Category: Nutrition + Food

When the Facts Aren’t the Facts: Depression, Drugs and Exercise

Posted on March 16, 2015 by - Movement + Mindfulness, Nutrition + Food

When it comes to facts, we don’t always get the real story. In fact, recent findings show that what we’ve been led to believe about antidepressants was cleverly skewed to favor drug companies. Surprising? For us, not so much.

Drugs, while they can be of great benefit and are sometimes necessary, are also extreme. Rarely do they work harmoniously with our organism—instead, they’re usually aimed at specific symptoms or intended for isolated results.

It was interesting and illuminating to discover this video about the real data on antidepressants. What’s the upshot? Antidepressants work primarily as placebos. Yes, that’s right. Placebos with a host of unwanted side effects.

Do Antidepressant Drugs Really Work? from NutritionFacts on Vimeo.

Reprograming-the-addictive-brainEven more, some side effects have only recently come to light with respect to age and antidepressants. The adolescent brain reacts very differently to antidepressants than the adult brain. In a Harvard School of Public Health study led by Dr. Matthew Miller, a careful review of over 162,000 pharmacy records revealed “that people under the age of 25 who received a higher initial dose of antidepressants were twice as likely to try to harm themselves, while that wasn’t true for people 25 and older.”

An increased suicide risk was also discovered in younger people taking an average dose. (See the NPR article Higher Doses of Antidepressants May Raise Teen Suicide Risk, also Dr. Frances Jensen’s book The Teenage Brain is a fascinating and excellent resource.)

So how can we affect depression positively, in a way that does us more good than harm? In a real way? Exercise!

Exercise has countless benefits—among them:

  • Elevated mood
  • Increased muscle tone
  • Decreased body fat
  • Better sleep
  • Increased energy
  • Heighted libido
  • Disease prevention (heart disease, stroke, diabetes and certain cancers)

The number of benefits trumps what any pill could offer, and even better: in most instances, moderate exercise complements any medicine, supplement or wellness plan.

1408574069790_wps_5_Teenage_girls_racing_in_tMotion is an integral part of our work at ELSI for a good reason. Daily activity brings increased vitality as natural result. This is why we offer daily movement classes (Mind + Body + Spirit). In these classes, we share what we do every day to be well and stay strong.

We also incorporate evidence-based into our Nutrition + Health classes, and it informs our work in general. It’s important to consider the whole being for true wellness.

Yours in whole health,
Dr. Miles

Boost Your Immunity in ONE Simple Step!

Posted on February 10, 2015 by - Movement + Mindfulness, Nutrition + Food

Imagery for Immunity

Research shows that our thoughts and feelings impact our physicality, from increased cortisol levels when we’re stressed to lowered immunity if we’re feeling depressed. Most of the time, we don’t consciously direct our thoughts for the benefit of our health, but we do have the power to do just that.

Visualization is a practical tool we can use at any time to deliberately and positively influence our immune system. When we say “visualization,” we really mean much more than seeing with internal eyes. Some of us are not visually oriented, and may not connect to the idea of seeing images with our eyes closed. Instead, let’s think of visualization as image-feeling. The feeling, whether we can cognize images or not, is really what we’re after. The emotion is what has the greatest influence on our health. (For more on that, see Dr. Reid’s blog post: The Power of Words.)

For example, visualize a tree. If you can’t see the trunk, branches, etc. in your mind’s eye, then cognize the feeling of a tree. In either case, when we imagine a tree, there is a feeling that we likely associate with concept of tree. This is what we mean here by visualization. So even if you can’t see that tree, you can still use visualization techniques for your benefit.

How does visualization impact us physically? It becomes part of the chemical conversation going on in our body, creating a blueprint that influences our neuro- and immunotransmitters.

Dopamine_and_serotonin_pathways

From our earliest moments of life, the brain and immune system are engaged in a constant dialogue. Each influences the other by means of chemical messengers. In fact, the immune system has neurotransmitter receptor sites in white blood cells, lymph nodes and elsewhere, and the brain has receptor sites for immunotransmitters called cytokines.

Three important cytokines are:

  • Interferons
  • Interleukins
  • Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)

Examples of neurotransmitters include:

  • Seratonin
  • Norepinephrine
  • Dopamine

Neurotransmitters circulate throughout the body with specific immune system receptor sites, as mentioned. Emotions impact neurotransmitters and thus affect immunity specifically, and our health generally.

coverimage

The immune system responds to messages from the brain formed by images or emotions. We can deliberately create mental images or encourage emotions to impact our immune systems in a positive way. Instead of letting our unconscious thoughts steer our health, we can consciously direct thoughts and feelings for greater energy and vitality.

You can use visualization in any moment to influence your experience, or you can use guided visualization for a different and often deeper effect. One of the simplest approaches is to use a counterbalancing visualization. Let’s say, for example, that you feel nervous—you can imagine yourself being calm and strong. Or maybe you feel tired—consciously imagine yourself being active, feeling what it feels like to have more energy. If you’re cold, you can imagine sitting in the sun on a tropical beach, or if you have high blood pressure, you can visualize your blood pressure going down.

If a person is dealing with cancer and thinks “I’m doomed,” it certainly doesn’t help the immune system. Indeed, fear may be the most weakening emotion for immunity.

If we let negative thoughts run unchecked, they can weaken us, versus consciously visualizing life and vitality. We can use the tool of directed visualization on the spur of the moment when there is a need or when we notice an unhelpful thought.

We can also use guided imagery to potent effect. Our educational program on health and vitality, recently released the CD Into Your Heart, a guided visualization from Dr. Reid.

The visualization is designed to help you regulate the flow of your hormones and neurotransmitters in a way that reduces stress in your body and increases happiness. Dr. Reid guides you to opening yourself to the energy of your heart, to heal emotional hurts and find out what really matters to you.

Available at our online store, it’s a tool that you can turn to again and again. Listen to a sample:

Dr. Reid also created a wonderful CD entitled Guided Explorations to Our Internal Organs, which is also available at our online store.

In addition, you can try this guided visualization, or “recapitulation” for resolving past hurts. It guides you to evoking the feeling of safety and nourishment that one experiences in the mother’s womb for greater energy and vitality in daily life:

Remember that you can use visualization to benefit your life any time you like, whether it’s a quick image that you form in your mind to help you manage a situation, or whether you sit down.

What Is Your Perfect Weight?

Posted on February 6, 2015 by - Detox, Nutrition + Food

Your perfect weight is an individual expression of being in harmony with your soul. Ideals of beauty change through time and among cultures, but what is best for each of us is a unique matter.

While obesity is a serious health issue that is tied to various diseases, the idea of optimal body weight can also be tied to a feeling of being accepted by others.

A trip to an art museum immediately brings to light that different cultures at different times have had very different standards of beauty—from plump Rubenesque figures to the hour-glass shape of the Gibson Girl to the more boyish figure of the Flapper or 60s Twiggy eras.

To not get caught in the vicissitudes of popular culture and enjoy the weight that is best for you comes down to feeling connected to your body—feeling vital and energetic. Your perfect body weight supports this experience of vitality.

Some may naturally feel best with a thinner frame, especially if they have a hotter constitution, while others who tend toward feeling cold do better with more body fat to keep warm and grounded. Some people need more muscle tone because they require a stronger structure, and others need more flexibility to combat a tendency toward stiffness.

Feel for yourself what makes sense for you. Your body is an indivisible twin of your mind, and when mind and body work together, there is clearer pathway for a joyful experience of life. This is the functional approach to body weight.

A dysfunctional approach is trying to meet an external ideal–especially today in the West, with the widespread presence of extremely thin fashion models (many who reportedly struggle with bulimia and other health troubles including digestive difficulties and ceasing of menstruation).
We may judge ourselves because we see our body weight in a certain way. We may have unresolved issues of self-worth or self-confidence, and our weight on some level is an expression of our level of comfort with ourselves.

Whenever you have a critical thought about your body weight, try asking yourself: “What unresolved issues do I have in my life? How can I feel better?”

It is true that eating is often an emotional activity—we sometimes seek to satisfy our emotional needs and resolve emotional knots through food. In this case, it’s not about the food. So we can look to what satisfies us on a deeper level, makes us feel self-love and self-respect—makes us feel connected.

It’s also true that healthy eating and exercise habits promote your unique perfect weight. It’s an interesting phenomenon that the more nutritious food that you eat, the more you want to eat nutritious food. The more movement you engage in, the more you want to move.

The body wants more of what helps it feel good. The key word here is “more”—vs. deprivation or restriction. So instead of trying to eat less sugar, aim to eat more greens. Instead of sitting less, look to walking more. Focus on the “more” of the healthy habits rather than on the “less” of the unhealthy habits.

When you do more of what is good for you, you’ll naturally want less of the things that don’t support your wellness in body and mind. When you eat better, you’ll naturally have more energy for activity and feel better in your body.

When you feel vital and connected, you are in harmony with your soul.

New Paradigms and Timeless Wisdom

Posted on January 8, 2015 by - Nutrition + Food

Food: New Paradigms and Timeless Wisdom

We all know that diet plays an important part in our health and wellbeing. But how what we eat affects our biology isn’t so clear, as evidenced by the diverse and often opposing diets promoted by trustworthy physicians. Should you eat for your blood type? Follow the Paleo Diet, Atkins plan or Mediterranean diet? Take notes from Dr. Oz? New research suggests that we may have been looking at the subject through too narrow a lens. Food may actually act like a hormone.

As Karen K. Ryan and Randy J. Seeley point out in their Science article, “Food as a Hormone”: “Nutrient substrates derived from food can activate intracellular signaling cascades to regulate metabolic health.” This finding could change the way that specific diseases are treated, as well as the way we think about our daily diets.

Looking at food as a hormone cocktail reframes what we thought we knew about food’s role in obesity, for example. Focusing on fat and sugar could well be misguided. Instead, it may be more accurate and effective to consider the signaling properties of foods and “food metabolite-receptor interactions.”

Food certainly provides us with necessary fuel and nutrients. Yet it now seems that there’s more going on. The components of food “travel through the blood, and nutrient substrates can act as signaling molecules by activating cell-surface or nuclear receptors.” In this way, food acts as a hormone. Hormones are chemicals released by certain cells, glands or organs that travel through the blood to affect cells elsewhere in the body. They can be thought of as chemical messengers that send signals from one cell to another, altering cellular metabolism in the process. Apparently, this is also what food does.

The intricate complexities of the body are astounding, and the more we learn, the more amazing it all becomes. New scientific findings are changing how we look at things as basic as our daily diet, and very often also highlight the value of ancient wisdom. In our next Nutrition + Health class on January 17th, Restore Your Body Weight and Your Soul after the Holidays, you’ll gain some insightful and useful information, followed by more tools throughout the year as we address the latest research and share traditional wisdom to help you be your most vibrant self.

We hope to see you there!

The Key to Feeling More Energy? A Healthy Thyroid Gland!

Posted on November 19, 2014 by - Nutrition + Food

Movement is the key to energy. It really is true! Of all the things we can do to stay energized and healthy, keeping our bodies moving is right there at the top—even, and maybe especially, when we feel sluggish.

There are many reasons why we might not feel like being active, but a major one is due to thyroid disorder. Because of this, we’ll focus on the thyroid in our next Nutrition + Health class on November 22nd—the last one of the year!

Of course, the class will offer in-depth information and tips all about how to keep the thyroid functioning at its best. But right now, to help you energize right away, we want to put the spotlight on the role of exercise and the thyroid.

Your thyroid gland may not be very large, but it has a big influence on your health and wellbeing. It affects your body temperature, metabolism, heart rate, mood, bowel function and energy levels. If it’s not functioning well, you probably won’t feel like getting out there and getting the exercise you need to stay fit and happy. So what can you do? Start with small steps. Every little bit of exercise you get each day makes a difference.

There are little things you can do to increase your daily activity, and it all counts! Take the stairs instead of an elevator or escalator when you have the chance. Park at the far end of the parking lot at the grocery store. Take five to fifteen minutes to take an extra walk around your neighborhood or workplace, or do squats or pushups before jumping into your other responsibilities—it will be time well spent, helping you function more effectively and think more clearly.

The thyroid produces a hormone that regulates your metabolism, and exercise boosts metabolism, helping you reduce or maintain weight.

Studies show that exercising just 30 minutes a day, five days a week helps reduce the symptoms of both an overactive thyroid (hyperthyroidism) and underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism). The irony is that if you have hypothyroidism, you likely don’t feel like being active. Just take it a step at a time!

Ideally, you want to get some cardio, stretching and strength training in each day. The main thing is to do things that you enjoy—gardening, dancing, jogging, sports—and work things into your daily life, like walking the dog, or doing jumping jacks before sitting down in front of the computer or television, or taking a 30-minute time-out for one of our daily Mind, Body + Spirit classes.

Try it out, pay attention to how you feel in the moment and reflect on your energy at the end of the day, and end of the week. Making time to move may end up giving you more time and energy for all of the other things in your life.

Finding your Ideal Body Weight

Posted on March 5, 2014 by - Detox, Nutrition + Food

Dear Community:

We are launching a new series of weekly newsletters. We look forward to sharing practical ideas, experiences, relevant research, and guidance for creating and maintaining a vital, healthy and strong body-mind. We intend to focus on four areas, one each week: 1) Nutrition and Food, 2) The Wisdom that guides the Path With Heart Classes, 3) The Community, and 4) Topics of Interest on the warrior’s journey, based on the knowledge and teachings of the Seers of Ancient Mexico.

This week our focus is on Nutrition. Our Nutrition classes this year will address specific topics to help raise awareness of the choices we make, our relationship to our bodies, and the behavior associated with thoughts, emotions and choices.

Finding Your Ideal Body Weight

One of the challenges we face in determining the most beneficial choices for mind-body health is the onslaught of theories, opinions, beliefs and views from the greater healthcare community, the media and society at large.

We believe in empowering individuals to find their own center amidst what may feel like an overstimulation of data and information, to better understand their unique bodies and experiences. Through the process of refining and strengthening individual health in community, we share experiences, recipes and results of healthy new choices.

In our first class on January 25 we presented a 21-day detox program that helps to eliminate toxins and revitalize your body. If you missed the class, you can still watch it here.

In the upcoming class this Saturday, March 8, we will share information and guidance to find your ideal body weight. There are a variety of reasons for weight differences and fluctuations, for example, our bone structure, our genes, our food history, changing emotional needs, age, and the climate we live in. You can learn about how the body stores and designs your weight and shape, about the relationships between weight and energy, and how to understand and determine your ideal body weight, which is not a standard formula but an individual expression. The upcoming nutrition class is also a maintenance follow-up to the detox program.

Have a healthy and joyful week.

Click here to register

Get Stronger from the Inside Out

Posted on September 8, 2013 by - Acupuncture + Herbs, Nutrition + Food

Our Nutrition + Health class series is chockfull of practical information you can use to feel your best every day. These online classes are one of the best gifts you can give to yourself and your family.

Our class on September 7th focused on maintaining healthy bones, muscles, tendons and joints.

bones-ligaments

Here are some of the things that class participants learned:

  • Seven fruits and vegetables that help rejuvenate your joints
  • Three simple rules to boost your muscle function
  • Two acupressure points to promote power in your arms and legs
  • Four acupressure points that release tension and stress in the soft tissue
  • Two acupressure points to relieve stiff neck and joints
  • Best nutrients for optimal joint health

Our Nutrition + Health classes give you information you can use right away to function optimally. Even more, the online format means that you can join in from wherever you are in the world.

This is a series that you won’t want to miss! We present new Nutrition + Health classes almost every month.