projects, or organize photo albums into a scrapbook.

Everyone is going through this together. Remember to be neighborly, donating food or supplies to those who aren’t able to leave the house. Make the most of this extra time away from distraction and let’s come out of this stronger and wiser!

GERD: The Real Cause and How to Treat Without Medication

GERD: The Real Cause and How to Treat Without Medication

GERD, or gastroesophageal reflux disease affects about 40% of American adults at least once per month. GERD is when stomach acid escapes upward into our esophagus, where there is no protective layer, and causes acid damage. GERD invites symptoms of, heartburn, regurgitation, chronic coughing, difficulty swallowing, and/or dental erosions. If left unchecked, GERD can cause constriction of the throat, scarring, ulceration, and even cancer of the esophagus.

 

The Problem With GERD Medications

Unfortunately, drug companies are not looking to figure out why stomach acid isn’t staying in the stomach. Instead, they assume GERD is a problem of too much stomach acid, and so have developed a line of acid-suppressing drugs, like PPI’s and H2 blockers. Like most other medications, GERD medications serve to merely suppress the symptoms of GERD even as the underlying cause of the problem continues to occur in our bodies, stripping us of optimal health and vitality.

 

So, It’s Not About Too Much Stomach Acid?

When we look at research, we see that the risk for developing GERD increases as we age. However, our production of stomach acid actually decreases with age. This means people statistically have low stomach acid by the time they develop GERD, so how can it be caused by too much acid?

Secondly, studies have shown that GERD patients respond very well when they supplement with HCl (hydrochloric acid, or stomach acid), which serves to increase their stomach acid.

Lastly, stomach acid is a natural production of our bodies. We need stomach acid to kill pathogens found on our food, thus protecting us from a bacterial or viral infection. Stomach acid also breaks down food and activates enzymes that digest carbs, fats, and proteins. Interestingly, our bodies also have a failsafe against stomach acid getting too high: we produce bicarbonate, a base, which neutralizes acid and ensures the correct pH in our stomach.

Now we can see the valuable purpose of stomach acid and how lowering it can harm our digestion and increase our risk for infection.

 

The Real Cause of Gerd:

If it’s not about too much stomach acid, then what is the real cause of GERD? Studies show that it is caused by an increase in pressure against the muscles at the end of our esophagus (where it meets our stomach). These muscles are called the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) and they are designed to prevent the contents of our stomach from traveling upwards. The only times when the LES should be open is when we are swallowing or burping.

When there is too much pressure pressing against the LES, the sphincter relaxes and opens up when it’s not supposed to. This is when GERD becomes a problem.

 

What Causes This Increased Pressure?

Recall the two main purposes of stomach acid: protecting our digestive system from harmful bacteria and activating enzymes that digest our food (such as carbs). Keeping this in mind, therefore:

Low stomach acid thus allows bacteria to survive through the stomach and make their way into our intestine. This can cause chronic gut infections and increase the pressure against our LES, causing the sphincter muscles to weaken and GERD to occur.
Low stomach acid also thus cannot signal enzymes to digest carbs properly. Undigested carbs are fermented by the normal gut bacteria in our intestine, and, if in excess, this fermentation generates too much hydrogen gas. Too much hydrogen gas, again, increases the pressure pressing against our LES.

 

How to Treat Gerd Without Medication:

The good news is that GERD can be treated and reversed without resorting to medication. This is done through replenishing low stomach acid, addressing any bacterial infections, reestablishing good bacteria in our gut, and preventing excess fermentation of carbohydrates.

 

–Increase your stomach acid: Supplement with one capsule of “HCl with pepsin” at the beginning of each meal. Two days later, increase to two capsules before each meal. Two days after that, increase to three capsules.

Continue increasing until you feel a slight burning sensation, then back off by one capsule. This is your “sweet spot” of how many capsules you need to take before each meal. Do not exceed 6 capsules per meal.

 

–Avoid NSAIDs: Ibuprefen, aspirin, and other NSAIDs can increase your risk of acid-related disorders as well as cause damage to the gut lining. Further, taking any anti-inflammatory medication concurrently with an HCl supplement, described above, can increase your risk of ulcers or gastric bleeding.

 

–Avoid drinking water during meals: this dilutes stomach acid and hinders digestion.

 

–Treat any bacterial infection or bacterial overgrowth: Low stomach acid invites bacterial infections and/or bacterial overgrowth (such as an H. pylori infection and SIBO). If you suspect this is happening, seek specific treatment, resources, and guidance with CustomCare Nutrition. Treatment will involve a specialized carb diet, antimicrobial supplements, motility agents, and sometimes antibiotics.

 

–Take probiotics: Probiotics are our healthy bacteria in our gut, which can become compromised due to low stomach acid. Taking probiotics can reduce bacterial overgrowth, protect against harmful bacterial strains, and normalize our digestive process.

 

–Eat a low-carb diet: Low stomach acid affects your ability to digest carbs properly. Decreasing the amount of carbs you eat will lessen the frequency of fermentation of undigested carbs and resulting hydrogen gas build-up. Focus on nutrient-dense, whole food rather than low-carb processed foods.

 

The causes of GERD are more complex than originally assumed and purported by drug companies. Furthermore, lowering our stomach acid in the hopes of suppressing symptoms will only invite a host of even more symptoms. Instead, GERD must be treated through addressing the underlying cause. This is the only way our bodies can truly heal and regain full functionality!

Oxidative Stress and the Power of Antioxidants

Oxidative Stress and the Power of Antioxidants

Antioxidants are substances found in certain plant foods as well as manufactured by our bodies. They prevent damage to our cells that are caused by “free radicals.” Free radicals are produced during normal body functions but they can get out of hand if our body is exposed to harmful toxins through our environment or our food. It is important to rid our bodies of free radicals as soon as they are generated to prevent them from harming our health and causing oxidative stress.
Oxidative stress is the damage that free radicals cause to our cells. It is linked to a variety of chronic conditions including heart disease, stroke, cancer, immune deficiency syndromes, emphysema, Parkinson’s disease, and other inflammatory conditions.

 

What Can Cause Oxidative Stress?

  • Excessive exercise
  • Smoking
  • Environmental pollution
  • Industrial chemicals and solvents
  • Pesticides
  • Chemotherapy drugs
  • Refined and processed foods
  • Tissue damage (from inflammation or injury)

Antioxidants neutralize free radicals, thereby protecting us against a number of health conditions down the road.

 

Where Are Antioxidants Found?

Antioxidants found in plants are a type of phytonutrient. These include flavonoids, carotenoids, resveratrol, isoflavones, and indoles. Other antioxidants include selenium, copper, zinc, manganese, and vitamins C and E.
Antioxidants are found in a variety of plant foods:

  • Berries
  • Citrus fruits
  • Apples
  • Pomegranates
  • Legumes
  • Nuts and seeds
  • Green leafy vegetables
  • Cruciferous vegetables
  • Carrots
  • Tomatoes Dark chocolate
  • Green and black teas

 

Tips To Boost Antioxidant Intake

  • Drink 1-2 cups of matcha green tea per day
  • Eat vegetables with every meal
  • Eat fruit 1-2 times per day
  • Is your plate colorful? If it is mostly brown, then it’s lacking in antioxidants. Add in foods that are red, green, orange, and blue/purple
  • Spice up your meals! Oregano, cumin, ginger, cinnamon, and turmeric all contain antioxidants

Eating a colorful and varied diet allows you to consume antioxidants in their natural form. This is the best way to combat cellular damage and the development of health conditions related to oxidative stress.

Gluten and the Brain

Gluten and the Brain

A person does not have to have Celiac Disease to experience the negative effects of eating gluten. Non-Celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) is when people experience an array of symptoms after eating gluten, but without the intestinal damage that is seen in those with Celiac. It is thought that 18 million Americans have gluten sensitivity, six times greater than the number of Americans with Celiac Disease.

How Does Eating Gluten Trigger Brain Changes?

The most common symptoms of gluten sensitivity are related to the digestive tract and include constipation, diarrhea, and bloating. However, gluten sensitivity can also affect the brain and mental health. The connection between the digestive tract and the nervous system is called the gut-brain axis. In essence, our diets affect our microbiome, whether positively or negatively. Eating gluten, for those who are sensitive, alters the ecosystem of our “gut bugs,” thus causing inflammation in the gut, affecting our enteric nervous system (the nervous system in our digestive tract). The gut-brain axis communicates changes from the enteric nervous system to our central nervous system (our brain and spinal cord). In this way, inflammation in our gut can cause inflammation in our brains. This is called neuroinflammation.

What Neuroinflammation Can do to Your Brain

Neuroinflammation plays a role in cognitive impairment and the development of ADHD, depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and even autism. It also increases our risk of developing neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

How to Decrease Neuroinflammation and Manage Neurologic Symptoms

In order to reduce the effects of neuroinflammation, or if a person is experiencing any of these mental and cognitive disorders, it is important to restore the health of the gut-brain axis:

— Follow a strict gluten-free diet:
— Restore the microbiome (gut bacteria) by taking probiotics and prebiotics
— Reduce inflammation by eating anti-inflammatory foods (see a recent post about which foods are anti-inflammatory)

Diabetes Management and Functional Medicine

Diabetes Management and Functional Medicine

We all know diabetes is becoming more and more prevalent among Americans. Today, 10% of Americans have type 2 diabetes, with 25% of Americans falling into the pre-diabetes range. Those with prediabetes are projected to develop diabetes within five years if no treatment or preventative measures are taken. Once called “adult-onset” and reserved for higher-class populations, diabetes is now striking adolescents and is heavily seen in middle and lower-class populations. This shift is attributed to the declining nutritional value of the Western diet and its cheap and easy access by all Americans. Diabetes is also connected to being sedentary, getting poor sleep, having chronic stress, and being exposed to an overload of environmental toxins.

 

Two Approaches to Treating Diabetes

The conventional approach towards diabetes is a hands-off approach until a person actually becomes diabetic. Little is done during the pre-diabetic stage in terms of nutrition education, healthy habit formation, dietary changes, and overall healthy lifestyle habits. Secondly, the traditional dietary guidelines for those with diabetes are outdated and focus too heavily on carbohydrates while downplaying the role of healthy fats. Lastly, diabetes drugs do not address the core reason this disease developed originally. Medications address the downstream outcome of the problem, rather than the upstream source of the problem. Diabetes drugs also come with an array of nasty side effects, the least of which is kidney and liver dysfunction.

In contrast, the functional medicine model explores all aspects of a person and addresses the root cause behind disease development. Preventative measures are taken, including nutrition education and healthy habit formation. When approached in this way, diabetes and pre-diabetes can be improved, well-managed, and even reversed.

 

The Functional Medicine Model For Diabetes

 

Diet

Dietary changes are at the center of diabetes management and treatment. Carbohydrates should be limited each day to about 15% of total calories. The type of carbohydrate also matters. High-fiber, whole-food vegetables should compose most of your carbohydrate intake, supported by whole-fruits, whole-grains, and full-fat dairy (if tolerated). Pairing a carbohydrate with a healthy fat or protein will help decrease glucose spikes and insulin levels after a meal.

Functional medicine recognizes the impact that gluten can have, especially in those with chronic conditions. Gluten increases intestinal permeability, creates inflammation, and thereby can lead to insulin resistance. Avoiding gluten is, therefore, a common treatment plan for those with diabetes or pre-diabetes.

 

Exercise

Getting physical activity does not mean intense training or long hours at the gym. Preventing and managing diabetes can be accomplished with 30 minutes of exercise a day. Aerobic activity, like jogging biking, or swimming, is the most effective type of exercise for lowering blood sugar.

Look for ways to interrupt a sedentary lifestyle each day. Take regular breaks every hour to walk around the office, give office memos or messages in-person rather than paging them, convert your desk into a standing desk, or otherwise look for ways to break up your day by moving.

 

Sleep

Most Americans do not get enough sleep, and studies are now showing that getting less than 7-8 hours of sleep each night is actually a risk factor for developing type 2 diabetes. Secondly, those with sleep apnea are at greater risk for diabetes due to the lack of oxygen that occurs while sleeping. For proper sleep hygiene, aim for getting 7-8 hours of sleep each night, avoid eating between dinner and bedtime, and limit the blue light emitted from electronic screens 2 hours before going to bed.

 

Stress

Another risk factor for diabetes is chronic stress. Stress hormones, if continuously activated overtime, cause blood sugar imbalances, beta cell dysfunction, and insulin resistance. Ways to reduce stress include meditation, deep breathing, visualizations, and yoga. These practices can decrease blood sugar levels in those with diabetes.

 

Environmental Toxins

The accumulation of environmental toxins in our bodies contributes to the development and progression of many chronic diseases including type 2 diabetes. Some of the main culprits include BPA, phthalates, pesticides, and PCB’s. Reducing your exposure to environmental toxins can be as straight-forward as replacing plastic food storage and water bottles with glass, buying phthalate-free personal care products, focusing on organic produce by avoiding the “Dirty Dozen,” and filtering your tap water.

Type 2 diabetes is an ever-growing health concern in America. The conventional medical model focuses on symptom management without addressing underlying causes. Functional medicine treats the underlying cause and can improve and even reverse diabetes through nutrition and lifestyle changes. Ask us how you can get started on our diabetes program today!