there is no finish line...enjoy the ride...

Too Much Holiday "Cheer"

It’s that time of year again and it's easy for the holidays to become; well in a phrase, "too much." We’re exposed to too much commercialism, too much shopping, too much spending, too much partying, too much eating, too much family pressure and of course, too much alcohol. Holiday parties will be serving eggnog with alcohol, New Year's Eve parties with plenty of alcohol. Football Bowl Game parties replete with, yes you guessed it‚ too much alcohol.

It's scary to think how many holiday traditions have become intertwined with alcohol and its excess; how seasonal "cheer" has become synonymous with over-doing it and the measure of how good last evening's party was, is linked to how little of it you can remember.  Alcohol has also become synonymous with that perfect, easy gift choice. (if left up to the major distillers and wineries, everyone would get a bottle of something for the holidays).  The very line, “let’s get together over the holidays for a drink”, has replaced the older version, “let’s get together for a chat”.  It seems friends are unable to hold conversations without a drink in their hand.

This year, it doesn't have to be that way for yourself, or your loved ones. And I have a few ideas for you to consider. But before I get into that, let’s have a quick look at what Alcohol really is and what it does to you. 

So, grab a drink and read on ….. (just joking)

First, it should be understood and made perfectly clear, alcohol is a poison. And don’t let anyone say otherwise, because they’re wrong.  It is true that science has found a very small amount of alcohol increases your HDL (good cholesterol), but the real story is that alcohol has destroyed more lives, broken apart more families, caused more diseases and contributed to more auto fatalities than any other drug known to mankind.  And it’s now become the major contributing factor in the growing epidemic of domestic violence around the globe.

So how much alcohol is “safe” to drink on a daily basis?

As I write this I know that many people will only take away whatever supports their belief system and only remember that I said “a small amount of alcohol increases their HDL” and ignore all the damaging aspects of alcohol consumption.  It’s my hope that this post will alter the drinking practices of a few people, and hopefully starts with this Holiday Season and become a lifelong habit.

If an individual has an underlying liver condition such as hepatitis B or C, or prior damage from alcohol or other diseases, the liver is very sensitive to any amount of alcohol. In those conditions, the only safe dose of alcohol is zero.

Men metabolize and clear alcohol more efficiently than women due to body size, body fat and certain enzymes. Because of this the maximum "safe" daily intake of alcohol for women is only ONE drink and for men TWO drinks over a 24-hour period. It is also important to recognize that the body and in particular the liver, do not distinguish between different forms of alcohol. Beer and wine are not any "safer" than whiskey or spirits.  Also, alcohol is highly addictive so as tolerance level increases, control decreases.  

The amounts shown below represent how much alcohol a healthy person can metabolize safely and amounts greater than this will place unhealthy stress on your liver in addition to the other pathways that remove toxins from your body.  People are always surprised to learn what counts as a drink. A "standard" drink is any drink that contains about 0.6 fluid ounces or 14 grams of "pure" alcohol. Although the drinks below are different sizes, each contains approximately the same amount of alcohol and counts as a single standard drink. 

12 fl oz of regular beer

=

8 fl oz of malt liquor (shown in a 12-oz glass)

=

4 fl oz of table wine

=

3 oz of fortified wine (such as sherry or port

=

2 oz of cordial, liqueur, or aperitif

=

1.5 oz of brandy (a single jigger or shot)

=

1.5 fl oz shot of 80-proof spirits ("hard liquor")

about 5% alcohol

about 7% alcohol

about 12% alcohol

about 17% alcohol

about 24% alcohol

about 40% alcohol

about 40% alcohol

Alcohol and Heart Disease

Numerous studies have suggested that minimal alcohol consumption helps protect against heart disease by raising HDL (good) cholesterol and reducing plaque accumulations in your arteries. Alcohol also has a mild anti-coagulating effect, keeping platelets from clumping together to form clots. Both actions can reduce risk of heart attack.  That said, I hope this isn’t the only message you remember, and it justifies unhealthy drinking habits.

On the other hand, drinking more than a couple drinks a day has a direct toxic effect on the heart, and over time can possibly damage the heart, lead to high blood pressure, alcoholic cardiomyopathy, (enlarged and weakened heart), congestive heart failure, and stroke. Drinking puts more fat onto the mid-section of your body, raising your triglyceride level, hence the male beer belly and the female wine tummy that never goes away.  It's why "Spanx" have become such a huge hit with North American women everywhere. There are other, healthier ways to reduce your risk of heart disease, while flattening your belly; like eating right, getting regular exercise and maintaining a healthy weight.  “If you don't drink, don't start”.

Alcohol, Cancer and other Related Diseases

A recent European study reported in the Globe and Mail, indicated an alarming increase of various forms of cancer, including lung, liver, digestive track, colorectal and breast cancer.  In fact, alcohol intake by women in the eight countries studied caused about 21,500 cases, of which more than 80 percent, or 17,400, were due to their having more than one standard drink a day.  In addition, long-term exposure to alcohol destroys the cerebellum of the brain, causing irreversible brain damage, resulting in slowed thinking, an unsteady walk and slurred speech.  And if that wasn't enough, alcohol is also a contributing factor to hepatitis, cirrhosis, malnutrition, pancreatitis, stomach ulcer, fetal alcohol syndrome and if you’re on prescriptions or non-prescription drugs, mixing alcohol with your medicine can lead to serious untoward effects.

Holiday Suggestions

So how do you get through the Holiday Season, while remaining committed to your health and the health of your friends and family?  Consider the following suggestions.

1. Take alcohol off your gift list. Some say 10 to 20 percent of all adults use alcohol problematically; this in turn can affect many friends and loved ones. The holidays can be an especially difficult time for abusers and their children and partners. Many families have closet abusers and giving the gift of alcohol may be the worst gift you can give a friend.
2. Eliminate or reduce the amount of alcohol on your menu: For work and home parties ensure you offer non-alcoholic egg nog and other seasonal drinks. If you do serve alcohol during holiday celebrations, consider displaying non-alcoholic alternatives in plain view and in an equally of even more attractive fashion. Make extra efforts to support the use of designated drivers, taxi services and other means of keeping intoxicated people off the roads.
3. Consider your children, especially your teenagers. Talking with teens about the heightened risks from alcohol during the holiday season can be helpful. School breaks typically mean lots of free time and lots of socializing with friends, not to mention increased access to alcohol that comes with the parties. The risk of auto accidents caused by intoxicated drivers imperils everyone, including teens as drivers and passengers. Consider, too, that modeling is worth a thousand words. It's hard to get the message of moderation across if your own choices around alcohol verge on excess.
4. Recovering from alcohol abuse, consider seeking extra support: Recovering people understand intellectually that the holidays are filled with powerful temptations and potential pitfalls, especially when the people around us are drinking. On a more emotional level, there is often pain and heartache associated with holidays past, and loneliness and isolation during the holidays present. If you are recovering, consider attending that extra meeting or developing extra support to take care of yourself throughout the season.
5. At restaurants or bar parties:  Drink water right away so that you are not drinking alcohol just to quench a thirst. And having food to eat will slow the absorption rate of the alcohol and keep your hands busy, or order a non-alcoholic drink. If you just ask for a glass of white grape juice in a wine glass, or you get a non-alcoholic beer in a beer mug, no one is the wiser but you.
6. Peer Pressure. NO MEANS NO!  If a person turns down your offer for a drink, never ask them twice or pressure them to "let lose because it’s the Holiday Season".  Don't cave into peer pressure.  You never really know a person’s individual situation and you may be forcing them into a destructive behavioral pattern.  And if you feel uncomfortable peer pressure to drink at a function when you don’t want to, LEAVE!

I used to believe, just because I ate a healthy diet and trained hard enough to compete in the Ironman Triathlon, I could indulge in a little more wine than all the scientific research recommended.  I figured they weren’t talking about a high performance athlete like myself.  I could drink 3-4 glasses of wine in an evening with friends, but in the morning I was always prone to headaches.  It wasn’t until I began measuring my daily pH levels that I realized the true toxic affect alcohol has on the body's internal system.  A single evening could increase my internal acidity by over 1000 times!  Now I’ve become the master of “nursing a single glass of wine” as long as possible. 

So as we approach this festive time of year, it’s my hope that you drink responsibly, while being mindful of the positive health benefits of restraint.

Enjoy the Ride …. Rob

It’s Only a Number

I was reading an article in today’s Globe and Mail that stated 81% of Canadians over the age of 65 suffer at least one Chronic Health condition.  I also read another recent article in a health publication stating that “Age is the biggest risk factor for Alzheimer’s.” The author was referring to the fact that the prevalence of Alzheimer’s doubles every five years in people over 65.

Equating an age to certain health conditions is a big mistake in my opinion, especially when so many “Baby Boomers” are approaching retirement age.  And we see it all the time.  Have you’ve ever been in a room dominated by senior citizens?  The conversation enviably ends up in a discussion about their chronic illness(s) and all the medication they have to take.  And almost all equate the fact that they have a degenerative disease to their age and not a life time of self abuse.  And it’s not just the average senior citizen that thinks this way.  Many doctors and medical clinicians also equate age with various degenerative diseases. “Age” is widely claimed to be the “biggest risk factor” for osteoporosis, macular degeneration, stroke, heart disease, diabetes and many forms of cancer.  

The problem with equating the risk of these diseases with a meaningless number – your age – is that it allows you to abdicate responsibility and takes your focus off the true root causes of disease and puts it on something that you can do nothing about.  Having said that, I'm not naive to think that you can live forever just because you eat well and exercise.  Even the healthiest people eventually die of something.  That's why I want to do everything possible to increase the quality of my life, for as long as possible by making good lifestyle choices when I'm young. 

I was actually told a couple months ago that I should be careful racing my bike in a 170km road race this past summer, because “men of my age” have a greater risk of suffering heart attacks.  Even telling him after the race that I tied for second place overall with guys 2/3's my age and made health and fitness a lifelong priority, he still stressed that I was at risk of a heart disease because I’m 55 years old.  He was convinced that heart disease is something that happens to people of a certain age, regardless of their lifestyle, and only those with the great genetics will dodge the degenerative disease bullet.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. The degenerative diseases that decrease the quality of one's life, or shorten it, have little to do with our chronological “age.” as a cause.  Rather, they are the long-term ramifications of unhealthy choices that turned into lifelong habits! These diseases do not magically appear at a certain age. They are generally the end-result of poor nutrition, stress, lack of exercise and free radical exposure to toxic overload over a long period of time,

The longer you expose yourself to these risk factors, the greater chance they will manifest into a serious degenerative disease, or diseases.  Given most North Americans haven't made health a priority in their life, it's only logical that they would draw the conclusion that age is directly related to certain degenerative diseases, because the statistics show it to be true.  Unfortunately, the statistics only provide the observation, not the root cause.  

Your focus should not be on your age, but removing the causes of these illnesses and diseases within your lifestyle – no matter what magic number you turned on our last birthday.

Enjoy the Ride …. Rob

"Man vs. Food" .... How not to eat

I’m currently spending a few weeks at my place in Arizona to extend the summer cycling season before the snow flies in the Great White North of Canada.  I’m always taken aback when I arrive at the Sun Harbor Airport in Phoenix by how much larger everyone is compared to Canadians, (although my fellow countrymen and women aren’t that much leaner). Being an avid Health Advocate, I’m always aware of just about everything concerning individual health, our healthcare systems, our food supply, or the pharmaceutical industry. And there never seems to be a shortage of material to write about, which brings me to week’s post.

After my first 110km ride along the beautiful rolling desert hi-way of the Apache Trail, I was cooling down in front of the TV surfing the channels for something interesting to watch and I came across a show called, “Man vs. Food.  With catchy title like that, I just had to take a look.  The 30 minute episodes found on the Travel Channel star Adam Richman who claims to have worked every job in the restaurant business. He also earned a master’s degree in Fine Arts from Yale University’s School of Drama, so he’s quite comfortable in front of a camera and has a flair for the melodramatic.  We follow Adam as he travels across America searching for what he describes as “the best American ‘pig-out’ joints”, or as I categorize them, “the unhealthiest eating establishments in American”.  From a health perspective, Adam is hardly the picture of health and judging from his appearance I would estimate his BMI is somewhere north of 30; meaning he’s one of the 83 million American adults that are OBESE, and contributing to our out-of-control healthcare costs.

Obviously, the show is intended to be a light hearted look at Adam’s incredible ability to hold down enormous quantities of food, while featuring the many unique eating establishments that serve specialty dishes that fall under one of the following three headings,

1. Meals of gigantic proportions,
2. Meals that are smoking "spicy" hot, or
3. Both 

I know I’m going to sound like a “Kill-Joy” here, but most of the people featured on the show, including its host, are representative of the unhealth condition of Americans.  Unfortunately, there are so many “super fatties” in America now, glorifying the “Manly-Man” image that Adam portrays as he devours a meal that requires nothing short of an unnatural act to consume has become acceptable entertainment. I find this type of programming to be in bad taste (pardon the pun), especially when millions of Americans are struggling or dying needlessly from diseases like Heart Disease, Type 2 diabetes, joint deterioration, cancer, or a whole host of other degenerative diseases resulting from eating these incredibly excessive portions.

America’s health situation is no laughing matter.  The result of the poor eating habits and lack of exercise has significantly impacted the cost and effectiveness of its healthcare system.  Its health costs are over double per citizen to the nearest country of the other developed nations, and according to the World Health Organization the USA ranks 37^th in terms of quality and efficiency, right behind Costa Rica and just in front of Slovenia and Cuba.  When health care costs are at epidemic proportions, a TV show like Man vs. Food is not helping the cause, as it only further confuses the general public to what healthy portions should be. Studies have shown that the majority of Americans no longer know what a normal protion should be, and most don’t even care.

To witness the physical and emotional turmoil caused by this kind of reckless eating behavior, one only has to tune into another popular TV show.  The “Biggest Loser” features the struggle their contestants face as a result of years (or decades) of self abuse from the eating habits featured on Man vs. Food.  For example, the two episodes of Man vs. Food I tuned into saw Adam devour a 72oz steak at a place called the Big Texan (go figure) and in another episode a 3.5 lb Burger called the Atomic Bomb.  If you tune in, watch it carefully, as this represents everything a person should NOT do to enjoy good health. In fact Adam himself has gained more than 40lbs since starting this show.  Talk about hazardous working conditions.

The "Atomic Bomb"  - Appropriately name....they both kill

I’d suggest the Travel Channel pull this show off the air and replace it with one that features a healthy host (or hostess) who is seeking eating establishments across America that serves healthy and delicious cuisine.  I'm probably dreaming.  A news anchor once told me, "if it doesn't bleed, it doesn't lead".  So doing a show that lacks the sensationalism of Man vs. Food's pig out meals probably wouldn't hold the attention of the public.  Celebrity Chef, Jamie Oliver has already started his one man crusade by educating Americans how to eat and prepare healthy meals, in some of the poorest regions of the country. It seems to me that Travel Channel is motivated entirely by ratings, revenues and profit, with little concern about the part they play in the health crisis in America. 

The majority of unhealthy citizens are under the impression that lifestyle choices impacting their health (as long as they don’t directly harm others, like Second Hand Smoke) are pretty much their business…and no one else’s. They will go further by saying there’s no place for “Health Advocates” like myself to be judgmental regarding their freedom of choice.  Nothing could be more incorrect.  As long as we collectively pay for our healthcare systems, every person is responsibility how they impact the costs of this necessary service through their lifestyle choices.  Abusing one's health, is disrespectful to those who make health a priority. 

I’m sure many, if not all of you have learned about, or in some cases witnessed a family member, or friend that has become ill, or passed away as a result of unhealthy lifestyle choices.  Become a health ambassador by first setting a positive example for others to follow, and then encourage the people closest to you to increase the quality of their lives by supporting their positive lifestyle choices and pointing out the harmful habits.  Even if it means to comment on the reckless eating behavior similar to what is portrayed on Man vs. Food.  Make a difference to someone you care about.

Enjoy the Ride…..Rob

Health – Make it Happen

My Father, who’s a very healthy 86, was telling me how most of his friends, at least the ones that still have all their marbles, or are still alive, have been encouraging him to slow down as he ages.  They keep telling him. "all that exercise can't be good for someone your age".  He said they've been suggesting this for almost a quarter of a century (at least the one's that are still alive).  He thinks differently from most of his peers because he lives in a World where health is the highest daily priority.  More from my Father in a minute.

 
My Father Running in Greece

“Knowledge is Power, but Action flicks the Switch”

When it comes to health, knowledge may be important, but if you do nothing with that information, what good is it?  It takes action to make anything happen and it’s up to you to be proactive with your health. 

All too often, people will go to the effort of visiting their doctor or medical lab for their annual check-up, let them poke, prod and obtain samples for evaluation, and after all that, won't even seek an interpretation of the results, or more importantly ask for a preventative healthcare action plan.  It's up to you to direct your health professional for this kind of feedback and support, as they’re paradigm is to manage your illnesses, not your preventative health initiatives.

More specifically, doctors are compensated for treatments, not outcomes.  It's one of the flaws within our current Healthcare model.  Doctors are paid like "Bookies",  they receive compensation regardless of the patient outcome to their treatment plan(s).  Their compensation is NOT tied to the quality of your health, but the treatment of your medical condition(s).  Let's be clear, doctors are NOT in the health business, they're in the illness business, whereby the actual outcome of your treatment is mutually exclusive from their earnings.  Of the over 7000+ codes that doctors use for billing, not one relates to health results.   My point is it’s entirely up to you to utilize your medical data and take action based on the results.  It's also incumbent upon you to direct your familiy doctor, or other health professionals to align with your preventative health objectives and not just the management and treatment of medical conditions.

Unfortunately, it's been my experience that most people neglect their health and just wait for their poor lifestyle choices to catch up to them.  How many times have you heard someone in their 40's, 50's or 60's say, "I've been pretty lucky with my health so far", as if luck had anything to do with their health.  Believe me, luck has little to do with the quality of your health and there's plenty you can do to decrease or completely avoid many degenerative diseases.  The reason most people adopt a lax attitude towards their health is because we live in world that reacts to issues, not prevent them.  I've always said there are three types of people in the world:

1. Those that "Make it Happen" (minority)
2. Those that “Watch it Happen” (majority)
3. Those that simply ask, “What Happened?”

Watch the video below to see what happens when there’s a shift from the “Watch it Happen” people to the “Make it Happen” people to demonstrate the point.

 

Because the majority of North Americans are NOT in control of their health (and the statistics get worse each year), it seems strange that these very same people are so blind-sided when presented with the news of an unexpected health crisis that could have been prevented through greater attention to their personal health.  We all know that it requires commitment to maintain a healthy, fit body, however only a minority of North Americans take action to make this happen on a daily basis. Given this fact, the last thing these people want is someone pointing out that they have to change their ways and begin making positive lifestyle choices.  This requires effort and commitment; something most "Watch it Happen" people will avoid at all cost.  For most, this will require a quantum shift in the way they prioritize health and exercise into their daily life and because the long-term benefit isn't realized for decades, the short-term convenience of being lazy wins the day.

To demonstrate this mental shift, let me give you glimpse into my World: 

There's an old saying that represents many North Americans and goes something like this, "I felt like exercising the other day, so I took a snooze until the feeling went away".  My World is 180 degrees from this way of thinking, in fact if someone told me that I was forbidden to exercise for a week and I had to eat nothing but processed food, burgers, fries, pizza and drink Coca Cola, I would ask what I did to deserve such extreme punishment.  Unfortunately, for most North Americans this is the "Bizarro World" they live in .  I’ve lost count of how many times I've been told to “live a little” and skip the work-out, or eat the donut.  It's as if we do live in different worlds.  In their world, NOT exercising and eating unhealty food is the norm, while in my world the opposite is true. 

Back to my father, (besides being 86, he also walk/jogs 10kms every day and consumes a very healthy diet. It's no surpise he's so healthy).  He told me, the first thing he thinks about each day is when will he do his workout (remember, he's 86, so it's never too late to begin an exercise program).  By comparison, many of my Father's peer group wake up each morning to a breakfast of pills and medication to treat their health related conditions.  At a time when most of these seniors are either suffering from degenerative diseases, or struggling with mobility issues; my Father is still recording his daily 10km times, which he's done for decades.  His only disappointment is that he’s not as fast as he was when he was  a young guy (he considers 60 as young).  He thinks this way because he lives in a "World" where healthy lifestyle choices are the norm, not the exception. 

Enter the "healthy world"?

So how do you cross the chasm into this "healthy world" where daily exercise and eating well is natural and automatic?  How do you become a “Make it Happen” person when it comes to your health?  I have to be honest, if you don't think like this today, it's going to take time and commitment for this to become your norm, as old habits die hard.  That said, you can start by following these three steps:

1. Establishing your "Baseline" with a simple assesment of a few key health indicators
2. Set both long-term goal with short-term health and fitness targets
3. TAKE ACTION

Key Health Indicators:

1. Body mass index (BMI)
2. Waist circumference
3. Risk factors for diseases and conditions associated with obesity

Body Mass Index (BMI)

BMI is a useful measure of overweight and obesity. It is calculated from your height and weight. BMI is an estimate of body fat and a good gauge of your risk for diseases that can occur from higher body fat. The higher your BMI, the higher your risk for certain diseases such as heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, gallstones, breathing problems, and certain cancers.

Although BMI can be used for most men and women, it does have some limits:

• It may overestimate body fat in athletes and others who have a muscular build.
• It may underestimate body fat in older persons and others who have lost muscle.

Use the BMI Calculator to estimate your body fat. The BMI score means the following:

Your Status	BMI
Underweight	Below 18.5
Normal	18.5–24.9
Overweight	25.0–29.9
Obesity	30.0 and Above

The BMI calculator is also available in a mobile application. This tool provides results right on your iPhone (RIP: Steven Jobs) along with links to healthy weight resources on the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Web site.

Waist Circumference

Measuring waist circumference helps screen for possible health risks that come with overweight and obesity. If most of your fat is around your waist rather than at your hips, you’re at a higher risk for heart disease and type 2 diabetes. This risk goes up significantly with a waist size that is greater than 35 inches for women or greater than 40 inches for men. To correctly measure your waist, stand and place a tape measure around your middle, just above your hipbones. Measure your waist just after you breathe out.

The table below from the NHLBI web site describes the Risks of Obesity-Associated Diseases by BMI and Waist Circumference  and provides you with an idea of whether your BMI combined with your waist circumference increases your risk for developing obesity-associated diseases or conditions.

	BMI (kg/m2)	Obesity Class	Men 102 cm (40 in) or less Women 88 cm (35 in) or less	Men > 102 cm (40 in) Women > 88 cm (35 in)
Underweight	< 18.5		-	-
Normal	18.5–24.9		-	-
Overweight	25.0–29.9		Increased	High
Obesity	30.0–34.9	I	High	Very High
	35.0–39.9	II	Very High	Very High
Extreme Obesity	40.0 +	III	Extremely High	Extremely High

Along with being overweight or obese, the following conditions will put individuals at greater risk for heart disease and other degenerative conditions:

Risk Factors

• Cigarette smoking  and excessive alcohol (2 drinks a day for men, 1 drink a day for women)
• Physical inactivity ( less than 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise per week)
• High triglycerides (0.60 – 2.30 mmol/l)
• High blood pressure (see chart below)

Category	Systolic (top #)		Diastolic (bottom #)
Normal	Less than 120	And	Less than 80
Prehypertension	120–139	Or	80–89
High blood pressure
Stage 1	140–159	Or	90–99
Stage 2	160 or higher	Or	100 or higher

• High LDL cholesterol ("bad" cholesterol) (2.3 – 3.4 mmol/l)
• Low HDL cholesterol ("good" cholesterol) (> 0.91 mmol/l)
• High blood glucose (sugar) (3.9 – 6.1 mmol/l)
• Family history of premature heart disease

For those who are considered obese (BMI greater than or equal to 30) or those who are overweight (BMI of 25 to 29.9) and have two or more risk factors, it is recommended that you lose weight.  You are a "Watch it Happen" person that's just waiting for the medicial crisis to knock on your door.  People who are overweight, but do not have a high waist measurement, and have fewer than two risk factors may need to prevent further weight gain rather than lose weight.  The good news is even a small weight loss (between 5 and 10 percent of your current weight) will help lower your risk of developing most degenrative diseases.

Take control of your health by making the conversation with your medical professionals interactive, engaging and meaningful, and they align with your long-term and short-term health and fitness objectives.  Be honest with the truth that's uncovered and most importantly, TAKE ACTION, because if you don’t make time for your health today, you’ll have plenty time to be sick in the future.  

Make it Happen and Enjoy the Ride

Rob

 

Are you consuming this highly marketed “Health Food”? …. Buyer Beware

If you’re an avid food label reader like I am, you have notice that Soy is finding its way into many products at your local grocery store.  There has been a significant amount of marketing propaganda from the highly subsidized Soy foods lobby promoting Soy’s health benefits.  I’m always suspicious of any food product that requires this kind and this amount of marketing to convince us it’s healthy.  By comparison, you never see a lobby team of marketing professionals pitching the health benefits for Broccoli, Cauliflower, Carrots, or Lettuce.  These foods aren’t  strategic, nor do they represent big business like Soy.

 
After reading a significant number of studies on the topic, I strongly believe you would reach the same conclusion I have—which is, the risks of consuming unfermented soy products FAR outweigh any possible benefits.  Notice I said unfermented soy products.

For centuries, Asian people have been consuming fermented soy products such as natto, tempeh, and soy sauce, and enjoying the positive health benefits. Fermented soy does not wreak havoc on your body like unfermented soy products. Unfortunately, many North Americans who are committed to healthy lifestyles have been hoodwinked and manipulated by brilliant marketing into believing that unfermented and processed soy products like soymilk, soy cheese, soy burgers and soy ice cream are good for them like fermented soy products.

How Did Soy Products Become A Health Food?

Soy foods seemingly appeared out of nowhere to be regarded as the “next miracle health food” of the 21st Century. From 1992 to 2006, soy food sales increased from $300 million to nearly $4 billion, according to the Soyfoods Association of North America. This growth came about due to a massive shift in attitudes about soy. And this shift was no accident—it was the result of a massive investment in marketing and advertising by the soy industry. Soy is indeed big business, very big business.

From 2000 to 2007, U.S. food manufacturers introduced more than 2,700 new soy-based products, and new soy products continue to appear on our grocer’s shelves at an aggressive rate.

According to the survey Consumer Attitudes About Nutrition 2008 (by the United Soybean Board):

• As of 2007, 85 percent of consumers perceive soy products as healthy
• 70 percent of consumers believe soybean oil is good for them
• 84 percent of consumers agree with the FDA’s claim that consuming 25 grams of soy protein daily reduces your risk of heart disease

This is the result of shrewd brand marketing taking root among the masses with the end result of producing large profits for the soy industry and impaired health for most who have been deceived into using unfermented soy foods for long periods think they are good for us.  There is a large amount of scientific research showing that soy is not the nutritional panacea of the 21^st Century as they would like us to believe.

“Where’s the Beef”

The vast majority of soy at your local market is NOT a health food. The exception is fermented soy, which I’ll explain more about later.  Next to GMO Corn and Wheat, GMO Soy is contaminated with large pesticide residues and the potent toxic herbicide Roundup to improve crop production by killing the weeds.  Unlike the Asian culture, where people eat small amounts of whole non-GMO soybean products, western food processors separate the soybean into two golden commodities—protein and oil. And there is nothing natural or safe about these products.

Dr. Kaayla Daniel, author of The Whole Soy Story, points out thousands of studies linking soy to some very serious health issues.  Dr. Daniel provides detail that supports the following in her "must read" book:

• The real reasons why soy is NOT a health food
• Shocking personal accounts of people whose health and lives were put at risk from eating soy products
• Hard evidence linking soy to malnutrition, digestive problems, thyroid dysfunction, cognitive decline, reproductive disorders, immune system breakdowns—even heart disease and cancer
• That soy has NEVER been proven safe, and learn the truth about how misleading propaganda played a huge role in how it became so popular in America

Here is just a sampling of the health effects that have been linked to unfermented soy consumption:

• Breast cancer
• Brain damage
• Infant abnormalities
• Thyroid disorders
• Kidney stones
• Immune system impairment
• Severe, and potentially fatal food allergies
• Impaired fertility
• Danger during pregnancy and nursing

There are always two sides of every story and the Soy proponents will argue that soy-based foods (they lump the fermented ones with the unfermented) will protect you from everything from colon, prostate and breast cancer to strokes, osteoporosis, and asthma. But these same enthusiasts never mention the studies that illuminate soy’s downside and all of the dangers posed to your health, which are based on sound research.  I didn’t have to look very hard to come across a significant volume of studies that raise serious concerns about Soy products.

Another unfortunate fact is that 80 percent of the world’s soy is used in farm animal feed, which is why soy production is contributing to deforestation. Some soy propagandists have suggested that the solution to this is for all of us to become vegetarians—a reckless recommendation rooted in total ignorance about nutrition—whereas a far better solution is a major overhaul in how farm animals are fed and raised.

What are the Issues associated with Soy Foods?

Here is a summary of soy’s most glaring problems.

1. 91 percent of soy grown is genetically modified (GM). The genetic modification is done to impart resistance to the toxic herbicide Roundup. While this is meant to increase farming efficiency and provide you with a less expensive soy product, the downside is that your soy is loaded with this toxic pesticide. The plants also contain genes from bacteria that produce a protein that has never been part of the human food supply.  GM soy has been linked to an increase in allergies. Disturbingly, the only published human feeding study on GM foods ever conducted verified that the gene inserted into GM soy transfers into the DNA of our gut bacteria and continues to function. This means that years after you stop eating GM soy, you may still have a potentially allergenic protein continuously being produced in your intestines. Even more frightening is the potential for GM soy to cause infertility in future generations, which has been evidenced by recent Russian research.
2. Soy contains natural toxins known as “anti-nutrients.” Soy foods contain anti-nutritional factors such as saponins, soyatoxin, phytates, protease inhibitors, oxalates, goitrogens and estrogens. Some of these factors interfere with the enzymes you need to digest protein. While a small amount of anti-nutrients would not likely cause a problem, the amount of soy that many Americans are now eating is extremely high.
3. Soy contains hemagglutinin.  Hemagglutinin is a clot-promoting substance that causes your red blood cells to clump together. These clumped cells are unable to be properly absorbed and distribute oxygen to your tissues.
4. Soy contains goitrogens.  Goitrogens are substances that block the synthesis of thyroid hormones and interfere with iodine metabolism, thereby interfering with your thyroid function.
5. Soy contains phytates.  Phytates (phytic acid) bind to metal ions, preventing the absorption of certain minerals, including calcium, magnesium, iron, and zinc -- all of which are co-factors for optimal biochemistry in your body. This is particularly problematic for vegetarians, because eating meat reduces the mineral-blocking effects of these phytates (so it is helpful—if you do eat soy—to also eat meat).
6. Soy is loaded with the isoflavones genistein and daidzein. Isoflavones are a type of phytoestrogen, which is a plant compound resembling human estrogen. These compounds mimic and sometimes block the hormone estrogen, and have been found to have adverse effects on various human tissues. Soy phytoestrogens are known to disrupt endocrine function, may cause infertility, and may promote breast cancer in women. Drinking even two glasses of soymilk daily for one month provides enough of these compounds to alter a women’s menstrual cycle. Although the FDA regulates estrogen-containing products, no such warnings exist on soy. 
7. Soy has toxic levels of aluminum and manganese. Soybeans are processed (by acid washing) in aluminum tanks, which can leach high levels of aluminum into the final soy product. Soy formula has up to 80 times higher manganese than is found in human breast milk.
8. Soy infant formula puts your baby’s health at risk. Nearly 20 percent of U.S. infants are now fed soy formula, but the estrogens in soy can irreversibly harm your baby’s sexual development and reproductive health. Infants fed soy formula take in an estimated five birth control pills’ worth of estrogen every day. Infants fed soy formula have up to 20,000 times the amount of estrogen in circulation as those fed other formulas!

Since the introduction of GM foods in 1996, we’ve had an upsurge in low birth weight babies, infertility, and other problems in the U.S. population, and animal studies thus far have shown devastating effects from consuming GM soy. You may want to steer clear of soy products for no other reason than a commitment to avoiding GM foods... unless you wish to be a lab animal for this massive uncontrolled experiment by the biotech industry.

Are any Soy Products Good For You?

Let me be clear that I am not opposed to all Soy products. Soy can be healthful, but ONLY if it is organic and properly fermented.  After a long fermentation process, the phytate and “anti-nutrient” levels of soybeans are reduced, and their beneficial properties become available. You may have heard that Japanese people live longer and have lower rates of cancer than North Americans because they eat so much soy—but it’s primarily fermented soy that they consume, and it’s always been that way. Fermented soy products are the only ones I recommend consuming.

These are the primary fermented soy products you’ll find that are good for you:

• Tempeh a fermented soybean cake with a firm texture and nutty, mushroom-like flavor.
• Miso, a fermented soybean paste with a salty, buttery texture (commonly used in miso soup).
• Natto, fermented soybeans with a sticky texture and strong, cheese-like flavor.
• Soy sauce, which is traditionally made by fermenting soybeans, salt and enzymes; be wary because many varieties on the market today are made artificially using a chemical process.

Please note that tofu is NOT on this list. Tofu is not fermented, so is not among the soy foods I would recommend consuming.

Vitamin K2: One of the Major Benefits of Fermented Soy

One of the main benefits of fermented soy, especially natto, is that it is one of the best food sources of vitamin K2. Vitamin K2 has been linked to preventing osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, and diseases of the brain such as dementia, and protecting you from various cancers including prostate, lung, liver cancer and leukemia. 

Vitamin K is sometimes referred to as the “forgotten vitamin” because its benefits are often overlooked. It was named after the word “Koagulation,” to reflect its essential role in blood clotting. In fact, the enzyme nattokinase—derived from natto—is safer and more powerful than aspirin in dissolving blood clots, and has been used safely for more than 20 years. If you enjoy natto or some of the other fermented soy foods, you can get several milligrams of vitamin K2 from them each day (this level far exceeds the amount of vitamin K2 found even in dark green vegetables). Unfortunately, the health benefits of many of the fermented soy foods fall by the wayside because many North Americans don’t enjoy their flavor.

If you don’t want to consume natto to get your vitamin K2, the next best thing would be to supplement.  I personally get my Vitamin K2 in my daily consumption of YouthJuice.  Remember, Vitamin K should be consumed with a source of fat, which I get in my exercise recovery concoction that also includes Organic Whey Protein Concentrate from Progressive Organics (recipe below).  Finally, Vitamin K acts synergistically with Vitamin D3 to keep you healthy (which is also found in YouthJuice).   

Rob’s Exercise Recovery Smoothie:

• 1 scoop (30g) Progressive Organics 100% Organic Whey Protein Concentrate (Organic Cocoa flavor)
• 4 ice cubes
• 4 strawberries
• 1 peeled orange
• 2 oz YouthJuice

Tips for Avoiding Unwanted Soy Foods

For a simple rule of thumb, just remember that unless soy is fermented (tempeh, miso, natto, or traditionally made soy sauce), you’re better off avoiding it. Soy foods to avoid include:

• Tofu
• TVP (texturized vegetable protein), which contains a large amount of MSG, which you should definitely not consume
• Soybean oil
• Soymilk
• Soy cheese, soy ice cream, soy yogurt
• Soy “meat” (meatless products made of TVP)
• Soy infant formula
• Soy protein isolate (NOTE: I will be writing a separate blog post on this topic, as many athletes, like weight lifters use this product as an alternative to Whey Protein)

The best way to eliminate non-fermented soy from your diet is to avoid all processed foods and instead purchase whole foods that you prepare yourself.  If you do buy packaged foods, you can check the label to see if it contains soy. As of January 2006, food producers are required to list soy on the label, because it’s one of the top eight food allergens.  So, even if soy is hidden in colors, flavors, or spice blends added to foods, it must be clearly stated on the label.

One other common source of soy is lecithin which is used as an emulsifier in many foods and supplements. Most lecithin in the US is derived from soy but there are some newer products that extract it from organic sunflower, which is a healthy alternative.

Remember, the only way to avoid falling victim to shrewd marketing and misinformation is to become knowledgeable about what the research actually says, and this is often different from what is commonly passed around as “fact.”  Follow the money and you will find the truth.

Enjoy the Ride …. Rob

 

Is Your Protein Powder Bad for Your Health?

I have been on an ongoing quest to make smart choices that optimize the quality of my health and the health of those around me for the past 25 years.  As a result, I’m continually researching the latest information to meet this objective.  Over the years research has been unclear on the topic of protein.  I’m often asked by athletes and friends; what is the best kind of protein, how much should I take a day, is animal protein better than soy protein, is Whey protein the best, what’s the difference between Whey Isolate and Whey Concentrate? 

As with all research related to the human body, if you rely on a narrow scope of data points you may find that eating something that can have a positive effect in one area, may have a negative effect somewhere else.  You may find that the quantity will have either a positive or negative effect or the timing of when you eat a particular food, may impact your athletic performance.  I recently experienced an issue that was the result of not doing my full due diligence and I want to share with you my observations and conclusion so you can avoid making the same mistake, which could have serious health consequences over a long period of time.

A little Background

It may seem like common sense that if you don't use your muscles, they'll eventually atrophy, yet so many people fail to apply this information in their daily lives.  The older you get, the faster your muscles will atrophy if you're not regularly engaging in the appropriate exercise. Additionally, older muscles do not respond well to sudden or intense bouts of exercise, so the key to avoiding sarcopenia (age-related muscle loss) is to challenge your muscles with intense exercise on a regular basis throughout your life—and it's never too late to start. As the super star actor Will Smith says, “Don’t get ready; Be ready”.

 
GROWING OLD IS NOT FOR SISSIES

Protein is essential for healthy muscle growth and maintenance, but as you age, your body becomes increasingly less able to utilize the protein in your food for building muscle, which makes the following information all the more important. According to a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, a group of researchers set out to find which protein was the best for muscle protein accretion, and would therefore help stave off sarcopenia (Loss of muscle mass with age) that may be caused by a reduction of muscle protein synthetic response to food intake.  As an avid cyclist, a loss of muscle mass as I age will have serious consequences on my performance, and the last thing I want is to be dropping in a bike race because I no longer have the strength to keep up with all those young guys. Three groups of older men were fed a meal-like amount of whey, casein, and casein hydrolysate proteins. Their protein ingestion was combined with an intravenous tracer which was used to assess digestion and absorption, and their muscle synthesis rates were also calculated from the ingested tracer. The study concluded that:

"Whey protein stimulates postprandial muscle protein accretion more effectively than do casein and casein hydrolysate in older men. This effect is attributed to a combination of whey's faster digestion and absorption kinetics and higher leucine content."

So what did this meant to me?  Whey Protein is the best, so I rushed out to my local health food store and purchased one of those giant tubs of Whey Protein.  I got the Isolate variety, because the sales person told me so. She said, Whey Protein Isolate was the best because it is more a "higher quality Protein" and contained less fat (Hmmm? Less fat = good, or so I thought).  Note to self: always understand the reason why a sales person recommends anything before buying it).  So for the next month and a half, I added this to my morning whole fruit berry smoothie.  Life was good, or so I thought.

We’ll get back to my story in a minute…..

Is Strength Training Sufficient to Prevent Age-Related Muscle Loss?

Sarcopenia, or age-related muscle loss, begins affecting people in their mid 20’s, initially at a rate of 1% loss of muscle mass per year, with accelerated rates as age advances and the muscle mass is replaced with fat.

Causes include:

• Hormonal changes
• Sedentary lifestyle
• Free Radicals
• Oxidative Stress damage
• Inflammation
• Insulin resistance
• Acidic Diet

It's a major challenge that many go through, especially the elderly, and as I just mentioned, regular exercise is essential to counteract this muscle loss. However, it's important to realize that simply lifting weights will not result in gaining muscle mass. Additionally, if you are involved in prolonged exercises like aerobics or running, you will not have the hormonal influences to build muscle either, even if you lift weights. It's important to understand that in order to effectively build and maintain muscle you need to incorporate short bursts of high intensity interval exercises that elevates your heart rate above your Anaerobic Threshold.  This kind of exercise allows your body to produce human growth hormone (HGH) naturally. Yea, the same stuff that athletes take to cheat in their sport, however they take it in the form of a synthetic drug.  HGH is also known as "the fitness hormone," and is essential for healthy aging, fitness, and yes, muscle building.

Additionally, you need to supply your muscles with the appropriate fuel at the appropriate time to provide them with the proper building blocks to produce new muscle tissue. This is where my whey protein comes back into play. Through my research, I found you should consume the whey about 30 minutes before your workout to help increase both fat burning and muscle building and within an hour or two after you exercise.  Taking Whey before you workout will stop the catabolic process in your muscle and promote protein synthesis towards recovery and growth.  There is ONLY a two hour window after exercise that allows your body to fully use the proteins you ingest for optimizing  muscle repair and growth, so it is important to get the timing right. One of the reasons whey protein works so well is that it is a protein that assimilates very quickly, and will get to your muscles within 10-15 minutes of swallowing it, supplying your muscles with the right food at the right time. Because meat based proteins take hours to digest, they are ineffective and produce minor results.  A study published in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports & Exercise showed the amino acids found in high quality whey protein activate certain cellular mechanisms, including a mechanism called mTORC-1, which in turn promotes muscle protein synthesis, boost thyroid, and also protect against declining testosterone levels after exercise.

All this sounded great and I thought I was on the right track for my athletics and long term health, however during the month and a half since starting on this program of adding Whey Protein Isolate to my diet, I noticed my internal pH began to drop and become very acidic.  At the beginning I thought this was because I wasn’t eating enough fruits and vegetables.  Or there may have been a residual effect from the red wine (very acidic) from the weekend.  So I adjusted my diet and eat even more fruits and vegetables and cut out wine  with no success.  In fact, my internal pH continued to drop from its usual 7.0 to 7.4, to a very acidic 5.0 to 4.5!  An increase of 100 to 1000 times in my acidity!  This kind of acidic level is consistent with most people that eat a typical North American diet full of junk foods and soda pop.  Needless to say, I was quite concerned.  An acidic internal system has many serious health consequences, which I’ll speak to in a moment.

Beware: Most Whey Proteins Are NOT Good For You

There's no shortage of whey products on the market, but unfortunately most of them will NOT give you the health benefits associated with a high-quality whey product. First of all you want to use a whey protein concentrate. High quality whey protein concentrates also contain glutamylcysteine, the major precursor to glutathione, which is another phenomenal anti-aging nutrient.  There is probably no other area of processed foods where you need to be more careful than in selecting a high quality whey supplement. 

Most whey proteins are processed from ultra-pasteurized milk and many are exposed to acid processing. Heat and acid damages the protein and makes it insoluble in water. This is one of the key ways to differentiate high quality whey protein from inferior ones. But the whey manufacturers know this, and know that insoluble powders are not appealing for a variety of reasons, so they add chemical flavors and detergents to restore flavor and solubility. They put in genetically modified soy lecithin, and also dump chemical surfactants, which are used in soap, like polysorbate 80, propylene glycol, and ethoxylated mono-diglycerides along with maltodextrin, caseinates, and hydrolyzed proteins, which are  really disguised MSG. They also use artificial sweeteners, like aspartame and sucralose, which are hazardous to optimal health.

Whey Protein Isolates is a Dangerous Form of Protein

If you’ve followed my blog long enough, you know I’m a huge believer of natural (organic whenever possible) whole foods that are exposed to as little processing as possible.  As discussed above, all whey protein isolates are highly processed and devoid of nutritional co-factors including alkalizing minerals, naturally occurring vitamins, and lipids, which are lost in the processing.  This renders them deficient and overly acidifying, hence my increased internal acidity to a dangerous level. Unlike whole protein whey concentrates which does not acidify your body due to its alkalizing minerals, whey protein isolates are over acidifying, thereby making them a liability to your health. If chronically consumed (such as with bodybuilders, athletes like myself, or the average person wanting to maintain muscle mass), it can acidify your body and over time lead to metabolic acidosis with consequences that include wasting of muscle and bone tissues, total metabolic shut down, and increased vulnerability to degenerative disease.

Additionally once the fat has been removed from whey protein isolate, you lose some of the most important components of its properties, such as phospholipids, phosphatidylserine and CLA. All of the IgG immunoglobulins, which are an excellent source of glutamine and glutamylcysteine, are also bound to the fat globule, and therefore lost in the processing of whey isolates.  So the bottom line is that if you want to use whey protein, PLEASE do not use an inferior whey isolate as there is no doubt in my mind it will cause more damage to you than benefit.

And I haven’t even touched on the negative affects Soy Protein.  I will save this for another day and dedicate an entire bog post to the topic of Soy, because it deserves much more than a brief explanation.  But for now, believe me when I say don’t touch any Soy based protein powders.

Guidelines for High-Quality Whey Concentrate

To ensure you're getting a high-quality Whey product, make sure the whey you're buying fulfills the following requirements:

• 100% certified organic Whey Protein Concentrate
• Non-GMO ingredients
• From cows that are grass fed & pasture raised without the use of pesticides or fertilizers
• No added hormones (rBGH), steroids or antibiotics
• Certified organic flavoring
• No artificial sweeteners, if sweetened only use certified organic stevia leaf extract, or equivalent

So how have I adjusted and what is the result?

After much research and over a couple of months of self testing, I’d like to share with you my pre and post exercise regime.  I found an excellent product made by Progressive Organics that meets all the key criteria mentioned above in this post and I prepare the following smoothie….and I must admit, it’s as delicious and it is good for you!

 
You will need a blender.  I invested in a VitaMix blender years ago, because I have smoothies all the time.  There more expensive than most, but well worth it.

Ingredients:

• 1 scoop (30g) Progressive Organics 100% Organic Whey Protein Concentrate (Organic Cocoa flavor)
• 4 ice cubes
• 4 strawberries
• 1 peeled orange
• 2 oz YouthJuice

Blend for a minute or two on high and you’ll have a nutritious and delicious drink that will maintain your muscle mass, while ensuring a healthy internal pH.

Enjoy the Ride …. Rob

 

Happy Birthday - No Finish LIne Blog

 
Well, it’s been one year since my daughter Nicole, who had already been writing a very successful blog on Global Brand Marketing (More Than A Logo), inspired me to share my ideas, insights and facts about improving health and wellness through blogging, thereby reaching a much larger audiance. Over the past year I was never short of material to share, as I wrote 40 blog posts on a wide varity of topics to an audience that has grown from zero to over 6000 world-wide.  It seems I always have 6 to 10 topics that I'm either researching, or in various stages of development. 

The most rewarding aspect of writing blog posts of this nature beyond increasing my own knowledge is when someone shares with me how the information contained within a blog post has improved the quality of someone's life, or the lives of their family. 

There's lots of confussion out there about the food we eat.  In fact, according to Sang Liwei, Director of Beijing Office of Global Food Safety Forum, "Basically, people now feel nothing is safe to eat. They don't know what choices to make. They are really feeling very helpless."  It’s my hope that over the past year I’ve provided some clarity about our diets, the foods we eat and that “Big Food” has no interest in our collective good health.  As a result we now have Healthcare systems that are no longer sustainable, as seen by the long wait times and costs that will banrupt our country if left unchecked (Canadians spend over 43% of every tax dollar towards healthcare and the US spends more for even worse care).  And these systems are plagued with people suffering with degenerative diseases that are enitrely preventable if only citizens spoke with their dollars and stopped buying food that is killing them.

Over the past year, I also emphasized the importance of daily exercise and although it wasn’t one of the top read posts, my most recent blog about how our children aren’t getting enough daily exercise was highly viewed.  Exercise is the single easiest prescription that anyone can integrate into their daily lives to improve their overall health, but given the size of the pharmaceutical industry and its influence on people's behaviors, most North Americans would prefer to simply pop a pill to hide the symptoms of bad health.  Instead our drug companies should be focusing their R&D dollars on the prevention of disease.  But then if they did, they would put themselves out of business as they require sick people to return "healthy "profits to their shareholders.

So, for my anniversary post, I thought I would share with you a few of my more popular posts that seemed to resonate with all of you based on viewership. 

1. Know Your Numbers:  Within this post, I shared 10 health indicators that when monitored on a regular basis, a person can either maintain good health, or significantly improve their long term health through lifestyle adjustments.  Since writing this post the Alberta Government released this announcement (https://www.infoway-inforoute.ca/index.php/lang-en/about-infoway/news/news-releases/722) indicating that every Albertan will have access to their Personal Health Information within the year much like you have access to your personal financial information from your bank.  This is not only a significant step forward for healthcare reform in Canada at the individual level, but by making this health information available to its citizens, each Albertan will now be able to make better personal health decisions for themselves and their families which will have profound and positive impact on the out-of-control costs associated with our Healthcare system.
2. Lifestyle Choices for Positive Health:  A week after I posted the above blog about the numbers every individual should track to maintain, or improve their personal health; I shared 8 lifestyle choices that will enhance your health and wellness.  I find humans approach their personal health in much the same manner as we approach many things in life.  It seems we only take action when there is a crisis.  We’ve seen many disasters throughout history that were entirely preventable; the Space Shuttle Challenger and the recent BP Oil Disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, immediately come to mind.  We also see the same behavior when it comes to our personal health.  Given there are now more overweight and obese North Americans then there are people of healthy weight and an increase in just about every degenerative disease, it seems most citizens are waiting for a persoanl health crisis before they take action and implement the lifestyle choices included in this blog post.
3. Sugar: A Bitter Sweet Story: A friend of mine that used to work at Nestles, (the global food conglomerate) once told me for a food product to be successful it requires three key ingredients, Fat, Salt or Sugar.  Most people eat to satisfy the requirements of their taste buds, rather than their nutritional needs.  In the mid 1980’s reseachers linked fat to high cholesteral and heart disease and the world jumped onto the low fat diet craze we still see today.  And by reducing, or removing fat from many of our favorite foods, big food manufacturers compensated the bad taste by sweetening our foods with the sugar of choice, fructose.  This blog seemed to resonate with many of my readers, as it was one of my most popular posts.  It seems many of you were unaware that fructose can only be metabolized by the liver and the by-product is free fatty acid…ie. FAT.  So the result of a low fat diet without understanding or considering the impact of the added sweetener in the form Fructose (High Fructose Corn Syrup), we now have a nation of people that are fatter and unhealthier than when we eat fat.

I’ve enjoyed sharing my thoughts and information over the past year and particularly enjoyed your feedback and I look forward to another year of sharing information and healthy living.

Enjoy the Ride….Rob

 

Coffee…well is it good or bad?

If you’re like most North Americans, you’re probably confused and frustrated with the non-stop conflicting messages from “experts” regarding how the products we eat and drink affect our health.  It seems one day something is good for us and the next day it’s bad. I often hear people say “everything in moderation”, unfortunately these very people have no idea what moderation means in practical terms.  For example, they’re the ones that figure if one glass of wine is good, the whole bottle must be great!

Well no other product is more confusing than the beverage most North Americans use every morning to get them going.  Can you say Tim Horton’s or Starbucks?  Of course I’m referring to Coffee.  In this post, I hope to set the confusing record straight.

 
 

As a general rule, because coffee contains caffeine, which is the most used drug in North America and is addictive, it is not perceived as a healthy supplement and is actually something that should be avoided.  Yes, it's true that caffeine should be avoided by women who are pregnant because it's been shown to cause complications in pregnancy. For example, one 2008 study found that just two cups of coffee ingested during pregnancy may be enough to affect fetal heart development and reduce heart function over the entire lifespan of the child.  

Also, if you’re one of those people that require a hit of caffeine in coffee to get your butt moving in the morning, you’re probably masking the fact that your diet is low in vitamin B12. I always suggest to my readers to deal with the root cause of your health problems and resist using drugs to mask the problem.

That said there appears to be instances where coffee may be of therapeutic benefit.

Selecting Quality Coffee is Key

Many of the warnings against the use of caffeine are well-warranted, because in and of itself it can be quite toxic. However, like so many other natural topics, when it comes to the whole food, in this case the coffee bean as opposed to the isolated caffeine, the converse is true.

Before we get carried away thinking coffee is good for you, I need to interject here as this is of particular concern for me because most coffee produced today is heavily contaminated with pesticides. It's actually one of the most heavily sprayed crops in this world, with the exception of corn and soy, which are also bad for you. So, when we speak of coffee here, let me be perfectly clear that I’m talking about organic, pesticide-free coffee.  Not the stuff you find in the middle aisles of the grocery store. Other issues that can come to bear on the end health effects of the coffee are the way it's dried and roasted.

Basically, if you have a quality coffee bean, even the roasted one, you get multiple nutrients and flavonoid antioxidants.  You can detect the quality of the coffee by taste and smell...rancidity can be detected immediately. A coffee that doesn't have a good aroma or taste is most likely stale and possesses no health benefits.

Coffee that is labeled and marketed as an organic must abide by high standards for organic coffee production.  To qualify, the crop must have been grown using at least 95 percent organic fertilizers and without the use of chemical pesticides for at least three consecutive years. The regulations also specify crop rotation methods must be used to protect the soil from erosion, and the beans may not be irradiated.

 

Another important caveat, is to drink your coffee black, without sugar or milk. Adding sugar and you'll certainly ruin any of the benefits I’ll be discussing below by overspiking your insulin and causing insulin resistance.

But first, let's take a look at the potential risks, and why coffee has received such a bad rap.

The Health Risks of Caffeine

A major "con" is that most coffee available today is rancid and packed from ground beans that cannot survive even a week before becoming stale. This is because the rate of rancidity increases dramatically once you grind the beans. So much of the bagged coffee you find in your grocery store is an already degraded product with rancid oils inside.

All that will give you is the caffeine. It won't provide you with healthful nutritional co-factors. So one of the first principles in using coffee is to grind the coffee beans of your choice fresh, making sure they are organic and pesticide free.  Like all food products, learn to read the labels.

Caffeine can cause a process in your brain called glutamate re-uptake inhibition. It actually inhibits the cellular re-uptake of glutamate, which is an “excitoneurotransmitter” essential for keeping you alert and ready for action.  Like other neurotransmitters, glutamate must be tightly regulated.  Your body has a mechanism that reabsorbs glutamate from the intracellular matrix back into the cell. 

Coffee inhibits this glutamate reabsorption.  And when caffeine intake is too high and chronic, it can cause glutamate excitotoxicity.  Glutamate excitotoxicity is also caused by MSG. MSG, when consumed, creates glutamate toxicity, which causes brain cells' mitochondria to literally pop inside out…glutamate toxicity rapidly accelerates brain cell death...

 
But let's not panic. This is true only when MSG or caffeine intake is chronically high.  If too much caffeine is being chronically absorbed, there is a high likelihood that similar to MSG, it could cause glutamate toxicity and related damage in certain areas of your brain.

Coffee-Induced Acidity—Is that Good or Bad?

Another reason why coffee has gained a bad reputation is because it's an acid forming substance. But some acid forming foods are essential to your health.  They provide benefits that should not be overlooked.

Acidity is a major problem and anything that chronically acidifies your body can cause metabolic acidosis, a condition which has catastrophic affects on the body to say the least.  When your body becomes overly acidic, due to an acid forming diet, you set yourself up to a total metabolic shutdown.  Over acidification of your body wastes your muscle and bones, and as the level of acid rises, cellular congestion occurs along with increased vulnerability to degenerative disease. Basically, when your body is acidic, you're falling apart…

So there was good reason to believe that all acid foods may cause metabolic disorders and disease including cancer. The two things that all cancers thrive on are acid and sugar. So you should avoid having too much acid and certainly avoid sugar. That's what the logic says.

But in real life, not all acid foods are bad...In fact some of the most beneficial foods are acid forming.  These include protein foods and plant based antioxidants such as alagic acid, which is found in high quantities in the berries like Blueberries, Blackberries, Elderberries and used in the product YouthJuice, which I take daily.

So what do you need to do to make an informed decision?

First of all, eat whole foods. Do not ever eat protein isolate, unless it’s in the presence of alkalizing minerals, because protein isolate doesn't have the alkalizing co-factors that are needed to balance the acidity of the protein. This means that you should be mindful how you consume whey isolate, hemp isolate, or soy isolate for this reason. These are all extremely acidifying and if you keep using them in large amounts unbalanced by alkalizing foods, you risk metabolic acidosis.  I know this for a fact, as I noticed my daily acidity levels increase when I introduced Whey Protein Isolate into my diet. 

Once you start to increase your intake of protein, you've got to support it with plant food. Virtually all plant foods are alkalizing… If you support protein intake with a high intake of fruits and vegetables and good selection of nuts like raw unpasteurized almonds for instance, you can’t go wrong.

The same rule applies to coffee!

If you drink coffee, just make sure your intake of raw fruits or vegetables is also enough. Essentially, a good diet is a balanced diet that includes all the major building blocks—fats, proteins and carbs—acidic and alkalizing foods must be balanced!  Remember the goal for optimal health is to have an internal system that’s slightly alkaline.

What Makes Caffeine Healthy?

Natural sources of caffeine include tea, coffee, and chocolate. These whole caffeinated foods are beneficial.

Every time you get naturally occurring caffeine, such as in cocoa beans, coffee or tea, you get it from a nutritionally dense healthy whole food. And note that when you use the same food in a decaffeinated form such as decaffeinated coffee, or decaffeinated tea, you ingest "nutritionally deficient inferior" foods. A tea without caffeine is useless. It loses all the antioxidant bioflavonoids in the processing. Same with decaffeinated coffee…it has zero nutritional value.

Research has shown that both whole cocoa beans and coffee have remarkable neuroprotective properties. There is emerging evidence that South American societies who drink freshly ground coffee from whole coffee beans have the lowest rates of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease."

Caffeine May Also Help Rejuvenate Your Muscle

Interestingly, coffee also expresses itself in your muscles. It does this by supporting the neuromotor, which is the most critical element in your muscle.  Without the neuromotor, your muscle is like an engine without ignition…  Neuromotor degradation is part of the process that explains age-related muscle atrophy.  So in this respect caffeine may also help keep your muscle tissue young.

Other Health Benefits of Coffee

Coffee increases your metabolism by up to 20 percent and triggers mechanisms that rejuvenate your muscle tissue. Coffee can actually be quite beneficial if consumed before exercise.

Coffee before training allows you fast energy to initiate your workout. For people who train in the morning, having coffee before training is a great advantage.  Although I never drink coffee, many of my cycling friends would never think of doing an early morning ride without their hit of “Espresso”.

However, you do want to be careful and moderate in the amounts you drink. Coffee is a potent substance, and can affect your adrenal glands. So if you have an issue with decreased adrenal function, use care with coffee. As stated earlier, it also increases the excitatory neurotransmitter glutamate.

Again, your body can handle this if it's whole, fresh, organic coffee, because it doesn't hit your system the way synthetic caffeine does. But you don't want to abuse it. Also remember we're talking about black coffee—no sugar added.

Researchers also seem to agree that having just one cup of coffee, or one shot of espresso in the morning, or before training, is all you should have for the whole day. If you exercise in the morning, have your coffee prior to your workout, never after.

Coffee Can Reduce Post-Workout Muscle Soreness

According to a study published in the March 2007 issue of The Journal of Pain, consuming a cup of coffee an hour before training can help reduce post-workout muscle soreness by up to 48 percent. To put this into perspective, studies using naproxen (Aleve) only achieved a 30 percent decrease in post-workout muscle soreness, and aspirin produced a 25 percent decrease.

The authors stated: "A lot of times what people use for muscle pain is aspirin or ibuprofen, but caffeine seems to work better than those drugs.

Why Drinking Coffee After Exercise is NOT Recommended?

When used before exercise, coffee will give you a good boost. However, it affects your muscles similarly to exercise itself. It increases the energy expenditure by your muscle while inhibiting the “mTOR”; the mechanism that increases protein synthesis in your muscle.

What that means is that coffee, similar to exercise, actually inhibits the inherent mechanism that builds your muscle. (You do not build muscle while exercising. Muscle building occurs during recovery).

The mTOR cannot be activated when you drink coffee.  When you drink coffee before exercise, the mTOR is going to be inhibited by exercise anyway, but this inhibition is not a regular inhibition… Fasting, exercise and coffee inhibit mTOR in a way that can be compared to a spring being compressed in a closed box.… It's a bit tricky, but exercise inhibits and stimulates mTOR at the same time. So when exercise and coffee inhibit the mTOR, as soon as you stop exercising, mTOR kicks back in with a vengeance. And when you eat a recovery meal after exercise, your muscle is biologically most prepared to accept protein and gain muscle.

That's why the timing of coffee is very important.  Before exercising, coffee will work with the exercise itself. It really inhibits the mTOR but at the same time, it stimulates energy production and fat burning. After exercise, it's the wrong time for having coffee—that's the time for a recovery meal, a good quality whey protein will do."

Can Coffee Help Cut Sugar Addiction?

Maybe…The reason why you get addicted to a food (any food really) but particularly sugar, is because your brain has opioid receptors. They're part of a primordial reward system that helps you detect, select and enjoy eating fresh foods over rancid ones.

Today, however, we live in a world of plenty, surrounded by processed foods that are typically loaded with sugar. Unfortunately, this has led our addictive opioid receptors—which primarily helped us select appropriate foods—to become addicted to the wrong foods. Interestingly, sugar binds to the same addictive receptors as cocaine and other addictive drugs.

Now, there are a few compounds called opioid receptor antagonists. That means once they occupy the receptors, they prohibit you from being addicted to something else. And coffee is an opioid receptor antagonist.  Caffeine can bind to your opioid receptors and may attenuate the addictive impact of another substance.

If you are addicted to sugar and many people are, and you really want to train your body gradually to get rid of this addiction, using coffee would be a viable way to help yourself achieve this. Train yourself to drink black coffee. Drink it sugarless on an empty stomach and you will see how, gradually, the cravings will dissipate...

Conclusion

So, all in all, it appears coffee may have some redeeming charateristics after all, particularly to boost the benefits of your morning workout, as long as you get high quality organic coffee, ground the beans yourself to make sure it's fresh, and avoid adding sugar.  

I was concerned as I wrote this post that some people will only read what they want to hear. It’s human nature to only absorb the information that supports one’s own beliefs.  I’m concerned many people reading this post will walk away unchanged and continue to drink the 3 -4 cups of junk food coffee a day, because I said there are some health benefits associated with this potentially toxic product and forget that this comes with some pretty strict rules.  Please be mindful of the following important points:

• Only purchase organic coffee
• Don’t grind the beans until you actually plan on having your hit of “Joe”
• No more than one cup of coffee per day
• Drink your coffee black (no sugar or milk).  That pretty much eliminates Tim’s and Starbucks.
• Lady’s…for the health of your unborn children…Don’t drink coffee if you’re pregnant
• Never drink coffee after you exercise

If you follow these rules, you will not only enjoy the healthy benefits associated with coffee, but you won’t be exposed to the strange looks from people when you say, “I don’t drink coffee”, like me. 

Enjoy the Ride …. Rob

 

The Sleep Mistake Many of us Make

I haven’t written a blog for over a month.  I just finished 5 weeks of intense work responding to a significant health care proposal that has the potential of transforming the way Canadian citizens manage their health and the health of their loved ones by providing electronic access to their personal health record.  I’ve previously written about the importance of knowing your “Key Health Indicators”; and the technology we proposed allows individuals to track key health indicators, much like your online access to personal financial information. 

 A team of approximately 30 business professionals worked day and night for the five weeks, receiving approximately 3 to 5 hours of sleep a day, including weekends.  Some of the team members got sick, others saw their energy levels decline, and all of us had to work extra hard to concentrate, maintain our focus and pay attention to detail.  In part, these symptoms were compounded by poor eating, lack of regular exercise and since all this was taking place over the Holiday Season, there was the added stress of knowing we were missing important time with our families and friends. 

During this time, I did my best to maintain certain elements of healthy eating, for example, I ensured to take my daily essential vitamins, minerals and high antioxidants found in Youth Juice, and encouraged the people that ordered our food from the caterers to bring in fruit, raw vegetables and healthy salads.  I also resisted the temptation to eat pizza that was brought in during the many late night working sessions.  After long days of work and even though I was living in hotels, I still managed to exercise daily.  I found that the exercise reenergized my body and mind.  That said, I was certainly not operating at 100% efficiency, as I was sleep deprived, and my body’s natural rhythms were significantly interrupted, which brings me to the topic of this blog post....

Because of the lack of sleep, non-stop exposure to office lighting while staring into a laptop computer for close to 15 to 20 hours a day for 5 weeks straight, I found it challenging to maintain my typical high energy and positive mood.  There's growing concern among experts that computers and other electronic devices may fool our brains into thinking that it's still daytime long after the sun has gone down. Exposure during the night can disturb sleep patterns and exacerbate insomnia.  Such concerns are not new -- Thomas Edison may have created these problems when he invented the light bulb. But the problem has grown worse thanks to computers and the popularity of devices like Apple's new slate computer, the iPad.  In fact, according to CNN:

"Laptops and iPad’s are more likely to disrupt sleep patterns than, say, a television sitting across the bedroom or a lamp that illuminates a paper book, both of which shoot far less light straight into the eye, researchers said."

Everything in nature has a rhythm, and that includes your body. It strives to keep its 24-hour cycle, or Circadian Rhythm. This is why most of us naturally feel like waking when the sun comes up, and sleeping when it's dark. Researchers have also shown how your Circadian Rhythm is involved in everything from sleep, to weight gain, mood disorders, and a variety of diseases. Unfortunately, modern life, (like having to work solid for 5 weeks on a client proposal, or working the night shift) throws a wrench into your body’s natural cycles.

 

Glowing Gadgets Fool Your Brain and Disrupts Your Circadian Rhythm: When light receptors in your eyes are triggered, they signal your brain to 'stay awake.'  To do this, your brain stops secreting melatonin, which is both a hormone and a potent antioxidant against cancer. Hence the significant importance sleep plays as one of your key lifestyle choices that requires little to no effort.  Normally, your brain starts secreting melatonin around 9 or 10 pm, which makes you sleepy. These regularly occurring secretions thus help regulate your sleep cycle. However, if you regularly trick your brain into altering this cycle, sleep disturbances are not far behind. Because of our exposure to a growing number of electronic devices, many people in North America are now living in a permanent state of “jet lag” or “sleep deprivation”.  Computer screens and most light bulbs emit blue light, to which your eyes are particularly sensitive simply because it's the type of light most common outdoors during daytime hours. As a result, they can disrupt your melatonin production.

Your Circadian Rhythm is Closely Tied to Your Overall Health: Your Circadian Rhythm has evolved slightly over the past few decades to align our physiology with our environment. However, decades are a mere blink of an eye relative to the millions of years humans have been roaming this planet and we still basically operate under the assumption that we're still behaving as our ancient ancestors have for thousands of generations before us: sleeping at night and being awake during the day. If you push these limits by staying up late at night, depriving yourself of sleep, like I did for the past five weeks, or eating at strange hours, like 2:00am, also like I did, you are sending conflicting signals to your body. As a result, your body doesn't know whether it should be producing chemicals to tell you to go to sleep, or gear up for the beginning of your day.

Maintaining this natural Circadian Rhythm affects far more than just your sleep pattern. Your body actually has many internal clocks -- in your brain, lungs, liver, heart and even your skeletal muscles -- and they all work to keep your body running smoothly by controlling temperature and the release of hormones. Your body temperature and hormone production also vary with your personal internal clock. This, in turn, influences such things as: 

• The easiest time to detect disease in your body
• The times when you'll be less sensitive to pain
• The times when you'll be most productive at work (I personally know it’s not at 2:00am after receiving 4 hours sleep day in and day out for weeks)

Disrupting your natural rhythm can also make you more vulnerable to disease. For example, reduced melatonin levels, due to prolonged exposure to artificial light, is known to increase your risk of cancer (researchers have found that totally blind women have a 36% lower risk of breast cancer compared with sighted women, due to the increased levels of melatonin).  It also activates your stress response and weakens your immune system, hence the number of people working on our proposal team that got sick, or very close to it, which is why irregular sleep cycles can lead to stress, constipation, stomach ulcers, depression, heart disease, and other illnesses.

So do as I SAY, not as I DO.  Keeping Your Body Clock Running Smoothly: This is a lifestyle choice I have to improve myself, as I tend to stay up too late working.  Following these guidelines can help keep your Circadian Rhythm in its natural cycle:

• Use full-spectrum light bulbs in your home and office during daytime hours.
• Turn off computers and electronic gadgets once the sun sets (as best you can), and avoid watching TV late into the night.  The blue light emitted from TV's and computer screens mimic the blue light found in daytime sunlight, which can alter your melatonin production.
• Use "low blue lights" in areas where you spend most of your time in late evening, such as your living room, bedroom, and bathroom.
• Sleep in total darkness! If there is even the tiniest bit of light in your room it can disrupt your Circadian Rhythm and your body’s production of the hormones melatonin and serotonin. This is the "hidden" secret that most people tend to ignore, but which can dramatically improve the quality of your sleep.
• Sleep when it's dark outside and get up when the sun comes up. At minimum, strive to sleep between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. This means you should be in bed, with the lights out, by 10 p.m. and be up by 6 a.m.
• Avoid working long crazy hours. There are always times when you’re asked to work long hours to meet aggressive timelines, but ensure these are the exceptions and not the norm.  You’re not doing anyone any good by working in front of a computer screen well past midnight and into the early hours of the day.  Not only are you working well below your potential, you may be heading toward a very long premature and permanent sleep.

If you're even slightly sleep deprived I encourage you to implement some of these tips I’ve mention above tonight, as high-quality sleep is one of the most important factors in your health and quality of life.  I’m starting this tomorrow, because it’s 2:15am as I’m writing this. 

Good night and Enjoy the Ride ….. Rob

Lifestyle Choices for Positive Health

Last week I encouraged you to begin tracking 10 key “Health Indicators” as a sure fire way of staying on top of your health.  Knowing these numbers will provide you with measurable data that provides ongoing feedback regarding the state of your health and alerts you when to take remedial action.  In the discussion surrounding this topic, I often refer to the importance of making healthy lifestyle choices for you, your family and friends. 

 Your health isn’t something you worry about only when you’re sick.  You also need to be thinking about your health when you’re healthy.  The natural state for all humans is good health that’s free of illness.  I know so many people that are either sick, just getting over a sickness, or feeling like they’re coming down with something.  This is a warning sign that they’re lifestyle choices are causing an unnatural state. 

 So what are these lifestyle choices that will enhance your health and wellness?  I hope these positive lifestyle choices below are not a surprised to any of you.  As I say time and again, “Knowledge is Power, Action flicks the Switch.”  It’s up to you to make these choices a life priority.

 

1)             Alcohol intake

Excessive alcohol consumption has become a socially acceptable practice, to the point if you decline a drink at a social gathering because you’ve exceeded the limit associated with good heart health, you are considered strange, or in my case, the “Health Nut”. 

Those fond of tipple may be dismayed, but the science on alcohol as an agent to promote heart health is anything from definitive. "If you already have heart disease, alcohol plays no role in your medicine cabinet; if [you do] not, alcohol is not the right way to reduce your risk," says Jonathan Whiteson, director of the Cardiovascular Rehabilitation Program at New York University Langone Medical Center. Some research has suggested that drinking red wine may increase ones HDL, or "good" cholesterol, but Whiteson notes that the boost is extremely minimal and "Exercise [offers] a better increase in HDL,".

Excessive drinking at social gatherings has become so socially acceptable; we now perform unnatural acts to get ourselves home safely and they’re considered responsible (designated drivers, sleeping over, taxi cabs, etc).  The responsible and healthy thing to do is not drink so much to worry about whether you can drive a car safely.  If you can’t drive yourself home, you’ve drank far too much alcohol for good heart health.  While Dr Whiteson and I are not against one or two drinks in a social setting, it's certainly not something people—especially those with heart issues—should engage in with the idea that it will offer a heart benefit. In addition to the many heart related issues, drinking too much can also lead to high blood pressure and increased blood levels of triglycerides.

 Bottom line: The American Heart Association suggests that healthy individuals, who drink, should do so in moderation.  Moderation is defined as one to two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women. And be careful with the pour: The AHA defines a drink as one 12-ounce beer, a 4-ounce glass of wine, 1.5 ounces of 80-proof spirits or 1 ounce of 100-proof spirits.  And further emphasizes that weekly consumption is not cumulative.  That means if you miss four days of drinking wine during the week, you can’t make it up on Saturday night by drinking what you missed during the week.

2)             Salt Intake

Some experts say that the pervasive use of sodium in the North America diet is wreaking havoc on our cardiovascular systems. "Sodium causes retention of fluid within the circulation, and if you're sodium-sensitive, it expands your blood volume and can contribute to high blood pressure, stroke, and other heart disease," explains Clyde Yancy, medical director of the Baylor Heart and Vascular Institute at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas and spokesman for the American Heart Association.

A report in January's New England Journal of Medicine suggested that if Americans reduced daily salt intake by 3 grams, we could significantly lower the annual number of new cases of coronary heart disease. The paper's authors noted research shows the average North American man consumes 10.4 grams of salt daily, while the average woman gets 7.3 grams.

Bottom line: The AHA recommends limiting salt intake to 1.5 grams daily. Be wary: Sodium creeps in via unexpected sources, and it's not so much the salt shaker on our table that's to blame. Research suggests we get as much as 80 percent of our daily salt intake from processed foods, which is why I encourage my readers to avoid fast food restaurants and the foods in the middle aisles of your grocery store, which is where you’ll find the processed edible, non-food. Check out these 10 common foods that are high in salt.

3)             Sugar intake

It's not just the savory flavors that'll get you; sweets too, can ultimately become a cause for concern, says the American Heart Association. Like salt, sugar creeps into the processed foods that make up much of the American diet, and sweetened beverages—soda, juices, and sports drinks—are especially loaded with the stuff. Here's some disturbing math for you: A 12-ounce can of soda has about 8 teaspoons (or 33 grams) of added sugars, totaling about 130 calories. (A gram of sugar translates into 4 calories.)

A can of Coke or Pepsi basically takes you to the AHA's upper limit on the recommended amount of added sugar you should ingest on a daily basis. The association's primary concern is the number of excess calories that added sugars sneak into our diets and pile onto our waistlines, which can contribute to metabolic changes that increase the chances of developing a host of diseases.

Bottom line: According to the AHA, women should get no more than 100 calories per day of added sugars and men should stop at 150 calories per day. Check these surprising sources of sugar.

4)             Hours of sleep per night

An over caffeinated America seems to perpetually crave more shut-eye, and evidence is cropping up to suggest that a poor night's sleep is not only felt the next day but could have implications for ones heart health over the long term. It is well established that sleep apnea, which results in numerous interruptions to breathing while asleep, is associated with stroke and coronary artery disease. The reason is not clear but it's been hypothesized that people with disrupted sleep breathing have higher blood pressure because they don't get the restorative sleep that normally allows blood pressure to go down and gives the cardiovascular system a break during slumber.  A study I read in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that middle-aged people who received five hours of shut-eye or less a night had a greater risk of developing coronary artery disease than those who got eight hours. The clue was the beginnings of calcium buildup in their arteries, found by CT scanning long before the disease process would normally be picked up.

Bottom line: Get eight hours of sleep per night. Making it happen isn't easy, I know, I’m a night owl myself. For inspiration here are 10 ways to get a better sleep and maybe cure your insomnia. 

5)             Exercise

You've heard it a thousand times, and the message stays the same: Regular, heart-thumping exercise offers a multitude of health benefits, particularly for cardiovascular fitness. Perhaps clinicians (and health advocates like me) keep bashing us over the head with this fact because of the eye-popping number of American adults who reported getting zero vigorous activity.  In a 2008 Centers of Disease Control and Prevention survey: 59 percent never exercised, and given the fact that greater than 70% of Americans and 52% of Canadian’s are now either overweight or obese, I suspect that number is low.  I always tell people to find an activity they love and do it every day.  Well I have to be realistic and accept the fact that not everyone is like me and my athletic friends that love working out.  So I developed a program that maximizes the benefits associated with training, while at the same time minimizing the time required.  Stay tuned, for a future blog on my “Max-20” workout program. 

Bottom line: Exercise, is one pill that treats numerous ills. It can touch so many risk factors for heart disease, including reducing weight, reducing stress, improving blood sugar profiles, bringing down high blood pressure, and lowering total cholesterol, lowering LDL (the "bad" cholesterol), increasing HDL (the "good" cholesterol), and lowering triglycerides in the blood. A previous blog of mine spoke about some of the excuses people give why they won’t exercise.  Here are 15 of the common excuses I hear all the time and why they don’t fly with me. 

6)             Cigarettes

Need I have to say anything?  Well a 2009 study of Norwegians found that heavy smokers—those who puff at least 20 cigarettes per day—were 2.5 times more likely to die over a 30-year period than nonsmokers.  But the cardiovascular risks associated with smoking aren't just seen in chain smokers. The more nuanced message that doesn't always get across is the risk that the occasional smoker is exposed to. Even 10 minutes of secondhand smoke exposure may affect cardiovascular function. Just because you might not smoke a pack a day or even a week doesn't mean you're in the clear. "There is no safe level of exposure" to tobacco smoke.

Bottom line: To protect against heart disease (not to mention cancer, stroke, and reproductive problems), the goal is to smoke exactly zero cigarettes.  If you smoke, STOP!  If you’re around a person that smokes, LEAVE!  And don’t apologize, after all, they’re trying to kill you. 

7)             Diet

Today, consuming a good diet for maintaining your health is of paramount importance. In these times of higher pollution rates, soil degradation, pesticides, sedentary lifestyles and the wide availability of fatty, sugary and processed foods, we need good food now more than ever before.  This is a topic that requires on-going blog posts just to keep up with the ever changing landscape of information and misinformation often motivated by big money.  Food is huge business and “Big Food” is not interested in your health and will use deceptive marketing tactics targeted at you the shopper, to ensure they meet their financial targets at the expense of your health, the health of your family and the out-of-control costs associated with healthcare delivery.  

Bottom Line: Without the benefits of key components of a wide variety of natural, fresh foods, there is the potential to suffer from a range of chronic degenerative diseases as well as some acute conditions. So what exactly constitutes a good diet?  There are key components humans can’t live without, and they are as follows: vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, fats, proteins and fiber.  Monitor this blog for regular updates for information pertaining to healthy food choices that ensure you receive the necessary nutrients to maintain your “health indicators” throughout your life. 

8)            Stay Hydrated

Our bodies are nearly 70% water, so it should come as no surprise that water is essential to maintaining health and prolonging life. We use water to regulate body temperature, protect our joints and organs, and to help transport oxygen to cells. But in order for water to keep our bodies in check, we need to make sure that its levels are constantly replenished. The solution is simple: hydrate. Although the common prescription of drinking eight eight-ounce glasses of water per day has been called a myth, the message isn’t necessarily a bad one.

Bottom Line: Drink water and drink often.  Other liquids are not replacements for water.  Soft drinks, energy replacement drinks and vitamin water don't count.  If you exercise, you require even more water as your performance will be significantly impaired without proper replenishment. 

Summary

“Regret is the real cancer of life”, don’t regret making positive lifestyle choices today for you and your family that may lead to serious health issues 20 to 40 years from now that rob you time and/or quality of life.  Monitoring your key health indicators throughout your life will only provide you information; it takes action on your part to make the healthy choices I shared with you above a priority throughout your life.  If you make these simple and proactive adjustments to your lifestyle, you will enjoy a long and healthy life. 

Finally, making these adjustments as a nation of people will not only have positive outcomes at the individual level, it will have a profound financial impact at the national level.  Taking care of yourself is only part of the solution.  Our healthcare systems are seriously ill and on life support in part because of their own doing because they have focused too much on the treament of illness and not enough on the prevention of it.  But we too have to accept partial blame for the state we're Healthcare is in, because of the exponential cases of illnesses associated with degenerative diseases due to poor lifestyle choices.  Change on mass will only occur through a grass roots movement of people like you that make health a priority for yourself and your extended network.  Lead by example and be the “health nut” amongst your circle of friends, family and colleagues. 

My ask of you is to share your healthy habits with at least 5 to 10 people this and every week, and motivate them to do the same.  Be a health advocate.  Leverage this blog site if they don’t know how to start.  Watch the 3 minute video below to see how one “nut” can create an entire movement.  Let’s all be that ‘nut” and make a difference.

Enjoy the Ride …. Rob