areyoustarvingyourcells?

Are You Starving your Cells?

Article by: Sue Dumais

Did you know that even if you eat healthy foods you may not be getting all the nutrients your body needs? The planet has changed so much in the last 70 years and our society has really shifted the focus to fast, easy, processed and convenient foods. Unfortunately it all comes at a cost and I don’t mean financially, I am actually referring to your health.

As a Certified Personal Trainer and Wellness Coach I have spent more than 17 years teaching others how to create healthy active lives through physical activity, healthy nutrition choices and positive lifestyle changes. It is truly about creating a healthy lifestyle in all areas of your life that allows you to maintain a healthy weight, feel good and look good. In this article I am going to focus on the nutrition aspect and discuss how our bodies are starving for nutrients. I will explain how as a society we are overfed and undernourished and chronic stress and environmental toxins are contributing to a shocking increase in the incidence of degenerative diseases. We will also take a look at how making different food choices and taking a high quality supplement can improve your health and often reverse signs of aging and disease.

I will begin by jumping back in history to the early 1900’s when the leading cause of death were infectious diseases like Diptheria, Influenze, Pneumonia and Tuberculosis. This year there will be 17 million deaths from cardiovascular disease. Millions of people will suffer from cancer, stroke, respiratory disease and diabetes. About 1 in 3 children born in America today are expected to develop Type 2 Diabetes.

According to Dr. Chris Lydon at Yale University “Chronic inflammation lies at the root of virtually every disease know to modern man – from weight gain, obesity & heart disease to autoimmune disorders like lupus, MS and rheumatoid arthritis.”

Before we look at how we can reduce chronic inflammation let me help you understand where it comes from. Inflammation is the body’s reaction to an infection, irritation or injury. The inflammatory response directs the immune system to the area to help fight off the threat.

There is a constant war occurring in our bodies each and every day. Our bodies are constantly under attack by free radicals and toxic stress. There are so much more environmental pollutants, toxins in our water, radiation for the sun and many people have a very poor diet making it difficult for the cells in our bodies to stay healthy.

A helpful way to understand oxidative stress is to cut an apple in half and leave it on the counter. It wouldn’t take long for it to turn brown from a process called oxidation. If you were to squirt some lemon juice on it the apple it wouldn’t turn brown because lemon juice is an antioxidant so it protects it from the oxidative stress. I will talk more about how we can use antioxidants to help nourish and protect our cells from oxidative stress in our environment.

Stress & Your Digestive System

I want to take a good look at stress. I need you to understand the affects of stress on your body as well as your digestive system. What if I were to say, “There is no such thing as stress”? There are very few people that would agree with the statement, in fact, many people become stressed and anxious trying to convince me why stress is real. Stress is really an individual reaction to a perceive threat. Two people in the same situation can have two completely different reactions. A person’s response to a perceived threat can be conscious or subconscious, realistic or unrealistic. Whether the response is positive or negative, good or bad, the body will always react to maintain homeostasis. When you encounter a life-threatening situation your hypothalamus sends a message to the adrenal glands to release adrenaline. Suddenly you can run faster, see better, hear more acutely, think faster and jump higher than just a few seconds ago. Your body has kicked into survival mode. Your heart rate increases two to three times the normal speed, capillaries under the surface of your skin constrict, blood pressure increases, pupils dilate, and all functions of your body that aren’t required to work are temporarily shut down. Digestion halts, sexual function stops and the immune system temporarily turns off. This response in your body makes sense when your life is in jeopardy. It is a “flight or fight” response that has allowed people to survive millions of years. The body’s response was temporary and when a person felt safe again they could rest and recover from it. In modern day society there are a lot of people living in “survival mode” everyday of their lives. People take such pride in multi-tasking and “keeping busy” that they create artificial deadlines and completely fill their schedules. They don’t realize their body’s “flight or fight” response is constantly running which means their digestive, reproductive and immune systems are not functioning effectively on a daily basis.

When adrenaline is released by your body during a perceived “flight or fight” response it causes fast, responsive peaks that many people crave. It creates a feeling of being in control and gives people immunity from mental and physical pain. Cortisol is another hormone released when you feel anxiety, fear or anger. Cortisol suppresses your immune system, breaks down muscle and increases fat deposits particularly in your abdominal area. The fat cells in your abdominal area are enzyme and hormone sensitive. Chronic stress (conscious or subconscious) will prevent women or men from toning and losing fat in the abdominal area. With a decrease in digestion due to stress, the cells in the body are starving for nutrients making you feel hungry so you eat more food but your body isn’t taking in the nutrients and absorbing them on a cellular level.

If you want to learn more about stress and how you create your own stress management program you can check out my online course: Wired & Tired.

Nutrition & Antioxidants

Now let’s get back to nutrition and look at how eating low glycemic index (low GI) foods in combination with high quality supplementation can help reduce the affects of free radicals and oxidative stress and reduce your risk of developing a degenerative disease. By reducing inflammation in your body you have the ability to prevent illness. My question to you is whether your health means enough to you to make the lifestyle changes you need to? I know mine does and even more so since the birth of my son. I want to be around to see him live as much of his life as I can.

I remember one time I was trying to convince my sister why drinking pop wasn’t good for her and that it has such a negative impact on her health and ultimately her food choices may shorten her life span. Her response to me was something like this “if I want to drink pop I will because I enjoy it. It is no big deal if I die a few years earlier I would rather enjoy myself today”. While I agreed with the idea of living for the moment it was hard for me to imagine my life without her and selfishly I want her to be around for a long time. When I think of my son growing up and having children of his own, two years off my life would be the last thing I would want sacrifice.

Eating low GI foods will help reduce chronic inflammation in the body. There are some great resources on how to eat low GI and I have included them here for you to easily access.

Low Glycemic Index Food Resources:

For Everyone:

www.releasingthefat.com Dr Ray Strand is a specialist in Nutritional Medicine and has many great resources on this site including his book “Healthy for Life” and a cookbook “Low Glycemic Meals in Minutes”. There is also a 12 week internet support program.

www.livewellintl.com/onlinenutritionseminar.html This free online seminar is available anytime. It is presented by Wellness Coach and Fitness & Nutrition Expert, Carmen Marshall. If you would like a better understanding of how nutrition (low GI foods), exercise and supplementation can improve your health I highly recommend you watch this online seminar. It is incredibly informative and easy to understand.

For Fertility:

www.acubalance.ca Dr Lorne Brown of Acubalance Wellness Centre for Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine has created an incredible online resource called the Acubalance Fertility Diet. It includes meal plans, recipes, shopping lists and tips on mindful eating.

For Children:

www.kidseatgreat.com Dr Christine Wood is a pediatrician with an interest in healthy nutrition for children. She is the author of “How to Get Kids to Eat Great and Love it!” which I would encourage every parent to read.

Supplements

I would like to shift now to the importance of supplementation. There was a time when I believed that if I ate healthy I could get all the nutrients I needed from my food. While I believe if I lived on Salt Spring Island it would be easier than here in Vancouver, I realize that so much has changed in our environment and our food just isn’t the same as it was in the early 1900’s when people lived off the land. Did you know that you would need to eat 8 oranges today in order to receive your daily dose of vitamin C compared to only 1 orange back in the 1900’s? Our soil doesn’t have the nutrients it used to and therefore our food isn’t as nutrient dense.

The USDA surveyed 16,000 Americans and found that not one person obtained 100% of essential nutrients such as magnesium, vitamin E and zinc (Nutrition Today). Similarly, children and adolescents did not obtain enough essential nutrients such as folate, vitamin C and calcium (USDA nutrition Assistance Program Report Series CN01-CDI).

I have taken many supplements over the years based on different recommendations from doctors, friends or colleagues and other than a high quality fish oil I never really knew whether they were helping or not. I always took calcium and a multivitamin and in the last 6 years looked for more organic or natural formulas but again I was never sure if they were working or not. So why didn’t I feel any different? Like many people I believed that what was written on the label was what was in the bottle. Many people believe that all supplements are created equal. Well I am here to tell you that is the furthest thing from the truth.

I recently learned about a line of product that was highly recommended by Dr. Christiane Northrup, women’s health advocate and author of “Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom” and “The Wisdom of Menopause”. I also spoke in great detail with Julia Indichova, founder of www.fertileheart.com and author of “The Fertile Female” and “Inconceivable”. She thoroughly researched the product before she began recommending it to her clients and after speaking to Julia I decided to try them.

I was struggling with some health issues in the last 5 years including low energy, lack of strength and heavy menstrual bleeding. Within just a few weeks of taking the Essentials (multivitamin and antioxidants) I had a significant increase in my energy levels, my skin looked healthier and I felt nourished deep down into my cells. After a few months my nails were stronger and even my toenails look healthier, my menstrual cycle has improved dramatically and I feel strong and alive again. I began to do my own research as to why these particular supplements made me feel so much better. I became determined to share this new found cellular health with everyone. I want everyone to feel this good. For me, feeling is believing.

Why USANA Health Sciences?

Dr. Myron Wentz is the founder of USANA Health Sciences and he dreams of a world free from pain and suffering and a world free of disease. He is an immunologist and microbiologist who developed the first commercially available Epstein Barr Virus Kit. Dr Wentz is an expert in cellular nutrition and received many awards including the Albert Einstein Award for Outstanding Achievement in Life Sciences.

After watching his own parents die of degenerative diseases and struggling with his own health issues he realized that the ingredients listed on the supplements that his doctor recommended wouldn’t keep the cells alive in his lab. He questioned why he would want to put them into his body. He shifted from disease diagnostics to health maintenance and prevention and USANA Health Sciences was born in 1992. Dr Wentz’s vision is to manufacture the highest quality, science based products that people can trust.

USANA Product Highlights:

USANA voluntarily adheres to pharmaceutical grade GMP’s (Good Manufacturing Practices). This is not a requirement for supplements but USANA’s sets the bar high and voluntarily meets these higher standards, which includes regular health inspections and third party product testing.
Science based products – formulated by scientists and Dr. Wentz who is an expert in cellular nutrition
100% Potency Guarantee – what is listed on the bottle is what is in the bottle
Rated 5 Star Gold Standard for Achievement in the “Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements” by Lyle McWilliams, MSc, FP. Rated for completeness, absorption, potency, purity and safety. USANA’s Essentials scored 96.5% while Centrum scored 5.6%. This was shocking to me because I know many people who use this brand.
Athlete Guarantee – USANA products are pure and contain no banned substances – used by many athletes including the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. USANA is the only company that provides this guarantee to athletes.
Highly Absorbable – dissolve in water within 20 minutes. If the tablets don’t dissolve within 30-50 minutes your body will not be able to absorb them into your cells. A recent study showed 54% of nutritional supplements tested did not disintegrate/dissolve properly (J. Pharm Pharmceut Sci 9(1):40-49 www.cspsCanadaorg )

About the Products:

Essentials – USANA’s Essentials include two products a Mega Antioxidant and a Multi Mineral Plus. Together they provide the optimal nutrition for your cells. The antioxidant combats oxidative stress (free radical damage) and provides support for cellular metabolism. The multimineral provides a complete and balanced spectrum of essential minerals that we are lacking from our diet to promote optimal health. Together they provide the highest quality ingredients for your cells in a balanced formula and at an adequate dose. There are formulations available for the whole family. BodyRox for teens, Usanimals for children and the Essentials for adults.

Optimizers – We each have unique nutritional needs and the USANA optimizers enable you to customize your nutritional program to meet your specific needs. You can find optimizers for cardiovascular health, digestive health, joint and skeletal health, menopause, liver support, vision and so much more. You can also customize your Healthpak so that your supplements are sent to you in convenient AM/PM packs. No bottles or sorting through tablets each morning. Simply grab your AM/PM pack and you are ready to go.

RESET Program – This clinically proven, 5-day high-fiber cleanse actually RESETs your metabolism and ELIMINATES your sugar/carb cravings as you detox, increase your energy level, balance your hormones, improve your sleep, increase clarity and release fat.

This is the easiest cleanse I've ever done. I was feeling bloated and having daily sugar cravings which usually resulted in having ice cream just before bed. Day one of the RESET cleanse my sugar cravings disappeared. It is highly effective and so easy to follow. I also noticed fat loss in areas that were unique to me and my clients.

Let me explain how it works. In normal function insulin is released anytime your blood glucose levels rise. Our muscles have insulin receptors that detect when insulin is in the bloodstream and will respond by taking the glucose and using it as energy. If the energy is not needed by the body then the glucose is stored as fat instead. After years of eating food that spike our blood glucose and insulin, creating a constant rise and fall, eventually the insulin receptors on your muscle cells become insensitive and stop paying attention to insulin’s signals. If your muscles are not using the glucose for energy then it is stored as fat in your body. The RESET program is clinically proven to keep your blood glucose and insulin levels steady for 5 days and helps stimulate the insulin receptors on your muscle cells and suddenly you are processing glucose in the muscles and using it as energy again instead of storing it as fat. Keep in mind I recommend this as a kickstart for your lifestyle changes which would include eating low GI foods, regular physical activity and deep relaxation.

Skin Care Products –Our skin is the body’s largest organ and everything we put on our skin can easily be absorbed into our bodies. Wouldn’t it make sense to nourish ourselves from the inside out as well as the outside in? Sensé™ products focus primarily on the cellular health of the skin and use the newest technologies available to create products that are both effective and safe without harmful parabens. USANA’s skin care line is truly nutrition for your skin. When I began using the skin care products I was a little nervous. Usually when I switch products my skin reacts in some way or another. Again I was surprised that I had no negative reaction, in fact, my skin has never looked better. It feels so natural. It is like I have no product on my skin.

Conclusion

I want to empower you with knowledge and at the same time encourage you to follow your intuition. We all have the ability to heal ourselves but we need to create a healing environment on the inside and out. Nutrition is a good place to start. Your cells are alive and need proper nourishment to thrive. When you provide nutrition at the level of your cells you will feel nourished, energetic and alive. When you feel healthy, vibrant and alive your experience of your life will reflect that. Are you ready to live a healthy life full of unlimited potential? What is one thing you can do today to begin to take a step toward improving your health and wellbeing? Perhaps start with making healthier food choices, drinking more water or starting a high quality supplement. You deserve to live a long and healthy life. All it takes is one step. You can do it! I believe in you!

If you would like support setting and achieving your nutrition and lifestyle goals contact us

For more information on USANA Products visit www.suedumais.usana.com

Note: The above statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Sue Dumais is not a medical doctor. The products listed on this site are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease The information is shared with the understanding that each reader takes full responsibility for her/his well being.