Tag Archives: metabolism

It’s all about metabolism

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A higher metabolic rate translates to a higher quality of life. – This guy

What does metabolic rate have to with leading a quality life? Well, everything really. We know that the metabolism is the main calorie-burning epicenter – the body’s ability to turn food into biological energy and heat at a rapid rate AND with efficiency. We know that people like to boost their metabolism with shots of caffeine, energy pills, extracts, protein shakes, amino acids, steroid hormones, and hours in the gym. What good does this all do if the mechanisms which fuel bodily activities are not understood? I mean, why are people constantly taking shots in the dark when they have absolutely no physiological clue as to how their body actually runs, responds, reacts, digests, assimilates, regenerates, rebuilds, eliminates, converts, produces, reduces, or, the all-encompassing, metabolizes? I can take green coffee bean extracts all damn day long because it’s supposed to increase my metabolic rate (so then I’ll burn calories quicker, eliminate body fat, eat whatever I want and be “ok,” etc.), but how do I really know whether or not it’s working?

I’d say the best approach to elevating the metabolic rate is to understand what is actually involved in the metabolism. For starters, metabolism involves hormones and a lot of ‘em. The hormones involved require a balance with one another – within homeostasis. For example, in male’s there must be a greater ratio of Testosterone:Estrogen and in females there must be a greater ratio of Progesterone:Estrogen (yes, excessive estrogen levels for women is actually BAD). When those ratios are imbalanced and there exists a greater amount of [unopposed] Estrogen then the metabolic rate will likely decline because of the anti-metabolic affects of excess Estrogen (which can trigger stress-hormone reactions, hypoglycemia, muscle loss, weight gain, bacterial imbalance, encourage cell division, water retention, and also cause organs to become “sluggish”). We’ll go into Estrogen’s true-colors role within the body in another blog, but my point is to show how a simple imbalance can create an opportunity for a weaker metabolic rate – that is, a weaker functioning body. Other hormones involved include thyroid (T4, T3), pituitary, progesterone, testosterone, pregnenolone, cholesterol, DHEA, estrogen, serotonin (tryptophan), prolactin, insulin, glucagon, cortisol, adrenaline, and aldosterone (to name a few). 

So-to-speak, metabolism fuels the body and hormones fuel the metabolism. So what fuels the hormones? Well, hydration, nutrition, and rest, of course! Let’s keep it simple and focus on nutrition (because I tend to throw in hydration as part of nutrition since water should always have a mineral content, i.e. nutrition). Nutrition can be broken down into two categories: Macronutrients (Fats, Proteins, and Carbohydrates) and Micronutrients (Vitamins and Minerals). Macro’s can be further broken down into Saturated Fats, Monounsaturated Fats, Polyunsaturated Fats, Animal Proteins, Plant Proteins, Simple Carbohydrates, and Complex Carbohydrates. Micro’s go further into Fat-Soluble Vitamins A, D, E, and K, Water-Soluble Vitamins B and C, and Minerals such as Calcium, Copper, Magnesium, Potassium, Sodium, Selenium, Zinc, Iron, Phosphorus, Iodine, and Maganese.

Phew. 

Sleep is next in line as a essential platform to allow your body some time to rest, recover, and rebuild from a day-in-the-life. Whether or not you did anything today, your body is still working, digesting, assimilating, producing, excreting, and being a living organism that’s just trying to do what it needs to do to survive.

Alright, so I have thrown a lot of information at you and your probably waiting on me to tell you to do this, that, and voila – you’re metabolism is as good as new! Well, that can exist and the approach can be viewed as a metabolic recovery rather than a metabolism-boosting scheme (like we’re marketed) because, in my perceived reality of many people whom I interact with on a daily basis, most people are in need of a recovery – to get back what their body used to be, what their body used to be able to do, and how their body used to function with efficiency. Ever hear someone say, “I used to be able to eat that when I was younger” or “I was very active when I was younger so I could eat whatever I wanted.” While those statements may be true of the past, the mindset that the opportunity no longer exists in the present should not hold water. Throughout our American-way lifetime we are bombarded with metabolism-weakening opportunities: gluten, grains, processed foods, unsaturated fats, trans fats (spoiled unsaturated fats), inflammatory proteins, artificial sweeteners, additives, preservatives, chemicals, toxins, heavy metals, alcohol, dehydration, resulted constipation, antibiotics, vaccines, and you name it. It’s no wonder our bodies can’t do it anymore because the metabolic rate, the metabolic processes, and the metabolic efficiency cannot continuously work at top speed because of all the crap we put our body through and put through our body.

Take your body into perspective with metabolism: any physical imbalance is likely a result of a hormonal imbalance which is likely a result of a nutritional/sleep imbalance (minor lifestyle details aside). Boom.

If you’d like to discuss this perspective along with other health-related insights, please contact me for a FREE Conversation.

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Thyroid, metabolism, and symptoms

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So I plowed through Selye’s “The Stress of Life,” which was a pleasant read given its depth and some need for pre-requisite knowledge, and now I’m onto Broda Barnes’ “Hypo-thyroidism: The unsuspected illness.” Throughout the book Barnes’ discusses his personal experiences [as a doctor] with a vast majority of symptoms and how most [symptoms] really boil down to a lack of metabolic efficiency; generally-speak, producing a low amount of thyroid hormones, and, in effect, an inefficiency at maintaing body heat and a “normal” pulse/heart beat. Barnes’ definition is a little less too-cool-for-school wordy, “It is the thyroid which controls the metabolism – the process by which food is transformed into energy and many vital chemical changes take place.” Combine those and you’re on your way to a decent idea of the thyroid’s direct relationship with metabolism. Now, metabolism is a tricky thing because most believe, Broda’s definiton included, that it’s just about burning calories at a high rate and having the ability to eat whatever you want. While that is true and is what we’re basically taught from a young age by Dr. Aloysuis Snuffleupagus, the means towards establishing a high metabolic rate of an individual is a very important and intricate piece to the body puzzle.

There are two things that I’m really intrigued about in this book. 1) The vast majority of symptoms that can result from a thyroid deficiency, and 2) The approach to treat a low thyroid (hypothyroid) condition with the simple prescription of thyroid medication. Let’s begin at the first…

Barnes begins on page one with a bulleted series of patient symptoms

  • A young housewife who feels run down, tires easily, is sleepy much of the time, and strangely oversensitive to cold weather.
  • A middle-aged man who has managed to distinguish himself in his career by fighting all his life against his low energy reserve but now has become tired of fighting and convinced there must be some physical explanation for his problem even though none has ever been found and more than once he has been told to consult a psychiatrist and more than once has done so without benefit.
  • A victim of severe recurrent headaches.
  • A barren couple.
  • A child or adult unusually prone to infections, particularly respiratory, but not limited to them.
  • A sufferer from severe rheumatic pain and potential heart attack victim.
  • A woman whose skin is abnormally rough, scaly, almost fishlike and patients with other skin problems including eczema, psoriasis, and acne.
  • At least one man or woman in a state of severe mental depression.
  • A woman with a menstrual flow problem – painful flow, or irregular flow, or sometimes excessive flow that suggests possible need for hysterectomy.

All of this is some great stuff that can really get people thinking as to what could be more of an underlying cause to their symptoms. Try to look at it this way: The body is (yes, yes) a system of systems and when a very important [thyroid] gland is not working at full capacity, other activities, processes, and reactions will not work as they are designed. Out of the above mentioned, the ones that stick out to me the most are 1) the man with low fatigue that knows there’s something physically wrong with him but all of his lab work comes back negative and he’s slapped with the stereotype that “it’s all mental,” and 2) the ability to become severely depressed as a result of low thyroid activity. I picked these out from the list because they are examples of “mental disorders” or, so-called, “chemical imbalances” that actually have a true physical cause. I am a huge believer that the mind can control, affect, dictate, and sway the body, but the exact same is true for how the body affects the mind and it is quite possible that professionals or scientific tests can completely misdiagnosis this pattern as a purely mental state. In my opinion, there is never a purely mental disease or a purely physical disease because one doesn’t function without the other!

Here are some other common symptoms of a low thyroid function: Weakness, Dry or coarse, Lethargy, Unmotivated, Laziness, Fatigue, Slow speech, Edema, Cold hands, Cold feet, Cold nose, Sensitivity to cold, Cold body despite warm environment, Rapid heart beat, Impaired memory, Brain fog, Forgetfulness, Decline in libido, Decreased sexual function, Decreased sexual desire, Shrinkage of the gonads/sex glands (testicles, ovaries), Erectile dysfunction, Irregular menstrual cycles (heavy, painful, non-existent flow), Overly emotional, Temper tantrums, Anxiety, Depression, Nervousness, Headaches, Weight loss, Weight gain, Loss of appetite, Hair loss, Easily prone to stress, Muscle weakness, Joint pain, Low activity endurance, Increased sleeping (even a good night’s sleep isn’t enough), Hard waking up in the morning, Poor vision, and the list can really go on and on.

Now that I’ve given you a-whole-lot of examples to make your mind go, “Hm, maybe I have hypothyroidism and I can solve all of my problems with medication?!,” let’s take a moment to reflect and to put some things into perspective (and to also address the 2nd point in which I was intrigued). Barnes says that a dose of thyroid medication was the simple solution to a majority of his patients who had had at least one, if not more, of the previously mentioned symptoms. But he fails to mention any nutritional or lifestyle advice in order to “correct” the condition of hypothyroidism. He does state in a few examples that his patients changed absolutely nothing else about their daily lives, eating habits, or routine and with a simple dose of thyroid medication they were good as new within 2-6 months, yet once they stopped taking thyroid their symptoms came back almost immediately. Ok, so he found the cause to their problems, but is it the true cause or just the effect? What about the mechanisms that fuel, drive, and provide the thyroid gland with the energy to function properly?

Barnes patient experiences and learned understanding of how the thyroid basically affects the entire body is huge, but I also think it brings up the question of “how does the thyroid become inefficient?” I believe hydration, nutrition, and rest play some very big factors, but, again, they’re not the end-all-be-all when you throw in mentality, emotions, and relationships.

A simple home-test to check your thyroid includes a thermometer and your tongue. First thing in the morning – absolutely the very first thing that you do upon waking to negate any emotional or physical influence – reach for a thermometer and stick it under your tongue for 2 minutes. Any body temperature that is “below the normal range of 97.8 to 98.2 degrees F strongly suggests low thyroid function.” Why? Because when you’re body isn’t running “hot” then certain activities are paradoxically slowed down or increased; i.e. slow hormonal processes, slow digestion, slow movements, slow thought patterns, or increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, quick bursts of energy via the release of adrenaline followed by a long crash.

Matt Stone of 180degreehealth.com wrote an article Broda Barnes and Ray Peat and its relation to thyroid and he summed it up rather nicely…

Body temperature is just one tool in the bag. It is not the only tool. Assessments of the warmth of your feet and hands, sleep quality, the number of hours you can comfortably go without eating, pulse rate, sex drive, energy levels, fatigue after eating, bowel frequency, water consumption (should be high), calorie consumption, reflex quickness, blood glucose levels – both fasting and postmeal, menstrual regularity – anything and everything should be used in making an overall assessment of your health and self-diagnosing what may be needed to rebalance your “body chemistry” as Melvin Page called it. With those in mind, you can use nutrition and lifestyle change to the fullest.

If you’d like to discuss these perspective along with other health-related insights, please contact me for a FREE Conversation.

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There is no pure disease

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From what I gather thus far through reading Selye’s work, a specific reaction (a “disease”) is a resulted manifestation of non-specific reactions (a “syndrome”).

There is no pure disease. It is physically impossible to have a disease of the heart, liver, kidneys, lungs, thyroid, or reproductive organs without having symptoms or signs of a dis-ease elsewhere in the body (physically and/or non-physically).

Dis-ease can result from non-specific reactions. By non-specific, I mean a general effect due to a general cause. For instance, a cold, influenza, a virus, or bacterial infection all have common, non-specific symptoms that occur in each dis-ease – i.e., fever, coated tongue, fatigue, weight loss, appetite loss, varied elimination habits, etc. – and their cause usually pertains to non-specific adaptations – i.e., low immune function or a low metabolic rate (both lead to susceptibility and their cause cannot be defined from one single antagonist).

So…

To treat a disease, wouldn’t it be better to treat the body that has the disease rather than treating the disease that has the body? 

Could diseases be “cured” through general observations and approaches? Through connecting the dots and retracing steps to understand what general adaptation encouraged a specific disease? Through a specific knowledge of cause and effect rather than a specific knowledge of effect?

 

If you’d like to discuss this perspective along with other health-related insights, please contact me for a FREE Conversation.

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Lita Lee’s diet do’s and don’ts

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Today’s post highlights Lita Lee’s diet recommendations from her free monthly newsletter along with my perspectives in plain text…

Avoid

  • Synthetic vitamins, minerals and isolated substances. Agree. Most of the vitamins added to our foods are impure, shipped-from-overseas, made-in-a-lab, laced-with-metals, I-guess-you-can-call-them vitamins. Purchase non-fortified or non-”added to” foods/drinks.
  • Junk foods, refined foods, fast foods, and fake foods, especially fake sugars (NutraSweet, Splenda or Sucralose, Sacharin, etc.). Agree. All sweeteners are chemicals and toxins to the body. People think they’re “healthier” by avoiding sugar and opting for sugar-free, but they’re just making their body work harder and burdening it more. The body can use sugar – no matter what the source – but it has a shitty time digesting or utilizing fake foods.
  • PUFA (all omega-3 and -6 oils) – all oils that are liquid at room temperature (such as flaxseed, fish oils, borage, Canola, and all seed, nut and bean oils, etc.). Avoid all foods containing PUFA (polyunsaturated fatty acids) such as most bread, most cereals, vegetable juices, etc. When you suck the juice from a vegetable, you get various amounts of toxic PUFA with no protection from the mother fiber. Agree. Polyunsaturated fats are highly toxic and unstable on a molecular level. These can convert into trans fats and are found EVERYWHERE in our food supply – even “healthy” foods contain toxic PUFAs. Avoid omega-6 as much as you can. Omega-3′s are healthy, but should not be heated as they are unstable molecules under pressure. To protect yourself in an PUFA meal – add some saturated fat (animal fat, butter, dairy, coconut oil) to the meal to slow down the oxidation (rancidity, inflammation) of the fat molecules within the body. 
  • Farmed fish and argibusiness animals – all are fed soy, chemicals and drugs. Agree. They are fed unnatural diets, which completely compromises their immune system, so since they’re sick 24/7 they must be administered antibiotics and other steroids to keep them “healthy.” Humans experience this wild reality, too, ya know. 
  • Deli meats containing by-products of the meat industry. Agree. A lot of deli meats are the scraps and leftovers pressed into a slab of meat. Then they’re dressed in nitrates, artificial flavorings, and nutritionally-void salt. No bueno.
  • Avoid or use rarely: all gluten and high PUFA (omega-6 and -6 oils) foods which include seeds, nuts, nut butters, beans (except green), wheat, rye, barley. Raw seeds and nuts are even more toxic than roasted seeds and nuts because they contain protease inhibitors which stress the kidneys. Sprouted seeds contain various amount of cyanide. Eating 100 grams of alfalfa sprouts can be lethal. Agree. Gluten can “burn” through the mucosa intestinal lining and create holes within the digestive organs. Most nuts and seeds contain a high PUFA content and they also yield anti-digestive properties (this is a natural defense mechanism to ward off animals from eating the crops prior to harvest – the same goes for grains, too!). The alfalfa thing is wild – I’ve never heard of it but damn if that’s true. Death by alfalfa!
  • Raw cruciferous vegetables – they must be cooked to destroy the thyroid inhibitors (goitergens). These include broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kale, collard greens, Chinese broccoli, kohlrabi, bok choy, turnip root and greens, and rutabaga. Fermenting cruciferous vegetables does not destroy goitergens. Not all good things are necessarily “good” and in the case of cruiciferous vegetables… raw isn’t too good. I wouldn’t avoid this all together, but just make sure they’re thoroughly cooked before consumption if you want to keep your metabolic rate in tip top shape (hint: metabolism and thyroid function are bros). 

Seek

  • Organic whole foods as best you can. Whole milk. The whole egg. The whole grain. Agree. I get that organic is “expensive” but you are investing in yourself. People will spend so much on clothes, cars, toys, houses, etc. but they consider the fuel that keeps them alive to not be a worthy investment if a gallon of milk is 6-8 bucks. Those who are not-so-well-off – do the best that you can.
  • Organic, pastured, grass fed, soy-free animal protein. Most chickens, turkey and pork are fed soy (in the US) even if they are labeled organic and free range. Same with eggs. Agree. Eggs are tricky. “Vegetarian fed” eggs are still fed grains and soy, and not a chicken’s natural diet of insects and worms. So you do your best with what you know. If organics aren’t around, try local to minimize the transport time and possible greater toxin exposure.
  • Organic oats, rice, and corn are good. Also, heirloom grains are good (spelt, quinoa, kamut, amaranth, etc.). Make sure the heirloom breads contain no PUFA. Agree and disagree. Some people can’t do grains at all for many reason: their digestive system can be compromised from years of irritation and inflammation, they can have a food intolerance, a food allergy, and their digestive system simply may not be able to handle the grain. Always soak and wash rice thoroughly prior to consumption. Make sure your corn is non-GMO because 86%+ of the U.S. corn (26% world-wide) is an unregulated, government-backed science experiment. 
  • Carrots, beets, onions, cucumbers, squash and eggplant. Agree. Root vegetables are naturally anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, anti-parasitic because they must protect themselves while growing in the earth. This protective quality translates when they are digested within the body and can help balance intestinal bacteria. Carrots should be eaten raw and consumed on a daily basis as they’re extremely protective against pathogens and increased estrogen hormones produced within the intestinal tract from stress. 
  • Fresh salad greens (except for head lettuce). Yes and no. I’m not too well-versed on greens aside from their vitamin content. I’ve heard that raw greens are high in PUFAs so they should be avoided for that reason but they’re also high in vitamins/minerals and when cooked down in water it can be consumed as a natural “vitamin water.”
  • Fruits and potatoes are the only two foods that do not contain PUFA. Fruit juices are high in salicylates so it’s like drinking organic aspirin (very anti-inflammatory). Potatoes are the best vegan source of protein and have an excellent protein efficiency ratio. Agree. Sing it, sister.
  • Use only coconut oil in you rcooking. This is the healthiest fat you can eat and very prothyroid. Butter and olive oil are healthy, too, but not for cooking. Choosing/consuming the right cooking oil is the key to avoiding rancid (trans) fats and limiting an inflammatory response. Coconut oil is 98% saturated fat and is extremely stable at high temperatures and pressures. It is the go-to cooking oil for everything and anything. Try it and love it. Butter has a tendency to burn and it also is not a pure saturated fat; its unsaturated fats are prone to spoiling, too. Olive oil is definitely all it’s cracked up to be… just not when it’s heated. Use it topically and keep it in a dark bottle in a dark, cool place. 
  • Non-iodized white sea salt and coconut water. Avoid colored salts. The color is either dirt or toxins. For example, pink or orange color in Himalayan sea salt is toxic inorganic iron. Agree aaaand I’m still understanding iron’s role within the body. Salt isn’t unhealthy, but its source and processing play a big role. From what I gather, iron can be highly toxic in excess. The body has an extremely hard time of eliminating excess iron because it doesn’t have a true mechanism to get rid of the stuff. There are some tricky diet approaches to get iron out, but the best approach is to avoid iron-rich foods all together, one of those being a deep sea salt [that's colored or moist].
  • Organic dairy products, raw if possible: whole milk, kefir, yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese. Agree and disagree. I love me some dairy, especially milk and cheese. The yogurt recommendation gets me because it’s lactic acid content, which is an inflammatory/stress response from cells, can do more harm than good (especially in an compromised metabolism or digestive system). If people are eating dairy to provide the gut with good bacteria… what about the concept of just balancing the bacteria that’s naturally in there now? If you think that you have more bad than good bacteria, then take a look at the diet. Treat the cause with a diet and lifestyle shift, not the symptoms with a band-aid.
  • Vitamin D3 (Cholecalciferol) from lanolin is one vitamin I recommend for everyone. Agree. Vitamin D is huge for immune health and is a synergist for calcium.
  • Turmeric (from New Chapter) is an important herb I also recommend. I’m not well-versed in Turmeric but I am familiar with its ability to aid in digestion.

Pro-thyroid Diet

  • 4 oz (25 grams) organic animal protein 3x/day, fruits 3x/day, fresh fruit juices 3x/day, carrots daily, white sea salt on all foods and in juices, coconut oil as your main oil and Great Lakes Gelatin as the best protein powder. NOTE: this is the adult amount and would be less for a child. This is a pretty standard and generic recommendation. Three meals may not be ideal for those on a broken metabolism, which will require someone to eat more frequently so their blood sugar doesn’t drop and create a stress hormone response. A high amount of animal flesh protein can actually be anti-metabolic and highly inflammatory, which isn’t what anyone wants and isn’t available in small orders. Great Lakes Gelatin is an extremely pure and beneficial protein, but it’s expensive. Carrots should be raw and consumed in between breakfast and lunch to aid with digestion and detoxification for the remainder of the day into the next.
  • Eat ripe fruits (except grapefruit) and drink fruit juices (except apple or grapefruit juices) daily. In a ripe fruit (bananas, pears, peaches, nectarines, etc.), the starch is converted into healthy sugars. Agree. Fruit is your friend. Grapefruit juice can contain a high amount of phytoestrogens, which are nay bueno when the goal is to increase metabolic rate and efficiency.
  • White sea salt (not commercial salt) is very important and should be consumed on all foods and in fruit juices. Agree. Salt your juices. It sounds wild but it works synergistically with the sugar and mineral content. A small pinch of salt will do just fine.
  • Drink organic coffee (not decaf) with milk, cream or 1/2 & 1/2. Green, black, and white teas absorb lots of fluoride from water, air, and soil – I don’t recommend them. Agree. Most decaf coffees are treated with formaldehyde to strip the caffeine content. If you’re a tea-lover, make sure you’re drinking it with pure water: get yourself a good filtering system or purchase glass-bottled water and heat it up on the stove as needed.
  • Do not drink water from plastic bottles. Not only do they contain endocrine disruptors, but many brands are tap water plus added synthetic vitamins/minerals and tons of plastic bottles are contaminating our oceans and killing our marine life. Avoid RO and distilled water – it’s dead and destructured. Agree. It’s wild what most companies try to sell as “healthy” water when it’s really just science.
  • Carbonated water is good for you if it doesn’t contain fluoride. My favorite brands include Perrier and Pellegrino, both of which come in glass bottles. Agree. The CO2 (carbon dioxide) provides the body with energy on a cellular level – it’s an energy-antagonist! On top of that, most carbonated waters are mineral waters so there isn’t a need to add salt! Good stuff.
  • Use an ion exchange filter to remove fluoride and all the other impurities from your sink and your shower. I recommend Tim Hickey of Friends of Water. Agree. And I recommend Tyent. I had access to one for a while. It was awesome.

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The no-detox-diet approach to detox

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A friend recently asked me about Detox Pads and if they’re legit or not. I’ve heard of them through my sporadic late-night-half-asleep-trying-to-fall-back-asleep infomercial viewing parties, but I couldn’t tell you a damn thing about them until I embarked on a Google session. Just as I suspected – crap! I don’t think they’re crap because they don’t work or they’re a waste of money or because there are better-spent detox mechanisms. No. They’re crap because that’s not how the freaking detoxification system is meant to function!

There are TONS of detoxes that claim to work: detox diets (only 1 day, no 2 days, no 3 days, no 5 days, no 7 days, no 14 days, no only 30 days to detoxify possible years upon years worth of toxin exposure!), detox liquids, detox pills, detox powders, detox machines, detox baths, detox exercises, detox retreats, detox this, and detox that. Some of these platforms may yield results, some may do nothing, and some could make matters worse without a good idea of why there’s a need to detox in the first place. The bottom line is: a true detox occurs when the body is operating at a high metabolic rate, is at a 98 F or slight above temperature, is digesting, assimilating, and excreting properly, and is balancing hormones accordingly. 

Question: Does anyone really know how the detoxification system works? Because the last time I checked, the detoxification system is one of the most intricate and intelligent systems on this planet and it knows damn well what it is doing. It knows how to detoxify in a pro-metabolic environment, but it also knows how to keep itself sustained in a highly toxic, anti-metabolic, and/or an over-burdened not-so-ideal living environment that prevents it from fully doing its job in a timely and effective manner. Ya with me?

A detoxification system that cannot fully/properly/efficiently/effectively detoxify is a SYMPTOM to a greater cause. The detox system isn’t the problem, it can be found within an imbalance, unawareness, irresponsibility, or neglect of the following:

  • Daily caloric intake - Eating enough daily calories to sustain your body’s daily needs to operate daily, function daily, and perform daily human body activities… daily (the detox organs need energy, too, ya know!)
  • Hydration - Consuming enough water, salt, potassium, magnesium, and sugar which provide cellular energy, nutrient delivery, and flush the body of [cellular] waste
  • Environmental toxins - Avoiding plastics, BPA, phytoestrogens, gases, smoke, mercury [fillings] [fish], lead, arsenic, all fluoride, herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, inhalation or skin exposure to various chemical-based sprays, lotions, or applicants (household sprays, cosmetics, deodorants, sunscreen, perfume, etc.)
  • Digestive and immune health - Maintaining a balanced ratio of good:bad intestinal bacteria. Maintaining an acidic stomach pH to prevent pathogens, fungi, parasites, and harmful bacteria from entering the body. Consuming a diet high in fat-soluble vitamins to build immunity. Increasing dietary saturated fats while decreasing pro-inflammatory polyunsaturated fats/omega-6. Limiting food allergens and irritants such as lecithin, carrageenan, added gums, added cultures, added [synthetic] vitamins, unfermented [gmo] soy, [gmo] wheat, gluten, and [gmo] corn (hfcs, maltodextrin, dextrose).

Maintaining metabolic health through pro-metabolic diet and lifestyle choices while simultaneously limiting one’s exposure to anti-metabolic circumstances is crucial in maintaining not only detoxification system health, but overall the-body-is-a-system-of-systems health! 

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Metabolism, Stress, Cold Hands & Feet

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I’ve been asked about (and have experienced) cold hands and feet on occasion. It’s not just a way of life, as it can be for some, but a true symptom of an underlying cause. External environment aside, the body isn’t meant to have cold hands or feet and stress is its most important factor. No, not running-from-a-lion stress (although that can be included), but dietary, physical, and mental (and thus all resulting in hormonal) stress can very easily be the cause.

You can live without an arm or a leg but you can’t live without a liver! (Paul Chek)

Paul is right. In a state of stress (or shock) the body will pull blood from the non-important areas of the body to bring it back into center where all of the vital organs reside. These vitals keep the body ticking; not-so-much the fingers, feet, or knee caps. The body knows exactly what it is doing and, as individuals, we must be responsible to keep an eye and ear out to understand, interpret and then react accordingly to what’s going on.

The temperature of [the] fingers, toes, and nose helps to interpret the balance between stress and thyroid; [the] fingers should be less cold as [the] metabolic rate comes up. In extreme hypothyroidism, the hands and feet can be very cold while the oral temperature looks o.k.; then as the metabolic rate increases, the difference between fingers and mouth decreases. (Ray Peat)

Thanks, Ray. He hit the nail even more on the head by correlating stress and thyroid function – metabolic rate, homeostasis, the epicenter of all-things-regulating-healthy-bodily-functions. Peat looks at the heart rate and body temperature as instruments in determining thyroid (metabolic) health.

It’s not rocket science to notice cold hands and feet, meaning you don’t need a thermometer to tell ya what you can experience through awareness. Why does it happen? Well, I can go on about diet, physical, and mental stressors, but I think I’ll be barking about what you intuitively already know. Instead, here are a few questions to get you pointed in a perspective direction…

  • What time of day do you experience cold hands and feet? Upon waking, before/after lunch, before/after dinner, before/after exercise, before/after bed.
  • What is your heart rate at the same times mentioned above?
  • Do you notice cold hands and feet or an increased/decreased heart rate when consuming certain foods/drinks, in between meals (note the duration), doing certain activities (exercise, showering, sleeping, work, school, sex), or pertaining to certain sleeping patterns (sleeping “on time” or enough)?

This perspective approach can be taken with ANYTHING, not just cold hands and feet. Lifestyle Journals are the new black.

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