by dnshah | Apr 29, 2019 | Diet and Weight Loss, Health and Wellness Tips, Stress Management
A majority of folks have asked me how they would know that they are experiencing a dietary or digestive issue. The top sign is not a gastro-intestinal one, so people don’t always catch it early. Here are the top 10 signs of a dietary issue (in order of frequency):
- Brain Fog, or other decline in brain function
- Migraines
- Chronic Fatigue (unexplained low energy levels)
- Gastrointestinal Issues (Gas, Bloating, Nausea, Diarrhea, Constipation, Frequent BMs)
- This includes IBS- Irritable Bowel Syndrome and SIBO- Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth symptoms which can be seen by chronic bad breath, GI issues, nutrient malabsorption, and frequent BMs)
- This includes food intolerances which seems to occur after damage to the gut microbiome (“leaky gut”), for those people with a genetic vulnerability to some health issue.
- Joint Pain (or other unexplained chronic inflammation)
- Skin conditions (rash, dryness, flare-up)
- Nutrient Malabsorption (Unexplained weight gain or loss)
- Loss of immune tolerance
- Mood swings (including anxiety or depression)
- Any Autoimmune Condition (Diabetes Type II, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Hashimoto’s, Graves’, Celiac, etc.)
The type of diet that can cause these signs involves consuming some ingredients that a body can’t digest appropriately. The challenge is that our digestion is bio-individual. What someone else can digest easily, you may not be able to. Reasons for bio-individuality are difference in genetic vulnerability, environmental factors, and microbe exposures – even identical twins have bio-individual digestion.
To resolve this there are 2 schools of thought:
- Elimination Diet Trials – guess what could be your issue (dairy, gluten, nightshades, lectins, etc.) and eliminate them from your diet for a given period of time to see if conditions improve. Recommended Trial time is 6 weeks for EACH ingredient. So this takes time, structure, and some knowledge of how to balance your nutrition with missing ingredients. Alternatively, you can adopt an existing diet trial that removes common sensitivities – Paleo, Keto, Gluten Free, Pegan, Vegan, etc. My book, RIGHT Diet for Autoimmunity, provides a vegetarian journey without gluten, dairy, or refined sugar.
- Food Sensitivity Testing – Take a blood test and wait for results. The results will indicate which food ingredients are triggering issues within the body’s immune system. This option costs several hundred dollars, but provides immediate answers – often times with a 98% accuracy. Nutritional therapists, Health Coaches, and Functional doctors are able to refer you to the right test/lab as there are many options to choose from.
If you experience any of these signs discussed, FIRST go to your medical practitioner to rule out more SERIOUS issues. Then seek the guidance of a health coach, nutritional therapist, or functional doctor to assist you with elimination diets and/or food sensitivity testing. Any time you make dietary changes, you still want to ensure you are still getting the recommended dietary allowances of essential nutrition. Contact me and I can set up your testing and nutritional consult. Some of the labs I can help you with are published on my site.
by dnshah | Apr 29, 2019 | Health and Wellness Tips
Our bodies are approximately 60% water, and must remain so for our organs to function. Our organs can vary in water content, but our lungs remain in high demand for hydration – around 83% water. The quantity of water we need to maintain our hydration demands will depend on age, gender, body size, location, and lifestyle; but for a general approximate would be 64 -72 oz. for women and 72 -80 oz. for men. This varies with added physical fitness demands and hotter climates.
Tap water quality is something I talk about with my clients, because it is impacted from a variety of factors: location, pipes used, age of pipes, city’s water processing, & home filtration systems. The only thing people have control over is the last item. What home filtration processes have you set up? I empower people to think through this as water is a fundamental requirement for our bodies to perform optimally and we have the control to upgrade the quality.
A large percentage of the toxins found in our water will just run through your system – which is great; but the remainder percentage of toxins may stay with you – until you take actions to detox. The problem is that we still don’t know the safety of these toxins that stick around. That’s why I urge some thought on water filtration systems, avoiding beverage storage in plastic containers, and the chemical leaching into our beverages when stored in commercial containers.
That said, packaged drinking water is critical to hydration for a majority of the 2.1 billion people world-wide who lack adequate access to safe tap water. If you must drink bottled water from plastic, be aware of which brands have less plastic contamination in them via the latest non-profit informational study. (Sneak Peek: San Pellegrino, Evian, & Dasani were found to have the least particles in their water) These findings suggest that a person who drinks a liter of bottled water a day might be consuming tens of thousands of microplastic particles each year.
How this might affect your health, and that of your family, is still unknown; but some information has surfaced which shows that microplastics can absorb toxic chemicals linked to serious illnesses (including cancer). That is why I empower you to think through upgrading the quality of the water you drink… and the quality of water you breathe in daily.
We breathe in approximately 7 minutes of water in our showers. For many, this water is heavily mixed in with chlorine; unless they have purchased a shower filter. Shower filters are very economical and easy to install. I recommend looking into it and taking actions to increase the quality of water you and your family are exposed to routinely.
by dnshah | Apr 28, 2019 | Diet and Weight Loss, Recipes, Side Dish, Stress Management
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
1lb Kale, stemmed & chopped
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
½ cup vegetable stock
¼ onion, sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons EVOO
Dash black pepper
METHOD
- In a large pan over medium heat, sauté onions and garlic in EVOO until lightly toasted (1-2 minutes).
- Mix in stock and kale and cover to simmer, lowering heat to medium low.
- Cook until kale wilts (5 minutes)
- Mix in tomatoes, and continue cooking until kale is tender.
- Plate the kale, topping it with lemon juice and pepper.
by dnshah | Apr 28, 2019 | Age Defying, Diet and Weight Loss, Health and Wellness Tips, Obesity, Stress Management
For the last 15 years, research shows that diet and lifestyle changes can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D) in general. But the latest information shows that race impacts this risk, for example Native Americans are at higher than average risk of T2D. For the last 10 years, eight pueblos of New Mexico and the Navajo Nation have been trialing dietary changes to prevent and reverse diabetes, namely going plant-based…. and they’ve been successful. Thanks to many experts from the Navajo Nation, the Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine, and the director of diabetes education, a four-week plant-based eating challenge was conducted citing these significant benefits.
Now they are expanding with more plant-based cooking classes, plant-based “chef’s special” meal options in their cafeterias, professional development seminars for hospital chefs, and presentations with additional materials. Whether you are at a higher risk for T2D or not, you too can be empowered with strategies to improve your health. Contact us for your first complimentary consultation.
by dnshah | Apr 28, 2019 | Health and Wellness Tips, Stress Management
Women typically carry purses around, and over time these bags become heavier. These heavier bags can cause harm, in terms of imbalanced skeletal stress and pain. Consider and prioritize the contents: a wallet, cosmetics, glasses, charging block, office supplies, water bottle, etc. And for the busy traveler, add in a laptop, charger, a meal, hand sanitizer, and so on. The correct weight of a bag carried everywhere is the weight of a newborn. Anything more than this can sway your balance from your shoulders to your hips, impacting your back and spine. In order to maintain that natural curve of our spines, we have to activate the muscles that allow us to be aligned with ease.
Carrying a bag over the same shoulder day after day is not recommended. Think balance and alignment. Alternate the sides you shoulder a bag or use a cross-body bag or backpack. The backpack is the best choice allowing full symmetry as your body comes together to shoulder the weight. The second best option is the cross-body which allows a close body fit, less stress to the spine, and a load that is symmetrical to carry. The third choice is to alternate a bag across the shoulders.
