Your ‘Second Brain’ and Anxiety and Depression

Surprising connection between mood and gut flora.

Gut
In school, we all learned about our primary nervous system, which is composed of the brain and spinal cord and its capabilities. But did you know that your gut actually contains one of the largest concentrations of nerves in the body and plays a large role in your emotions, moods and brain function?

Ever hear or say, “I had a gut feeling”? Or have you ever had “butterflies” when nervous, or been so upset you couldn’t eat?

Well, these are real feelings that emanate from your digestive system.

Both your enteric nervous system in your gut and your central nervous system were formed out of the same tissue in fetal development. These two nervous systems are connected and communicate via the vagus nerve, which runs from your brain stem to the nervous system in your gut.

The enteric nervous system in the gut is made of sheaths of neurons embedded in the walls of the entire gut, which is about 9 meters long from the mouth to the anus.

This second brain contains somewhere around 100 million neurons, more than in either the spinal cord or the peripheral nervous system!

This multitude of neurons in the enteric nervous system enables us to “feel” the inner world of our gut and its contents.

Your gut bacteria play an active and integral role in your body, and help the immune system, synthesize nutrients and process foods.
And as the latest research shows, are extremely integral in your brain and mental health.

What is also very interesting, however, is that about 90% of the fibers in the vagus nerve, carry information from the gut to the brain, and not the other way around.

These messages from the gut to the brain can have a powerful influence on moods, Including anxiety and depression.

Scientists also know that the enteric nervous system manufactures around 95% of the body’s serotonin, an important (feel good) brain chemical that has a direct effect on moods and even some mental illnesses, such as anxiety, depression, bipolar, schizophrenia, and OCD.

When you consider that your gut is your “second brain,” it becomes easy to see how your gut health can impact not only brain function, but psyche, and even behavior as well.

Abnormal gut flora, as well, can be directly tied to abnormal brain function. In coming years, psychiatry will most certainly expand to treat the second brain along with the brain in your head.  In fact, some of the more cutting-edge physicians, psychologists, and psychiatrists are now looking at digestive issues such as IBS, food allergies, and gluten intolerance as contributing to mental illnesses.

Our gut bacteria may actually have a very significant influence on early brain development and behavior, and the absence or presence of particular microorganisms in infancy can permanently change gene expression.

Gut bacteria can influence signaling pathways involved in learning, memory, and motor control. This suggests that gut bacteria are closely tied to early brain development and subsequent behavior and learning deficiencies.

Adding in the right probiotics (healthy bacteria) to your daily routine have also been found to influence the activity of hundreds of your genes, helping them to express in a positive, disease-fighting manner.

The types and function of your gut bacteria are extremely dependent on how things such as whether you were born via vaginal birth or by C-section, whether you were breastfed as a baby, and your diet and lifestyle choices, including whether you have a history of taking antibiotics and other medications, such as antidepressants (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRI’s).

Besides antibiotics, and junky processed foods, our gut bacteria are also highly susceptible to:
•    Chlorinated and fluoridated water
•    Antibacterial soap
•    Agricultural chemicals
•    Pollution

So how to get your gut flora under control?

First of all, if you have any type of IBS, gluten sensitivity, or other allergies, or if you have ever had issues with anxiety, depression, or any other mental or emotional issues, try cutting out gluten, corn and dairy first. Then cut out processed foods (like fast food, hot dogs, lunch meat, processed cheeses and frozen dinners), and sugars—including those in sodas and added to other foods. A diet heavy in processed foods and sugars will likely grow harmful bacteria. And sugars–of all kinds–feed bad bacteria and yeasts like candida, totally upsetting the delicate balance of the healthy intestinal flora.

Introduce large populations of healthy bacteria. While changing your diet can help, getting a good dose of probiotics can be hastened by taking a broad-spectrum supplement containing Bifidobacterioum longum, and Lactobacillus rhamnosus among others.

The December 2011 issue of Journal of Neurogastroenterology and Motility reported that Bifidobacterium is actually known to decrease anxiety by decreasing the excitability of enteric neurons.

Other research also found the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus increased GABA, a calming neurotransmitter that regulates many physiological and psychological processes, also reducing the stress related hormone,  corticosterone.

So take care of your second brain, and you will affect not only your overall health, but you may find that you end up with a happier, less stressed, relaxed outlook on life. This, as you know, has far-reaching implications in every area of your health and wellbeing. You truly are what you eat. And you truly feel (good or bad) based on what you eat.

A Votre Sante!

cat

CAT cropped headCatherine (Cat) Ebeling RN BSN, is a back to basics diet and wellness specialist. In addition to her advanced degree in nursing, she has spent the last 30 years intensely studying diet, health and nutrition. She also has 4 books including the popular “Fat Burning Kitchen, Your 24 Hour Diet Transformation” that has sold over 300,000 copies worldwide, and has helped thousands of people transform their lives, lose weight and improve their health.

                                                  Her mission is to help others prevent disease and live their best life ever.

                                                      Nutrition made Easy. Simple.Smart.Nutrition.

References:

  • Mercola, The Root Cause of Anxiety and Depression That Few Suspect, May 3, 2012.

 

 

Addicted to Food?

Are you addicted and don’t know it? From time to time, we all stray off of our normal ‘healthy’ or weight loss diet. It’s not a big deal unless you have trouble getting back on track…

doughnut-junk food lgAre you addicted and don’t know it?

From time to time, we all stray off of our normal ‘healthy’ or weight loss diet. It’s not a big deal unless you have trouble getting back on track. Did you know you can have hidden addictions to foods that you eat on a regular basis? These addictions can be as strong as nicotine to a smoker or heroin to a junkie.

For most people, it’s foods containing sugar, grains (especially wheat), and dairy products. While these foods seem to be everywhere, they are also actually highly addictive. And don’t be fooled for a second in thinking that food manufacturers don’t know this little factoid, and do their best to put sugar, wheat and dairy in as many things as they can.

These foods can stimulate opiate-like receptors in the brain, and your body actually responds to these foods just as it would heroin or morphine. The opiate-like ingredients in dairy and wheat are proteins, which coincidentally are also known to be highly allergenic. In dairy, that protein is casein, and in wheat, it is gluten.

These proteins trigger the release of exorphins (very similar to endorphins) that go straight to the brain and create a feeling of instant comfort and pleasure. Think of all the combinations of dairy and wheat that people love and consider as comfort foods, or foods they can’t live without: macaroni and cheese, pizza, bagels and cream cheese, cookies and milk, grilled cheese sandwiches, and on and on.

Are sugar, wheat and dairy your weakness? Think about it. Maybe you weren’t even aware of that addiction.

The tough thing about straying off your diet and eating foods with wheat, dairy or sugar makes it especially difficult to get back on track. You become addicted. And just like the heroin junkie who thinks he can have “just a little”—once you’re off track, it becomes exceptionally difficult to break free from these foods’ grasp.

The interesting thing about wheat and dairy is that most often if you find you have a hard time living without, or staying away from these foods, you most likely are allergic to those proteins—the gluten and the casein. And I don’t mean the kind of allergy that makes you break out in hives, and or makes your throat swell, but it is often an allergy, nonetheless.

What do these allergic reactions cause? Inflammation in the form of stuff like bloating, weight gain, (usually excess water) stomachaches, sinus and nasal drainage, earaches, irritability, depression, fatigue, brain fog, ADHD, acne, joint pain, headaches….and non-stop eating.

This vicious cycle of allergy and addiction can interfere with digestion and your body’s ability to extract nutrients from food. It also affects the immune system, helping to magnify allergies, and weaken it’s defense system, so you become more susceptible to viruses, bacteria, and yeast overgrowth.

Ironically, the very foods that you just cannot live without are usually the same foods that cause some of the worst reactions, and cause you to overeat. So you are caught in an allergy-addiction cycle.

Think about it.

Have you ever eaten a bowl of cereal and as you are eating it, you get hungrier and hungrier? Next thing you know you’ve eaten three bowls of cereal. Have you ever said, “I just can’t live without my bagels? Or “My pasta”? You need bread and butter at every meal, or just can’t stop when you eat crackers and cheese? Is your favorite comfort food ice cream or pudding?

Take a look at what you are eating…addiction often lurks in your daily habits.

Does this mean you’re weak? Do you lack willpower? No. It’s just that these addictive substances are wreaking their havoc on you and your best laid dietary plans.

Many ‘diets’ actually contain a built-in plan to fail if they contain dairy, wheat or sugar. How many times have you heard the standard “Eat whole grains and lots of dairy” instruction? Some of the most popular diet plans like Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig all contain moderate amounts of the big three addictive allergens—wheat, dairy, and sugar. This should come as no surprise. They want consumers to keep coming back and buying more of this stuff.

Having an allergy-addiction to any one or more of these substances is a little like an alcoholic thinking it’s ok to have just a small glass of wine or beer, instead a big one. What would you guess is going to happen at some point? That small portion grows or becomes more and more frequent.

The best solution to break free of the addiction/allergy cycle is to eliminate wheat, sugar and dairy from your diet altogether. While may sound somewhat extreme, you will be amazed at how much easier it becomes to stick to a healthy diet that keeps you at your optimal weight.

If giving up bread or milk makes you feel anxious and deprived, I can sympathize. I too, was once addicted to bread, milk and sugar as well. I’d try to cut back and cut calories to lose weight, only to end up on a (coffee cake, cookie, bagel, cinnamon toast) wheat binge after a few days.

I tried to eat less only to be on that same Merry-go-Round of addiction and overeating. I gained weight, and I felt awful. It wasn’t until I actually tried a two-week elimination diet, that I realized how fantastic and energetic I felt once I had gotten totally away from those foods.

This blog will go into the details of an elimination diet, but basically you totally remove wheat, dairy and any other foods you feel you just can’t live without. Then you re-introduce them, one at a time, and observe your reactions over a period of 24-48 hours

I’ve kinda developed and evolved a dietary strategy that helps me get back on track after a few days of this type of dietary disaster. I’d like to share that with you and hopefully you will be able to adopt this and find success as I have.

First of all, the best thing to do is to go ‘cold turkey’. Take the offenders out of your diet, totally. Remember the alcoholic with the small glass of wine? It doesn’t work. Take it all out—the sugar, the wheat and grains (other grains contain addictive gluten-like substances as well), and the dairy.

Then plan out your meals for the next couple days. It doesn’t have to be elaborate, but make it super healthy and high fiber. You’re doing a mini detox basically.

Surround yourself with awesome superfood veggies that are brilliant and brightly colored and will make you feel so spectacular that you won’t want to go back to those addictive foods. Add in some top quality protein and good fats and you’re golden. Cravings go away when you give your body what it truly needs.

So the idea is to load your body up with a ton of powerful antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, powerful nutrition to overcome the toxic load you’ve put in your body. And you want to have a lot of veggies in there that will feed your body what it needs and help to clean house as well.

So I generally plan on a few humongous salads with a good portion of healthy protein added in—free range chicken, grass fed beef, or some wild-caught fish, like salmon.

TAKEAWAY #1

Wheat, Dairy and Sugar are addictive substances, and for many people they produce an allergic, inflammatory reaction in addition to the addiction, making it extremely difficult to eat ‘just a little’. Meanwhile, you make it harder to lose weight and mess with your health.

TAKEAWAY #2

AVOID Wheat, Dairy and Sugar all the time. Avoid all processed, packaged foods and especially avoid “Diet” foods. Just an alcoholic cannot drink once in a while, neither can you eat this stuff “once in a while”.

TAKEWAY #3

When you get off track, quit the grains, sugar and dairy, COLD TURKEY, and arm yourself with a healthy diet plan for the next few days. Load up on veggies and healthy proteins and let your body detox this crap out. You’ll feel better quickly! Have a plan, and have some healthy meals lined up and you will feel satisfied and ‘clean’ again in no time.

Stay healthy and lean, my friends!!

cat

 

 

 

Find out what foods age you the fastest and how to reverse aging here.

The Top 101 Foods that Fight Aging

Cat profile close upSM Paleo Carrot & Apple MuffinsCatherine (Cat) Ebeling RN BSN, is a back to basics diet and nutrition specialist. In addition to her advanced degree in nursing from a major medical school, she has spent the last 30 years intensely studying diet, health and nutrition. 

Cat’s  book titled “The Fat Burning Kitchen, Your 24 Hour Diet Transformation” has sold over 100,000 copies worldwide, and has helped thousands of people transform their lives, lose weight and improve their health.

                           Her mission is to help others prevent disease and live their best life ever.

                                Nutrition made Easy. Simple.Smart.Nutrition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Number 1 WORST Food for Your Skin, Joints and Blood Sugar

This food that you may eat daily, ages the body, causes arthritis, spikes blood sugar and increases wrinkling and sagging of skin…

breadI’ve got a great article today from my co-author, Mike Geary, who has some surprising facts about one of the foods most people eat daily. You may be shocked to read this!!

And please check out my new Anti-Aging book for only $9. It’s been selling like crazy!

 

Click here to find out—The #1 WORST Food that CAUSES Faster Aging (beware!)

 

 

 

 

CatheadandshouldersCatherine (Cat) Ebeling RN BSN, is a back to basics diet and nutrition specialist. In addition to her advanced degree in nursing from a major medical school, she has spent the last 30 years intensely studying diet, health and nutrition. Get the latest Gluten Free, Superfoods Recipe book HERE–The Fat Burning Kitchen Superfoods Recipes. Cat also has a book titled “The Fat Burning Kitchen, Your 24 Hour Diet Transformation” that has sold over 100,000 copies worldwide, and has helped thousands of people transform their lives, lose weight and improve their health.

             Her mission is to help others prevent disease and live their best life ever.

                                                       Diet and Nutrition made Easy. Simple.Smart.Nutrition.

 

 

Inflammation–Silent and Sneaky Partner of Aging and Disease

Inflammation can cause aches and pains, arthritis, bursitis, or any type of health issue that ends in -‘itis’. Inflammation can lead to…

 

Inflammation is actually a product of our immune system, and is our body’s protective response to injury, dangerous bacteria, viruses, or toxins. Normally it is part of a healthy immune response to prevent dangerous invaders from taking over our bodies.

Primitive man needed a strong immune system to fight off dangerous and deadly diseases and infections. Today there are relatively few infectious diseases our immune systems need to fight. While the ability to thrive and survive as humans had a lot to do with the strength of our immune systems, it seems in the absence of many infectious diseases, our immune systems and inflammation have turned on ourselves.

Inflammation can cause aches and pains, arthritis, bursitis, or any type of health issue that ends in -‘itis’.

Some of the more subtle forms of inflammation can include sore stiff muscles, tendonitis, joint aches, acne, red eyes, itchy irritated nose, itchy, rashy skin, allergies, swelling or puffiness, and more. Inflammation can be as minor as a pimple on your nose or as major as a heart attack.

Long term inflammation can cause heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, arthritis, certain forms of cancer, diminished mental and physical energy, the loss of muscle mass and wrinkled, sagging skin.

Even though inflammation is our body’s natural response to protect our bodies from invaders, unfortunately, our overly active immune systems and the inflammatory response end up damaging our own bodies. Often inflammation is sneaky and silent, but can be deadly, too. Inflammation may be totally invisible to our own eyes, and often only specific blood tests can uncover high inflammation levels.

It used to be thought that aging came with chronic inflammation, which then progressed to chronic disease. Over time, chronic inflammation can lead to breakdown of collagen, destruction of the joints, blood vessels, digestive system, brain and nerve tissue and other organ systems, and premature aging, disease and ultimately, death.

What we now know, though, is that aging does not have be accompanied by inflammation, meaning that many of us can live to a ripe old age without chronic disease.

According to Russell Tracy, professor of pathology and biochemistry at University of Vermont College of Medicine, and a pioneer in research that demonstrated the role of inflammation in heart disease:

“Inflammatory factors predict virtually all bad outcomes in humans. It predicts heart attacks, heart failure, diabetes, becoming fragile in old age, cognitive function decline, and even cancer…”

Elderly patients with Alzheimer’s disease (a chronic, progressive, degenerative disease of the brain), show areas of the human brain clogged up with neurofibrillary tangles and plaques. These same patients show many inflammatory cells and cytokines (a product of the immune system response). Clearly Alzheimer’s disease has a strong association to inflammation.

In diabetes, inflammation and insulin resistance work their destruction together. High blood sugar raises the body’s inflammatory markers. The drugs that seem to restore insulin sensitivity are also effective at reducing the body’s inflammatory markers like IL-6 and CRP.

Even osteoporosis and depression may have inflammatory roots, along with age-associated weakness. Scientists have even found that inflammatory activity breaks down skeletal muscle, leading to the loss of lean muscle mass. And on top of that, extra body fat tends to make these diseases strike earlier, because fat cells increase inflammation, and bring on accelerated aging.

Often low-level inflammation in our bodies is nothing like the raging infection, high fever or allergic reaction that you can’t help but notice. As inflammation in various parts of the body simmers in the background, over the years, damage beings to accumulate–in the heart, the brain, your nerves, your digestive system, your bones and joints and more.

What you eat, and how much you eat has a definite effect on the level of inflammation in your body.

Some of the ‘healthy’ foods you eat every day may actually be causing inflammation in your body.

Food allergies and sensitivities, can actually be one of the biggest contributors to inflammation.

And, guess what? The typical high-carb/high grain, low fat diet  is extremely inflammatory.  Refined sugar and other high glycemic, grain based foods make blood sugar and insulin levels rise, and put the immune system on high alert. High insulin levels also activate enzymes that raise levels of inflammatory arachidonic acid in our blood.

Allergies or not, much of the inflammation in our bodies begins in our digestive systems with reactions to common foods eaten every day like pasteurized dairy, corn and wheat. These foods contain proteins that easily spark the inflammatory cascade. You may be eating these foods on a daily basis and they are causing inflammation–and you not even know it!

All forms of sugar, processed foods, pasta, breads, pastry, baked goods, and snack foods such as rice and corn cakes, chips, pretzels, etc., cause a highly destructive pro-inflammatory response in our bodies. If we choose sugary or starchy foods, we trigger this pro-inflammatory release of sugar into our bloodstream.

Your best bet to dramatically decrease inflammation is to cut out wheat/gluten, corn and dairy for two weeks and note the difference. Add in one food at a time and see how your body reacts. Wait 24 hours before adding another foods. Many people often find a surprising difference in how they feel with increased energy levels, better moods, clearer skin, absence of aches and pains and a loss of weight.

Fats and Inflammation

Once thought of as healthy, polyunsaturated oils like safflower, cottonseed, sunflower, corn, peanut and soy, are primarily made up of omega 6 fatty acids. Our diets have an overabundance of omega 6 fats, which creates an unhealthy imbalance. Without enough omega 3 fatty acids to hold omega 6 fats in the proper ratio, the body turns the omega 6 fats into arachidonic acid, which is highly inflammatory.

The proper balance of omega 6 fats to omega 3 fats is about 2:1 or 1:1. Unfortunately, most diets (heavy in grains, vegetable oils and grain-fed meat) are out of balance with regard to omega 6 and omega 3 fats. A standard diet often has a ratio of about 20:1, omega 6’s to omega 3’s. A diet this heavy in omega 6 fats increases inflammation in the body.

These unhealthy fats compete with omega 3 fats in our cell membrane (which is made up of fatty acids). When the cell membrane is made up primarily of omega 6 fats and trans fats, the membrane actually becomes less resilient and brittle, which limits the exchange of nutrients and oxygen. This poorly structured cell cannot fight dangerous invaders effectively, and eventually weakens and dies.

Both trans fats and omega 6 fats encourage the storage of body fat, especially in the abdomen. Excess belly fat, which can be measured as a waist size of 35 inches or more for a woman and 40 inches or more for a man, means higher levels of inflammation, since abdominal fat produces inflammatory chemicals in the body.

A diet heavy in omega 6 fatty acids (vegetable oils) actually increases wrinkling and aging of the skin as well leading to more cancerous changes from exposure the sun. In test subjects, dietary omega 6 fatty acids increased levels of PGE(2), an inflammatory messenger chemical that promoted the growth of pre-cancerous and cancerous skin cell changes.

Fortunately there are several anti-inflammatory fats, which are highly effective in helping our bodies stay younger and fight the affects of aging and inflammation.

Omega 3 fats contain two components that fight inflammation in our bodies: EPA and DHA.

The anti-inflammatory properties of EPA have been studied at length and proven to fight inflammation and a variety of health issues from depression, to heart disease and cancer.

It is important to note:

grain fed meat and farm-raised fish contain primarily omega 6 fats, while

wild-caught fish and grass fed meat contain mostly anti-inflammatory omega 3 fats.

Monounsaturated oils like extra-virgin olive oil, oil from nuts, avocados, and coconuts are rich in polyphenols and antioxidants that fight inflammation.

Below is a list of foods, oils and spices that counteract inflammation.

Anti-Aging, Anti-Inflammatory Foods, Spices And Nutrients

Certain spices, herbs and teas contain some very powerful compounds that fight inflammation. Some of the most powerful anti-inflammatory phytochemicals are in these herbs and spices:

  • Turmeric
  • Basil
  • Thyme
  • Cloves
  • Oregano
  • Sage
  • Rosemary
  • Ginger
  • Chili Peppers

Some of the spiciest anti-inflammatory additions to a meal are hot peppers–including jalapeños, habeneros, and cayenne peppers. Chili peppers of all types include capsaicin (the hotter the pepper, the more capsaicin it contains), which is a potent inhibitor of a substance in the body associated with inflammation. Capsaicin also helps to raise metabolism and burn fat as well.

Green, white, oolong, and rooibos tea contain potent catechins, bioflavonoids and polyphenols that reduce inflammation and limit free radical production. Drinking 2 cups of these kinds of tea a day, can reduce inflammation significantly, as well as adding powerful antioxidants that fight aging and disease.

Foods High in Anti-Inflammatory Fats

Salmon

Sardines

Anchovies

Grass fed Meats

Free range, organic eggs

NutsAvocados

Coconut

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Flaxseeds

Coconut oil

Anti-Inflammatory Foods

Chocolate (70% or more cacao)

Red Grapes

Kelp

Shiitake mushrooms

Papaya

Pineapple

Broccoli

Brussels sprouts

Cauliflower

Blueberries

Jalapeño Pepper

Habenero Pepper

Banana Pepper

Chili Peppers

 

Look for the new 101 Anti-Aging Superfoods and the Anti-Aging Superfoods Recipe book due out this week! 

 

Till next time,

Stay healthy and lean and young!

 

 

Catherine (Cat) Ebeling RN BSN,is a back to basics diet and nutrition specialist. In addition to her advanced degree in nursing from a major medical school, she has spent the last 30 years intensely studying diet, health and nutrition. She also has a book titled “The Fat Burning Kitchen, Your 24 Hour Diet Transformation” that has sold over 60,000 copies worldwide, and has helped thousands of people transform their lives, lose weight and improve their health.

Her mission is to help others prevent disease, lose weight, and live their best life ever.
Nutrition made Easy. Simple.Smart.Nutrition.

 

The Fat Burning Kitchen will get you started on the path to a healthy diet, weight loss and vibrant health.You will notice a difference in the first 24 hours! Learn about the so-called ‘health’ foods you may be eating that are actually ruining your health, and causing you to gain weight. And find out the best, fat-burning super-powered nutritious foods to eat to lose fat, gain boundless energy, and feel better than you ever have!

 

 

3 ‘Healthy’ Foods to Stop Eating

 

Historically, humans consumed over 80,000 species of edible plants, animals, and fungi, but in our modern dietary world, the average American gets almost 70% of their caloric intake from THREE foods!

And those foods have been pushed as ‘healthy’ but they are actually leading us to multiple chronic diseases like heart disease, cancer, and diabetes–as well as obesity.

What are these so-called ‘healthy foods’ we need to stop eating?

3 ‘healthy foods to stop eating

You’ll see in that article what these 3 foods are, and why it is NOT a good idea to obtain 67% of your caloric intake from only 3 foods. 

This article also has 7 great tips on how to how to eat to get lean for life from fitness and nutrition specialist, Mike Geary.

 

3 Healthy Foods to Stop Eating

 

Till next time,
Stay healthy and lean!

 

cat A Superfood That Improves Athletic Performance and Recovery, Burns Fat, and Helps Your Love Life Too!

DSC 6815 A Superfood That Improves Athletic Performance and Recovery, Burns Fat, and Helps Your Love Life Too! Catherine (Cat) Ebeling RN BSN, is a back to basics diet and nutrition specialist. In addition to her advanced degree in nursing from a major medical school, she has spent the last 30 years intensely studying diet, health and nutrition. She also has a book titled “The Fat Burning Kitchen, Your 24 Hour Diet Transformation” that has sold over 60,000 copies worldwide, and has helped thousands of people transform their lives, lose weight and improve their health.  

Her mission is to help others prevent disease and live their best life ever.    

Nutrition made Easy. Simple.Smart.Nutrition.

 

 

 

 

 

Heal and Prevent Sports Injuries

Jim rugby

Injuries, both minor and major, are one of the hardest and most frustrating thing an athlete has to deal with.

Injuries usually seem like they occur  just as you are beginning to ramp up your training for big events. And now that the weather is warming up, amateur and professional athletes are starting to pick up their training for another competitive season in their favorite sport.

Injuries can often be your body’s way of telling you are pushing it too hard, too quickly, or overtraining, and not getting enough rest and recovery in between demanding workouts.

Is there any way to prevent injuries?

Of course–you probably already know some of the things you can include in your training to prevent injury, like rest days, warming up slowly, easing into your training, and stretching.

But, did you know, your diet will also make a HUGE difference in whether you get injured and how quickly you recover?

Think of it this way: your body is a machine. Just as you work out hard to become stronger, feeding and fueling your body well will help to strengthen and maintain the muscles, tendons, ligaments, and bone in the best and strongest condition possible.

In contrast, a diet high in refined sugars, starches, and poor quality protein will result in weaker muscles, increased inflammation and a higher likelihood of injury.

So, what’s the best diet for a serious athlete or weekend warrior?

First of all, high quality protein is absolutely essential. Good protein sources are VITAL to grow and repair muscle, strengthen bones and tendons, and allow for proper function of cells.

Most training protocols tell you to eat protein right after exercise in order to help rebuild muscles; however, the best time of all may be shortly before a workout as well. It’s been found, that to limit the loss of muscle fiber associated with overuse injuries, eating protein shortly before exercising, and then immediately afterwards is best.

An active teen or adult needs to have at least 1.0 to 1.5 grams per kilogram of body weight a day.

To figure this out, one pound of body weight is roughly equivalent to about .45 kilograms. So dividing your weight in half will give you a rough estimate of your weight in kilograms.

For example, an 150 lb male would weight about 70 kilograms and will need 70-100 GRAMS of protein a day, which comes out to about 30 grams per meal, or a decent sized serving of meat, chicken, fish or eggs at every meal.

The very best, most usable protein is grass fed meat, with 5 times the muscle-building Conjugated Linoleic Acid as regular grain fed meat, healthy omega 3 fats, and important muscle-building minerals–zinc and iron.

Other great sources of protein are wild caught fatty fish, free-range poultry, and organic eggs. All of these are higher in the healthy omega 3 fats, and lower in omega 6 (inflammatory) fats, as well as being free of pesticides, antibiotics and hormones.

Many athletes rely heavily on protein bars, shakes and powders, which is a big mistake.

The protein in these processed foods is very poor. This protein usually comes from heat-processed whey or soy protein isolate. Both of these protein sources are denatured, weak versions of protein and virtually unusable by the body.

Whey protein can be an excellent protein source, but it must be cool-processed (which keeps the protein intact) and should be from grass fed dairy cows as well, for the maximum amount of CLA and healthy fats.

Healthy fats are absolutely necessary.

Fats also help to lubricate the body, muscles, tendons, ligaments, organs and skin, and increase feelings of vitality and energy.

Athletes who switch to a higher fat diet see the results with more energy, less injuries and better recovery times. Be sure to include these fats:

•    Omega 3 fats–Provide plenty of fuel for energy, and anti-inflammatory properties to heal and protect the damage that hard training wreaks on the body. Omega 3 fats are found primarily in wild caught fatty fish, grass fed meat, organic eggs and grass fed butter. Walnuts, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, and flax seeds also contain healthy doses of omega 3 fats.

•    Conjugated Linoleic Acid–Helps to provide the fuel the body needs to power through a demanding practice. CLA builds muscle, burns fat, raises the metabolism, and helps prevent cancer, heart disease and high cholesterol.

•    Saturated fats and cholesterol--The good saturated fats (like the kind that come from grass fed meat, organic egg yolks, and butter) actually help to strengthen and repair muscle fibers, strengthen the immune system, aid in the proper functioning of the heart, lungs and brain, and boost metabolism. So don’t shy away from these important fats. However, you do want to avoid the grain fed versions of this fat as it is high in inflammatory omega 6 fats.

•    Monosaturated fats like coconut, nuts and olive oil are extremely effective at reducing inflammation and increasing energy, so be sure to include these healthy fats as well. Coconut oil is quickly and easily metabolized for energy as well as being an excellent healing agent, so be sure to include this in your diet.

Antioxidants are extremely important to athletes as well. Intense exercise creates tons of free radicals which can lead to damage and breakdown of tissue–including muscle–within the body.

Be sure to include LOTS of brightly colored fresh, organic vegetables and fruit to supply the body with the necessary antioxidants. The brighter and more colorful, the more antioxidants! Raw organic veggies and fruit contain the highest amounts of vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals; they also contain massive amounts of enzymes because they are raw.

Enzymes are proven healers of damaged tissue.

To prevent and heal injuries try to eat at least 50% or more of these raw.

Vitamin C is one of the most powerful antioxidants and is also very important for the repair of the collagen, connective tissue, and cartilage; it is helpful add extra to your diet when injured.

Aim for five or more sources of foods that are high in vitamin C such as red peppers, papaya, cantaloupe, kale, oranges and broccoli.

And don’t forget about Vitamin A for its rebuilding properties.

Higher amounts of vitamin A also aid in repairing micro-tears that occur after a hard workout, so it is a valuable addition for any runner, cyclist or weight lifter. Best food sources of vitamin A are: grass-fed dairy products such as raw cheese, grass-fed butter, and grass-fed (commercially raised beef liver contains lots of toxins) liver; bright orange or red vegetables such as carrots, sweet potatoes, mangoes, papaya, winter squash, red peppers, apricots and spinach.

Digestive enzymes also aid in the recovery process.

Look for ones that contain plenty of bromelain and protease, and take with meals. Bromelain is an enzyme found in pineapple, and is effective as an anti-inflammatory. Protease is an enzyme that digests  proteins and will travel to the injured sites to dissolve the byproducts of the injury. Other enzymes have similar healing effects.

One of the most important building and repairing nutrients for injuries is zinc.

Zinc works alongside protein and other nutrients in the body synergistically. Zinc is also an immune enhancer which is powerful in the whole healing process. To ensure you are getting enough, include grass-fed beef, liver, oysters and other shellfish, seeds, nuts, chicken and egg yolks in your diet.

So now you know what foods to be sure to include in  your diet, but there are definitely some foods that must be avoided as well.

These foods not only fatigue the body, run down the immune system, and interfere with the processing of important nutrients, but they also contribute to inflammation in the body.

A tough and demanding training plan adds enough inflammation, so why add to that burden?

Inflammatory foods include the obvious junk foods–cookies, candy, excess alcohol, processed foods, and artificial foods with chemicals and preservatives.

Sneaky food additives (even in so-called health foods)  such as transfats, omega 6 oils such as corn oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, grains of all kinds including wheat, rice, oats, corn, and soy ( a legume) and sugars are also highly inflammatory as well.

Many athletes are switching to a gluten free training diet, even if they do not have gluten issues.

Gluten is a protein in wheat, rye and barley. It has been found that gluten is an inflammatory agent in many people (even those who seemingly do not have issues with gluten sensitivity) to some degree.

Athletes who have adopted a gluten free training diet report that they feel more energetic, less sluggish, lose a little weight, sleep better, have better digestion and generally feel better overall.

Sugar in all forms is highly inflammatory and actually stimulates an inflammatory response, so avoid it at all costs.

Pasteurized, processed dairy foods,  (as opposed to raw dairy) also tend to add to inflammation.

Dairy contains a lot of histamines, which will add to the inflammation already present in the body.

And last of all, be sure to be getting enough water.

Water helps to carry away toxins and keep your metabolism and healing processes working efficiently. There is no excuse not to stay well hydrated as the benefits are really endless.

You will feel better, have better energy and heal quicker!

Eat well, work hard and you will most definitely reap the benefits of a stronger, faster body!

 

Till next time, stay healthy, lean and active!

 

 

Catherine (Cat) Ebeling RN BSN, is a back to basics diet and nutrition specialist. In addition to her advanced degree in nursing from a major medical school, she has spent the last 30 years intensely studying diet, health and nutrition. She also has a book titled “The Fat Burning Kitchen, Your 24 Hour Diet Transformation” that has sold over 60,000 copies worldwide, and has helped thousands of people transform their lives, lose weight and improve their health.

               Her mission is to help others prevent disease and live their best life ever.    

       Nutrition made Easy. Simple.Smart.Nutrition.


 

 

References:

Michelle Schoffro Cook, DNM, DAc, CNC, CITP, The 12 Step Program to Healing Sport Injuries http://hubpages.com/profile/Shannon+Clark Horwitz,

Dr. Steven, Omega 3 Fatty Acids and Inflammation, Prevent Sports Injuries, Jan 21, 2011. http://preventsportsinjuries.blogspot.com