Paleo Doc

I'm Sad for Paula Deen

I was not sure how exactly to approach this post so I have written and modified it multiple times over the past 24 hours.  My initial reaction was frustration and anger over the perceptions of society, the medical community, and excuses which were put forward regarding the diagnosis of Type II diabetes for TV southern cook Paula Deen.  I have since questioned why I am angry and frustrated and realized that neither emotion serves any purpose.  I now am at a point where I am very sad for this woman because not only does she not get it but neither does most of society.

First, Type II diabetes is not a disease in the strict sense, sure it is a symptom of insulin resistance which is the result of poor lifestyle choices.  Unfortunately, people latch onto the term disease in order to give it an excuse, a pass, a way to avoid responsibility.  Mrs. Deen, when asked if it was related to her lifestyle, she emphasized that there are many factors and really made a point of emphasizing genetics.  Now granted I will say that there is some weak evidence that some people are more genetically PRONE to getting diabetes, but that is no different than lung cancer in a smoker - sure some people are more PRONE from genetics to develop lung cancer if they smoke but its hard to ignore the elephant in the room - you still have to smoke!  Paula Deen has Type II diabetes because she is overweight, she eats poorly, and she doesn't exercise.  Her doctor and the pharmaceutical company she partnered with (big pharma is such a good samaritan) have her convinced that it really is not her fault and they have the tools to CONTROL her diabetes.

On the Today show article, they also talked to a "nutritionist" and she emphasized that it is really not what you eat but how much.  I have to strongly object to this line of thinking, yes, quantity does have a role but quality is just as important if not moreso.  The hormones of satiation and fat storage behave very differently with different types of food.  Inflammation relating to different food types also plays a role so I find it very sad that supposed experts make such inaccurate statements.  I remember the College nutrition professor that ate a twinkie diet for 60 days in order to show that number of calories is what really counts - sure he lost 20 pounds and his cholesterol improved but I would bet that in about six months of that diet I could find some pretty scary physiologic changes.  You also have to question why a professor of nutrition had an initial BMI of 28.5 (nearly obese) to begin with, that would be like going to an obese personal trainer for exercise advice.

I am sad for Paula Deen because she is a victim of this system of misinformation.  I would love to see her change her lifestyle - cook healthy and exercise - and cure her "disease" of diabetes.  It really is that simple, we see this happen all the time with clients in our practice and do it without medication.

Defining Wellness

 

The Dalai Lama was asked what surprised him most, he said "Man.

Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money.
Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health.
And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived."

 

I found it interesting the other day when my 13 year old son asked me to define wellness and I was unsure of how to put it into words. Interesting, since that is my field of practice. I sat back and considered the question and realized it isn't something that can be defined by one sentence because it's a concept with many components. Wellness is not simply being free of disease. Wellness involves more than just physical principles, it encompasses the triad of body, mind and spirit.  Wellness is not a static process, it requires consistency of effort and continual progress. Wellness means creating a balanced, dynamic life and achieving a general sense of internal peace and well-being. Below I will touch on physical, intellectual, emotional, spiritual and social/environmental wellness; key components that I consider essential for the "WELL BEING."

The concept of wellness for the majority of the population centers around the most popular component, physical wellness. Physical wellness is more than just athletic prowess, it is a combination of fitness, nutrition, and lifestyle.  Some would consider being free of disease or following good preventative care as the definition of physical wellness but again this is incomplete.  If we train for a marathon and settle for a 5K, sure it is an accomplishment but it is far from the goal.  When I think of physical wellness, I think of total health optimization.  Ask yourself; "Have I reached my best potential for health, can my diet be improved, can my work outs be more efficient?  Have I played enough, do I feel great, do I wake up in the morning with the magic of a child, ready to go out and conquer the world?"

Intellectual wellness is key.  The brain is never idle and, like the body, needs exercise. I see the brain as a hyperactive, attention craving 9 year old.  Just take note sometime of how many different tangential thoughts your brain throws at you in the course of just five minutes.  The brain requires non-stop entertainment.  We must direct this enthusiasm into productive processes and harness the brains creative power.  We must continually learn, problem solve, and create.  The more we exercise these abilities, the healthier our brains become. Find a creative endeavor that quiets your mind and makes your heart sing. The sense of peace and accomplishment derived from this is liberating.

Emotional wellness is another important component that needs to be exercised daily as well.  Ask yourself; "Do I have a generally positive outlook on life?" Then ask others if they believe you to be generally positive. Think about how good you feel when you have an optimistic attitude or when you are around others who are optimistic.  It feels great!  Now think about how it feels to be around negative people, those that I like to call the Eeyores in life (look it up and you will understand).  You must realize that your emotions are YOURS, no one can MAKE you feel a certain way, you make that choice by how you act and react.  Choose to be optimistic, trusting, confident, forgiving, and loving.  You will find that you will begin to attract others with similar characteristics.

Spiritual wellness means different things to different people.  To me, spiritual wellness is living life according to morals, principals, beliefs, and values.  A healthy belief system is one based on positive qualities like love,  joy and peace. It doesn't exhibit negative feelings like hate, shame or jealousy.  For some, spiritual wellness may involve God or science, for others it may be about nature or meditation.  Love and forgiveness are the two most critical components for spiritual wellness.  Take a one week period, each day sit in meditation and genuinely forgive everyone in your life that you have any negative feelings toward, also include forgiving yourself.  Imagine that every person you see or interact with on a daily basis is a beloved family member, you will be amazed at how your interactions with people will change. 

Social/Environmental wellness is the last component.  We are all responsible for each other and this beautiful Earth that we call home.  Interact with people, love others unconditionally, forgive everyone, help those in need, and care for the environment. One person can make a difference!  Living this way is contagious and can spread like a beneficial wildfire.

I really could go on and on about this and probably will in the year ahead.  Wellness is all encompassing, it is what we strive for everyday. So, my answer to my son is, "there is no simple answer to "What is wellness".  There are many components, each an essential part of the whole.

Happy New Year!

Fat - It does the body good

Ok, vacation is over, it's been 4 months since my last blog post and I am ready to get back at it.  I have been reviewing my  past postings and I noticed that I have not been completely forthright in putting my thoughts to print.  Believe it or not I was actually blunting much of what I really wanted to say.  I know.....gasp...right?  People tell me that I am pretty in your face with my opinions but now I have decided that I really do not care about being PC any more.  Now to inaguarte this new freedom that I am feeling, I thought that I would address a topic that routinely comes up in my discussions with my clients - dietary fat.

 Fat has really been marginalized to the red headed stepchild of the nutrition world but unfortunately it has been wrongly christened.  We can really thank one person for this sin against humanity and that would be a man by the name of Ancel Keys.  Keys compiled a large volume of data but unfortunately he was very biased in his presentation and fat fell victim to the old adage that if you repeat something enough times then you actually begin to believe it.  Funny that keys ate a Mediterranian style diet which typically consists of somewhere between 25-50% of calories from fat.  Over the next few days, I am going to review the physiologic aspects of all the different forms of fat.

What you will come to understand is that it is not necessaily the amount of fat you consume that is important but rather the type of fat you consume.  We are constantly reminded of the French Paradox or the Italian Paradox, or even the Inuit (eskimo) Paradox; where we see fat consumption that far exceeds the typical American diet yet these people have significant lower heart disease rates.  Paradox here means that our observation or intuition seems to defy logic or contradict it.  I love when this is used in science especially in this situation where we refuse to believe our own lying eyes.  None of these observations constitute a paradox if we look at what is going on physiologically or biochemically we have the answer.  Type of fat consumption is the key.

We are in an era of evidence based medicine and we really need to apply this to nutrition.  We see that the cost of medical care is bankrupting society and we see that the "diseases" constituting the highest costs in our medical system are essentially lifestyle diseases; we need to get aggressive in our dietary approaches.  Obesity alone costs $147 billion dollars a year in direct medical costs to the tax payers, that is 9% of our countries medical spending.  Dietary fat reduction recommendations has been a key factor in the deterioration of our public health.

I am not recommending that we adopt an eskimo diet of meat and blubber but we do have to be more sensible about our fat consumption.  Read my previous post on the omega-3/omega-6 ratio and you will get a good idea of where I will be going with this.  So stay tuned over the next week and I will inundate you with good info on fat.

Excuses Be Gone

An excuse is simply a habit of rationalizing your way out of doing something you know you should do.

I have struggled in the past few months to come up with a motivating way to debunk the excuses that we hear on a daily basis as to why people can't eat right or meditate, get enough sleep, have enough sex, exercise etc. Being military, my initial response is "suck it up, push through it and quit whining."  That doesn't exactly work for most folks, which is precisely the reason I have struggled with the proper path to motivate the lemmings. 

While researching the subject of excuses, I came across Dr. Wayne Dyer's book called "Excuses Be Gone."  After downloading it and listening to the top eighteen excuses people use to keep themselves from accomplishing what they would like to accomplish, I find myself more kindly prepared to constructively debunk the plethora of lemming excuses.

Let's look at excuses commonly given for the inability to get off the couch and exercise and my newly found, tactful responses.  The number one excuse is I have NO time to exercise, my response....do you talk on the phone, do you surf the internet, do you sleep? It literally takes 10 to 12 minutes a day.

Here are some more.....

I'm too tired...yes, but if you work out you will have more energy.

I'm injured....modified movement will strengthen muscles and create stability

I have no support....do you really need someone to hold your hand?

I just don't feel like doing it....this one deserves the pacifier

I hate to exercise....do you love to pay bills, grocery shop, get gas etc?

I'll get started tomorrow.....the perfect time to start is now

I have family responsibilities.....make working out a family priority

I've tried and failed in the past....how about try, try again?

I'm too out of shape....what shape would you like to be? bowling ball or bowling pin?

I can't get motivated....would you like someone to wipe your back side at 65?

I'm too old.....we don't slow down because we get old, we get old because we slow down

I can't afford a gym membership.....got any rocks in the yard or milk jugs?

I don't know what to do...remember walking, push-ups and sit-ups?

I don't have any exercise equipment....two legs, feet, arms, hands etc

Habits, good or bad, are solidified after 21 days.  If you have to force yourself to take ten minutes a day to exercise for twenty one days then so be it. By the end of that time you will be hooked and realize the marvelous benefits of exercise....more energy, improved outlook, healthier skin, less sadness, better sex....enough said? When you recognize that there aren't any excuses worth defending, the joy of releasing them will resonate through you and eliminate the need to explain your shortcomings and failures.

Lao Tzu said, "When you correct your mind everything else will fall into place." If we learn how to change our self-defeating thinking patterns that have prevented us from attaining the highest levels of health we are well on the way to living a happier, healthier life.

Written by Mickra King, AuD - Director of Wellness Physiologix Wellness Institute

Losing Your Mind or Your Hormones

How well do you know your body?  Most of us have a pretty good understanding of that feeling of something not quite being right but we are frequently lost when we look for answers.  If you voice these complaints to your doctor, in many cases, you will be told, "Oh, you are just getting older," "it's a natural part of aging," "I hear that all the time from women your age, there is really not much we can do about it."  Sucks, doesn't it? 

UrbanDictionary.com definition of Menopause Moment:

When someone unexpectedly cracks the shits for no reason at someone or something, then continues as normal after wards as if nothing had even happened

"OMG, did u just see that chick, she just had a menopause moment and abused the little kid for glancing at her, what a bitch."

Next step, you are prescribed an antidepressant so that you essentially get a chemical lobotomy and you will quit pestering your doctor with these mundane concerns.

We all know about the "classic" symptoms of hormone loss - hot flashes, night sweats, loss of libido, etc.  Yes, these are the sterotypical symptoms but not every woman gets these as they lose their hormones and there are a host of other symptoms that are more common.  Let's look at these "symptoms" and see:

Mood swings - we all know what these are and you better watch or you will be told you are bipolar.  Happy one minute, sad, angry, depressed the next.

Anxiety/panic attacks - there are medications to treat this too.

Loss of sleep - lets add Ambien

Decreased concentration/memory loss - Do you find yourself rereading things and still feeling like you don't understand.   Do you find yourself rereading things and still feeling like you don't understand. (just kidding)  Loss of estrogen can make you feel like you are in a "fog," it is interesting to note that when a women gets her estrogen surge in her cycle, not only does she feel wonderful about herself but she will also display a peak in her verbal and math skills.  Still do not think estrogen is a big deal when it is gone?

Decreased energy - lets just add more caffiene here.

Libido loss - don't worry the drug companies are actively working on a pill for this symptom.

All of these above symptoms are "symptoms" of the hormonal losses of aging.  Sure we can take a drug to treat most of these symptoms but how about treating the cause with something that the body is missing and obviously needs - hormones.  If these symptoms are a concern for you, sit down and have a serious talk with your doctor.  Be sure to address the risks and benefits and do not be afraid to ask for some reference articles - you can also find them by searching the internet.

Most women fear hormones because of breast cancer risk but they will also ignore things such as cardiac benefit.  A recent study in Menopause showed that women under 65 taking hormones were 45% less likely to die in the 8-9 year follow-up of the study compared to the women that did not take hormones.  The form of the hormone is also important, discuss the different options with regard to risk with your doctor as well.

If you are content being bipolar, depressed, walking around in a fog, fatigued, bags under your eyes from lack of sleep - and not because of sex because you have no sex drive then you can ignore everything you just read.

Some more unpleasant effects