Anyone over 50 may have heard this from the medical system when they ask a few simple questions about their health problems. The older you get the more likely you are to hear it.
I personally only see a private doctor who knows me well enough not to make such a condescending nonsense statement. Since I plan to be working for the next 30 years - as are many of the people I help every day, you will never hear me make such a statement.

I will share a sample answer I give when I get age related questions:
'Hello - I am a 44 year old male. Approximately 175lbs and 5'10". I am gradually losing energy and have a stressful job. What products can you recommend? I have taken Serranol in the past and have had good results. I have no health issues however my family does have a history of heart issues so I want to be proactive. Any information would be helpful.' - Steve

Dear Steve, Of course everyone and especially those with a family history of heart disease needs to get their heart checked. I suggest having a scan using the latest 3D/4D Echocardiography. Make sure they scan head to toe.

There a number of reasons for your problems other than heart failure:

• Poor diaphragmatic breathing because we allow ourselves to feel stressed/depressed, trapped and afraid for the future
• Poor hormones because we age from a poor diet
• Not walking 3-5 miles per day
• Sitting down for more than 3 hrs over the day

Actions:

1. Learn better breathing as there is no faster way to gain energy and mental focus
2. Take supplements to help balance our hormones and mental outlook
3. Build up to walking 3-5 miles most days best.
4. Consider a standing desk if you presently work sitting down
5. Drink 6 x 16floz glasses of water over the day with a pinch of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) in each glass and pure lime or lemon juice to taste
6. Change to a Paleo Diet Just so you know I follow everything above having just passed 69 a week ago. I am now in my 70th year and feel great.

​Suggested Supplements:

• DHEA Drops - These are the master hormones derived from cholesterol from which all other hormones spring
• NatraGest - Is a plant derived progesterone that helps proper hormone and especially testosterone balance
• MacaPro - This is an extract from the Maca plant which helps to support balanced hormones and increase energy and vitality
• Rosavin - Helps to balance our emotions and give us a happier outlook

Just to clarify, the older we get the healthier our lifestyle needs to be and since one of the causes of feeling old is lack of strong hormones, the above plan will help men or women to feel more powerful.

Author // Andrea Auerbach, D.C.

New moms are well aware of the importance of breastfeeding. Moms who are eager to breastfeed their new-borns often find themselves disheartened if they run into difficulties with nursing.
They may find the infant is having trouble maintaining suction, or chewing on the nipple, or becoming irritable during and after nursing. An infant may tire from the added effort and fall asleep before eating enough. Insufficient weight gain may become a concern. The mother, in turn, may suffer from blocked milk ducts, painful breasts or cracked nipples, and may become frustrated and discontinue nursing. Often this leads to the mother feeling depressed and believing that if she cannot meet her child’s needs she is not a good mother.

Chiropractic care offers a conservative approach that appeals to many parents. It is gentle, non-invasive and proven safe for children. As chiropractors we assume the structural makeup of the infant is intact and then we look for what is obstructing normal function. Chiropractic care facilitates the child’s body to heal on its own. In her article, Dr Jeanne Ohm states, “In the case of breastfeeding difficulty, as with many childhood disorders, the cause of the problem often traces back to undetected biomechanical injuries to the spine and cranium at birth. The failure to recognize these biomechanical injuries and their relationship to difficulty in breastfeeding leads to incorrect conclusions and, therefore, inadequate recommendations and treatments.”

These “biomechanical injuries” are termed subluxations. Subluxations are misalignments of the bones that interfere with the nerve transmission (communication) to the area and in turn the function of a joint. The spinal bones (vertebrae), bones of the skull (cranial bones) and facial bones including the TMJ (temporomandibular joint) all participate in the process of latching and sucking. A baby that is having difficulties nursing most likely has subluxation in one or more of these areas. It has been my experience that when an infant is subluxated in these areas and adjusted, these obstacles to nursing are corrected and normal function returns. Breastfeeding is then resumed.

Subluxations can occur in a number of ways exacerbated by physical, chemical or emotional stresses. Williams Obstetrics, the “bible of obstetrics,” parallels chiropractic theory by stating, “the diameter of the woman’s pelvis is decreased when the sacrum is displaced.” In this circumstance the mother has a misalignment or subluxation of the pelvis. This may interfere with the baby’s ability to attain the optimal positioning. Compression on developing foetal structures and the nerves they protect may occur with this alteration in positioning.
Additionally, the birth process is a traumatic event for the new-born even under normal circumstances. Even when the baby is in the optimal position, obstetric intervention to extract the baby may cause undue force to the baby’s head and neck. Deliveries employing mechanical devices, such as forceps and vacuum extractions, use excessive force and add extreme stress to the baby’s cranium, spine and nervous system.

Frequently, present-day obstetricians advocate C-sections as a comparable alternative to vaginal birth. However, many prospective parents and practitioners are aware of the traumatic effects of C-section on the new-born and mother. Extracting the baby through layers of the mother’s muscles puts even greater force on the baby’s head and spine and may result in changes in alignment of the spine or the cranium. Additionally, a C-section delivery deprives the baby of an essential process called moulding. The cranium of an infant is made up of separate bones held together by cartilage. During the birth process the bones overlap and return to an optimal position that allows them to be freely moveable. The mobility of the cranial bones is important because subluxated cranial bones can interfere with the child’s ability to latch and suck.

Chiropractors are interested in educating our communities as to the effectiveness of chiropractic care in restoring the baby’s normal ability to breastfeed. Presently, ankyloglossia is diagnosed in 5 percent of newborns. There is no clear evidence in the literature that surgery for tongue-tie is the answer for latching issues or that it occurs as often as it is diagnosed.

Moms who receive this diagnosis for their child should look further into the possible cause of distress and seek out chiropractic care before resorting to surgery. This alternative approach can be their “Plan A,” before moving to an invasive “Plan B.”
​
I encourage you to learn about the many benefits of chiropractic care as part of a wellness and healthy lifestyle program as your children develop and grow into young adults.

July 2015

By: David K. William

It is advisable, however, that you think more positively. A positive outlook in life makes you happier, healthier and even wealthier in the long run. Of course, stuff happens and unrelenting optimism can sometimes be contrived and irresponsible. But being optimistic is not about unrelenting optimism; it’s about trusting that good will happen while also preparing for the worst.

Here are a few things optimists do differently you can emulate today to look on the brighter side of life.

1. You count your blessings.
​It all starts with counting your blessings. While others moan and groan, optimists take stock of the good things around them. It does not stop there; optimists also take inventory of what’s not so great. They are grateful for obstacles, hardships and even failures because these are anchor points for resilience and wisdom. Optimists know what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger.

2. You make the most of all opportunities.
Optimists believe in making optimal use of the opportunities life throws at them. They are not blind, in denial or naïve to the risks and dangers involved in taking chances, but rather look at the bigger picture, the resources available and then make every opportunity count for a much brighter future full of possibilities. Optimists are simply positive, visionary realists, not idealists.

3. You believe in yourself.
While others cower and doubt their own abilities, optimists believe they are good enough just the way they are and constantly strive to get better. They trust their own intuition and abilities when carrying out their day-to-day activities. Optimists simply won’t judge or criticize themselves against a set of arbitrary, unrealistic, third party beliefs and ideals, such as those from popular media or peers. They don’t need everyone’s approval; they just do what feels right in their hearts.

4. You also believe in others.
Optimists not only believe in themselves, but also in other people in their lives. They inspire others to be the best they can be. They know that when you treat a person as he or she is, that person will remain so. But if you treat a person as he or she ought to be, that person will become what he or she ought to be. Optimists simply see sparks of good in others — sparks that everyone else won’t see — and work to turn the sparks into a roaring flame.

5. You use positive self-talk to reinforce actions.
Optimists do not allow present circumstances or environment to dictate their attitude and mood. They use positive self-talk to express their hopes and to reinforce good attitudes, outcomes and actions. If things are not going too well, they say things like “I know there’s a problem here, but I can solve it” and keep going. When they succeed at something, they say things like “That’s just as I had anticipated; I worked hard and it paid off.” In a similar situation, a pessimist might say: “Boy, was I lucky to close that deal!”
 
6. You turn envy and jealousy into catalysts for success.
Everybody gets a little jealous sometimes. While others burn with envy, optimists realize that the universe does not owe them anything because someone else is successful and they are not. However, the universe might owe you something when you work hard to better yourself. Instead of burning with anger and jealousy, optimists use other people’s success as motivation to work hard and bring success.

7. You don’t make bad experiences a self-fulfilling prophecy of what lies ahead.
Just because you failed or suffered today doesn’t mean you will fail or suffer tomorrow. Good things come to those who persist and overcome challenges. Optimists do not let past misfortunes determine their future success. They know that bad experiences make you stronger and the path to success clearer.

8. You choose not to blame others.
People tend to point fingers at others when things are not going well. They blame their family, politicians and even the economy for their problems. Optimists choose not to blame others because they know others don’t hold complete control over them. There is always something you can do to make things better. Change starts from within, and where there is a will there is always a way.
​
9. You forgive.
Optimists know better than to underestimate the power of forgiveness. Martin Luther King Jr. fought hate with love. He recognized the past is the past and forgiveness was the path to a better future for everyone. Optimists, therefore, forgive and forge ahead. They know tomorrow is another day and another opportunity to correct what needs correcting and create a brighter reality.

By: Steven Sisskind MD
Does any of this sound familiar?

• I’m doing everything right and I still can’t lose the weight
• Go out? I don’t want to go out. I don’t want people to see me.
• I don’t want to buy new clothes. What’s the point?
• I just don’t feel valuable.
• I’m never going to look good again.
• This is out of control! How big will I get?
• What’s wrong with me?!

These are some of the statements I hear from my patients all the time, and my answer usually is, “It’s not you. It’s your hormones.”
In my experience, although hormones are complex, there are four that, if out of balance, make losing weight virtually impossible.

Fat Burning Barrier #1:
Not Enough Adiponectin
Adiponectin is literally the hormone that tells your body to burn fat for fuel. It’s like your body’s “fat burning torch.” Multiple studies have shown that the more of this super hormone you have circulating in your bloodstream, the more fat you burn. Research shows that low levels of adiponectin are associated with a higher incidence of obesity. In fact, according to Dr. Leo Galland, Director of The Foundation for Integrated Medicine, “A lack of adequate adiponectin is emerging as a significant factor in people’s inability to melt flab and stay slim.

The frustrating thing about adiponectin is that the more fat you have, the lower your levels—which is why losing fat is so darn difficult at the beginning. You need a kick start, so here are two “at home” methods for naturally boosting your adiponectin levels and stoking your fat burning fire:
First, increase your magnesium intake, either by taking a high quality supplement (which is quite inexpensive), or by consuming seeds (pumpkin seeds are great) and green, leafy vegetables like spinach and kale.

A much more aggressive approach is to do something called “intermittent fasting,” which has been shown to significantly increase adiponectin levels. This works by fasting one day, and then eating big the next. While it can work for weight loss, the jury is still out as to whether or not this is healthy. Plus, who wants to live this way?

Fat Burning Barrier Number 2:
Too Much Ghrelin.
Ghrelin is called the “Hunger Hormone.” The more ghrelin you have in your system, the hungrier you are. If you find yourself fighting cravings and can’t seem to stay away from the fridge after dinner, it’s probably due to elevated ghrelin levels. The hard fact is that ghrelin works directly on the hunger centre of your brain by activating the brain’s reward response to highly addictive sweet, fatty foods. This increases your food intake at the worst possible time—at night—and ultimately makes you gain more weight.
There is something you can start doing tonight that can lower your ghrelin levels and help you feel more satisfied: Get some sleep. New research has shown that even low levels of sleep deprivation increase your ghrelin levels and lead to more body fat storage. Most adults need between six to eight hours of sleep. And NO…jacking yourself up in the morning with caffeine or energy drinks is the wrong thing to do if you want to lose weight. Give yourself the gift of restful, uninterrupted sleep is a great way to lower your ghrelin levels and bolster your weight loss regimen.

Fat Burning Barrier Number 3:
Insulin Imbalance
If you’re overweight, there’s a good chance that you’re experiencing some level of insulin imbalance, resulting in excess glucose, or sugar, in your system. While this doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re diabetic, it does mean that your body’s insulin, or glucose regulator, becomes less effective at lowering your blood sugars.
The end result is that instead of using the excess sugar to feed your muscles or burning it for energy, most of the carbohydrates you consume get stored as fat. If you have insulin resistance, it is virtually impossible to lose fat. That said, there’s a surprisingly simple trick to addressing the excess glucose problem—and it just might be in your kitchen cupboard.
A recent study found that consuming two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar before a high carb meal significantly reduces blood glucose levels for those people with insulin resistance, which is that imbalance I spoke about. While this might not be appetizing for everyone, the study did say that apple cider vinegar might work as well as prescription drugs at regulating blood sugar.

Fat Burning Barrier Number 4:
A Cortisol Overload
Your body produces cortisol in response to stress and ramps you up so you can be ready to fight or flee. This can be a good thing in dangerous situations, like if you were to run across a bear while hiking. However, with the constant stress we’re all under in today’s hectic, 24/7, crisis-driven world, our cortisol levels are elevated far beyond what we were originally designed to handle.
The result is a quadruple whammy on your waistline. Excess cortisol increases your cravings for sweets and carbs, which can lead to overeating and constant hunger. Result? You get fat. Plus, cortisol causes your body to actually break down your muscle tissue for energy, which is absolutely the worst thing for weight loss. The less muscle you have, the lower your metabolism will be and the more fat you’ll gain. Also, elevated cortisol levels cause a larger percentage of fat to be stored in the abdominal area. What’s worse, that the more abdominal fat you have, the more cortisol you produce in response to stress, which then causes more abdominal fat to be stored.

Finally, recent studies link high cortisol levels to depression in adults and children. And we all know that when you’re depressed, you eat more.

Here’s how to break this vicious cortisol cycle. First, reduce or eliminate your caffeine intake. Caffeine increases cortisol secretion in people undergoing mental stress. (For many of us, that’s just about all the time).

Next (and don’t roll your eyes at this one!), layer in some exercise into your routine. Even walking for just 30 minutes each day will work wonders.
​
Finally, try this stress reduction exercise that I use with my patients and my family. As you’re sitting there, simply breathe in through your nose, hold, and count to four. (Make sure to breathe into your belly- it should expand). Then let the air out through your mouth until it’s all gone. Pause for one second and breathe in again. Repeat this simple exercise eight times and you’ll reset your stress response. It’s that easy.

Time Magazine is iconic in its ability to pick trends and being ahead of much of the media.  The June 23rd 2014 edition declared “Eat Butter. Scientists labelled fat the enemy. Why they were wrong".

When I saw that front cover, I thought 'about time' (pun intended).  From that article a cascade of media followed. The information that fat was good, especially saturated fat was on major television shows around the globe, social media was a buzz and debate began in earnest.  

Since I’ve been working with Dr Steve Myers on the Changing Habits education course, it has become very clear that in the scientific community there is always a division of theories and results. Some science articles will say saturated fats are bad, while others will show the many benefits of it.  Then there is the debate on polyunsaturated, monounsaturated, omega 3, omega 6, EFA, EPA, GAMA and cholesterol.

To understand this division of camps, I think that history is a great place to start.  

It all began in the 1920s, when the company Procter and Gamble (originally soap and candle makers) required a fat that never went off, as one of the major ingredients in soap and candles.  Science came to the party and the hydrogenation of vegetable oil (an otherwise liquid at room temperature now became a solid) created such a fat.  The oil that was used, such as cotton seed oil was an industrial fat and not used for human consumption in the 1920s.

When candles were no longer needed, they began to use this new technology on food. There was no testing done on animals and humans for its safety.  Crisco Shortening was the result and then with the invention of partial hydrogenation, margarine had found a new home.  It was seen as a cleaner (some controversy about animal fat around this time) fat and cheaper than animal fats.

Then, in 1961 Ancel Keys hit the front cover of Time Magazine - he was known as the father of low fat.  He convinced through his theory and cherry picked research that fat was the culprit to the growing heart disease rate in the US.  There was another camp lead by John Yudkin that had a theory that sugar was the culprit behind heart disease.  But as history would go, we know who won that battle.   Fat became the number one enemy and margarine, vegetable oils and 11 serves of whole grains became the fat and food of choice to prevent heart disease.

Not only did saturated fats become public enemy number one, so did cholesterol and in 1984 on the front cover of Time Magazine, “Cholesterol - And Now the Bad News….”, soon turned to in 1999  “Cholesterol - And Now the Good News….”.

It’s now 2014 and the cracks and rumblings of the heart fat hypothesis have been rumbling for quite some time.  More and more people, scientists, doctors and nutritionists (including myself) have been talking about the flaws in this theory, some of us for 30 years.  In fact, in 1978 Dr Mary Enig, a nutritionist I followed in my early years as a nutritionist was talking about the dangers of trans fats which were created during the process of partial hydrogenation of a vegetable oil (margarine).

Many people who spoke out about margarine were seen as charlatans. In fact, as a columnist in 1991 I wrote about the dangers of margarine in our local paper, the Sunshine Coast Daily who was then threatened by the makers of margarine with a law suit if they did not write a retraction.  I refused to retract what I said, so to appease the makers of margarine, the editor did a whole page spread advertising the benefits of margarine.

Thought leaders in health and nutrition are usually people who are not wilfully blind to the facts and whistle blow their findings.  For me, it was about my philosophy as to who I trusted in the scientific community.  I wasn’t a scientist, I was a nutritionist.  

My father always said; ‘If you don’t stand for something you will fall for everything”.  I stood for evolutionary eating, knowing that our bodies have evolved with food over thousands of years and the food our ancestors ate was a good predictor on what we should eat.  

The Australian Heart Foundation which began in the 1950s took another view. They believed that saturated fats were bad and polyunsaturated in the form of margarine were better.  Their heart tick of approval sealed their fate.  By 2009, the front covers of major newspapers around Australia and the world were broadcasting the fact that trans fats were public enemy number one, even over saturated fats.  

The Australian Heart Foundation had been giving their tick of approval to trans fats for decades and now they had to make changes, but without losing face.  And they did.  But instead of taking the tick away from margarine, the formulation changed and the industrial process of interesterification which included hydrogenation was the result.  Yes, they got rid of the trans fats but in place of them, a new fat was created called interesterified fat (not ever found in nature, only formed by chemical procedures).  They continue to give their tick to this food to this very day, without the long term effects of this fat being known.

There is still a polarisation on saturated fats and polyunsaturated fats, but I like to think that both these fats are important.  In evolutionary terms, we were more likely to eat saturated fat in the summer when animals had more fat on them and less in the winter when they were leaner.  As for polyunsaturated fats which have their routes in nuts and seeds, these were winter foods that could be stored and carried into the spring and summer months.   So both fats are important for our health.  

We’ve been taken for a ride and as a result, many people have suffered needlessly with not only heart disease, but diabetes, cancer, autoimmunity and many other physical and mental disorders.  The tide is turning, nature-based evolutionary fats are making a comeback and I couldn’t be more happy.

Chemical-based fats to avoid: margarine and any processed fat that looks like margarine but may be called by another name like vegetable oil, vegetable fat, vegetable shortening, cotton seed oil, canola oil, grape seed oil, rice bran oil or any refined oil where solvents are required to extract the fat from the product.  I would also avoid any oil that may be genetically modified like soy oil or corn oil.  

Nature-based fats include: all nut and seed oils where you know their origin and are cold pressed not solvent extracted, all nuts and seeds, avocados, meat, cold water fish, poultry, tallow, lard, butter, ghee, cream, soft cheeses and hard cheeses traditionally made.

There will be many trends that come and go. Become informed; don’t be swayed by popular media. Find a philosophy that fits with your lifestyle and listen to your body's many signs and symptoms as to whether the diet protocol you have chosen is working for you.

At Changing Habits, we teach how to become a ‘bio hacker’ - someone who begins to learn what works for their body and their lifestyle by firstly becoming educated and secondly, by trial and error guided by tried and tested protocols. This is a great start to bring health and energy back in to your life and that of your family.
​

By: Robert Redfern
​
Can You Afford To Live Longer?
Since 1950 the life expectancy of a 65 year old has increased from an average of 8 extra years to an extra 14 years. In other words you can now live an extra 6 years thanks to better sanitation, better clean water, better diet and less hard manual work. The medical system will try to claim some benefit from their drugs and surgery, but it is impossible to prove since their drugs and treatment kill hundreds of thousands every year in each country, as well as saving some lives.

During the last 50 years there has been a social experiment in some countries whereby the population has been given free nursing care when they got older, but that is rapidly being seen as an impossible cost. Since most countries social systems are bankrupt (not just that of Greece) they are at least means testing the care or simply taking every penny you have for this care.
In the UK this care can cost thousands per month. The older you get without a plan to stay healthy the more chance you will end up penniless. Every day I hear of people who have had a stroke or dementia being taken into care when a simple plan may have prevented it. Even so-called wealthy Germany has promised care and pensions that are unsustainable and will bankrupt the country if it does not make charges.

Simple Food and Lifestyle Changes Will Help Prevent This Tragedy:
The studies are absolutely clear on this but while your doctor may make references to it they do not beg you to make the changes. I will because I am 100% sure your life will be better with these changes:

• Stop all Bread, Pasties, Cookies, Breakfast Grains & Cereals, Rice, Potatoes, Parsnips and Wheat Pasta.
  Why? Because they contain things that are dangerously detrimental to your health. Yes even organic grains and cereals!
• Stop all processed drinks such as Cola, Fruit Juices, and excess alcoholic drinks.
  Why? Because they are high in sugars and chemical alternatives to sugars.
• Add lots of green vegetables in smoothies, soups, and salads.
  Why? Because they stimulate growth factors that reverse ageing and keep you younger. Try a 60 day Green Smoothie Diet and look in the mirror if you want to prove it to yourself.
• Add lots of Dark skinned fruits such as Avocados, Blueberries, Raspberries and other berries
  Why? Because these are full of natural antioxidants to protect your arteries and brain from damage.
• Add lots of Exercise and movement and stop sitting down for more than 3 hours per day.
  Why? Studies are absolutely clear sitting down for more than 3 hours per day is devastating for your healthy future. Walking for a couple of hours per day, rebounding on a mini trampoline and simple stretching and muscle exercises will prevent disease and keep you strong.
• Add Water: Drink Water.
  Why? Drinking 6-8 glasses of water over the day before 6pm will help keep you healthy and lower your blood pressure when combined with the above.
• Add Salt: Take rock salt or unprocessed sea salt daily.
  Why? To maintain some of the missing minerals from the diet.
• Add Purpose To Your Life: Keep working or at least do voluntary work but do something of value to you and society. This will keep you younger. I feel like a 40 year old!

Take The Critical Supplements Missing From The Diet:
Whatever your budget you cannot risk not taking something and ending up with bills that will bankrupt you. Whether it is one or two things such as Iodine, Selenium and multi vitamin/minerals, they are infinitely cheaper than spending thousands on nursing care after a stroke or dementia.

By: Pedro Alvarez

A new study shows that sipping water while driving is one of your most important moves for safety. In the past on road trips I went to pee right before leaving and rationed liquids during my journey to avoid making frequent toilet stops.

Good research has now shown that cutting back on water while driving could be a very dangerous habit. The study published in the journal Physiology and Behavior showed that driving while dehydrated is just as dangerous as driving drunk.

In the study, researchers in the UK’s Loughborough University carried out simulated tests on drivers when they were both hydrated and dehydrated. The tests included a two-hour monotonous drive with bends, a hard shoulder, rumble strips, and slow-moving vehicles that needed to be passed. On one day, participants were given nearly a cup of fluid to drink per hour and on the dehydration day, they were given just a few sips of liquid per hour.

When participants were hydrated, there were 47 driving incidents, but when they were dehydrated, that number was more than doubled at 101. The errors also increased during the two-hour period and were worse during the last leg of the drive. Those incidents included lane drifting, late braking, and touching or crossing the rumble strip or lane line.

But how is dehydration linked to poor driving? Lead researcher Ron Maughan, PhD, states that our brain function becomes conserved when we’re dehydrated, which can then impact how well we drive.
That brain conservation can create a whole range of other issues and dehydration impacts our mental clarity, reaction time, focus, concentration, thinking, and even our mood.

The impact isn’t just felt when we’re driving, sitting at a computer or operating machinery, but it can cause you to experience the same symptoms.

Dehydration can also affect your blood volume, and can lead to headaches, lethargy, and an overall drowsy feeling — not ideal symptoms to experience while driving…or any other time.
Your muscle function can be impaired by dehydration too and you still need your muscles to be able to react quickly while driving.
Dehydration is typically classified as losing two percent of your body weight in water but you don’t need to be significantly dehydrated to experience the negative side effects.

Unfortunately, there is disagreement as to how much liquid everyone should drink. Your urine should be light yellow. Dark orange, yellow or smelly urine indicate dehydration and you need more water to help your kidneys work efficiently.

If you want me to state an amount (which can vary depending upon the time of year and work rate, consider 6 x 16oz (500ml) glasses of water over the day as a good average (for persons 150lbs or 70kgs). If you are smaller or larger than average or it is hot and you are exercising then decrease or increase as appropriate.

P.S: Add a pinch of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) in each glass to help alkalize your body.

There are two ways we can measure whether diet improves mood.  Firstly, we can do a long term, double blind study using a diet specified by dietary guidelines or a Mediterranean diet, then wait for the results that may or may not conclusively prove that diet changes mood, considering all the variables (humans, lies, cheating and addictions).  Or, we can get off our own arses and start biohacking (experimenting ourselves) to see whether a change in diet and lifestyle changes our mood.  I’m all for biohacking with real foods and starting today, not waiting for a study.

Telethon Institute for Child Health Research in Perth has linked diets high in processed foods, soft drinks and sweets to an increased risk of poor behaviours and emotional disorders. Researchers at Victoria’s Deakin University (where I studied nutrition) want to take a bunch of people with depression, encourage them to eat better and watch to see if their mental health improves?  The diet will be similar to dietary guidelines with reduced fat dairy, lean meat, vegetable oils, fruit, vegetable, grains, legumes and raw unsalted nuts. The lead researcher Dr Felice Jacka hopes it will help build the case for health professionals to recommend better diets for patients with depression and for governments to do more to improve our food environment, which she believes is undermining mental as well as physical health.

While I’m pleased with Dr Jacka’s ultraistic plan, I’m not prepared to wait for her, or for the government or food companies to turn around their enormously profitable corporations, especially since the Nestle food company CEO believes that water is not a human right and should be purchased like any other food commodity. What notice will they take of research such as Dr Jacka’s?  It’s time to take matters into your own hands and begin a change in food and lifestyle.

The head and body are not separate, just in case you haven’t noticed. We have a neck that connects them and the brain is physical, just like the body. By looking at improving the physical health of the body, you will improve the brain health of the body.  Besides, nobody knows where the mind is; there is no proof of it being in the brain. Therefore, let’s cover all bases by feeding brain and body for health.  This whole ridiculous notion that they are separate has never made any sense to me.  Blood, nerves, bones, hormones, enzymes and micro biomes all connect and move through the neck from brain to body and body to brain via many channels; they are in it together.

The body is a complicated system; the more I learn the more I don’t know, but what I do know is that when we give it the right resources, it starts to work its own unique magic, physically and mentally.  Recent research has shown that we are not alone and that our body is not entirely our body. In fact, it has a very large percentage of bacteria and other small creatures that inhabit the body for mutual benefit.  These microorganisms effect hormones, immunity, stress, brain, muscle, nervous system, blood and much more.  The balance and stability of this mutual need for each other is the key to our health, physically and mentally.  Collectively, they are known as the microbiome and their health has everything to do with our health.

Food and drugs affect the balance of our microbiome.  We are 90% microbiomes and 10% our own cells.  Though the microbiome are tiny in size, it once appeared that our own human cells predominated. It is only recently that we have begun to study these organisms in depth. Most of them live within the gut and cannot be cultured but with the advent of advanced genetic testing, we have been able to have a better understanding of the variety and numbers of microbes within, including bacteria, archaea, eukaryotic parasites, protozoans and fungi.

With the advent of antibiotics, worming, antifungals and anti anything small that moves, we have disturbed the balance of our microbiomes.  The typical SAD diet has also had a lot to do with this disturbance, as has a disconnect with sleep and sunlight, and unrelenting stress.  To find health mentally and physically, a lifestyle change is imperative to promote the balance of the microbiome.  We know that the gut of the hunter gatherer had a mass more of microbiomes than that of modern man. Our modern lifestyles have changed this.

There is a connection between the gut, the brain and mental illness.  A disturbance in the microbiome has an effect on brain-derived neuron fertilisers or brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF).  When low in the wrong place at the wrong time, BDNF’s are implicated in depression, chronic anxiety syndromes and psychiatric disease.  It was once thought that when brain cells died, that was the end of the them but recent research has shown BDNF’s help with neuroregeneration, neuroplasticity and repair, as well as grow new brain cells, especially in some areas such as the hippocampus, the part of the brain that is important for learning, memory and psychotic health.  So to nurture the microbiome is to nurture BDNF’s, which in turn nurture the brain.

What I’ve written so far is but the tip of the iceberg as to what we know.  Are we going to wait for more knowledge or act on the plethora of information we have on how to help people with depression and other disorders?  My father always says there are no incurable diseases, only incurable people.  It’s a choice as to whether you are prepared to make the changes and put the work in to help your own psychiatric disorder.  Can we help everyone?  Probably not, but at least give it a try.

If you are on medications, before you throw them away you must get medical advice.  But before you do get medical advice (as most will not advocate a change in lifestyle or diet), start the 10 steps and begin your journey back to health.  If you don’t do anything, don’t expect a different result.

Following are the 10 things that need to be addressed to improve mental health, which of course will also improve physical health. Remember the two are connected, there is no disconnect.

1. Take on an elimination protocol as outlined in the following links:  21 Step Reset, 4 Phase Fat Elimination Protocol
2. Consume fermented foods or Changing Habits dried fermented food, otherwise known as Changing Habits Probiotics
3. Improve your immune system with the help of Changing Habits food based nutrients; including Camu Camu, Supreme Green Blend, Inca Inchi Oil and Colloidal Minerals
4. Make sure sleep becomes a priority - bed by 9.00pm and get at least 8 to 9 hours a night
5. Have some down time throughout the day, as well as 10 minutes of midday sunshine without sunscreens and sunglasses
6. Find skills to help cope with stress in your life
7. Move your body - 20 minutes of intense exercise 4 times a week is enough to change your genetic potential for stress and disease
8. Eliminate toxic relationships and nurture the relationships that nurture you
9. Remove all unnecessary medications from daily consumption, especially any medications that destroy the microbiomes including antibiotics, synthetic hormones and steroids.  (I must put a disclosure here - seek medical advice)
10. Find a holistic integrative doctor that will support you on your quest for health - you may have to do this via a Skype consultation if you don’t have one in your area.
    

At Changing Habits, we have a Hunter Gatherer Protocol that can assist you in beginning your journey to mental health.  We also offer an e-Report titled An Undernourished Body is a Depressed Mind that you may like to also read.

Please feel free to pass this article onto anyone you feel may need this information.

Who said Candida is an Alien?
If you follow the research on candida and fungus you will know there is a ton of evidence to show that these are the precursors to most of the diseases afflicting humans and animals.
So what exactly is Candida? Some say it is a deadly epidemic. If it is, why has it become such a hidden and deadly epidemic?
 
'Candida albicans' is actually a naturally occurring fungal yeast that is in always in your body. It is present naturally in the human gut with hundreds of other essential yeast, bacteria, even e-coli, and everyone has these living within them to some extent.
Yes, that means it is inside of you and me right now.
Normally our gut is also full of natural bacteria that feed on the yeast and keep levels in a healthy balance, stopping it from becoming a problem.

So What is the Problem with Candida?
Do you remember the film Gremlins, where the father purchases some creatures similar to chipmunks from a Chinese pet shop as a present for his children? He is warned never to let them get wet but of course does not take that seriously and gives them to his delighted children. Gremlins are playful friendly creatures until they have water poured on them. Then they turn into killer Gremlins and start eating the house pets and eventually start killing and eating humans.

The Candida yeast also becomes problematic when our digestive system becomes unhealthy and we pour sugar down onto this friendly yeast. This then grows beyond healthy levels and eventually breaks out of the gastrointestinal tract and into the bloodstream. Once it's loose in your bloodstream, the yeast then evolves into fungus that spreads throughout the body.

Now It's An Alien!
Once the Candida yeast evolves into a Candida fungus it really is no longer Candida, it's a true 'alien' that is loose in your body. Whether it is cancer, heart disease, lung disease, autoimmune disease or simply a toenail infection, all have alien fungus as a primary factor.
This Candida fungus now quickly spreads throughout your body and settles itself into any weak tissue that's lacking minerals, oxygen and is high in glucose. In fact, any full-blown candida/fungal infection could be slowly robbing you of your energy, brain function and even your life.

Why Does This Alien Cause So Many Problems?
All fungus slowly destroys all living things as it invades and excretes hundreds of poisonous mycotoxins into your bloodstream as part of it's own digestive processes.
Now it has left your gut it becomes very difficult to get it back in balance. In a healthy body with a healthy (low GI) diet, before this gets out of balance, your system would identify and eradicate it using sodium bicarbonate, friendly bacteria and your immune system. Without your natural resources to keep it in check the fungus can now grow and spread at will. This is becoming an epidemic as more and more people suffer from imbalanced systems as a result of stress, lack of minerals, lack of probiotics, bad diet, or a bout of ill health.

This means the immune system is never as strong as it needs to be to clear the Candida fungus and keep it in check. However, there are symptoms you can look for with Candida.
 
Early symptoms of Candida fungus include:

• Sore throat
• Diarrhoea
• Gas
• Bloating
• Fatigue
• IBS
  

As the infection spreads the symptoms become more varied and include:

• Migraines
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Extreme Fatigue
• Vaginitis
• Foggy thinking

And can include cancer, heart disease and many more...

There are no Magic Bullets!
I have seen every magic bullet under the sun including ingesting turpentine (Pine Oil) on a sugar cube and while they all have some benefit it will keep coming back until you deal with the prime causes.

There is good news!
If you have read the above then it is pretty clear that a Candida fungal infection is something that you must take seriously to clear your immediate infection and improve your long-term health. In my book I detail everything you need to do, especially the diet and sodium bicarbonate intake to clear Candida fungus and keep Candida in a healthy balance.

Below is the quick view of the supplements in my book:
Protease
SerraEnzyme 250K
Prescript-Assist®
Nascent Iodine
GlycoBoost
D.I.P.™
 
But for those with skin or toe fungal problems it is important to use Ancient Minerals Magnesium OIL ULTRA as the fastest way to get this in check.
The sooner you can clear Candida fungus the sooner you can rid your body of disease.
 
Regards and Good Health, 
Order the book from: http://goodhealthnaturally.com/products/Health-Book-Improving-Candida-in-30-Days/?cp=5-19u

We’d have to be living in a bubble to have not noticed just how many children today have allergies, eczema, asthma, ADHD, and autism. Without a doubt the number of children facing these health challenges today is nothing short of staggering.

Perhaps we live somewhere fairly remote however and that is our bubble. Allow me to elaborate; we now have family living in a small town in Italy and they often comment on how different life seems to be in this part of the world. Foods are incredibly simple but unbelievably good, parents seem happy and content rather then pushed and exhausted and with being health practitioners they find it astounding that many of the health issues they readily saw working in Australia are extremely uncommon in this pocket of the world.
Which brings me to my point…Having spent many hours studying how the body co-ordinates and heals itself I would often say to patients that, “Just as the body knows how to heal a cut on your hand – it knows how to fight bugs and germs.”

Unfortunately, I can’t say that anymore. Not just because infant health issues are rife but also because there is a considerable amount of research that discusses how many children today are INDEED unable to mount proper immune responses.
Let me get very specific. We now know that gut bacteria play a fundamental role in human health. It is estimated that there are more than ten times the number bacteria in our body then there are human cells, so we are actually more bacteria than we are human :) Typically we live in harmony with these bacteria; but there is now great concern that our modern environment might be disrupting this important bond between the bacterial balances.

When the friendly and unfriendly bacteria in our gut work in harmony then there is intestinal balance which stimulates the development of the immune system and provides protection against increasing numbers of bad bacteria and disease.

The Canadian Medical Association Journal Feb. 20138 states that “the disruption of the gut balance has been linked to an increasing number of diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer, allergies and asthma.“

Hopefully you are now asking, “So what disrupts this important balance of bacteria and the development of the immune system?”
While further research is needed there is substantial compelling evidence that suggests that each of the following eight factors contribute to children being more sensitive to allergens and having a detrimental imbalance of friendly and unfriendly bacteria in the bowel.

1. Obsessing about Germs
Many of us have been lead to believe that germs are the root of all evil and that we should go to great lengths to avoid them. Anti-bacteria hand creams, sprays and wipes, fill our handbags and counters and yet compelling researching tells us that we have gone too far and that some exposure to pets, dirt and other children for example are vital for stimulating the immune system to work effectively. In experiments where animals are raised in completely sterile (germ-free) environments, their immune systems do not develop normally and they develop serious immune diseases including allergy and autoimmunity.

2. Physical, Chemical and Emotional stress experienced by pregnant mothers
The womb itself is not just an incubator but a dynamic living environment greatly influenced by the physical, chemical and emotional signals the baby’s parent’s experience. Epigenetics is now looking at how exposure to emotional, dietary and environmental toxins and stresses at vulnerable periods of foetal developmental are linked to pathology that develops later in life. Chronic stress in pregnancy can sculpt the foetal brain for better survival in dangerous environments, creating children that are impulsive, quick to react, have heightened immune reactions and have a dampened capacity to remain calm and content.

3. Exposure to chemical toxins during pregnancy, birth and childhood
Antibiotics for example, are well known to disrupt the balance of friendly and unfriendly bacteria in the gut. Caesarean births typically require the use of antibiotics.

4. Surgical Births
Reportedly vaginal births offer important bacterial exposure and immune stimulation with a baby’s passage through the birth canal. In Well Adjusted Babies, Chapter 12 we also discuss how vaginal births stimulate the lungs and the respiratory centres of the brain supporting good respiratory function. Interestingly the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology states that “Subjects who were delivered via caesarean were three times more likely to have developed asthma by age 31, compared with subjects delivered naturally.”

5. Decrease in Breast Feeding
Breast milk also contains many immune factors including antibodies and immune cells, cytokines and other nutrients, which are important for both protection from infection and for promoting immune tolerance. Breast milk also contains substances that promote favourable colonisation of friendly bacteria in the gut.

6. Modern Damaged Foods
Many of our foods are incredibly altered and modified from their original natural state that the bowel wall finds them irritating and toxic which may potentially lead to leaky gut. Here undigested foods enter the immune system and initiate immune responses.

7. Sedentary ‘indoor’ lifestyle
This type of unhealthy lifestyle reduces both our physical activity and exposure to vitamin D. It is even proposed that there may be links between the gut micro flora and vitamin D, here we see how deep concerns about avoiding sunburn may have also completely eradicated important exposure to sunlight for some people.
 
Over the last few decades we have come a long way in learning how poor food choices and sedentary lifestyle impact our health, however the landscape of children’s health has changed well beyond these two contributory factors. As we have seen our child’s health is impacted by choices we make during pregnancy, with our birth selections, how we nourish our children and countless environment factors. As parents we cannot simply assume that our children will have a healthy childhood anymore, our modern world is leaving a heavy imprint on the health of our children.

From conception onwards, these stressors create a compounding effect and may result in a child who is immune-challenged or who struggles to learn, to express themselves, to interrelate and to thrive. I believe it is never too late to influence the health of the little people in our lives; it just takes commitment and energy.

Dr Jennifer Barham-Floreani
B.App.Clin.Sci, B.Chiropractic