Microbiome Diversity

I suspect that for many of you diet (not healthy living but DIET or weight loss) success revolves around sticking to your personal set program. Protein bar for breakfast, (same) sandwich with an apple for lunch and lean meat with favorite veggie for dinner. And while this same daily diet habit may help you focus on losing weight, eating the same thing every day is NOT the answer to a fully healthy life. 

Tim Spector is a professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College London, and is lead investigator of the British Gut Project. He’s also the author of The Diet Myth: The Real Science Behind What We Eat. Spector says that diet health is clearly more complex than calories in and calories out. Much of it has to do with microbes and the importance of our gut microbiome, which he likens to discovering a new organ in our body. 

Spector shares that we’ve lost much of the microbial diversity that we once had, citing people like the Hadza in Tanzania and Amazonian tribes. Unlike people living in the west, “they have these super healthy microbiomes and they don’t get obese, they don’t get many other chronic diseases and don’t get allergies”. Spector states that the west’s love affair with antibiotics, processed food and sterile living environments has resulted in the compromising of our microbiome health. 

Another cause of poor microbiome health are the foods we eat -- or just as importantly – don’t eat. Spector sites findings from the British Gut Project. “It has shown that the number one factor to determine having a healthy microbiome is the number of different plants you ate in a week.” The more diverse the food we eat, the more diverse our gut microbes. 

If we ate over 30 different plants – including fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds – each week we’d all have a healthier gut, he says. While that sounds simple, Spector says that on average we’re now only eating around five different plants per week.

Upping our consumption of fermented foods, a wider variety of plants, fibre and polyphenol-rich foods like nuts and berries is the best way to feed those 100 trillion microbes that we might not have even known we had.

So you have probably guessed it --this next week we will focus on more variety in our daily meal choices. Not just romaine lettuce in our salads but a wide variety of different types of greens. Not just wheat bread but rye or millet. Not just rice but Quinoa or Freekuh instead. Not just your daily apple for a snack but black grapes or guava. (Note I tasted my first guava last week and the taste was just OK but the fragrance was intoxicating.) I would love it if you would eat 30 different fruits, vegetables, grains and nuts and seeds this week (Do keep count and let me know)  but to earn the weekly bonus challenge you need to add to your diet at least one different item (a fruit, seed, grain or vegetable you have not eaten during the past month or already during this week of challenge)  per day to earn the daily bonus points or add a total of 7 new ones for the  week (you could eat then all on one day) for the full 35 points. 

I think for a lot of us success in losing weight falls into a habit of eating the same thing (at least for breakfast or lunch) every day. But being a healthy person encompasses more factors than mere weight control.  Let’s branch out ladies and bless our microbiome with a wider variety of plants! Happy eating!

Fiber It Up

          

         You have probably guessed that I am a BIG FAN of Myfitnesspal.com. By now you have learned to use it as a tool for tracking your calorie intake. But have you ever spent time studying the other columns of information in the food diary? I wish we had time to focus a challenge on each one of these important columns but this week we are going to focus on fiber. Take a look at your past entries. Have you met the fiber requirement each day? If you have HOORAH but if not you may have to make an extra effort this week. 

         Public health guidelines from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advise Americans to eat between 20 and 30 grams of fiber a day, but most adults don't even eat half that much.

         This isn't surprising, since fiber refers to the indigestible portion of plant foods, and in the largely refined standard American diet, healthful fibers are often processed right out.

        Unless you regularly eat whole fruits and vegetables, nuts, and seeds, you may be missing out on the healthiest forms of fiber available – and that could be a problem. 

Why Is Fiber So Important?

         Soluble fiber, like that found in cucumbers, blueberries, beans, and nuts, dissolves into a gel-like texture, helping to slow down your digestion. This helps you to feel full longer and is one reason why fiber may help with weight control.

         Insoluble fiber, found in foods like dark green leafy vegetables, green beans, celery, and carrots, does not dissolve at all and helps add bulk to your stool. This helps food to move through your digestive tract more quickly for healthy elimination. Many whole foods, especially fruits and vegetables, naturally contain both soluble and insoluble fiber.

9 Health Benefits of Fiber

There's no shortage of research showing how fiber may boost your health. Some of its top potential benefits include:

•   Blood sugar control: Soluble fiber may help to slow your body's breakdown of carbohydrates and the absorption of sugar, helping with blood sugar control.

•   Heart health: An inverse association has been found between fiber intake and heart attack, and research shows that those eating a high-fiber diet have a 40 percent lower risk of heart disease.1

•   Stroke: Researchers have found that for every seven-grams more fiber you consume on a daily basis, your stroke risk is decreased by 7 percent.2

•   Weight loss and management: Fiber supplements have been shown to enhance weight loss among obese people,3 likely because fiber increases feelings of fullness.

•   Skin health: Fiber, particularly psyllium husk, may help move yeast and fungus out of your body, preventing them from being excreted through your skin where they could trigger acne or rashes.4

•   Diverticulitis: Dietary fiber (especially insoluble) may reduce your risk of diverticulitis – an inflammation of polyps in your intestine – by 40 percent.5

•   Hemorrhoids: A high-fiber diet may lower your risk of hemorrhoids.

•   Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS): Fiber may provide some relief from IBS.

•   Gallstones and kidney stones: A high-fiber diet may reduce the risk of gallstones and kidney stones, likely because of its ability to help regulate blood sugar.

•      What Are the Healthiest Sources of Fiber?

Most Americans get nowhere near the amount of fiber needed to support a healthy body. As the New York Times reported: "...the current average fiber intake in the United States is about 13 grams a day for women and 17 for men. Increasing these amounts by seven grams a day would bring them close to the recommended levels of 21 to 25 grams for women and 30 to 38 for men. 'Seven grams a day increase is an achievable goal…' 'You're talking about... increasing vegetable and fruit by two portions a day.'"

As always I would prefer you fortify your fiber intake by focusing on whole foods (rather than processed bran or fiber supplements)  which contain high levels of soluble and insoluble fiber.

•      Chia seeds

•      Berries

•      Vegetables such as broccoli and Brussels sprouts

•      Root vegetables and tubers, including onions and sweet potatoes

•      Almonds

•      Psyllium seed husk, flax, and chia seeds

•      Green beans

•      Cauliflower

•      Beans

•      Peas

 So what is your challenge for the week?

1. Track your fiber on myfitnesspal.com daily and make sure you meet at least the minimum requirement listed there

2. At least once this week add a type of fiber into your diet that you don’t normally eat

ACCOMPLISH THESE TWO THINGS AND YOU HAVE MET THE FIBER CHALLENGE AND EARNED YOUR 35 BONUS POINTS FOR THE WEEK

Let's NOT get sick

With a pretty yucky version of the flu going around, colds on every corner and our new worry over the Coronavirus it's time to get serious about how to NOT GET SICK.

The World Health Organization is stressing the following tips:

1. Wash your hands frequently

Wash your hands frequently. While hand sanitizer is a current fad, studies have shown your hands actually get  cleaner with soap and water. One tip to try to make sure you have washed your hands long enough is to hum the song Happy Birthday while you scrub all the nooks and crannies. 

Since some germs and viruses can stay alive on hand rails, shopping carts, gym equipment, door handles etc. etc. You want to wash your hands diligently before eating, after using the bathroom and really any time you have been touching public items. 

2. Practice respiratory hygiene

When coughing and sneezing, cover your mouth and nose  COMPLETELY with flexed elbow or tissue – discard tissue immediately into a closed bin and clean your hands with hand sanitizer or soap and water.

Why? If you don't cover your mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing  the germs will be projected in a 6-8 foot circle. And if you sneeze or cough into your hands, you may contaminate objects or people that you touch afterward. I can't believe how terrible people are at this- we can do better 

3. Maintain social distancing

Maintain at least 3 feet distance between yourself and other people, particularly those who are coughing, sneezing and have a fever.

Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth and eyes 

Why? Hands touch many surfaces which can be contaminated with the virus. If you touch your eyes, nose or mouth with your contaminated hands before you have had time to wash them thoroughly, you can transfer the virus from the surface to yourself. 

4. If you have fever, cough and difficulty breathing, seek medical care early

Tell your health care provider if you have traveled in an area in China where 2019-nCoV has been reported, or if you have been in close contact with someone with who has traveled from China and has respiratory symptoms.

Why? Whenever you have fever, cough and difficulty breathing it’s important to seek medical attention promptly as this may be due to a respiratory infection or other serious condition. Respiratory symptoms with fever can have a range of causes, and depending on your personal travel history and circumstances, 2019-nCoV could be one of them.

If you have mild respiratory symptoms and no travel history to or within China, carefully practice basic respiratory and hand hygiene and stay home until you are recovered, if possible.

5. As a general precaution, practice general hygiene measures when visiting live animal markets, wet markets or animal product markets as the coronavirus appears to be being spread from animals to humans

Ensure regular hand washing with soap and potable water after touching animals and animal products; avoid touching eyes, nose or mouth with hands; and avoid contact with sick animals or spoiled animal products. Strictly avoid any contact with other animals in the market (e.g., stray cats and dogs, rodents, birds, bats). Avoid contact with potentially contaminated animal waste or fluids on the soil or structures of shops and market facilities.

6. Avoid consumption of raw or undercooked animal products

Handle raw meat, milk or animal organs with care, to avoid cross-contamination with uncooked foods, as per good food safety practices.

So our special challenge this week is to try harder every day this week to follow the precautions that will help you and your family members to stay healthy. For every day you do this you earn the 5 bonus points,

You DON'T have to eat round the clock

One of the world's current health and fitness trends is intermittent fasting. People are using it to lose weight, improve their health and simplify their lifestyles.

Many studies show that it can have powerful effects on your body and brain and may even help you live longer.

FASTING- YIKES! Don’t worry-- I’m not going to ask you to go a week without food. Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern that cycles between periods of fasting and eating. It doesn’t specify which foods you should eat but rather when you should eat them.

Commonly intermittent fasting methods involve daily 12-16 hour fasts. So if you take your first bite of food or drink of juice in the morning at 7:30 a.m. you would need to finish your last bite of food in the evening by 7:30 pm (though restricting it to an 8 or 10 hour window of eating rather than 12 is even better). During the time period that you have chosen to fast you would not take in any substances with calories. You take in only water when you not in your window of eating. (Note that if you are REQUIRED to take a medication during the fasting window of course you must go ahead)

I have been experimenting with intermittent fasting or time restricted eating for some time and have found that for me the biggest change was giving up evening treats in front of the TV and of course that is a good change. Honestly it really hasn’t been that painful.

For our bonus challenge this week I am going to ask you to restrict your eating each day to an 8,10 or at least 12 hour window and other than that take in only water.(NOTE IF YOU HAVE A MEDICAL REASON THAT YOU NEED TO EAT REGULARLY DURING ALL THE HOURS YOU ARE AWAKE LET ME KNOW AND I’LL GIVE YOU AN ALTERNATE CHALLENGE.) 

*And as always while this is only our bonus challenge for this week it is a healthy habit I'd like you to consider adopting for the long term. 

I really like the free APP called ZERO to track my daily fasting period. It is super easy to use and for some reason I like marking my fasting on the app.

Fasting has been a practice throughout human evolution. Ancient hunter-gatherers didn't have supermarkets, fast food drive throughs or refrigerators full of food available year-round. It was often difficult to find anything to eat. As a result, the human body evolved to be able to function without food for extended periods of time.

In fact, fasting from time to time is more natural than always eating 3–4 (or more) meals per day.

How It Affects Your Cells and Hormones

When you fast, several things happen in your body on the cellular and molecular level.

For example, your body adjusts hormone levels to make stored body fat more accessible.

Your cells also initiate important repair processes and change the expression of genes.

Here are some changes that occur in your body when you fast:

•  Human Growth Hormone (HGH): The levels of growth hormone skyrocket, increasing as much as 5-fold. This has benefits for fat loss and muscle gain, to name a few.

•  Insulin: Insulin sensitivity improves and levels of insulin drop dramatically. Lower insulin levels make stored body fat more accessible . 

•  Cellular repair: When fasted, your cells initiate cellular repair processes. This includes autophagy, where cells digest and remove old and dysfunctional proteins that build up inside cells.

•  Gene expression: There are changes in the function of genes related to longevity and protection against disease.

These changes in hormone levels, cell function and gene expression are responsible for the health benefits of intermittent fasting.

A Very Powerful Weight Loss Tool

Weight loss is the most common reason for people to try intermittent fasting. By restricting your eating to a short time period intermittent fasting can lead to a reduction in total calorie intake. Additionally, intermittent fasting changes hormone levels to facilitate weight loss. In addition to lowering insulin and increasing growth hormone levels, it increases the release of the fat burning hormone norepinephrine (noradrenaline).

By helping you eat fewer and burn more calories, intermittent fasting causes weight loss by changing both sides of the calorie equation.

A 2014 review study found that this eating pattern can cause 3–8% weight loss over 3–24 weeks, which is a significant amount, compared to most weight loss studies. According to the same study, people also lost 4–7% of their waist circumference, indicating a significant loss of harmful belly fat that builds up around your organs and causes disease. Another study showed that intermittent fasting causes less muscle loss than the more standard method of continuous calorie restriction.

However, keep in mind that the main reason for its success is that intermittent fasting helps you eat fewer calories overall. If you binge and eat massive amounts during your eating periods, you may not lose any weight at all.

Health Benefits

Many studies have been done on intermittent fasting, in both animals and humans.

These studies have shown that it can have powerful benefits for weight control and the health of your body and brain. It may even help you live longer.

Here are the main health benefits of intermittent fasting:

•  Weight loss: As mentioned above, intermittent fasting can help you lose weight and belly fat, without having to consciously restrict calories 

•  Insulin resistance: Intermittent fasting can reduce insulin resistance, lowering blood sugar by 3–6% and fasting insulin levels by 20–31%, which should protect against type 2 diabetes 

•  Inflammation: Some studies show reductions in markers of inflammation, a key driver of many chronic diseases

•  Heart health: Intermittent fasting may reduce “bad” LDL cholesterol, blood triglycerides, inflammatory markers, blood sugar and insulin resistance — all risk factors for heart disease 

•  Cancer: Animal studies suggest that intermittent fasting may prevent cancer 

•  Brain health: Intermittent fasting increases the brain hormone BDNF and may aid the growth of new nerve cells. It may also protect against Alzheimer’s disease 

•  Anti-aging: Intermittent fasting can extend lifespan in rats. Studies showed that fasted rats lived 36–83% longer 

Keep in mind that research is still in its early stages. Many of the studies were small, short-term or conducted in animals. Many questions have yet to be answered in higher quality human studies

Imagining what will be

As we begin our healthy living challenge for this round I want you to really focus and believe that you can follow through on every challenge and fulfill every rule so that you can obtain an optimum result. 

In the book Visualization for weight loss Jon Gabriel shares the following strategies for obtaining your optimal health through visualization

STEP 1: MAKE AFFIRMATIONS

You can use an affirmation to make any desired change you’d like, whether it’s to change a habit, belief, or food choice; break an addiction; or anything else. Just make sure that the words you use in your affirmation focus on the positive and take place in the present (not future) tense:

-I love to eat fresh fruit and vegetables and I feel energized when I do

-My clothes fit well and I feel healthy and attractive in them

-I enjoy my daily exercise and look forward to this time I set aside each day

STEP 2: MELT THE WEIGHT OFF

There are lots of ways you can imagine weight melting off your body, but I like this imagery a lot. See the excess weight being transformed into life force energy and being stored in your body as a much purer form of energy than fat. You’re storing it as invisible, healing life force energy.

STEP 3: CREATE YOUR IDEAL SELF

Now that the fat is melting away and becoming energy, turn your inner attention to your ideal self. Picture your desired body shape, and imagine what it feels like to be sitting inside that perfect shape. Feel your skin tight, muscles toned, belly flat, and a lightness of being.

STEP 4: ENVISION COMING DAYS AND MONTHS

After you’ve imagined scenes from your day-to-day life, turn your attention toward the future. Picture scenarios that you want to happen. See yourself becoming fitter, healthier, calmer, more confident, and more desirable. You may want to envision more success in business, more loving relationships, or healthier boundaries.

STEP 5: MAGNETIZE YOUR FUTURE

As you see yourself months and years down the road, in your perfect, ideal shape and body, imagine that this future version of you becomes a magnet that’s pulling you toward the direction of total success.

STEP 6: BRING IT BACK TO YOUR BODY AND GET RECHARGED

Finally, bring that bright image of your future self back to your body and imagine that super-successful future self becomes you right now, as you’re sitting there. Feel the new you that you’ve just created charging every cell of your body with success.

That’s it ladies! To earn the weekly bonus points I want you to spend some time visualizing the healthy result you each desire in detail. If you have time write it out. And make sure and share it with your partner. We can obtain our health goals and really picturing the end result will help us have the determination to get there. 

Adequate protein intake aids weight loss

PROTEIN 

Protein is one of the basic building blocks of the human body, making up about 16 percent of our total body weight. Muscle, hair, skin, and connective tissue are mainly made up of protein. 

Proteins are made up of smaller units called amino acids. Our bodies can manufacture most of the needed amino acids, but nine of them must be gotten from our diets. Animal proteins such as meat, eggs, and dairy products have all the amino acids, and many plants have some of them.

It is important to remember when you are cutting calories in order to lose weight that you should NOT cut back on protein foods. Instead, start by cutting out empty calories such as sweets and sweetened beverages. Next, cut way back on fried foods. If you're still looking for calories to cut, scale down your portions of bread, pasta, cereals, and other grain-based foods.  

One reason that we want to make sure we are taking in adequate protein when we try to lose weight is that we want to lose extra fat rather than muscle tissue.  In a recent study researchers wanted to see if increasing the amount of protein in the diet might protect against muscle loss during weight loss. And it turns out, it does!

For the study they divided a bunch of overweight people into three groups. One group ate the recommended Daily Allowance for protein, which amounts to about 10% of calories, or 50g per day. The second group ate twice that much and a third group ate 3 times that much.  All of these diets, by the way, fell within the Institute of Medicine's acceptable range of 10-35% of calories from protein.

Then, the researchers put all three groups on a calorie-restricted diet (where each group ate different percentages of protein but ate an equal low total amounts of calories) The results showed that all 3 groups lost about the same amount of weight--approximately 2 pounds a week. But there was one big difference....

The group that ate 20% of their calories from protein(which translates to about 100 grams or approximately 3/4 of a gram per pound of body weight) lost less muscle and more fat than the group eating half that much. 

This means that more of that hard won weight loss was actually due to fat loss. Also more muscle tissue is left behind to burn up calories, making that weight loss easier to maintain. But there is no need to go over board! The group that was eating the most protein (30% of calories) didn't do any better than the folks in the middle group.

So the question is are we eating sufficient amounts of protein daily?

Calculate Protein Needs

To determine your daily protein needs, you must first know your weight in kg. To convert your body weight into kg, simply divide your weight in lb by 2.2. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends 0.8 g of protein per kilogram of body weight for healthy individuals. If you are under stress or moderately to vigorously active, use a number between 1.1 and 1.8 per day. To calculate your protein needs, multiply your weight in kg by the number of g of protein you require each day. For example, if you are a healthy individual and weigh 70 kg, your protein needs would be 56 g of protein per day. If you are moderately active and weight 85 kg, you need 99 g of protein daily.

And did you know you can customize your myfitnesspal? 

To change what nutrients are tracked: Go to settings/ click on diary settings/ click on change and you can track the nutrients you are concerned about 

To change what number you are attempting to reach in any nutrient category: go to Home/ click on Goals/ Click on Change Goals

So you have probably guessed that our challenge for this week is:

1. Calculate how many grams of protein you should be eating per day.

2. Adjust myfitnesspal if needed to track you toward that number

3. For every day that you eat adequate protein you earn the daily 5 challenge points

You might want to look over our previous weeks and see if you generally eat enough protein. I eat very little meat so I fall short most days. I guess that’s why I chose this challenge. If you always get enough and will automatically earn the points this week you might want to unofficially challenge yourself to get the adequate amounts in another nutrient category.

Planking

Planking

You have probably heard people refer to “Core exercise”. The term core refers to your body minus your legs and arms. Functional movements are highly dependent on the core, and lack of core development can result in a predisposition to injury. In fact in many cases when you fall and incur injury (sprained wrist or ankle, broken arm, hip etc.) disaster doesn’t come because you tripped. Instead it happens because you tripped and were unable to right your course and catch yourself. Your core muscles were too weak to come to your aid so you plummeted all the way to the pavement.

Core exercises are an important part of a well-rounded fitness program. Aside from occasional sit-ups and push-ups, however, core exercises are often neglected. Still, it pays to get your core muscles — the muscles around your trunk and pelvis — in better shape. Read on to find some ideas shared by the Mayo clinic.

1. Core exercises improve your balance and stability Core exercises train the muscles in your pelvis, lower back, hips and abdomen to work in harmony. This leads to better balance and stability, whether on the playing field or in daily activities. In fact, most sports and other physical activities depend on stable core muscles.

2. Core exercises can help tone your abs Want more-defined abdominal muscles? Core exercises are important. Although it takes aerobic activity to burn abdominal fat, core exercises can strengthen and tone the underlying muscles.

3. Strong core muscles make it easier to do most physical activities Strong core muscles make it easier to do everything from swinging a golf club to getting a glass from the top shelf or bending down to tie your shoes. Weak core muscles leave you susceptible to poor posture, lower back pain and muscle injuries. (Note back pain is often the result of weak abdominal muscles—your poor back is having to make up for what your abdominal core muscles aren’t able to do) 

4. Core exercises can help you reach your fitness goals Aerobic exercise and muscular fitness are the primary elements of most fitness programs. But to have a truly well-rounded fitness program, you should include core exercises in the mix as well. 

5. Core strength needs to be safeguarded as you age. My girlfriend Gail and I often visit our 100 year old friend Lorna. Back when she was in her 90's and more able to do things she  could be sore for days if she did something as simple as step up on a stepstool to dust something. On the other hand when my daughter was a Pilates teacher she had her class doing a plank challenge –"HOLD A PLANK FOR 3 FULL MINUTES" she instructed. An older gentleman in the class (in his 60’s) said “My wife and I can plank for 6 minutes”. The whole class was impressed and after they dropped out at 3 minutes the gentleman went on to plank for 6 minutes and his wife continued to 7. (He explained he can go to 7 also but if he goes to 7 she tries to go to 8 and he didn’t want her to hurt herself.)

So what is your challenge for the week? I would like you to practice planking every day and I hope you will continue this challenge beyond this week and complete this monthly challenge. (Note I have a young friend that makes it a practice to plank every day before her morning shower- a great way to keep up with core strength)

I am including 5 levels of planking so you can begin where you must. Remember it’s not where you are at now but that you begin to make dedicated daily positive progress. For each day that you give your best effort to planking you earn the 5 daily bonus points.