When our immune system is out of balance, we are more vulnerable to everyday stresses and tension.  However, if our daily diet consists of foods that strengthen the immune system, we are more able to survive the effects of stress and tension we face on a daily basis.

What kind of balanced diet should we engage in?  Remember your mom telling you that breakfast is the most important meal of the day?  She was right.  Without eating a proper breakfast, we tend to stop at a coffee shop and choose a sugary delight.  Instead, why not opt for a bowl of oatmeal and a couple of hard boiled eggs with a glass of water. Substitute caffeine with chamomile tea, which is a wonderful stress reducer.

If you don’t have time to sit down and have a nourishing breakfast, try a protein shake.  Packed with vitamins and nutrients, this is more fulling and contains more nutrients than coffee and toast.

Sugar contributes to stress.  You may notice that a while after eating a sugary snack or a bar of chocolate, you feel wired and then fatigued.  While the sugar may help in the short term, you are just adding wood to the fire in the long run.  Conversely, snacking on protein is much healthier for you and helps to maintain blood sugar levels as well.

Another tip is to stay away from foods that contain fat.  Instead, opt for vegetables, fruits, lean meats, fish, chicken, beans, and leafy green vegetables.  These are not only healthy for you, but contain antioxidants that are beneficial in reducing free radicals in your body.  For example, you can choose turkey burgers which are much leaner than regular beefburgers.

Instead of going out to lunch, you can make lunch at home and bring it to the office.  Cut up some carrots, celery, and add some cottage cheese or tuna in water.  Or, you can make a nutritious salad with pieces of chicken and lemon vinaigrette.  Also, drink plenty of water each day.  This serves to keep you sated and hydrated at the same time.

Balancing your diet to improve tension stress is as important as exercise.  You will not only feel good, but your energy level will be constant and productivity will increase.

One way I like to balance my stress is by using Chinese herbs. I can buy them individually or you can purchase a great product called Ionix Supreme. Since I started using this product, I have slept soundly through the night and waking up before my alarm clock feeling refreshed.

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• For a cold or the flu, take a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar in water several times a day.  This will help balance the body’s pH, making it a less favorable environment for the germs.
• Apple cider vinegar is great for getting rid of dandruff.  Applying it to the scalp and letting it stand for 30 minutes to an hour before washing will kill the fungus that causes dandruff.  It also helps soothe an itchy scalp.
• Diabetics can benefit from taking apple cider vinegar in water once a day.  This has been proven to help lower blood sugar.
• Apple cider vinegar is often used to relieve sinus problems and ear infections.  Depending on your symptoms, you can drink it, add it to a vaporizer, inhale it, or squirt it in your ear with a syringe and let it drain back out.
• Digestive problems and diarrhea can be relieved with an apple cider vinegar tonic.  The vinegar soaks up liquid and forms a protective coating in the intestines, and it activates stomach acid and enzymes.  It may also relieve the symptoms of acid reflux.
• Apple cider vinegar can soothe a sunburn.  You can soak a towel in it at full strength and place it directly on the burn, or you can take a bath in water with one cup of the vinegar added.

* Painful and unsightly varicose veins can benefit from treatment with apple cider vinegar.  Apply it full strength twice a day, and drink two teaspoons in water twice a day.  It may take a month to see results.

* Apple cider vinegar is good for a sore throat.  Gargling with a vinegar and water mixture every hour can help you feel better faster.  But it is important to remember not to swallow the mixture once you’ve gargled with it, because it draws out germs.

* Muscle soreness can be treated with apple cider vinegar.  It can be applied full strength with a small amount of cayenne pepper added, or you can soak in a bath with a few cups of vinegar added.

These are just a few of the myriad ways that we can use apple cider vinegar for health.  Drinking a vinegar tonic each day can improve our health in a number of ways.  We can also apply it topically to rid ourselves of many more aliments.  Stocking up on apple cider vinegar will put the remedy for a variety of problems right at your fingertips.

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Research is also looking at the use of technology before bed — ie your kindles, ipads, iphone, etc.  The artificial light created may disrupt normal sleep patterns.

When attempting to lose weight, look at the quality of your sleep. You may want to consider adopting a regular bedtime schedule and relaxing bed time routine as well as avoiding the use of bright electronic devices in the hour prior to bed. Looking for more sleep solutions?

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Would you know if your thyroid gland slowed its production of thyroid hormone? The symptoms of decreased thyroid hormone synthesis, known as hypothyroidism, are hard to spot. About 10 million Americans have thyroid disease and many others are undiagnosed, under-diagnosed, or under-treated.  Many times the symptoms—including weakness and fatigue, weight gain, persistent constipation, or thinning hair—are often mistaken as other illnesses or simply the progression of aging.

Our thyroids stores and produces hormones that affect the function of virtually every organ in our bodies. The hormones produced by the thyroid gland, T3 and T4, regulate the body’s metabolism by providing cells with energy they need to function. When your thyroid does not produce enough of these hormones, the balance of chemical reactions in your body can be upset and many times results in a slowed metabolism.

If levels of thyroid hormones are low, you burn fewer calories per day AKA clients will begin to put on weight and have no idea what’s happening even if they have been consistent with their eating and work out programs.  An underactive thyroid makes every calorie count more, sometimes double. It makes losing weight a slower and more challenging and frustrating process.

When helping your client(s) manage thyroid challenges here are 6 tips.

1. Check in with their doctors –  If they are experiencing the symptoms of hypothyroidism, it’s essential to they get proper treatment from your physician or naturopath. Diagnosis through a blood test will determine if what is needed to help normalize your thyroid. Your client may also want to ask to have their c-reactive protein and cortisol levels checked out  It’s important to note that doctors may help your clients normalize hormone levels, but they won’t necessarily cause you to lose weight. Diet and lifestyle changes must still be followed to help shed the pounds (more about this below).
2. Avoid foods that hinder thyroid hormone absorption — When taking thyroid hormones, it’s important to avoid certain foods and nutrients that can interfere with absorption. For example, dietary calcium or iron can inhibit thyroid hormone absorption. For this reason, many doctors recommend taking thyroid medication immediately upon rising and two to three hours apart from consuming calcium- or iron-containing foods. Be sure to do your research as some calcium- and iron-containing foods and supplements may be surprising such as antacids, calcium-fortified orange juice, and multivitamins.

   It’s also important to avoid foods that can interfere with thyroid function, which are designated as goitrogenic foods. Common goitrogenic foods include non-fermented soy foods, legumes such as lima beans, and raw cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts. Preparation methods, such as cooking or fermentation, reduce the amount of goitrogens in these foods.

3. Eat balanced meals with quality protein — The greatest contributor to basal metabolic rate (BMR)—the rate that your body burns calories—is muscle tissue. Even when you are at rest (such as sleeping), muscle requires energy to rebuild and restore. For this reason, it’s beneficial to preserve muscle when you’re trying to lose weight. Meals higher in protein compared to other macronutrients (carbohydrates and fats) have shown to help maintain muscle mass resulting in a higher BMR, faster metabolism, and greater energy expenditure (1;2). The thermogenic effect of food aka  the digestion and absorption of protein—requires more calories than both fat and carbohydrate combined (2).
4. Choose calories wisely — When trying to lose weight, every calorie counts. This is even more emphasized when dealing with a sluggish metabolism. It’s important to limit “empty” calories such as sugary drinks, white-flour pastas and breads, and other sources of refined carbohydrates that can quickly spike blood sugar and leave you feeling hungry and fatigued.

   Instead of refined carbohydrates, choose portion-controlled meals that are higher in dietary fiber to help satisfy your appetite and keep you feeling fuller, longer. In addition to curbing cravings, a high-fiber diet can help avoid hypothyroidism-induced constipation as dietary fiber is an important bulking agent for solidifying and softening stools.

5. Get moving, even if it is only for a short time — The fatigue that often accompanies hypothyroidism can hamper motivation to exercise; however, physical activity—especially resistance training— is a major contributor to metabolic stimulation and muscle growth, which can fuel weight loss. If time and motivation to exercise are challenging for your clients have them give high-intensity interval training (HITT) a try.
6. Make sure you are getting sufficient vitamins and minerals daily — A diet supplying sufficient amounts of minerals such as iodine and selenium is important for thyroid health. Sources of iodine include iodized salt and sea vegetables such as kelp. It may seem like we should be getting enough iodine from a typical salty Western diet; however, many processed foods do not use iodized salt. Sources of selenium include animal products, seafood, dairy, and Brazil nuts.

   Evidence has been showing that vitamin D is particularly important for those with thyroid problems and other autoimmune disorders. Those with thyroid disease may be at greater risk for low vitamin D levels (4,5). Because of the many roles vitamin D plays in the body—from  bone health to brain health—it’s important to be sure you are getting enough through your diet, supplementation, or by soaking up the sun’s UVB rays. If you choose the latter, be sure to practice safe sun exposure.

7. Get enough quality shut-eye — Getting enough quality sleep is important for anyone attempting to lose weight, it’s especially important for those with hypothyroidism. Too often, people who are sleep-deprived try to increase levels of alertness by eating and those foods tend to be high-calorie options. This cycle of fatigue and self-medicating with unhealthy foods can be disastrous for your clients waist line and health.

   In addition to feeling tired and making bad food choices, sleep deprivation can decrease insulin sensitivity and essentially cause a metabolic meltdown. On average, adults need seven to nine hours of sleep each night.

References:

1. Soenen S, et al. Normal Protein Intake Is Required for Body Weight Loss and Weight Maintenance, and Elevated Protein Intake for Additional Preservation of Resting Energy Expenditure and Fat Free Mass. J Nutr. 2013 Feb 27. doi: 10.3945/jn.112.167593
2. Westerterp-Plantenga MS, et al. Dietary protein – its role in satiety, energetics, weight loss and health. Br J Nutr. 2012 Aug;108 Suppl 2:S105-12. doi: 10.1017/S0007114512002589.
3. Shiraev T, Barclay G. Evidence based exercise – clinical benefits of high intensity interval training. Aust Fam Physician. 2012 Dec;41(12):960-2.
4. Kivity S, Agmon-Levin N, Zisappl M et al. Vitamin D and autoimmune thyroid diseases. Cell Mol Immunol 2011;8:243-7. doi: 10.1038/cmi.2010.73
5. Bozkurt NC, Karbek B, Ucan B et al. The Association Between Severity of Vitamin D Deficiency and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. Endocr Pract 2013;1-14.

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