May 29, 2020May 30, 2020

11 Diet Tips from the Probiotic Lifestyle: Why Feeding the Gut Microbiome Slows Down Aging and Can Save Your Life from Preventable Disease!

Bio-diversity is essential for human health and evolution!

Even though I can’t prove it, I believe more than 99% of all human diseases can be prevented or managed by nourishing the gut. My personal mission is to help your microbiome become more robust, diverse, and balanced. It will make your life way better and it will also have beneficial consequences for the collective human microbiome (another way of saying our collective health as a species).

Benefits of Diverse Gut Microbiome

Shreiner et. al provide us with an overview of the evidence to show that a healthy microbiome supports the following:

Healthy metabolism, absorption of nutrients, and ability to inhibit tumor growth, particularly in the colon.

Microbiota promote immune homeostasis and, “influences immune functions at all levels from the initial innate defense to complex acquired responses.“

Use of antiobiotics are associated with increased cardiovascular risk factors. (Measured through plasma TMAO levels or trimethylamine-N-oxide)

“Clostridum difficile is a disease that results from critical changes to the gut microbiota and is effectively treated by microbiota-based therapy.”

Inflammatory bowel disease and Crohn’s disease is related to a lower microbial diversity and a dysbiosis or imbalance of the gut. Treatment by professionals may be focused on increasing the diversity and richness of beneficial micriobial species in the gut and biome.

Good news: The Gut has some plasticity.

By eating a diversity of healthy foods, you will get an abundance of antioxidants, fiber, and other ancient plant wisdom.

“The quality of being easily shaped or molded.”

“The adaptability of an organism to changes in its environment or differences between its various habitats.”

The not so good news: the older you are, the harder it will be.

Why it is harder for people who are older? It is not about your numerical age. It has to do with the fact that years of consuming high glycemic foods that have been stripped of fiber, antioxidants, and other vital essences have allowed undesirable bacteria species to overpopulate.

Furthermore, many people who grew up on cereal and processed foods are going to struggle more to reach their fitness goals later on in life. It’s not fair, at all. There is hope though, so read on.

Undesirable bacteria become squatters that you can’t evict. Once upon a time, they contributed something of value to your system, but now they are leeching nutrients from you and not giving you much back in return. Biologically, these bacteria create bio-films that protect their opportunistic environment inside your gut.

You can degrade these bio-films over time with herbs, enzymes, fermented foods and more (note: Amazon affiliate links). I’ll be covering this in depth in future posts as well.

Here are some general tips to think about when looking to enrich or improve the diversity of your microbiome.

For the pursuit of microbiome enrichment, you may consume the following:

1. Fruit from a tree that is tasty

2. Leaves from a plant that is hardy (kale).

3. Fungi from a birch tree (chaga)

4. Roots that also grow edible leaves (carrots, beets, etc.)

5. Red color leaves (chard), purple color leaves (purple kale), green color leaves (cabbage), and so on.

6. Nuts from a tree

7. Leaves that have been cultured (sauerkraut)

8. Dairy that has been cultured (Kefir, see my kefir post. I’ll be writing an extensive Kefir guide coming up because it is that important).

9. Fruit from trees that is fatty (avocado, olives)

10. Selections from the allium genus (onions, garlic, shallots, chives)

Benefits of onion and related species: full of enzymes, performance enhancing antioxidants, and minerals for blood sugar regulation.

11. Herbs / foods that make you hot or sweaty (peppers)

This should at least be enough to get you started and stimulated with some nutritional ideas.

It is important to note that one size does not fit all with nutrition. You are diverse, therefore you must learn what is best for you.

You can have guidance from practitioners who can support you in this journey. You can also learn from testing and experimenting — be mindful and honest about how your food is affecting you in order to make progress this way.

Stay tuned for more updates!

We’ve had an exciting time around here with a solid one post per day for three days straight! Let’s keep up the momentum.

The people who need us will find us, as long as we keep publishing. I hope you revisit here and join this growing community.

I invoke the powers of will to serve you in your fitness journey.

Sources:

Heiman ML, Greenway FL. A healthy gastrointestinal microbiome is dependent on dietary diversity. Mol Metab. 2016;5(5):317‐320. Published 2016 Mar 5. doi:10.1016/j.molmet.2016.02.005

Davis CD. The Gut Microbiome and Its Role in Obesity. Nutr Today. 2016;51(4):167‐174. doi:10.1097/NT.0000000000000167

Shreiner AB, Kao JY, Young VB. The gut microbiome in health and in disease. Curr Opin Gastroenterol. 2015;31(1):69‐75. doi:10.1097/MOG.0000000000000139

May 14, 2020

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Beyond Logic: Why your Fat Burning, Weight Loss, Nutrition, Health, Eating, and Dieting Goals Must Have a Spiritual Component

If weight loss was as simple as basic arithmetic, calories would be the only information that you needed.

Nutrition is full of layers upon layers from the human aspect to understandings of energy transfer throughout the universe. If fat loss was as simple as calories in vs calories out, humans wouldn’t be facing the unprecedented obesity epidemic of 2020s.

Obesity itself isn’t even the problem. What lies beneath obesity and excess can also be found in normal weight people as well. The problems are:

Metabolic disease including diabetes etc.
Inflammatory processes dangerously overactive for a period of years. (dysfunction and eventual scarring)
Toxic relationships with food and a highly detached and simultaneously capitalistic (exploitative) food supply chain.

You need guidance in order to delay instant gratification and to gain protection from succumbing to the temptations of excess.

Learning how to have a healthy relationship with food is not an isolated activity that one can simply switch on from day to day. It is important to look at food as more than just energy.

I am very interested in the essence of that which we consume. Perhaps you would benefit from a broader definition of energy than just a measure of heat or work done within a period of time.

Because we have our energy needs met, we need to look at food in two ways: as a source of wisdom/information and a source of material to create our cells.

We have an amazing capacity to access the wisdom of food. I’ll give you some examples:

Cooking to make nutrients more bioavailable
Cooking to reduce anti-nutrients such as the lectins on kidney beans (never eat raw kidney beans)
Cooking to kill / deactivate potential pathogens
Fermentation methods to increase the biological value of food (bacteria such as lactobacilli in sauerkraut)
Fermentation to increase enzyme activity (catalysts for biological processes)
Fermentation to deactivate natural plant defenses and/or toxins
And more…

Of course there are many foods that are perfect raw such as avocado or blueberries.

We also have great methods of food preservation in our refrigeration units, WHICH MEANS YOU HAVE NO EXCUSE TO NOT PLAN AHEAD.

One day, you will realize your own natural intuition about food. Until then, you need a plan, framework, or some sort of guiding knowledge to help you make progress through your mistakes.

Here are my own personal reasons to have a spiritual component in my nutrition.

1. At the beginning of the universe, there was darkness and there was light.

If we are to believe the Big Bang theory, then every person likely shares a star as a common ancestor. To say that we came from the stars is basically factual knowledge in astrophysics and quantum mechanics.

In essence, nutrition has far more depth and layers than science can ever show. My goal is to illuminate some of these darker areas in our understanding so that we can make progress forward instead of dying from disease of modern times.

2. Light nourishes us, but it can also burn us, therefore a balance must be sought after.

Energy balance obviously is the key to healthy weight. It is important to accept the offerings of nourishment while also protecting yourself from that which causes disease.

I’ll give you a practical example of protection within nutrition:

Red meat is carcinogenic, but if you eat kimchi with garlic along with it, it is possible to protect yourself from the cancer causing chemicals.

3. Don’t just eat for yourself: Eat for your future generation, eat for your ancestors who never had the opportunity to indulge, and eat for the people around you.

Eating for the future generation is about reducing the risk of intergenerational trauma and helping your children reach their potential. High quality foods containing a variety of antioxidants will help your sperm or eggs maintain integrity.

Eating for your ancestors is honoring the long and arduous journey to get here. And what I mean by here is that we live in an environment of relative food security. In fact, most of us have abundance and excess. Be thankful for these offerings.

Eating for the people around you is about setting a great example and inspiring others. It’s okay to have weak moments because your vulnerabilities should be seen as an advantage. At the same time, when you are capable of strength through healthy nutrition, it will be like a cloud of inspiration that gently sprinkles purity of motivation on those around you.

4. The human spirit may be pure, but without nourishment of the physical body, the output can become corrupt.

In one of my favorite home school classes, we watched Star Wars. The lesson at the end is that while an entity is seemingly pure evil, there is still good inside everybody.

My theory on why so many powerful people have become corrupt is that they lack nourishment. Of course the nourishment they lack could be in the form of emotions or other ways. Just think though, if you are constantly eating processed food, then you will constantly have high inflammation, and then over time parts of your body will begin to degrade, rot, or scar.

I believe many corrupt people have experienced scarring in parts of their brains or nerves from a lifetime of poor nourishment (or anti-nourishment like refined sugar, alcohol, etc). Some of these people will be the crazies you see on the street, while others will be the crazies that you read about in the history books (Hitler comes to mind).

This might be an unpopular opinion, but I believe that deep down, even the spirit of Hitler still had light within.

Nutrition is one very important way that we can protect ourselves from evil forces. Don’t become a Hitler. Eat your vegetables.

5. Everything is interconnected AND the universe is accelerating.

The universe is accelerating, meaning that galaxies are moving away from each other at a faster rate and in some cases maybe moving towards eachother at a faster pace. I see this as a metaphor for humanity and the acceleration of technology.

We are moving faster towards something. Will you sit back, eat junk, and accept your fate?

Or will you take a stand for yourself and fulfill your destiny?

I hope this nourishes your spirit in some way so that you can gain daily motivation towards nutritional enlightenment.

Thank you for reading and stay tuned. Follow the blog, please.

Blog & Personality disease prevention Fat Loss Nutrition, Immunity, and Digestion Power of the Mind Weightloss Now

March 19, 2020

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Top 5 Raw Honeys for Anti-Viral, Immune Support, Antioxidants, Vitamins, Minerals, Enzymes, and More

Real honey has proven therapeutic benefits.

Most people will digest honey well and experience the benefits of it.

Honey is one of the most perfect survival and storage foods as bacteria and viruses won’t be able to grow and honey contains a tremendous amount of energy and nutrients. It has a low moisture content, which keeps it preserved for longer periods of time. Even though you can store it, the nutrient value remains high.

I’ve compiled a list of some of the most powerful honey’s that I have personally consumed, experienced, and rated.

Top 5 Most Beneficial Raw Honey’s for antioxidants, immune support, health, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, micronutrients, phytonutrients:

Let’s just go ahead and start this list!

1. Tualang Black Honey

Did you get sticker shock when you saw the price?

Most people are not accustomed to eating wild food and they might benefit even more from something like this. The darkness of the honey (black) indicates significantly higher antioxidant value than your typical grocery store bought honey. The wisdom of nature is strong in this one. Research has backed this up.

Findings thus far show that, TH has antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimutagenic, antitumor, and antidiabetic properties, in addition to wound-healing attributes.

Even though this might be the most expensive honey you buy, no doubt the value is there.

This stuff tastes good to me, but just know that it will be more bitter than the normal honey you might be used to.

2. Manuka Honey

Most people have heard about the topical benefits of manuka honey, but not everybody knows that it is just as healthy to use internally. I used to work at a supplement store years ago and people would come in to buy manuka honey to heal their wounds. More research suggests that it is also great for dental, oral health and so much more.

“Therapeutic Manuka Honey: No Longer So Alternative”

Our results showed that honey, in general, and particularly manuka honey, has potent inhibitory activity against the influenza virus, demonstrating a potential medicinal value

Manuka honey has a pretty smooth texture and taste. It goes great with greek yogurt in my opinion!

3. Marri or Jarrah Honey

These honey’s I’ve listed can be pretty intense. Thick and dark, sweet but subdued. The flavor is unique for sure.

Jarrah and marri honey: A liquid goldrush of medical benefits

Independent testing of jarrah and marri honey in New Zealand in 2016 found that it had stronger antimicrobial properties than the much prized manuka honey

“Diversity is a very good thing because … what we end up with is stronger therapeutic outcomes.”

The good stuff is out there. I hope to bring awareness to it!

4. Wild Oregano Honey

If you’ve been in the alternative or holistic scene for a bit, you’ve probably heard of the benefits of oregano oil for the immune system, but you may not have heard about oregano honey. First off, yes, there is a nice spicy aroma that hits you when you open this jar of honey. It is quite an experience to enjoy the flavors and the immune boosting benefits.

Namely, melanoidins content, phenolic content, electrical conductivity, and mineral content were shown to be positively influencing the gained antibacterial activity.

This is a truly special and unique honey. I personally feel that oregano oil extract is a bit too harsh on my body, so if I can experience the benefits of oregano in a wild/raw food form, then I’m all for it.

5. Black Seed / Cumin Honey

Just like the other honeys, the flavor is intense. The antioxidants are high and the price is a good value considering the benefits.

…[used] as a natural remedy for many disorders like cough, jaundice and gastrointestinal disorders.

There is a common Islamic belief that the black seed is a panacea (universal healer) which is a remedy for all ailments

I really enjoyed this honey and will be buying it again.

Will you let food be your medicine?

I cannot diagnose, cure, or prescribe anything for you… only educate.

I implore you to redefine your view of, “natural / alternative,” health.

We need for “alternative remedies” that actually work for people to go mainstream. Including food such as raw honey into your lifestyle could provide many nutrients that you didn’t even know you needed!

Stay tuned. Follow the blog for updates.

Body Composition disease prevention Nutrition, Immunity, and Digestion supplements

January 28, 2020January 28, 2020

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Transforming your 2020 Body through Global Fitness Science

Recently, our studio launched the OTF transformation challenge 2020.

The challenge is in its second of eight weeks and it encourages healthy behavior through workout frequency and recovery.

Throwback pic at the studio after a sweaty workout

I am always interested in what Orangetheory shares with people.

Just the other day, Dr. Rachelle Reed, Director of Global Fitness Science at Orangetheory Fitness, had some responses related to the Orangetheory Fitness Transformation Challenge 2020.

Five Quotes about Fitness Science from OTF Director:

“Starting on the floor (rower) can be beneficial if your main goal is improving strength; that way, you can prioritize great form with a heavier load during the floor block!”

Prioritize great form with heavier loads. Develop that high quality, long-lasting, balanced muscle tone to give you opportunities for freedom.

“Helping members improve their health behaviors is the main point of the Transformation Challenge.”

We invite people to consume foods in the colors of a rainbow and post pictures of beautiful nutrient rich meals for the other supportive people in the Facebook group.

“Check into your nutrition pre- and post-workout to make sure you are fueling your body properly!”

If you are struggling with energy and recovery, you should definitely consider pre and post-workout. I almost take it for granted myself since I experimented with so many supplements through vendor gifts. In case you’re wondering, my favorite energizer for coaching and for morning and working out has to be Matcha + Chlorella. I just love the smooth energy and how it impacts my cognitive and metabolic function.

“We expect our members to lose 1-3% body fat over an 8-12 week period! Of course, this depends on so many factors – like what you eat, how active you are, your sleep quality and quantity, etc.”

Okay, let me share my honest opinion here while supporting OTF at the same time. I think she is referring to the average of members, they will lose 1-3% body fat over an 8-12 week period.

This may be true for average. Average, you are not!

May you transform magnificently! If you really need something, you will find the way. The truth is that recovery is the key to transformation. Workouts need to be challenging and varied, while recovery is the other 23 hours.

If you aren’t getting the result, believe that something might need to change.

With nutrition and rest, seven weeks is plenty of time to make a difference.

Besides, even if you lose 0% body fat, but you still did high intensity workouts 3x per week consistently, that still counts for some success as it benefits health, fitness, and longevity!

“The American College of Sports Medicine, recommend that adults participate in at least 150 minutes of aerobic activity each week plus at least 2 days of strength training on all major muscle groups, in order to enjoy the benefits of an active lifestyle. But, there is a dose response relationship, so a bit more (like 300 minutes and 3 days of strength training) can have slightly better benefits associated. This translates to about 3 classes of OTF a week, plus [everyday active movement]”

I think, “3 days of strength training,” would represent nearly three hours of strength training. Most people can agree that Orangetheory does not provide that amount of strength training per three Orange 60’s. Therefore, it could be beneficial to perform more strength exercises at home or a convenient location.

Maybe you could do some slow and controlled push-ups at home just before you eat a meal. Try to get a nice pump in your chest, shoulders, and triceps with a slow and controlled push up where you actually feel each and every muscle fiber contracting. Even two or three sets of 5-15 push ups a few times a week can make a big difference.

A lot of people have random weights or implements at home that they can use for bicep curls or exercise bands for glute bridges and deep burn in the glute muscles.

I love great workouts!

I often want to give people heavier loads just by putting weight in their area.

I do think the key to gaining strength at OTF is to be pro-active about your own challenges.

Try to eliminate as many muscular imbalances as possible.

Hope you found this useful.

Make sure to follow the blog for updates.

Shoutout to all of the OTF people that I’ve come in contact with over the years and to the people reading now!

Nourish up!

Body Composition Fat Loss Fitness Orangetheory Seattle

January 27, 2020

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Is Mushroom the Missing Cure-All against Obesity and Modern Disease?

Mushrooms may actually be more than fungible.

I believe that mushrooms can contribute a great deal to humanity’s progress. I think that if we are to create a legitimate space force moon-base and want to travel to other parts of the universe, then mushrooms can play a role in such an advancement.

The future and the present greatly rely upon both ancient and innovative nutrition.

Disclaimer: This is information is for educational purposes and not intended to treat or cure any disease since you are a person reading from anywhere in the world.

May have strong anti-fungal benefits against undesirable overgrowing of candida and yeasts in the body.

Culinary and medicinal mushrooms may actually have anti-fungal properties against other opportunistic and undesirable in large amounts fungus like candida. This is not to say that mushrooms alone will solve the problem alone because lifestyle is important.

Basically though, mushrooms contain a multitude of nutrients that help the immune system like no other.

Blood sugar support and fat loss.

My favorite benefit of mushrooms might just be how well they support fat loss in my experience and others. Even others coaches at OTF have been drinking mushrooms and experiencing the benefits (shoutout Coach Bobby drinking mushrooms at OTF!).

There are nutrients that may promote healthy normal function of the liver, kidney, and more. This promotes normal, healthy detoxification processes and of course the opportunity to allow the fat cells to reduce their energy through their own enzymatic mechanisms. In other words, metabolic processes are supported and that may give some impetus to fat cells to release adiponectin, the fat burning hormone.

These compounds exhibit their antidiabetic activity via different mechanisms. This article presents… the efficacy and mechanism of medicinal mushrooms for glucose control in diabetes, including the inhibition of glucose absorption, protection of beta-cell damage, increase of insulin release, enhancement of antioxidant defense, attenuation of inflammation, modulation of carbohydrate metabolism pathway, and regulation of insulin-dependent and insulin-independent signaling pathways.

Mushroom powders and extracts are especially great for anybody doing intermittent fasting and who want to promote liver function.

Are you interested in mushrooms like chaga?

Extremely powerful antioxidants, anti-inflammatory components, anti-aging benefits.

Mushrooms often contain fibers that are unique, which are fermented by the gut microbiome, which then, “learns,” from the wisdom of the mushroom. I love that mushrooms grow in the ground and trees. Mushrooms have been around for over 600,000 million years. In comparison, recognizable humans are said to have be only 1-3 million years on this planet.

Because mushrooms must process the living or decaying material without the benefit of sunlight as energy, they have evolved strong systems which interact with bacteria, viruses, and other fungal species.

Some of the most amazing mushrooms live on birch trees and are wild harvested in Maine as well as in the Siberian Forest. Truly a gem of nutrition, something most people will never realize what how much they missed out on.

I’ve used this chaga and it is pretty good. You can check the current price at Amazon.com.

Evolve bacteria in your gut to fight disease of modern times.

Something strange inside me clicked this year after I read about how bacterial species can evolve (transfer genetic information laterally) in hours responding to that which is ingested or exposed to.

Lateral gene transfer is evolution real-time.

My goal is to absorb a wide variety of ancient genetic information from plants and healthy living things.

I believe that if I evolve my gut, then I can prevent the common sickness and exist with passion well into my 90’s. I aspire to be an example for others even though I struggle at times.

We should strive for variety in our nutrition, especially plant variety.

How many fresh foods have you neglected or literally never even tried? What if you changed that?