What Do Habits Have to Do With Health?

Bad habits can drive us nuts…

But they can also be at the bottom of health problems too.

It’s no secret that there is an epidemic of overweight, diabetes and stress.  Yet, if we know about these things, which almost all of us do - and we know at least some of the things we should do to make them better - then why, oh why, aren’t the problems going away?

Because a lot of the solution has to do with changing our habits!  And that can be hard to do.

Feel free to weigh in on your biggest bad habits and the roadblocks to changing them.

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Are GERD and Allergies Connected?

Someone asked me the other day about their really horrible allergies and GERD.

The question went like this:

I have horrible allergies and nothing seems to work.  I have GERD and it is hard to find a food that does not affect me.  I am very frustrated and just want to get the allergies and GERD under control.

This was such a problem that they actually went for a heart stress test and was told their heart was healthy but they were unfit.  But…they did the test when their allergies were flaring up.  Otherwise, they can walk a mile in 10 to 12 minutes without getting out of breath in the least.

Let’s start with a question.  What is GERD?  OK, yes, it is gastroesophageal reflux disease.  Disease? Huh?  Do you catch it on the bus or something?

Let’s try that again.  GERD is a problem with the digestive system up where the esophagus meets the stomach.  The problem is that gasses and acids, and sometimes food, in various stages of digestion, reflux back up the esophagus.

Here’s the problem.  We are used to treating this “disease” with acid blockers, not eating large meals or late meals, and sleeping with the head of the bed raised.  Bad idea, good idea and good idea in a pinch.

But did you know that reducing starchy carbohydrates is one of the most useful things you can do for GERD?  Which isn’t such a bad thing to be doing anyway, because most of us eat waaayyyy to many of them to begin with!

Let’s throw in another thought.  The upper part of the digestive system is normally pretty low in bacteria and is relatively higher in acid, which helps kill off bacteria that come in on food and also helps digest food.  And the bacteria that are there tend to be the “good” bacteria, like Lactobacillus acidophilus (think probiotics).

But, what if you’ve been taking acid blockers?  Oops.  Potentially more bacteria and less digestion.  What if you are eating meals that are too big and tend to just “sit” in the upper bowel?  Or what if you have diabetes or low thyroid, conditions that can slow down the forward movement of the intestine?

What if you are actually sensitive to gluten, the protein found in wheat and most of the other grains we commonly eat?  That adds an immune and inflammatory problem.

Pretty soon the upper intestine can have a lot of bacteria, a lot of inflammation, and actually, some damage to it’s one cell thick lining (yes, really, only one cell thick).

Then you’ve got potential for “allergies” (actually better described as “reactions”) from almost any food you eat and you’ve got a little fermentation plant producing, guess what, lot’s of gasses from small bowel bacterial overgrowth. These gasses can cause the usual reflux symptoms, but also throat and sinus symptoms, and even asthma like symptoms and chest pain.

The GERD and allergies become a vicious circle.

So what’s the answer?

In general, the best plan is to get to the root of the problem.  Remove the insults and strengthen the system.

Different people are different, but I usually start with removing all of the starchy carbs, and even all gluten foods for about 6 weeks and adding some digestive enzymes.  If fruits, vegetables or probiotics are difficult to tolerate, I start thinking about bacterial overgrowth.  There are tests to help sort that out, and a special non-absorbable antibiotic called Rifaximin can sometimes be useful.

And, if the things you can do yourself don’t solve the problem, hunt around for a doc that will look into some of these other things.  Don’t just settle for acid blockers as the “solution”.

You need your acid.  It just needs to stay in your stomach where it belongs.

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Is Raw Milk Good or Bad?

Is raw milk and dairy a good thing or a bad thing?

When I was a little kid, I used to go to my grandma’s house, which was on a farm.  It was a little family farm, mostly retired by that time.  But there were still some milking cows.  They used to milk the cows in the afternoon and put the milk in the fridge over night.  First thing in the morning there was nothing better than fresh milk with a rich creamy layer on top.

Raw milk.

Some people won’t drink any think else.  The question, of course is whether or not raw milk is better for you or if pasteurization really is needed to kill bacteria.

Personally, I don’t think there is a good answer to this question.

On the one hand, I certainly like foods as close to whole and natural as possible.  Raw milk fits that bill.

On the other hand, bacteria can be deadly.  Literally.  Back in my grandmother’s day, children died pretty routinely and people died early deaths because of things like a simple bacterial infection.  Two of the greatest advances in health and avoiding early death are sanitation and antibiotics.

So, the raw milk products issue is a trade off.  It’s a trade off between keeping a food more whole and keeping a food safe.  You can live with a less whole milk product, but you can’t live with a bacteria that is stronger than you and all of our antibiotics.  It can kill you.  The chances may be low, but the unlucky folks that end up with an infection, it’s 100%.

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Losing Weight Smartly, not Hardly…

Weight loss is not as easy, for some, as eat less and exercise more.

It makes a lot more sense to lose weight the smart way.  Because trying to lose weight the hard way hardly ever really works.

For a lot of people, eating right and exercising is exactly the ticket.  The trick there is just knowing how to eat, and the right kind and amount of exercise.

But for other folks, it’s more complicated.  Chances are good that if you are one of those folks, you may intuitively know that there has got to be something else going on, because you have tried so hard and so many times to lose weight without long lasting results.  That can be disheartening and too many of us end up feeling like we just don’t have enough will power.

By looking at how the system works, our vision opens up about what other things might be going on to have us saying “why can’t I lose weight”?

Take this survey to see if there are other things that may be hijacking your weight loss efforts.

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• Do you feel gassy after eating

• Do milk and dairy products make you feel very relaxed?

• Do you crave baked goods or sugars?

• Do you exercise but no weight loss results?

• Do you have constipation or diarrhea?

• Do you have skin rashes?

• Do you have mood swings?

• Are you always cold?

• Does your social or emotional life revolve around food?

• Are your friends and family overweight?

• Is it hard for you to exercise because of fatigue or extreme muscle soreness?

• Does more than about 1/4 or your diet consist of grains?

Notice that there is no question here about willpower!!!

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How many positive responses do you have?  The more yes responses, the more likely it is you have other contributing factors that make it hard to lose weight.

2 - likely to have some contributing factor
4 - likely to have a couple contributing factors
>6 -  likely to have several contributing factors

Does this sound like you?  What are your challenges around weight loss? Would you like to get beyond willpower?

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Sugar In, High-Fructose Corn Syrup Out…

Who are we kidding?

Sugar is back in packaged foods and drinks, and HFCS is out, as the NYT reports.  But do we really think switching from high-fructose corn syrup to sugar is going to solve all of our sweet tooth induced problems?

High fructose corn syrup may be the evil product of corn subsidies and high tech food manipulation in all of it’s sugary madness, but thinking a switch from one sugar to another is the answer to our problems is just a silly mind game.

Take a walk into almost any grocery store.  Walk down the middle isles which, in most stores, is most of the store.

There lives the sugar coated cereal, the sugary soft drinks, the sugar laden “vitamin” drinks, the sugar coated pastries, the sugar spiked frozen dinners, salad dressing, etc, etc, etc.  The variety is mind boggling.

It’s hard to find yogurt without sugar for Pete sake.  Yogurt!

In all reality, if we didn’t buy this stuff, the stores wouldn’t stock it.  Supply and demand.

It is time to get a national grip!

I do apologize for the rant, but we are drowning in sugar, regardless of the form it comes in.  Our bodies and their million of years of accumulated know-how are beside themselves trying to figure out what to do with it all the sugar we are dumping into them.

How many of us need to struggle with obesity and overweight?  How many of us need to struggle with diabetes?  How many of us need to struggle with heart disease?  What do we have to suffer with before we get it?  Our kids are dealing with adult onset diabetes and hyperactivity.  What is the future we are giving them?  Especially when it doesn’t have to be that way.

We are like a country of addicts for sugar!

Ah.  Bingo.  Actually, the brain is hard wired to covet sugar.  That makes it easier to fool ourselves into making it o.k. to sweeten almost every food we can.  That has a way of making foods irresistible too.  That’s a boon to repeat sales.

But we get to pay with our health…and our medical bills.  That’s not so sweet.  And there is no health care restructuring plan that can make that better either.

It’s funny though.  Once you break the habit of sugar, the craving goes away.  And, you feel better.  And you discover that other healthier things taste good.  Really good.

Then, when you want to have something once in a while, with real sugar, it’s o.k.  No guilt.  Nada. Zip.  Zilch.

So, give me real sugar, yes, but not so much, and not very often.

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Eating Away The Cholesterol

Guess what?  Guess what?  “My cholesterol was down 90 points and I passed my treadmill!!”

Wait.  Slow down.  What?

Bob, my friend, had burst in the door and stood there with his arms open wide and a little kid grin, just beckoning me to come receive a hug.

He was so darn proud and somehow, I had something to do with it.

So, never one to decline a hug, I collected my hug and got down to the business of finding out why I was so honored.

Well, it turns out that I had been giving Bob some advice about diet over the last year or two and he had gradually started doing it.  He had become frustrated with going to the doctor and getting the recommendation for pills so he had decided to take action.

I had made a simple eating suggestion.  I call it the “plate rule”.  At least one half of the plate should be vegetables and fruits.  Mix up the colors and easy on the starchy ones.  1/4 should be whole grains and legumes, sometimes less depending on the person, and sometimes excluding gluten. And, about 1/4 should be protein like lean chicken and fish, though there are other options for vegetarians. Hold the frying and the fat laden sauces.  Eat whole grains and hold the baked goods for special occasions. He was already getting regular exercise by walking.

He gradually added in the changes more and more consistently, and much to his amazement, it worked!  It really worked.

His LDL cholesterol dropped by 90 points, his good  HDL cholesterol improved, he lost some weight, and he exercised like a champ on that treadmill…

Nothing brings joy to my heart like the look of a ten year olds’ happiness in a middle aged man…

…just walking on cloud nine.  Because he took charge, and it worked.

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