Index of Articles:
“Could I Be Deficient in Vitamin D?”:
Overcoming the Cycle of Emotional Eating:
Weight Loss the “Old Fashion Way”:
“Could I Be Deficient in Vitamin D?”
I sometimes will be asked, “Could I be deficient in Vitamin D?” Let’s take a moment and look at the Vitamin D topic.
First of all Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin. What that means is that it requires fat to be present in order for it to be properly absorbed and used in the body. This is different from water soluble vitamins which breakdown in water. Because it is fat soluble it can also be stored in the bodies fatty tissues and liver.
Vitamin D is actually made from cholesterol in the skin utilizing the absorption of Ultra Violet B light from the sun. Vitamin D is essential for mobilizing calcium into the blood making it easier to understand why low Vitamin D can have an affect on bone density. It is important that Vitamin D be in balance with the other fat soluble vitamins (A, E, and K). Once the cholesterol is converted to Vitamin D it actually acts as a natural steroid hormone within the body and assumes steroidal benefits such as anti-inflammatory as well as anti-hypertensive behaviors. Proper levels of Vitamin D decreases all forms of cancer anywhere from 30 to 60%. Vitamin D has been shown to offer immune support and autoimmune protection as well as mood support.
There are several factors linked to Vitamin D deficiencies. 1) Lack of sunlight exposure (something very common in northern state winter months) 2) Diets low in healthy fats (ESPECIALLY FISH OILS! Eating more oily fish … salmon, tuna, cod etc… or supplementing fish oils can be beneficial) 3) Elevated cortisol (the hormone that is released as a response to stress.) OR cortisone use which will simulate elevated cortical. 4) Other deficiency in nutrients needed for proper conversion will result in Vitamin D deficiency.
Vitamin D is tested through the blood with the test checking the levels of 25-OH Vitamin D. The optimal lab level should be 45-100 ng/ml. This can be ordered by your family physician or you can order it yourself through Direct Labs or Any Lab Now both of which support their own websites. The preferred source for supplementation is Cholecalciferol or better known as Vitamin D3.
The treatment protocol offered in this office utilizes Standard Process products and is as follows:
1) Cataplex D -
Each tablet of Cataplex D contains 800 IU’s of D3, 1000 IU’s of Vitamin A. This is essential for bone health and promotes cell replication and tissue formation. It also assist in maintain a healthy immune system.
2) Calcium Lactate -
Calcium Lactate contains Calcium and Magnesium in a very bio-availability form making it easier for the body to use these essential minerals.
3) Cataplex F -
Cataplex F is a good source of EFA’s (essential fatty acids) as well as Vitamin K. These synergistic components are needed for calcium assimilation.
The recommended “adequate intake” for Vitamin D needs to be 800 – 1000 IU of Vitamin D3. However, one cannot easily obtain these amounts from dietary sources alone unless one is eating oily fish frequently, thus, sensible sun exposure and/or supplements of Vitamin D3 are required to satisfy the body’s Vitamin D requirement.”
(This information is supplied as purely informational only. It is not intended to diagnoses or treat any condition. Proper consultation with your physician is always recommended.)
Overcoming the Cycle of Emotional Eating:
A huge obstacle to overcome when trying to loose weight or even developing healthy eating habits is the extremely challenging battle of emotional eating. Much of our eating habits have an emotional basis. Controlling this is difficult partly because emotional eating can occur at anytime and can be supported by many triggers. For instance, emotional eating can be on a habitual timeline. It can pop up between meals, at social occasions, late at night or surprisingly enough even during a meal or at the end of meal when your stomach already registers feeling full. As an example, that seemingly much needed sweet spot dessert that gnaws away at a person to signal the finish of a meal actually crawls out of the emotional eating category and is not from the need for nutrition at all.
Emotional eating could be defined as anytime we eat because of something we are feeling rather than eating because we are actually hungry. It is, in a way, a form of food addiction. This type of eating usually arises out of most commonly four trigger categories. 1) Boredom 2) Past issues (often of a traumatic nature) 3) Loneliness 4) Stress. It is a coping mechanism. From this list you can see how eliminating the causes of emotional eating can be very complex. Success in overcoming this issue may be as simple as developing creative ways to handle stress, releave boredom or conquering loneliness. It may also, however, be as involved as working with a qualified psychologist in a counseling environment.
Eliminating emotional eating is an essential key to losing weight and keeping it off forever. It is equally as important as a planned out exercise and nutrition program when thinking about ones overall healthy lifestyle. It is not about following a certain diet, but rather, a healthy nutrition program for the rest of your life.
The first step to a healthy nutrition program and overcoming the emotional eating cycle is to make eating a conscious activity. As strange as that may sound, eating must always be a well planned out and organized activity and then, on top of that, you must discipline yourself to stay with the plan. Let me say this again… you must stick with the plan. If it is not a scheduled eating time then don’t eat. This can be difficult in itself because often it means organizing other aspects of your life such that you have time for planning out your meals the night before. If you don’t do this you will be left scrammbling for whatever is available to eat when meal time happens and then emotional favorites, rather than healthy chooses become the easy option.
Next, let’s look at cravings and comfort foods. Craving could fall in the category of addictive behaviors. Many of the common packaged foods today contain excitotoxins. Excitotoxin are chemical that literally cause our brains to crave certain foods. These become foods that are not being consumed for their nutrients and in fact most of these foods are devoid of much nutritional value at all. Rather, these are foods that are consumed because our brain becomes tricked into thinking we must have them. These behaviors must be addressed in practical ways for a person to succeed in overcoming the emotions that these foods comfort. For example, if we were to look at the sweet tooth junk food junky. Overcoming sweet cravings can be a powerfully difficult emotional eating response to defeat. Some will succeed with personal strength and will power alone. Others will be able to discipline themselves to focus on the objective of their nutrition program and win. Others, however, may require the assistance of, for example Gymnema. Gymnema is an herbal product I have available through the office here in Spring Arbor that greatly reduces sugar and other cravings and also assist in maintaining healthy blood sugar levels.
Another step is learning to distiguish between when actual physical hunger ends and the emotional eating begins. In a day where food additives and sweeteners alter our ability to internally recognize when we have eaten enough it is important to know what is a reasonible amount of food to constitute enough for a meal. Stopping eating when we first feel the desire to stop eating rather than cleaning the entire plate is healthy for re-establishing healthy stopping points to a meal. Once this point is identified and established, you can begin the hard work of taking a clear and objective look at your life and start making the changes needed for permanently eliminating emotional eating.
The process of defeating emotional eating is a difficult process because it ultimately results in permanently changing the way we use and even view food. This is a change, however, that will result in a lifetime of leanness, fitness, and great physical and mental health once accomplished. It is no wonder that if you are to succeed at permanent weight loss you must completely eliminate emotional eating from your lifestyle
Weight Loss the “Old Fashion Way”:
As a chiropractor, my personal philosophy has long been to help patients connect or reconnect to a more natural mind set regarding their health. As an example, our current culture extols processed foods. From the moment we get up in the morning until we go to bed at night, the typical American moves at a fast pace. We fuel our bodies by eating fast, convenient, preprocessed foods. In reality, however, we need to pause long enough to look in the mirror and ask “How do we look, how do we feel, and how do we perform?”
Our ancestors were lean and muscular and had to perform vigorous task to survive. I whole heartedly believe that if we are to retreat from our obsessive trail of becoming an overweight, obese, pre-diabetic/Type 2 diabetic society we must embrace the eating style of our ancestors. It is my believe that our very health if not our very lives depend on this.
In a perfect world all of my patients would be receptive to the idea of participating in regular physical exercise (intentionally progressing the intensity), sun exposure (to maintain vitamin D), would get adequate sleep every night, and follow a diet similar to pioneer man (fish, shellfish, free range chicken eggs, free range grass fed meats, daily consume fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds).
I often find it interesting that so called “comfort foods” more times than not make us feel anything but comforted, that “right choice” foods might not be whole foods at all, and that foods that often look the most enticing and delicious are most often the most processed and full of refined sugar. Just so everyone knows… high fructose corn syrup wasn’t introduced until the 1970’s. People lived wonderfully without it before that. You do not need it now!
Studies show that as a persons body fat goes up so does a person’s chance of developing diabetes and high blood pressure starting a cascade of other dysfunctions. Ultimately, down the line, as dysfunctions increase so does your chances of death.
Making food choices is more important than counting calories or macronutrients for long-term health. If your food contains words in the ingredients label that you cannot read, do NOT eat it. Pass on that purchase. If the label contains words you can read but your not sure what it is, pass on it still until you can find out if it is a synthetic additive.
I encourage the eating of monounsaturated fats such as avocados, avocado oil, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, olives and olive oil. “Fat free” eating is a mistake. It is much better to go low carbohydrate if one is in pursuit of better health. Eating more fruits and vegetables always sounds uninviting when compared to the beautifully marketed processed prepackaged foods. However, in reality, calorie for calorie, fruits contain two times and vegetables eight times more fiber than even the best prepackaged whole grain goodies.
Did you know a diet high in protein has been shown to improve obesity, dyslipidemia, insulin sensitivity, metabolic syndrome associated hypertension? In addition to that, strength training exercise, for the vast majority, is a way to lose fat, feel better, build a lean mass, learn not to obsess over hunger, and gain a measure of normal health. These are some of the most effective and safe ways to manage weight and regain a healthy life. Please feel free to talk to me about other suggestions and even to get clarification on any of the issue expressed on this sheet.
