Nell Stephenson's Blog, page 12

COLLAGEN PEPTIDES + BONE BROTH: WHAT’S THE DIFF?

You’re drinking bone broth each and every day and you’re being careful about what you eat.

So do you really need to be downing those powdered collagen protein supplements?

And what’s the difference between the two anyway?

Let’s start with the definitions.

Bone broth is actually a hybrid of broth and stock. The base is more stock-like, as it is usually made from bones, sometimes roasted in advance, but there can sometimes be some meat still attached (1).   It’s typically made over a long period of time in a slow cooker over low heat with the addition of a small amount of vinegar.  We use organic cider vinegar in ours; at a ratio of 1 Tablespoon / 28 quart pot, which acts as a catalyst to extract healing compounds from the bones and connective tissue.

And collagen peptides?

You also know them as gelatin:  a translucent, colorless, flavorless food ingredient, derived from collagen taken from animal body parts. Brittle when dry and gummy when moist, also called hydrolyzed collagen, collagen hydrolysate, gelatin hydrolysate, hydrolyzed gelatin, and collagen peptides. Commonly used as a gelling agent in food, medications, drug and vitamin capsules, photographic films and papers, and cosmetic (2).

The list of health benefits associated with drinking properly sourced and prepared bone broth is endless; because it directly addresses the root cause of many illnesses, inflammation in the gut, it’s an essential part of healing a leaky gut and subsequently many health concerns.

It’s not just the collagen in bone broth on its own; it’s a real food diet eaten in conjunction with it.   

Eating a diet rich in leafy green vegetables is ideal as plants offer rich sources in collagen building blocks and, in addition, provide nutrients not found in sufficient quantities in meats or broth alone.

What’s more, bone broth may provide vitamins and enzymes, but they get denatured from heat as the broth cooks, rendering them less useful to the body (3), further underlining the importance of eating fresh, raw, in season, organic vegetables in abundance?

So do we need both bone broth as well as powdered collagen peptides?

Not necessarily.

As with any supplement, the first and most important thing to remember is it is just that : a supplement, something that completes or enhances something else when added to it.

Second, as a Harvard Study showed, supplements can plug dietary gaps, but nutrients from food are most important (4).  If the diet isn’t sound, then a supplement may be more indicated compared to a real-food based, authentic Paleo approach, for example.

Bottom line:  once again, it goes back to food being medicine and supplements being considered as add-ons to fill in any gaps.

Whether coming from a place of dis ease and wanting to heal yourself (starting with healing your gut) or choosing to go from existing in a space of feeling so-so to creating optimal health and thriving, not just surviving, making fresh, seasonal, locally sourced food what you’re eating on a daily basis the foundation of what you eat is key.

Eating nutrient dense, gut boosting foods regularly and minimizing, or removing, those which cause inflammation will begin to pave the way to gut health and as a result, to addressing many health concerns.

Bring on the broth!

https://www.epicurious.com/ingredients/difference-stock-broth-bone-broth-article
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelatin
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/02/10/384948585/taking-stock-of-bone-broth-sorry-no-cure-all-here
https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/should-you-get-your-nutrients-from-food-or-from-supplements

Why Am I So Tired?

You’re getting a good night’s rest, exercising regularly and being mindful about what you’re eating.

So what is the deal with this fatigue, and is it just fatigue, or chronic fatigue?

Low blood sugar from going too far with low-fat and counting calories or following an ‘unusual’ interpretation of a keto diet?

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is more than just feeling tired all the time and it’s not remedied by simply getting more sleep.

It’s a medical condition of unknown cause, with fever, aching, and prolonged tiredness and depression, typically occurring after a viral infection (1).

Current research speculates there are varying possibilities that could cause or contribute and they include viruses, weakened immune system and hormonal imbalances.

If you, or your doctor suspects you have CFS, be prepared to hear that, “There is no cure for chronic fatigue syndrome” and that treatment focuses on symptom relief, including low doses of some antidepressants that also can help improve sleep and relieve pain (2).

Gentle exercise is often recommended as well as creating ideal sleeping conditions, but that’s typically where the conversation stops.

What you’re eating is unlikely to be addressed, even though it could be the single root cause of developing the presentation of CFS, and fatigue in general, in the first place.

Subsisting on a Standard American Diet (SAD) that relies heavily on grains, dairy, simple carbohydrates, sugars, and unhealthy oils can contribute to gut dysbiosis or “leaky gut” which can lead to autoimmune disorders and other ailments such as chronic fatigue, inflammatory bowel disease, rashes, diabetes, mental disorders, and other health related problems.

To add insult to injury, the modernized human being has typically had their fair share of gut damaging antibiotics and prescription drugs which only serve to further throw off the intricate balance in one’s digestive tract (3).

The end result is a gut, where 80% of our immunity lies (4), which is inflamed and unable to ward off toxins in all forms, that continues to grow weaker with continued consumption of the foods that were causing damage in the first place, being further expedited through the addition of medications, furthering the downward spiral.

However, if we stop the process by shifting our focus proactively to removing inflammatory foods and replacing them with nutrient dense foods that nourish and heal the gut in its entirety, we can subsequently reduce and eventually resolve symptoms by creating optimal gut health through food.

Bone broth in particular makes the top five list of must-haves in healing a leaky gut and addressing both fatigue and overall lethargy as well as chronic fatigue (5):

The gelatin in bone broth protects and heals the mucosal lining of the digestive tract.
The amino acid l-glutamine in bone broth is the main amino acid the gut uses to repair the intestinal lining.
Broth contains chondroitin and glucosamine, which repair joints and reduce inflammation.
Fish bone broth also offers an extra boost in that it provides iodine and thyroid-strengthening substances; many who are suffering from CFS are also dealing with auto immune issues, making thyroid support even more important.

While other significant factors may well be contributing to CFS such as mold or chronic Lyme, not having a solid, real food foundation in place as part of your path to healing is an incomplete protocol at best.

Food truly can be medicine; we simply need to leave the idea of healing overnight through a pill without regard for consequence that often results from a quick-fix in the long term.

Even if you’re not experiencing what you suspect are symptoms of CFS and instead are simply feeling tired all the time, consider what you’re eating.

Too many carbs (even fruit), not enough fat, no properly sourced animal protein, not enough veg and just not enough attention to what’s being consumed overall can all create a frequent sense of fatigue and lethargy, but the good news is that we can take matters into our own hands and begin the healing process from the cellular level.

Yet one more reason to get your broth on!

1 https://www.healthline.com/health/chr...

2 https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-c...

3 https://thepaleodiet.com/paleo-foods-...

4 https://www.amymyersmd.com/2015/02/4-...

5 https://myersdetox.com/healing-power-...

ADDRESSING IBS NONSENSE

“I suffer from IBS”.

How many times have you heard this… or perhaps said it yourself?

IBS affects between 25 and 45 million people in the United States. About 2 in 3 IBS sufferers are female. About 1 in 3 IBS sufferers are male. IBS affects people of all ages, even children (1).

Years ago, I, too, was given this ‘diagnosis’ when I was in the midst of my own gut dysfunction.

The third or fourth gastroenterologist I saw, advised me that whatever I was eating was not likely playing too large a role in how I was feeling and that I should absolutely be taking a medication to control it.

And while there does not exist a test to definitively diagnose this condition, current treatments include medications with mild to serious side effects such as (2):

Alosetron, designed to relax the colon and slow the movement of waste through the lower bowel and has been linked to rare but important side effects, so it should only be considered when other treatments aren’t successful.

Eluxadoline (Viberzi), which can ease diarrhea by reducing muscle contractions and fluid secretion in the intestine, and increasing muscle tone in the rectum. Side effects can include nausea, abdominal pain and mild constipation…and pancreatitis

Rifaximin (Xifaxan), an antibiotic can decrease bacterial overgrowth and diarrhea.

Lubiprostone (Amitiza), which can increase fluid secretion in your small intestine to help with the passage of stool. It’s approved for women who have IBS with constipation, and is generally prescribed only for women with severe symptoms that haven’t responded to other treatments.

Linaclotide (Linzess), which also increase fluid secretion in your small intestine to help you pass stool… but it causes diarrhea.

Since symptoms of what is often categorized into IBS can also be symptoms of other gut or inflammatory related conditions, an approach to treating which solely focuses on medication alone (and can also recreate some of the very symptoms the patient is suffering from) seems incomplete, not to mention premature.

In other words, there is a time and place when a doctor prescribing and a patient subsequently taking a medication would make sense, but how can it be that this is what we see as the very first course of action?

For me, trying to get to the root cause made more sense and is what I opted to do.

And after 20 years have passed and I’ve had the opportunity to work with many clients, from many different background but all sharing the same presentation of symptoms, I believe IBS to be a catch all phrase.

Not quite sure exactly what this patient has going on, and we don’t actually have a test to determine this… but let’s just say it’s IBS.

Fortunately, as we learn more about the gut brain axis and the relationship between gut health and the overriding health of our entire bodies, we as patients are less likely to settle for diagnoses that leave us perhaps feeling worse, once the medications’ side effects are factored in, but certainly leave us more confused and what we can eat, and how much and when.

The good news is that we can begin our own self testing simply by implementing eating strategies that are far more likely to create a healthy gut and move away from inflammation that so many have system wide.

Broadly put, an approach which reduces or removes foods which are causing inflammation and adding foods that will promote restoration of the gut lining is crucial.

Below are the top five strategies I use with private clients as a foundation for creating the very first steps toward their path to healing their gut.

It’s certainly not a one size fits all approach, but most of us can benefit from cleaning things up in order to learn more about how what we are eating is determining how we feel.

NIX THE SUGAR + DECREASE CARBS, INCLUDING FRUIT

Quite possibly the most inflammatory substance in our bailiwick and certainly the one with zero health benefits, white sugar just needs to go. Don’t forget, however, that grains and beans can also lead to inflammation (3) as can a diet in which too many calories are coming from carbohydrate in general, including too much fruit.

DITCH THE MAN MADE FATS AND OILS / UP THE NATURAL FAT

Toss the toxic canola, the sunflower and the corn oils and bring in the grass fed tallow, the pasture raised lard and the duck fat. These ‘ancestral’ fats didn’t lead to health concerns when our great grandparents ate them and they won’t do so with us, four generations later, either.

SOURCE YOUR PROTEINS PROPERLY

If the beef on your plate contains traces of GMO grain, antibiotics and pesticides sprayed on the grains it ate… you’re eating it, too. Better off eating proteins that you can be sure came from reputable and humane providers in your community. Balking at the price? No need; only small portions are indicated for any of us. There’s simply no time when any of us needs to sit down to a 12 ounce steak multiple times per day… or week!

DRASTICALLY INCREASE LOCAL, IN SEASON, ORGANIC VEGGIES

Nutrient dense, high in fiber but low in net carbs and the richest source of a vast array of micronutrients, these are truly our food powerhouses

INCLUDE GUT HEALING FOODS

Fermented foods, foods rich in pro and prebiotics and bone broth are key in helping to rebuild a strong gut

Other life events can certainly contribute to gut dysfunction; stress and lack of sleep and relaxation are absolutely a part of this picture, so the road to health must include attention to these key contributors as well.

If you’re suffering, and coming from someone who lived this for decades, I know how awful it can be, why wouldn’t you start with the one risk-free thing you can have complete control of: your diet?

I believe it to be quite empowering; when a client definitely puts together the fact that when they eat a particular food, they react in a certain way and can therefore choose not to eat that food, it’s incredibly transformative for them to finally feel like they are beginning to see the light at the end of the murky tunnel of subclinical health, through food.

Food is Medicine for Everyone: Gut Health for Dogs

It’s not just those of us who walk around on two legs that benefit from eating real food in order to create optimal health.

Our entire growing family, which now consists of three humans and two dogs, eats more or less in the same manner, with the exception that the five of us have varying macronutrient ratios.

We all eat different portions and combinations of in-season, local, organic veggies, a bit of fruit, properly sourced protein in moderation and a wide variety of fat.

The taller humans also enjoy coffee as well as sometimes chocolate, wine and mezcal, while the shorter one is currently on 100% breastmilk.

The four-leggeds, with a different digestive tract, eat a different macronutrient balance compared to us, while even Chris and I don’t follow the same plan to the tee.

The one thing we all have in common, however, is that what we’re eating is food which helps to keep our gut biome flourishing and best able to prevent inflammation from occurring.

This preface is important to understand as I begin the story of a recent occurrence in out home: Preston had to be rushed to the hospital last weekend and although his diagnosis was in fact almost the worst we’d feared (bloat), two things kept us from being panic stricken.

One, we acted quickly. We are a Weim family through and through and Daisy, our Weim who passed away five years ago at the ripe old age at 15, also developed bloat when she was 9, and survived, so we knew what to look for.

Two, we are confident in the way our dogs exercise and eat, two things which, together, will create ideal healing for Preston.

What’s bloat?

It’s far more serious than a person feeling bloated.

Bloat happens when a dog’s stomach fills with gas, food, or fluid, making it expand. The stomach puts pressure on other organs. It can cause dangerous problems, including lack of blood flow to his heart and stomach lining, a tear in the wall of his stomach, a harder time and in some cases, the dog’s stomach will rotate or twist, a condition that vets call gastric dilatation volvulus. It traps blood in the stomach and blocks it from returning to the heart and other areas of the body. This can send your dog into shock (1).

In our experiences with both Daisy and Preston, they began to demonstrate the symptoms of pacing, inability to settle down and the telltale sign of a hard, distended abdomen.

In both cases, we wondered if we were overreacting, and in both cases, we weren’t. We observed both for two to three hours and then opted to take them in to emergency care and thank goodness we did.

Our options?

Emergency surgery… or euthanasia.

The latter wasn’t even an option for us.

So both dogs, nearly 10 years apart, had the major surgery to open the abdomen, untwist the stomach and staple the stomach to the wall of the abdomen in order to prevent it from occurring again.

Preston came home a couple of days later and is back to his regular routine of eating his raw food based diet, along with even more of the one thing we’ve all become much more focused on of late: bone broth.

It’s not just we humans who benefit from it and it’s certainly not only for dogs when they’re recovering from surgery, and more than it is only for humans when we have a cold.

Bone broth consumption for dogs includes many benefits such as (2):

Joint Health

Bone broth is loaded with amazing compounds such as hyaluronic acid, chondroitin, and glucosamine which allow for protection of joints. Their joint healing power can be used in treating osteoarthritis.

Digestion

Toxic parasite treatment, over vaccination and inappropriate diet could cause a leaky gut in your dog. This is a condition in which the tiny holes found in the lining of the intestines to allow digested nutrients enter the body cause an enlarged and increase in a number of the holes. Bone broth can be used in treating this condition.

Immunity

Bone broth is rich in many nutrients including gelatin, vitamins C, D and K, potassium, calcium, magnesium, silicon among other minerals.

Skin and Hair

Bone broth helps in maintaining a healthy coat and hair and help keep the dog well hydrated. All these contribute a great deal to the overall health of the skin and dog coat.

Detoxing

Bone broth contains amino acids that can help in cleaning up the kidneys and liver. By getting out toxins lodged within the body, these organs are protected and can carry out their functions.

Here’s a tip: it’s no extra work to make bone broth for your pets.

Save the bones from all the meals you prepare for your family in the freezer until you have enough to fill your Dutch Oven or slow cooker. Then, cover it almost to the top with water, a splash of organic, cider vinegar, place it in the oven and hit go for 24 hours.

This is exactly what I do in my home.

The broths I sell at market, of course, are a different story and made starting with raw bones in a commercial kitchen.

If you’re not keeping up with bone need in order to produce enough on a regular basis for the whole family, check in with the vendors at your local farmer’s markets to inquire about if they’re 100% organic, grass fed and finished and raised on pasture.

No farmer’s markets nearby? Not to worry as we can also refer to great online sources such as US Wellness Meats in order to buy mindfully raised bones.

Of course, if you’re in the LA Area, you can also come by the farmer’s markets and check out my broths. I also sell a dog food supplement which I make from all the bits that fall off the bones in the cooking process.

We are happy to report that Preston is at home, eating well and resting, the latter of which is likely the trickiest part of all of it: all of us on Team Stephenson like to move… and move a lot!

Gut heath for all of us!

https://pets.webmd.com/dogs/gastric-v...

Bone Broth for Dogs Benefits, Recipes and Serving Portions

Menopause, Inflammation and Food

Irregular menstrual cycles, heavy bleeding, excessive sweating and hot flashes, mood swings, fatigue and weight gain (1).

Is it really a given that all women have this to look forward to when we reach menopause?

Menopause typically begins in our 40s or 50s, but the average age is 51 in the United States and an estimated 61% are experiencing some of the symptoms above.

Typical treatments offered by many doctors include low-dose antidepressants, prescribed to control mood swings and hot flashes and anticonvulsants, given to helps to reduce extreme hot flashes (2).

While these medications may help with some symptoms, they can also elicit commonly experienced side effects including hives, itching, skin rash, inability to sit still, restlessness, chills or fever and joint or muscle pain (3).

Is there anything else we can do to offset symptoms without signing up for these other uncomfortable reactions?

Enter food as medicine.

Did you know that many of the foods we are told are healthy options are actually quite inflammatory and can worsen menopausal symptoms?

And that on the flip side, there are some easy to source and cook things we can add to our repertoire that will reduce said inflammation?

And why is inflammation even relevant in the topic of menopause anyway?

Because of declining estrogen levels.

Estrogens have anti-inflammatory properties, so the loss of these hormones can also lead to increased inflammation, which can exacerbate autoimmune conditions.

In addition, estrogens play a major role in the collagen and elastin network of the skin. Losing estrogens means losing dermal collagen production (4).

And on a deeper level, losing estrogen directly affects our gut microbiome, which, not surprisingly affects sex hormone production and vice versa , that in turn affects systemic immune responses (5).

Everything truly does go back to the gut; an optimal gut biome supersedes ones age or gender.

There’s zero we can do about our genetics or our age, but 100% we can do with our epigenetic!

This is not only exciting, it’s empowering, and not particular to addressing menopause.

Add to that the fact that the very same anti-inflammatory way of eating to create a healthy journey through all phases of menopause is the same foundation for navigating through auto immune dis ease, addressing permanent weight loss, improving mental focus and many, many more benefits.

What to do?

Nix processed carbohydrates.

We’re not talking about only the obvious highly refined, packaged items. Don’t assume grains and beans get a hall pass in terms of being ‘healthy’ options. Not only are they shown in studies to be inflammatory (5), they can contribute to an unfavorable shift in micronutrient balance, potentially contributing to too many calories coming, in effect, from sugar.

Reduce sugar. In a big way.

Yes, of course sugar is a carbohydrate, but in this case, it needs its own heading to be clear. Avoiding sodas and candy is a no brainer, but the lines get blurred when it comes to the messaging around fruit. Fruit is natural, yes, but too much fruit is too much sugar. Period. One way to approach fruit intake is to do so strategically, matching the amount of fruit you have with the physical activity you engage in. And over time, make it a goal to shift away from even needing that in order to support your athletic or fitness endeavors; becoming a more efficient fat burner is something that most can benefit from and is tied to many health benefits.

Eat enough (but not too much) protein and source it properly.

Meat, poultry, game and dairy that aren’t organic and mindfully raised on pastured are also sources of estrogen as animals consume GMO grains. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that plant-based must mean vegan and go heavy (or at all) down the soy path. Soy (almost all of which, in the US, is GMO), is estrogenic in nature, further disrupting what’s already at issue.

Get enough collagen… in your food

Loss of collagen is directly tied to low estrogen levels, and is one of the first visual signs of menopause. Estrogen keeps the skin thick hydrated and when estrogen is low, hyaluronic acid, our natural moisturizer, declines. Powdered supplements are now readily available, but there’s no replacing the real deal: properly sourced and curated bone broth

Eat copious amounts of organic, in season, leafy greens

Nutrient dense, loaded with minerals, vitamins and micronutrients, crucifers are a natural source of DIM that helps to balance the ratio of protective and dangerous estrogen metabolites

Eat more fat, and keep it varied

Since sex hormones are made from fat, high-fat diet can help improve both estrogen and testosterone levels, helping increase libido. Don’t stick to the basics of olive oil and avocado alone; be sure to incorporate saturated fat as well, including coconut oil and mindfully sourced animal fats such as butter, grass fed tallow, pasture raised lard and duck fat. Delicious, satiated and great for boosting gut (and brain) health, helping balance blood sugar to boot!

Of course, getting proper rest and moving your body every day are also key parts of the equation to sail through menopause (or at least not suffer as much) but without food as the foundation in place, results achieved won’t be nearly as optimal.

Take this bull by the horns and show menopause who’s boss, ladies!

Just as we needn’t heed all the messaging we are given about ‘what to expect when we’re expecting’ or any of the silly, negative potential things we ‘might’ experience when running our first marathon (etc.. etc…) , we can decide early on that we’re going to research and then proactively approach whatever life event we’re about to embark upon and have the exact outcome we plan to.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-c...

http://mayoclinic.org/diseases-condit...

https://www.drugs.com/sfx/fluoxetine-...

http://www.dermalinstitute.com/us/lib...

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...

Feeding Our Babes Real Food

When I was pregnant, I became well aware of the advice given to my new, albeit temporary demographic in terms of what we should be eating to support our baby’s development.

Directives ranging from ‘just get in 500 more calories per day’ to ‘be sure to consume three low-fat servings of milk per day for calcium’ to ‘always have Saltines on hand to combat nausea’ were amongst my favorites.

And while I disagreed with much of what was suggested to me by the OB I was visiting prior to finding our midwife, I hadn’t even begun to see the tip of the iceberg I’d come across once my baby was born and the breastfeeding conversation began.

Fortunately, I am able to nurse my son without issue, but I’m well aware that there are many mamas who cannot, for one reason or another.

What the mom’s diet looks like, proper positioning of the baby’s latch and overall health of both people play a role in whether or not the breastfeeding happens immediately… or if at all and sadly, many woman are not provided the basic information and education they need to get off to their best potential start from day one.

I feel very fortunate that I was able to learn about latching on in particular; being in completely new territory, I could see how easy it would be to decide too soon that it just wasn’t going to work.

Sadly, not only do many women find breastfeeding problematic in the very early days, starting with the time right after birth in the hospital; often, it’s made to look as though giving an all formula diet to their babies can be just as health boosting for both mom and baby alike.

Benefits of breastfeeding are many, some of which include (1):

Cells, hormones, and antibodies in breastmilk help protect babies from illness. This protection is unique and changes every day to meet your baby’s growing needs and serves to help create the healthiest of baby gut biomes.

Research shows that breastfed babies have lower risks of many illnesses

Breastfeeding leads to a lower risk Type 2 diabetes, breast cancer and Ovarian cancer in moms
Breastfeeding keeps mother and baby close. Physical contact is important to newborns. It helps them feel more secure, warm, and comforted. Mothers also benefit from this closeness. The skin-to-skin contact boosts your oxytocin (a hormone that helps breastmilk flow and can calm the mother)
Your breastmilk changes to meet your baby’s needs. As your baby gets older, your breastmilk adjusts to meet your baby’s changing needs. Researchers think that a baby’s saliva transfers chemicals to a mother’s body through breastfeeding. These chemicals help a mother’s body create breastmilk that meets the baby’s changing needs.
Women who breastfed their babies said it helped them get back to their pre-pregnancy weight more quickly

The reality is that trying for only a very short period of time, or not even trying at all, isn’t without consequence, if putting our little humans on a course of formula is presented as the only other viable option.

So what’s going on? Why aren’t women given the support and education they need from the very beginning to try to support their efforts in these crucial, early stages of their baby’s lives? Less than half of mothers are breastfeeding for the first six months (2) !

Given the state of our ‘health care’ model, a hugely lucrative business model, it’s not too difficult to make assumptions: not breastfeeding costs money.

Formula and feeding supplies can cost well over $1,500 each year. As your baby gets older he or she will eat more formula, so costs increase.

Compare that to a prescription drug that one might not actually need to be taking.

A typical doctor’s visit for someone with knee pain might consists of a quick 10 – 15 minute chat, a pain medication being suggested and the patient being sent on her way to the pharmacy to pick up the pills.

The pain is decreased short term, but the patient never found out why her knee hurt in the first place, so she needs more pills.

Which cost money.

And while breastfeeding can hardly be compared to an injury, the parallel is that in an ideal world, it simply should not be the case that our doctors are not giving us all the information, not looking at us holistic beings with a holistic approach and giving us bandaids without ever addressing a gaping wound.

But in many cases, this is reality.

And to add insult to injury, sourcing a nutrient dense formula in the US is far from being as easy as just stopping by the local grocery shop to pick some up.

The most widely sold baby formula in the US, Enfamil, whose tag line is to ‘nourish the brain first’ boasts the following ingredient panel for their Enfamil A.R. (2)

Nonfat milk, vegetable oil (palm olein, soy, coconut, and high oleic sunflower oils), rice starch, lactose, maltodextrin, and less than 2%: Mortierella alpina oil,# Crypthecodinium cohnii oil,** vitamin A palmitate, vitamin D3, vitamin E acetate, vitamin K1, thiamin hydrochloride, riboflavin, vitamin B6 hydrochloride, vitamin B12, niacinamide, folic acid, calcium pantothenate, biotin, ascorbic acid, choline chloride, inositol, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, manganese sulfate, cupric sulfate, sodium selenite, sodium citrate, potassium hydroxide, taurine, L–carnitine.

Despite all the research claims and studies listed on the company’s site, how can this particular formula compare to breastmilk from a mom who’s been eating real, whole food?

It can’t.

There are absolutely healthier, cleaner and more pure versions of formula, but how many women on a tight budget can consider these an option?

And why is it that in our country, where less than half of moms are breastfeeding, 100% of moms in other societies breastfeed 100% of the time?

In the desert of northern Namibia, there’s an ethnic group that lives largely isolated from modern cities. They’re called Himba, and they live in mud huts and survive off the land.

Moms still give birth in the home. And all moms breast-feed (4).

How do we find a happy medium between the fast paced life of living in the US, with all its associated stressors of ‘modern’ living and a tribal societal model?

Through education.

We don’t see the same thread in family lineages that is evident in tribal societies, where we naturally turn toward our moms or grandmothers for help, guidance and support.

But just as with nearly every other expectations that we are told about, as though it were fact, when it comes to what we as pregnant women are going to experience, we can change our course of action.

A little bit of self teaching and reaching out to experts in our communities, mixed with a little bit of faith and remembering that our bodies really do know what to do, we can preempt what might otherwise have been a disaster and create an optimal breastfeeding scenario.

I’m writing this from a place of compassion for other moms out there who might not have had as easy a time with breastfeeding to encourage them to learn, like I did, and possibly even to try again.

Not to judge anyone who chose formula after not being given some necessary information prior to making this decision.

As moms, we simply have to support each other and those around us who are moms to be in order to get these important messages out.

If we stand behind the ideas that food is medicine and that health (as well as dis ease) starts in the gut, we can’t rationalize that giving our babies a formula of powdered soy and hydrogenated oil is even a conversation.

The answer isn’t about making better formula; it’s about teaching our moms and learning from one another how best to eat to support our own health, significantly improving our chances of being able to nourish our young ones in the most natural, intrinsic way.

Real food for us, real food for our babies.

https://www.womenshealth.gov/breastfe...

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cdc-more...

https://www.enfamil.com

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsand...

RESPECT THE PLANET: DRINK BONE BROTH

How many times have you heard it: “meat is bad for the planet”?

On PETA’s (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) website (1) is the following statement:

“When land is used to raise animals instead of crops, precious water and soil are lost, trees are cut down to make land for grazing or factory-farm sheds, and untreated animal waste pollutes rivers and streams. In fact, it has such a devastating effect on all aspects of our environment that the Union of Concerned Scientists lists meat-eating as the second-biggest environmental hazard facing the Earth.”

Understandably, if those are the only two sentences one ever read, it would be easy to see why converting to a vegan lifestyle might make sense.

Except for two things:

The statement groups all animals and methods of raising them into one category and does not differentiate between mindful, humane approaches of raising animals, which truly have the best interest of animals, humans and the planet at the top of their priority list, and those which gauge profit as the single most important thing.

A vegan diet does not automatically translate to a healthy one, not for the person or for the planet. If one makes the switch, how often are they looking not just at whether or not any particular food items consumed have animal products but what the item is packaged in, where it was produced and how far it traveled, and how inflammatory the ingredients might be?

As someone who was a hardcore vegan myself for two full years (including all clothing, personal care products, honey… even almost to the point of considering making the dogs I was fostering at the time vegan, much to my own embarrassment), I can speak to the cause from the standpoint I had then just as much as the position I have now.

I am plant-based now.

And I eat meat, fish, game and poultry. All of them. Not just boneless skinless chicken breast, but dark meat, fatty cuts, skin, guts and of course, bone broth.

So how is this plant-based?

Because upwards of 80% of my diet is still coming from local, organic, in season produce (nearly all veggies).

I choose to consume my calories in a macronutrient format which is high fat (80%, and again, many of which come from plants) for a few days per week, then moderate fat (50%) the other days of the week.

Carbohydrates shift ever so slightly, based on activity level and incorporating strategic carbs, but protein stays moderate – only 10-15% of my diet and always, always only from the most sustainable, earth-friendly sources.

And while it’s a fact that factory farming is “an atrocity to the planet. 2% of U.S. livestock facilities produce 40 percent of farm animals, and when you raise thousands of animals in one small space, you’re left with a lot of waste. This is a form of animal rearing that is very unnatural, and as such leaves a devastating environmental footprint.” (2)

However, when we consider natural farming, it’s a completely different conversation.

There are benefits to the planet, aside from allowing us humans to continue to consume the small amounts of protein which are the very reason our brains developed as they did(3).

These include but are not limited to fertilizing soil, eliminating pests and predators. Animals that can be fed off of food waste and whey, such as pigs, are incredibly easy on the environment. Likewise for cows that are fed grass, which are on balance and benign from an environmental perspective (4).

Which leaves only one fair comment about the ethics of mindfully sourced animals for human consumption: an animal still dies.

No two ways around it, this is a fact.

But even if individuals do not personally don’t resonate with eating (mindfully produced or sourced) meat, fish or wild game, a concise understanding of the impact of a gross shift to ‘anything labeled vegan’ is not necessarily the best move.

I have found in my nutrition practice that many clients who are in different stages of the very complex path of healing a leaky gut often experience a stop along the way in which they, like I did, implement a vegan diet and often, only to their own detriment.

Unless one is particularly savvy on the potential for inflammation caused by a diet not just high in grains, including those that are gluten-free, and beans, both of which contain anti nutrients, but in which highly processed foods also abound, it can be the case that GI symptoms go from bad to worse once this methodology is followed.

One way we might choose to address this issue is to simply look back at what our ancestors ate. We needn’t even attempt to go that far back; just by thinking about what our grandparents ate is a huge step in the right direction.

Of course, there would be variability based on what part of the world one lives in, but suffice it to say that 100 years ago, most people were not eating inhumanely sourced burgers anymore than they were consuming vegan nacho cheez popcorn.

Neither are healthy for anyone involved or the planet, neither are going to contribute any degree of nutrient density and both lead in the wrong direction of where we want to go with moving away from dis ease and toward health.

But looking at what our family, going back just a few generations, ate, can be the perfect template.

In some way, shape or form, they likely would have been eating veggies (and fruit ) that grew where they lived and seasonally, along with meat or fish they would have procured naturally.. and that’s it. Perhaps an occasional something special here or there on the rare occasion they’d have the chance for something unusual.

That’s it.

Much simpler once we spell it out that way!

Along with that, of course, comes bone broth.

And why, specifically is that also very good for the planet?

Because its an important component of the nose to tail approach to eating in which nothing is wasted… even down to the bones.

So, assuming your bone broth is made from properly sourced bones, drinking it regularly is going to help not only with your gut health with all the goodness of keratin, collagen and all the amino acids, but help with the health of the planet, thanks to throwing one less thing away.

(1) https://www.peta.org/about-peta/faq/h...

(2) https://articles.mercola.com/sites/ar...

(3) https://www.livescience.com/23671-eat...

(4) Fairlie, Simon. Meat: a Benign Extravagance. Permanent Publications, 2011

Running Postnatal: How Soon is Too Soon?

99% of American women who deliver babies in the US are doing so in a hospital setting (1), typically under the care of an OB/GYN; as such, after baby is born, assuming you haven’t had any major complications, once you leave the hospital, the next time your own health will be assessed will be at your 6 week follow up.

Six weeks?

After ten months of carrying and growing a human inside?

And while books, websites, blogs and podcast on the topic of pregnancy expectations, concerns and questions abound, information on what happens after the magical moment when you welcome your baby into the world is mysteriously absent for the most part.

I’ve written before about my own learning on the importance of understanding the postpartum period (and I don’t mean postpartum depression; there are many other facets in this period to familiarize ourselves with) and one additional focal point I feel must be addressed is the healing of our bodies.

In detail.

Do a quick google search for postpartum and chances are high that most of the top results are to do with postpartum depression.

As a whole, we’re uncomfortable talking about this important topic, often so much so to the point of women feeling ashamed to mention that they’re having incontinence, painful sex or simply just not feeling right when they return to exercise after their OB gave them the ok to do so.

And we assume all we need to do are kegels, without even knowing if we’re doing them properly!

Subsequently, we settle for what the current health care model offers us, many times not asking questions and certainly not even talking about our concerns with friends or family.

One way in which this came to light for me personally was learning about, then experiencing working with a physical therapist who not only specializes in women’s health, but pre and post natal women’s health.

Heather Jeffcoat was referred to me by both my midwife and doula; fortunately I learned about her prior to my son being born so I was able to get a head start on learning about my own pelvic floor health, strength and stability.

Not only did seeing her prenatal afford me the ability to get a base line for which she could compare my recovery to postnatal, I was also able to get an assessment for how my labor might go, what exercises and stretches I might do in order to prepare for the big day.

An internal exam was performed and not only did I learn that I was not performing my kegel exercises properly, I learned about the anatomy of my own body.

How funny that I’d never even blinked an eye that female (or male) internal anatomy was not covered in any course I took at university – including anatomy, general physiology, exercise physiology or kinesiology!

As if muscles and ligaments such as the levator ani muscles, and the transcervical, pubocervical, and sacrocervical ligaments were somehow less important than Vastus lateralis, Vastus medialis and Vastus intermedius!

A thorough understanding of our own bodies and how each muscle and ligament works, particularly for the purposes of this post in pregnancy, is crucial to understanding how we can heal.

6 weeks post birth, I saw my midwife for my follow up exam and she agreed it was then time for me to return to PT for an internal assessment.

In my case, since my baby was low in my abdomen and pressure was concentrated primarily on the bladder, the corresponding ligaments became stretched and consequently, they need a bit more time to heal and return to normal length and elasticity.

Which, thanks to a healthy diet and proper exercise routine, they will and without the need for surgery or intervention.

So running can wait a bit longer – it’s simply not worth it. Long walks, hiking, yoga and swim ( as well as upright cycling to achieve a preferable pelvic angle for now) provide plenty of variety and time with my son to get my workout fix in each and every day.

While I’d planned on the NYC Marathon being my return to racing, if I need to defer to 2020, so be it.

But what about all the women who are unaware of all of this?

Other than a brief check of any incisions, in terms of organs and or connective tissue, other than the ovaries, uterus and cervix, chances are slim that anything else will be evaluated… unless the patient actually already has the information about what to ask and is also comfortable broaching the topic (2).

This poses a high risk, not just for you other mamas out there who are athletes, who build up running far too soon, ignoring that strange sensations you’re having that somethings not quite right ‘because your doctor said you were fine’, but for women who are simply trying to go about day to day life and feeling unsure if they’re properly healing ‘down there’ as too many of us refer to our own bodies.

There is not even any real research that shows exactly how long women should wait to exercise after giving birth. According to guidelines from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, physical activity can be “resumed as soon as physically and medically safe.” (3).

And this is being determined in the brief, 10-15 minute exam by a doctor who may or may not have any pelvic floor specialization.

In researching for this article, I came across one story for reference in which a woman who had started to experience debilitating, painful constipation and occasional incontinence that grew worse with time, which took five years from the birth of her second child before she was finally diagnosed with a rectocele (an injury in which the rectum bulges into the vagina, creating a pocket where stool can get trapped) (4).

Another woman spoke about having to rush to the hospital after feeling something was ‘falling out of her’ after hiking to discover she had a grade III prolapse of the bladder.

We owe it to ourselves to take the lead on learning about our bodies so that we can best prepare for being the best moms we can be (in this instance) ; no different from digging deep through all the nonsense that exists in terms of what we should be eating to support not only a healthy pregnancy but a healthy, optimal lifestyle from a health perspective.

No matter what stage you are in pregnancy, or if you’re not pregnant at all, don’t be shy about seeking out a practitioner near you who specializes in this field and can help you get all the information you need to have a complication free birth and recovery.

And don’t forget to tell the other women in your life about it, too!

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-s...

https://www.parents.com/pregnancy/my-...

https://www.outsideonline.com/1962241...

https://www.romper.com/p/the-6-week-p...

Walk It Off, Mama: The Best PostNatal Exercise

The journey I embarked upon nearly one year ago when becoming pregnant still continues. Not just for my own research and learning, but from an observational standpoint of what’s normal, expected and acceptable.

Now well into my fourth trimester, I’m discovering anecdotally just how unusual it is to be nearing the shape of my pre-pregnancy body.

To clarify, I am not at my pre-pregnancy weight, but as a result of staying active during the whole ten months as well as continuing to eat in a nutrient dense, anti inflammatory manner, much of the weight I gained was concentrated in the abdomen.

With the exception of a few pairs of skinny jeans and, towards the ninth and tenth month, jackets, I wore my normal clothing throughout.

And how much weight I actually gained, I do not know.

At the get go, I searched and searched for a definitive answer for this specific data point.

After all, as a woman, and an athlete, what I weigh far from trivial. It’s not the most important thing in the world, but for me, a weekly weigh in with corresponding body fat measurement has been one of several gauges I have used for years to keep on track.

So naturally, as I entered a new realm, I wanted to know roughy what to expect and what would be a healthy weight gain to ensure my baby was growing properly.

Like with many of the other information I searched for, I came up empty with not much useful information than that according to my BMI, I should expect to put on somewhere between 28-40 pounds (1).

For a period of time, I continued my weekly weigh in but once I saw the general trend was right on track, I opted to stop.

Around the same time I made the shift from working with my OB to our midwife, who felt that asking a pregnant woman to step on the scale with each visit was unnecessary, I realized I agreed with her and chose to stop weighing in at home as well.

After our son was born, the last thing I thought about was how much I weighed.

In fact, for the very first time in my life, I wasn’t even concerned with being about to exercise; losing half my blood volume after the birth and being rushed to the hospital made it quite easy to focus on one thing, and one thing only: recovering and healing completely so that I could be home with Yves and learn to be the best mom possible.

First and foremost, the goal was rest… and lots of it.

I couldn’t even walk up the stairs without being extremely short of breath and feeling a sudden, pounding headache (both symptoms of anemia due to blood loss (2).

The silver lining of all of this was that all I wanted to do, and could do, was stay close to Yves 24/7 before even thinking about getting out and about.

Around the middle of the second week, I began feeling like I really wanted to start getting out. Nothing major, just something to move a little; as someone who’d never spent a day in bed in her life, I found I was beginning to get stiff with all the lying down.

Step 1: a gentle, short walk around the block with Chris and Yves. We’re talking 15 minutes at a snail’s pace. I was surprised at how weak I felt and how relieved I was to sit down once we got home.

Not surprisingly, though, the next day I felt just a little better.

I went out that day with the new ‘toy’ – our stroller; this time for half an hour.

I wasn’t yet back to work, coupled with the fact that the new schedule I have isn’t my own, I found the simple act of getting out to walk each day with Yves most rewarding.

I felt better and better and with continued blood building nutrition (and a Moxa treatment from my acupuncturist), I began increasing the distance I’d do each day.

Heart rate remained low and it was 100% walking… not even so much as a thought of running as I’d not yet had my post natal visit with the physical therapist specializing in women’s health / pelvic flood to give me the ok to get more ballistic with activity,

The me of even three years ago would’ve abhorred the idea of ‘just walking’ but much to my pleasant surprise, I found myself loving it.

It is with my son (albeit he sleeps for most of the time), it’s outside, it’s right out the doorstep and it’s any time, given the eating / feeding / sleeping needs of our baby.

In other words, it’s the most natural thing one can do, an in particular, a new mom who’s in the beautiful phase of learning her baby and learning her new, empowered self.

I’ve written and spoken a lot in the past about how walking is highly underrated. I’ve lost count of clients over the years who’ve commented that they don’t have time or interest in doing anything but walking.

As if to say it doesn’t count!

Walking is user friendly, it’s free, it can be done any where, any place and at any time and no equipment is needed (shoes are nice, but not mandatory).

Being a new mom myself now, I get the lack of time, the strange feeling of not owning your own schedule and needing to manage a different sleep schedule.

But here’s the great thing: so many of the issues that are commonly reported to be typical in postpartum are addressed, at least in part, by moving… and eating properly.

Postpartum Depression?

Moms who stay physically active after birth experience fewer depressive symptoms (3).

Difficulty regulating sleep?

Walking every day brings many health benefits. A brisk walk in the afternoon will help you get a better night’s sleep (4). And a little goes a long way; even a collective 30 minutes per day will help. You don’t have to be a marathon runner in order to see weight loss results.

Postpartum weight loss?

Depending on body size, baby size, stroller size and terrain, you will burn roughly 65-100 calories per mile that you walk. It’s also light on the joints so you won’t get as many aches and pains, which you really could do without after having a baby (5).

Overall body healing?

T-cells, B-cells, and natural killer cells are all important parts of your immune system, and walking regularly can increase the numbers and health of these cells. It can also help your body heal quicker due to the fact that it hastens the release of WBCs. Walking can strengthen your defensive capabilities against pathogenic invaders, speed up the healing of wounds, and prevent potentially life-ending diseases. It’s the perfect match to magnify the effects of all that bone broth you’re drinking (6)!

Wanting to do all you can to optimize opportunities for your baby to learn?

What’s better than one:one time with mom, breathing in fresh air and learning from the excellent example she’s setting for making moving a top priority!

If you’ve got health concerns, certainly check with your healthcare provider but now’s the time. Even if you’re regretting not being more fit during pregnancy or how much you’ve put on or how you’ve eaten, it’s never too late to auto correct and make now the time that you get fit, safely and permanently.

Make it fun! For me, being an endurance athlete, I’ve been finding that setting weekly mileage goals and varying the walks feels like a good fit as I’ve so used to training… but I’m doing it with a vastly different desired outcome in mind compared to getting ready for a race!

We’ve built up to 50 miles per week in what we’re (ok, what I!) am calling championship stroller walking.

And the weight?

I got on the scale when Yves was about one month old.

While I didn’t really know what to expect, I was relieved to observe my reaction not at what the value was, but that I didn’t feel alarmed.

Nearly 20 pounds higher than my normal weight, I took it at face value and simply marked it down in my mind as starting point “A” and knew exactly what I needed to do: just what I’d been doing all along – eat well and move and trust that my body and mind will lead one another to the weight I’ve been at for years.

No idea how much weight was lost since the final days of pregnancy since I never got that value… and also not bothered by it either.

I’m enjoying every moment of this phase and happy to share as I go along.

How’s your fourth trimester weight loss journey going?

Feeling stuck?

Lace up those shoes and get walking!

https://www.livescience.com/36321-wei...

https://www.merckmanuals.com/home/blo...

How Exercise Can Help Reduce Postpartum Depression

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/diet.f...

20 Shocking Benefits of Walking Regularly

Another Reason to Drink Bone Broth: It’s a Key Part of Healing from SIBO

When I meet a new client and the first words out of their mouth is, “I have SIBO”, I know immediately that they’ve likely struggled with what they may classify as mysterious gut issues for a long while.

Why?

Because to this day, some physicians still do not recognize it as a legitimate health concern, which proves incredibly alarming not only to those who are suffering from it as well as practitioners whose goal is to help their clients find the root cause of their health concerns, in order to address it and heal properly.

The acronym, which stands for Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth, is defined as excessive bacteria in the small intestine and still remains a poorly understood disease. Initially thought to occur in only a small number of patients, it is now apparent that this disorder is more prevalent than previously thought (1).

SIBO symptoms can vary greatly from mild to terrible suffering including chronic diarrhea, weight loss, and malabsorption.

Not only is it difficult to get a diagnosis for SIBO, treating it can be equally as problematic and confusing, as protocol can range even within a certain school of thinking.

One naturopath’s methodology may include oregano oil, berberine extract, wormwood oil, lemon balm oil and Indian barberry root (2) while another might focus solely on pro and prebiotics (3).

A Western training doctor might head straight for the Rifaximin (Xifaxan) on its own, which reduces the problem bacteria, but also kills off the healthy bacteria necessary for proper digestive functioning, yet her colleague in the very same practice might opt to add on Metronidazole and / or Neomycin.

In any case, regardless of whichever medicinal protocol a practitioner is recommending, there is typically a recommended eating regime to go along with it.

Some are positioned as a universal protocol which everyone with SIBO should follow which unfortunately, does not always prove to suit each and every person.

Just as with strict adherence to an authentic Paleo approach to eating, for some, the balance between eating a small portion of foods which might not be textbook Paleo creating a more sustainable manner of eating, some who are working on healing from SIBO find that some recommendations feel too generic and even feel as though they trigger symptoms to reoccur.

The good news, however, is that at the very least, there are some things which are indicated as key parts of the healing regime regardless of which foods one is opting to focus on and eliminate.

One in particular is bone broth.

Why?

Because populations at risk for SIBO have one thing in common: increased gut permeability (leaky gut) as a root cause for health challenges such as IBS, Celiac, Diabetes amongst others, addressing gut health first and foremost is key.

Not only would one benefit from taking measures to restore an ideal gut biome through pre and pro biotcs as well as removing inflammatory foods, adding healing foods that serve to repair the gut lining is the other half of the equation.

The gelatin in bone broth protects and heals the mucosal lining of the digestive tract; amino acid l-glutamine in bone broth is the main amino acid the gut uses to repair the intestinal lining, while the glucosamine in bone broth stimulates the growth of new collagen, repairs damaged tissue and reduces pain and inflammation (5).

Looking for yet one more reason to enjoy the panacea that bone broth truly is?

One more side effect is that it will help your weight loss efforts.

Rich in collagen protein which promotes fullness and keeps when we drink bone broth, our body feels satisfied after a meal. If we feel more full for a longer time after eating, we are less likely to overeat at the next meal. This goes hand in hand with fighting off pesky cravings. We know how difficult it can be to fight cravings for sugary foods, which our brain can actually get addicted to. Including collagen into your daily diet can help in the battle against cravings and weight loss by keeping you full and satisfied (6).

Last step?

Source your broth wisely, going for quality and mindful sourcing and production.

Where did the bones come from? Were the animals raised on pasture and fed and finished with grass? How was the broth made and what is it packaged in? Is what you’re drinking so thick + gelatinous you’ve got to scoop it out of the jar with a spoon or is it as runny as Campbell’s Chicken Soup? Is it rich in excellent natural fats or has it been skimmed to be fat-free?

And also important: how does it taste?

Bone broth is something we want to be drinking a cup of, each day so unlike a supplement which we don’t exactly enjoy the taste of, like fish oil, there’s no reason why it shouldn’t be delish!

Not just for healing SIBO or gut dysfunction but as an important part of achieving and then maintaining optimal health… for all of us!

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
Herbal therapy is equivalent to rifaximin for the treatment of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24...
Comparative clinical efficacy of a probiotic vs. an antibiotic in the treatment of patients with intestinal bacterial overgrowth and chronic abdominal functional distension: a pilot study https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2...
Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...
Taking Stock: Soup for Healing Body, Mind, Mood, and Soul https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/bl...
Can Collagen Really Help You Lose Weight? https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/bl...