Beating Migraines the Old-Fashioned Way

If you have been plagued by chronic migraines, my guess is that you have tried just about everything to relieve them. There are medications, relaxation techniques, and diets that can all have a modest effect on controlling migraines, but what can we do to ELIMINATE migraines? While the exact cause of them is unknown, it is my belief that chronic inflammation plays a key role in the likelihood of experiencing migraines. Like many other health conditions, chronic inflammation lays a foundation for pain and disordered function. In working to limit inflammation, many people see a reduction or even complete reversal of symptoms such as joint pain, sinus issues, allergies, and headaches/migraines. The removal of inflammation can even help to battle cancer, atherosclerosis, hay fever, and arthritis.

The Role of Inflammation

Inflammation is a biological response in which the body works to protect itself against infection, injury, and foreign substances such as bacteria and viruses. It usually involves an increase of blood to an area and when acute, is accompanied by acute pain. This is an important process within the body, without which we would not be able to fight off infection and disease. Problems with inflammation begin to arise when it becomes chronic and generalized. When there is continued inflammation, the body may even begin to attack itself, leading to auto-immune disorders.

The most common symptoms of inflammation are joint pain, joint stiffness, swelling, and can be associated with fever, chills, fatigue, muscle pain, and headaches (migraines!). The problem with general inflammation is that the root cause is not always apparent. It is my opinion, however, that there is one BIG underlying cause that is fundamental to our heath which is often overlooked: diet.

Why Diet Matters

Why is the evaluation of one’s diet not ALWAYS the first step in any health-related issue? We know that the food we eat is manifested in how we look, feel, and perform. We know that food can change how our body functions, how our genes are expressed, and how our cells interact with one another. So let’s start with diet and see what happens. As stated above, inflammation plays a big role in all types of issues, but today we will look at migraines as an example.

When you ingest a food item, your body must break it down, and then absorb it, to make use of its energy. So it is not so much about what you eat as it is about what your body absorbs. This concept is key to understanding the dietary influence on inflammation, because it is your body’s ability to use the food that you give it that can lead to problems.

In my experience, there are a few items that most commonly lead to inflammatory issues: grains, beans, and dairy. Each one for different reasons, but when it comes down to it, there are a lot of people that have a hard time digesting them. When your body has a hard time digesting a food, it leads to inflammation in your gut. When there is inflammation in the gut, a number of issues can arise including bloating, constipation, and something called “leaky gut” where some of those food particles make it through your intestinal wall, even though your body does not want them. This is where chronic inflammation can arise, because now you have a steady supply of foreign invaders in your body, ramping up your inflammatory response.

The Elimination Approach

If you are dealing with any of the health concerns mentioned in this article, it may be worth your time to play around with your diet. While you may not have issues with all grain, beans, or dairy, I would be very surprised if at least ONE of these was not helping to fuel the fire. I recommend approaching this problem through the use of an elimination plan. There are two ways to do this: 1) Cut out all potentially problematic foods for 30 days, then reintroduce one at a time, or 2) Cut out one food item for 30 days, then reintroduce and see how you feel. If it doesn’t agree with your stomach, leave it out and move onto the next item. If it’s okay, leave it in.

The three groups that you will want to play with are grains, beans, and dairy. If it is migraines that you suffer from, I would look first at wheat (bread, pasta, many processed foods and sauces) and peanuts (technically a legume). These two items are most commonly associated with migraines, so start there and see how you feel after 30 days. If your migraines are gone, great! Enjoy your migraine-free days, though I would recommend playing around with the other food items as well just to see. Many people have dairy issues, and other beans and grains (rice, corn, oats, etc.) can also be problematic for some.

While you may not find that all of these items are aggravating for you, it is important to always be testing and experimenting with your food. Our bodies can usually give us great feedback about what they want, so pay attention and you may learn some valuable information. This approach has worked for many people out there, especially when it comes to migraines, so start playing around, and beat those headaches the old-fashioned way: food as medicine.

Fast Track Your Fat Loss: Eliminate Fructose

In 1965 a new product was invented that is now one of the most widely used ingredients by the food industry. It is cheap, it is tasty, and it is abundant. You can find this product in almost all processed food items including ketchup, bread, sports drinks, cereal, canned fruits and vegetables, lunch meats, salad dressings, soups, a variety of dairy products, and can even be found in some medication! Unfortunately, this product has also been a significant contributor to the over 400% increase in obesity in the last 20 years.

High-Fructose Corn Syrup

If you haven’t guessed it, the product I am referring to is High-Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), and yes, they put it in everything. What I want to make clear from the beginning is that HFCS is NOT worse than sugar, natural or otherwise. They are both terrible for your health and body composition and you would do well to avoid them. What makes HFCS so potent is that it is cheap and even sweeter than sucrose (traditional sugar). The fact that it’s cheap means that a food or beverage producer can sweeten up their product without affecting the cost. This is very appealing as we humans just LOVE the taste of sugar.

So HFCS is in everything, but how does this relate to the alarming increase in obesity? This comes down to what HFCS and sugar does to our bodies. You see, while HFCS is labeled for its high fructose content (55% fructose), sugar is actually very much the same in its makeup (50% fructose). So in the end, these two ingredients come out about equal when they enter the body. Unfortunately, fructose is not a good thing to have in your body in the first place.

Fructose and Fat

Fructose is one of the three main simple sugars found in nature (glucose and galactose are the others). Until recently, it was mostly found in fruits, honey, and some vegetables. In quantities available in nature, you would normally consume around 15 g of fructose per day or 12 lbs. per year. Today in America, the average person consumes around 62 g of fructose per day or 50 lbs. per year! What makes this particular sugar so unfavorable when it comes to our health and weight is the way our body metabolizes it.

While glucose (the derivative of most starch and the other half of sucrose) can be used in the body for many actions, and can be stored in the muscles to be used for energy later, fructose has a limited role: replenish liver glycogen. When you ingest fructose it is sent on a direct path to the liver and can be stored there. Once the liver is saturated however, fructose will then be turned to triglyceride and most likely stored as fat. This can become especially problematic when you do not exercise, as your liver has little reason to release its sugar stores. So now you have a full liver, taking in more fructose and glucose, and have nowhere for the fructose to go. Add to this that fructose actually increases the rate at which you store fat, and you are on the fast track to weight gain.

The Glycemic Myth

One of the common arguments for the health benefits of fructose and fructose-containing foods is that fructose actually has a very low glycemic index. Unfortunately, this means very little concerning your health. The glycemic index measures blood sugar levels after consuming a food item. Because fructose is sent directly to the liver, it does not have much opportunity to increase blood sugar. So while your blood sugar is level, your triglycerides (fat) are going through the roof. Not so good after all.

Cut It Out!

If you want to work on getting your fructose consumption in check, here is what I suggest.

1a) Start reading labels! If you buy ANYTHING that has a label on it, see if there has been HFCS, sugar, beet sugar, cane sugar, fructose, or agave nectar (all fructose!), added. If it does, skip it.

1b) Don’t buy things in packages! If you really want to be sure you are staying clear of fructose, just avoid packaged/processed food altogether. Remember, bread, yogurt, deli meat, and soup are just as processed as cereal, potato chips, and candy bars.

2) Keep clear of caloric beverages. Soda and juice have a load of sugar, and coffee and tea are usually filled up with sugar. Remember, “raw cane sugar” has the same fructose as HFCS.

3) Eat in. You would be amazed at how much restaurant food has sugar added. Well, I guess it’s not that amazing, that’s why it tastes so good!

4) Limit fruit. This is always a hard one for people to accept, but it is important to understand that you do not NEED fruit. This doesn’t mean you have to completely cut it out, but if you are having 4-5 servings a day, you are consuming a serious amount of sugar. If you do decide to include fruit, 1-2 servings are plenty and it is best to emphasize berries. (NOTE: If you are working to lose weight, 0-1 serving is best. You can still get all of those vitamins and minerals from veggies. Did you know that one spear of broccoli has just as much vitamin C as an orange?)

If all of these tasks seem daunting, just pick one and start working on it. We are living in a world that is not helping us to be healthy, so we must fend for ourselves and figure out ways to avoid all of the junk that is out there. It may seem like a lot of work, but I’ll tell you what, it’s a lot more work being unhealthy and overweight than it is cooking for yourself and cutting out soda. So cut out the fructose, feel better, and start losing those love handles!

Modern Training for the Core

If you look at an average exercise program, it will undoubtedly have some focus on “core” training. Unfortunately, many of the most popular exercises for core work are not very effecting, and can actually be dangerous if performed consistently. To better understand core training, we must first define what the “core” actually is, determine its function, and then establish principles by which to train that function. Once we have an understanding of these three items, we can safely and effectively establish a training protocol to train the core for strength and stability.

“The Core” Defined

The term “core” has been used for a long time now, but is not generally used accurately. The most common use of “core” is as a synonym for “abs” a.k.a. the 6-pack. While this certainly is part of the core, it is only one muscle group of many that could be classified as such. To determine which muscles should be included in our discussion, let’s first establish a working definition. I would say that the core is defined as any muscle that is required for postural control during movement. Now there are a few other functions that “core” muscles have in our body, but this will be the most appropriate definition for establishing training principles. 

The Importance of Posture

The reason I use postural control as my baseline is due to the importance that this has in movement. Think about trying to stand up if you had no muscles to support your spine, keep your head lifted, and pull your chest up. Your body would collapse on the floor. Even smaller movements such as raising an arm or taking a step require small adjustments in posture and muscular tension to establish stability. So without your core, closed chain movement would be impossible. The muscles that are most important in this control do include the “abs” but this is one of many. There are also muscles in your back, your sides, underneath the abs, in the rib cage, in and around your pelvis, and in your hips that all play an important role in keeping you stable and your spine safe while moving.

Training Principles

If we know that postural control is our main concern for core training, what types of activities would allow us to train this area effectively? Let’s first look at what will NOT train the core effectively: sit-ups/crunches. These exercises are two of the most fundamental movements in exercise today, and yet, they have very little use outside of ensuring eligibility for the army. If you think about our new definition of core function, it is not hard to see why these are ineffective: they do not challenge postural stability. Lying on the floor—tightening the abs—trains one muscle to do one movement. Postural control requires all of the core muscle to work together to resist external forces from throwing off your alignment. Add to this that sit-ups and crunches can actually lead to disk herniation (as discussed in Ultimate Back Fitness & Performance) over time and these movements are just not looking so attractive.

If we return to our definition of “the core” we can begin to select which movements to keep and which to let go. Let’s look at a few of my favorites and then talk about why I like them so much.

In each of the exercises above, you saw an exercise that challenged the integrity of my posture. Whether I was holding a position, moving my limbs, or turning my hips or shoulders, my core was challenged because I was RESISTING movement. And this is really what core training is all about. You must challenge your core musculature to resist movement which will allow you to maintain postural control.

These are by no means all-encompassing, but I hope they give you a good starting point for establishing your own core training routine. Exercises will come and go, but principles are enduring. So next time you see a new “core” exercise, just ask yourself, will that challenge my posture? If so, you might be looking at a quality movement to add to your routine. If you are unsure about where to start, the exercises from the video would be perfect. I intentionally used a variety of movements that will all challenge your core in slightly different ways, so each of them will be beneficial in their own way. Play around with them and see what works for you. One last note: core training can only do so much to help show off those sexy abs. Without proper nutrition and sleep, your core training can only help to increase core strength, but not reduce abdominal fat. So if your main goal in core training is the aesthetics, you will want to spend your time eating and sleeping better.

That’s all we have for core training this time around, so get out there and start training your core the way it was meant to be worked!

Weight Loss Secrets

Here is a re-posting of an important article about weight loss.  Enjoy!

__________

Hello again! It has been too long since I have added to my blog, sorry to be out for so long, it’s amazing how busy we all can get during the holidays! What I want to talk about today is an addition to the post that I put up previously titled 5 Keys to Weight Loss. These are all still important, but I wanted to add a few things that are also good to think about when starting your quest toward your optimum weight.

Secret One: Drink Water

Your intake of water can have a huge affect not only on your quality of life, but also plays a huge role in weight loss. For starters, you are much less likely to over indulge in food when you have a consistent volume of water in your stomach. Often times, when we do not drink enough, we mistakenly think that our body wants food and go straight for one of our favorite snacks. Next time you are feeling hungry between meals, try drinking a tall glass of water first, and then after 10 minutes, if you are still hungry, go ahead and have a snack (hopefully a healthy one!). It is not wrong to be hungry outside of meals, but we just want to make sure that our body is asking for calories before we start eating. Another benefit of water is its ability to help our bodies function at their greatest potential. When we are deprived of water, our bodies and mind cannot function as well, and this leads to stress on the body which can result in weight retention or gain. Weight loss is hard enough; let’s not make it any harder by neglecting water. The minimum water intake each day should be half of your body weight in ounces. So if you weight 120 lbs, then 60 oz of water is MINIMUM. I recommend that everyone carry around a water bottle each day and try to have two refills a day. That way, you have to finish at least two bottles (64 oz) and hopefully have been working on the third (up to 96 oz). Now if you are heavier, then of course three or even four bottles a day would be appropriate.

Secret Two: Avoid Starch & Added Sugar

Starch is a good thing to avoid while trying to lose weight because of the high glycemic load that it puts on the body. When you consistently eat foods with high glycemic loads, your insulin is constantly at work, trying to store all of the sugar that is being dumped into your system. When you have added sugar, you are dealing with the same issue. When your insulin levels are consistently high, your body can never enter into a catabolic state where it actually uses its sources of stored energy (fat). Now, if you are going to have these things, breakfast and post workout are the times to have them, but if you are really committed to weight loss, the less the better. Once you have reached your goal weight, then we can add them back into the diet (in moderation), but for now, let’s cut them out! So what counts as starch or added sugar? Well let’s start with sugar. Added sugar is any sugar that does not come naturally in food. High fructose corn syrup, molasses, honey, evaporated cane juice; these are all types of added sugar. But don’t run off to artificial sweeteners either, these have their own problems and actually are more likely to cause weight gain than regular sugar! So we avoid sweet things, and then we also avoid starchy things. Starch is essentially how plants store sugar. Foods that are high in starch are potatoes, grains (corn, wheat), and some fruit (bananas). Now I am not saying that these are bad foods, but when trying to lose weight, we need to help our bodies as much as we can. So limit yourself here and you will be giving yourself a push in the right direction!

Secret Three: Sleep

Sleep has endless benefits to our overall health, and if we do not get enough of it, we cannot expect our bodies to help shed any of our extra weight. Much like water, sleep has its weight loss benefits because it helps our bodies to function properly, while also reducing stress. Sleep restriction has significant implications on our stress levels and without it, you just cannot hope to achieve any type of fitness goal. As we all know, 8 hours is the recommended amount, but everyone is different, so it is important for you to find the amount that works best for you. A couple of suggestions on how to help increase your amount and quality of sleep are: 1) Waking up at the same time every day. This will help your body to settle into a biorhythm that will help you to feel better and better! 2) Avoiding screens at night. For the 30-60 minutes before bed, you should avoid any TV or computer usage. When you are in front of a bright screen, your mind has difficulty understanding that it is night and that you are trying to shut down for the night. So instead of staying up late watching TV, get in bed and read for the last hour before bed, reading is good anyway and it will help you to get a more restful sleep! These two suggestions alone could drastically improve sleep and if you add in a nice cup of non-caffeinated tea or meditation before bed, you will be on your way to success!

Secret Four: Commitment

This is by far the most important component to weight loss. You need to know the pieces of the puzzle first, but none of it matters if you fail to commit. Commitment is about taking that knowledge and making it a priority. If weight loss is not your priority, it will never happen. This is true for any goal including other fitness goals. So if you are struggling to achieve your goals, try this. I want you to write out why you want to achieve your goals. So if it is weight loss, why do you want to lose weight? There may be one reason; there may be one hundred. Write them all down. Now, look over those reasons, and write down why those are important. Keep doing this until you discover the most true and representative description of why weight loss is important. It may be so that you can live to see your grandchildren graduate college, or so that you can find a partner in life. Whatever it is, it should be emotional. Anyone can say they want to lose weight. But that’s hardly something to find an emotional connection with. We need something that you can get up every day and commit to. Something that truly is more important than having that extra piece of cake. Something that will get you out of bed and make you WANT to go to the gym every day. If we can find this, then you will set yourself up for success and you won’t be able to make excuses to yourself, because you know what is at stake. So go find what is motivating you, write it down, post it up on your wall, look at it every day, and achieve your goals!

__________

I hope you enjoyed the second round of this article and that it sparks you to take action. As you have already noticed, none of these points are secrets at all, though we wish there were secrets that would act as our magic bullet. The secret to weight loss is doing what you know you need to do and sticking with it. If you are dedicated and have a plan, anything is possible. So pick your secret, make it a habit, and you will be on your way to better health.

Happy 4th!