Nutrients for Thought - Part 2 of 2

From a neuropsychology perspective, thought is intellectual activity involving the subjective consciousness and imagination, which underlies all human actions and interactions.  Thoughts are derived in the brain and can be seen as energy transmission between neurons and synapses.  It’s no wonder that the brain uses such a large percentage of the body’s total energy – estimated at 20% – while it is only a very small percentage of the body’s weight – a mere 2%.

So here’s a crucial question:
If consciousness and imagination underlie everything we are – memory, reason, emotion – and it all occurs in the brain and nervous system, would you not say that feeding your brain and nervous system is of primary importance?

Let me ask you in another way…

Do you want to have good focus, brain energy, and physical drive for the entire day?

Right… then how about we make sure your brain is sufficiently provided for!

How, you ask?  Recall what I wrote in Part 1 of this blog about eating the right fats to fight inflammation, support your brain and nervous system – I suggest you get on it right away if have not already.  What we've known a long time from research is that the brain requires glucose, electrolytes, and water to function.  However, in the absence of glucose the brain is still able to function off of ketone bodies, water-soluble byproducts from the breakdown of fatty acids in the liver… so relax, do not fear death by cutting out carbs, or by the same token eating a lot more carbs by thinking it's better!  Even if you eat something which you think would have no carbs, e.g., a piece of meat, your body will still produce glucose from it.

Brainy Tip
Here’s the final tip to get the right energy levels where you would want them and to make them last…

START YOUR DAY OFF WITH A BREAKFAST FULL OF SMART FATS, PROTEIN, ELECTROLYTES AND WATER!  Breakfast is the meal which determines your brain chemistry for the entire day.  THINK about it: you just slept for hours without food or water so you need to kick-start your melon the right way.

Here are the fats to focus on – saturated and polyunsaturated.  Go moderate with saturated, and be very liberal with polyunsaturated omega 3.  Chances are you have not been focusing on your polyunsaturated fats and that would mean you have an inflammatory imbalance such that omega 6 (pro-inflammatory) is high and omega 3 (anti-inflammatory) is low.  Taking omega 3 much higher is a good thing for cutting inflammation right down because it’s all about the ratio of the two.

Here are sample breakfasts that include everything you should need for your brain and body.

Omnivore Option

Organic grass-fed red meat (beef, lamb, or game meat), with a shot of heavy cream (or 1 Tbsp coconut oil), and eat a handful of nuts (walnut, pecan, or cashews) or a small bowl of berries or fibrous fruit.  Take 3 to 5 g of Omega 3 oil and 1 multivitamin with a couple glasses of water containing natural sea salt, lemon or lime.  Oh yeah, baby!  You’re getting it all here – good fats, proteins, electrolytes, water and a small amount of carbs/sugars for glucose.
I recommended red meat because it is an excellent source of natural, complete protein, which the body is wanting for detoxification purposes first and foremost.  Secondly, these complete proteins contain some key amino acids like tyrosine which trigger dopamine production for mental focus and drive.  Red meat is equally a great source of saturated and polyunsaturated fats as long as it’s organic grass-fed.
I recommended heavy cream because it is an unprocessed source of animal saturated fat.  Heavy cream is the fatty layer carefully separated from milk after centrifuging so it contains very little lactose, if any at all.  If you happen to be allergic to dairy, then you could substitute the cream with another healthful fat like coconut oil.

Another Vegan-friendly Option

I realize there area lot of you out there that have given up the consumption of animal flesh in recent years due to certain controversial reports or you come from a religion that prohibits it.  Even though I personally do not avoid meat for more than a week given that humans have consumed meat for as far back as we can trace, I still respect those that have chosen the tougher Vegan way of life.  From my own observations, vegan dishes tend to involve a lot more purposeful mixing of ingredients to increase nutritional value and the recipes seem to require more attention than non-vegan dishes.  Since most people are not thinking too well or are in a frantic rush after getting up late, I am suggesting the consumption of an easy to make smoothie to save you time:

Create a fiber-rich, smoothie containing: 1/2 cup of Hemp milk or Coconut milk, 1 scoop of Rice/Pea protein, a shot of hemp or omega 3 oil, 1 scoop of greens/mineral formula, 1/2 pint of berries, 2 teaspoons of psyllium husks or ground-up hemp hull fiber, a pinch of cinnamon, and enough additional water to blend properly.   Blend her up good and chew her down with 3 to 5 g of Omega 3 oil, 1 g of L-carnitine, 1 multivitamin, 150 mg zinc chelate, 500-600 mg L-carnosine.
My reasoning for high fiber is to blunt the insulin response which tends to get elevated from liquid meals which rush nutrients in quickly.  I have also suggested cinnamon for the same reason, as it happens to be one of the most powerful insulin sensitizers after the bitter herbs in coffee.  I am personally an advocate of drinking coffee following breakfast to help regulate blood sugar even more effectively, as well as to improve daily fat metabolism.  Recent research also suggests the anti-cancer and anti-diabetes protective effects of 1 to 2 coffees a day.

Reasons to include the supplements I suggested
L-carnitine is a metabolite that is formed in the liver, brain and kidneys through a series of steps, and is also received from meat or fish.  It’s main purpose is the shuttle short to medium chain fatty acids (like essential omega 3s and good fats) in and out of the mitochondria for metabolism as well as for detoxification.  In the absence of carnitine in the diet, one can expect poor metabolism of fat and sub-par mitochondrial function since it will be more backed up with waste and the liver, brain, and kidneys will be working harder to produce enough.  You can think of it as protection for those organs.
L-carnosine (beta-alanyl-L-histidine), a dipeptide of the amino acids beta-alanine and histidine, is normally received from meat or fish but is absent in the vegan diet.  It is a powerful anti-oxidant, anti-glycation, immune-boosting and anti-aging factor which normally tends to decrease with age.  Including carnosine in your diet will keep you younger, protect your brain and boost your recovery as it buffers up levels of nitric oxide to improve blood flow to all organs and tissues.
Zinc chelate, which is zinc bound by an amino acid, is the most readily absorbed form of this mineral and again, scarce in the vegan diet.  The best forms to go for are zinc aspartate and zinc orotate, while the least absorbed are zinc citrate and zinc oxide.  Being involved in close to 300 enzymatic reactions in the body, there are too many functions for zinc to list.  What to keep in mind is that a deficiency of zinc commonly presents the following list of complications (and then some): Poor night vision, poor digestion, poor wound-healing, poor infection defense, poor taste and smell perception, poor reproductive function and sex drive.

Where can you get the above supplements?
When I shop for supplements, quality and results is of utmost importance and then price.  The company that has given me incredible results is Poliquin, and the price happens to be very reasonable for the amazing quality…
Here's a link to the Poliquin store:

Poliquin Supplements - click here to visit the site and get a discount


Just remember this... the better your brain is functioning, the more present, alert, and focused you can be…
…THE MORE EMPOWERED OR LIMITLESS YOU CAN BECOME!  I believe that we are all champions like the greats that we admire, and it all starts with thinking that way.

The healthy act of keeping your body and brain “well fed” with nutrients is a crucial step for feeling energetic and having the positive attitude to get up, go out and do whatever is necessary or desired.  People feeling energetic and positive are also the ones who will go set goals and make a difference in the world, especially after the experience of being in a slump in the past and then getting the freedom of good health!
So there you have it, nutrients to really think about and consider and the nutrients you need for thought!   Next time you are trying to decide on what to eat, construct a meal to suit your nutritional needs… and think twice before skipping out on your multivitamin!  Then aim to accomplish and break new barriers! :)
I will be posting more on nutrition in future blogs, including how to know what your body and cells are in need of, so stay tuned!

by Asim Khan
www.limitlessfitness.ca
info@limitlessfitness.ca

Nutrients for Thought – Part 1 of 2

Notice how I said NUTRIENTS and NOT food?

Well that is because I want you to THINK for a minute about what food really is, or at least how it should be thought of, for the sake of your health.


‘Burning off’ your Food?  Really?
In my career as a Personal Trainer, I am often amazed at how most people I encounter both in and out of the health & fitness industry think of food as being a source of ‘fuel’ we need to ‘burn’ for energy…
… when they know very well that the human body is not a diesel engine. If it was, where would the combusted substances be going all this time without us noticing?

Therefore food is not really a burnable fuel, is it now.

Nay, and our bodies are much more than simple engines I can assure you.  It’s time to even erase the images you were shown in biochemistry class of a linear connection between chemical A, B, C, and so on.  Instead it’s time to imagine an ever-changing collection of chemical compounds within every tiny cell inside all of our organs, glands, and tissues which in turn are interconnected in a complex web-like fashion.  On top of all that we are a storehouse of gut bacteria – that outnumber our own cells – and are crucial for proper digestion and neurotransmitter production.

Let’s talk about DIGESTION for a second.  Yes, the collective physical and chemical processes by which food is broken down and converted into substances that can be absorbed and assimilated by the body.

What the definition of digestion is saying is that substances from food – the essential nutrients plus other stuff – become part of the body for some amount of time following breakdown.  In an ideal situation, specific nutrients go where they are needed for function and conversion (energy incorporated and released) and the toxins and waste products eaten or produced get filtered out.  This makes a lot more sense considering that your cells are constantly reproducing and dying in order for all organs, tissues, and glands to replace themselves in a certain number of days, months, or years.  How else but from the food you eat becoming part of you?

Definition of Nutrients
Nutrients are the substances what we NEED from food.  Nutrients can be divided further into macro-nutrients (proteins, fats, carbohydrates) and micro-nutrients (vitamins and minerals).

Now I hope you are realizing that nutrients are needed for our complete function physiologically speaking and energy cycling energetically speaking.   That is to say, the function of our various organs, glands, and tissues, is what truly ‘drives’ us.

To all the people concerned with the body’s calorie usage, I’m sure there is an energy total for the collective organs in our body, but it’s not so easy to calculate – and rather foolish to do so – if nutrients are the missing parts that drives the organs to function.  But that’s not all.  Hormones and related chemical messengers produced in the organs and glands themselves are what also control the processes within the cells via a multitude of feedback mechanisms.  Whenever there is a shortage of nutrients, or an imbalance of hormones you will not be running organ/gland/tissue processes optimally!

To look at the body from an energy perspective only (calories in vs. calories out) and trying to set food energy intake below your body’s estimated metabolic energy is the most naive approach to weight loss ever devised.  It’s a battle instantly lost because it’s contrary to good health, which is never sensible.  You get deprivation of nutrients and the act of obsessively measuring food quantities, and the body creates more cortisol (stress hormone), which in the long-term has been shown to deposit fat in the midriff and beyond.

It’s a little known fact that caloric value of food can not even be estimated accurately, just as a piece of fruit growing near the trunk of a tree has been shown to have a different caloric value than fruit that was further out on a limb.

The Ugly Truth about Fat Gain
Now relate all of that to the issue of FAT GAIN for a moment.  Can you see that it has more to do with lack of nutrients (malnutrition), stress (hormonal imbalance), and toxicity (toxic build up and blocking of pathways) than the amount of energy you’re eating?  If you ask me, it’s all about the chemical nature of the food and the impact those chemical components can have on us.
Surprising stuff huh?

I hope I now have your attention…
…and you are now realizing that you fell into the food-calorie trap at some point in your life, as have we all.  That also means looking at labels for the caloric value of something before deciding whether you will eat it or not.  Realize that no one used to follow this practice before the advent of food packaging and Wilbur Atwater’s 1890 experiment of burning food to determine total energy contained within it – remember that dumb yet fun calorimeter experiment you did back in high school science class, where you burned a piece of food into a crisp?  Now someone tell me how that makes any sense when it comes to food digesting and assimilating in your body.

Not only that, but you may have forgotten to feed the organs, glands, and tissues of your body with the right micro-nutrients they each need and a good balance of macro-nutrients.  Either because you are too busy to eat in a planned manner amongst all the stress in your life, or you think that skipping a meal will cut down your energy intake to make you smaller.  Perhaps, but only temporarily (I promise you this), and at a certain expense that you don’t want to mess with – your metabolism.  It is important to realize that by not getting what is required by each organ, you will sooner or later have symptoms manifest as illustrated in the figure below.

On the link provided below, Cellagon has created a diagram of the organs of the body which can be clicked and explored to see which food sources provide the nutrients that are needed:

http://www.cellagon.de/en/gesunde-ernaehrung/jedem_organ_seine_nahrung/index.php

Granted, some people out there have good intentions and try their best to make the best choices to eat nutritionally and never skips meals, and yet they are still battling the bulge.  Why is this?  Well another fact about nutrients is that they are severely depleted in many soils of N. America where unsustainable farming practices are being used, so what you get are vegetable nutrients and fruit nutrients much lower than they would have been a century ago.  The livestock we eat are also raised off of the depleted vegetation so they are deficient as well.  Another likely reason those who make good choices are overweight is toxicity exposure that an individual has had, either from pesticides in the food or any number of environmental toxins we are surrounded by that have entered, but not exited, the body.  Toxins often contain heavy metals and can remain bound to molecular sites meant for minerals, thereby causing blockage to the normal working physiology.

The consensus among the experts in the health & fitness industry is that food alone is not enough anymore for most people to stay lean and live a long, healthy life.  We need additional support from nutraceuticals and supplements to fulfill our nutrient needs and to improve and/or complete the ability to detoxify.

 Nutrient Advice
Please listen closely now to what you really need to focus on for fat loss and good function…

… QUIT eating processed food that introduce very little nutrients and chemicals that are toxins to the body.  Say bye-bye to fast food, and most packaged and chemical-preserved foods.  I am also going to include genetically-modified (GMO) foods into this category, as it is definitely nature that is tampered with and is not fully accepted by the body in digestion and assimilation.

… START eating clean, nature-derived, and naturally-produced foods ONLY, and you will incorporate MORE NUTRIENTS and reduce ingestion of a lot of toxic substances.  This includes and is not limited to organic or pesticide-safe greens/vegetables/tubers etc., organic or pesticide-safe fruits, organic grass-fed meat, freerange poultry, wild game, low-mercury seafood, nuts, organic gluten-free whole grains.

… STOP eating an abundance of carbohydrates and/or sugars (from ANY source - including fruit, no matter how natural or clean) because sugar is sugar and our physiology was never designed to handle a lot of sugar in a short period of time.  Rushes of sugars will in the short-term thicken the blood and spike insulin towards fat storage, while in the long-term throw off the blood lipid profile (raise bad cholesterol) via inflammation.  My advice is to keep the total grams of carbs at 50 grams or less per day for most people.  Those that work out and train with a lot of volume or workload will require recovery of muscle glycogen and therefore handle carbs well in a non-fattening way.  Therefore, you have to EARN YOUR CARBS.  I will admit that there are some people out there that can handle high sugar levels naturally, and they MUST have their carbs in order not to lose body mass.  Let me also add that I have seen time and time again, sugar tolerance/management being lost after some years and tragedy commencing shortly afterward (inflammation, accelerated aging, and cardiovascular complications) if the carb-heavy eating habits go on unchecked.

… BEGIN eating the right fats in high quantities to fight inflammation and support your brain and nervous system.  First lose the fearful mentality that ‘fat makes you fat’.  It’s the same as what the REAL nutrition experts have been saying all along – you need to eat certain fats to function properly – in this case to absorb fat-soluble vitamins, and even to burn fat!

The fat types to focus on are monounsaturated (olive, avocado, sesame), polyunsaturated (omega 3 from fish, seafood, seal, some plants, and nuts), saturated (wild or pastured animals, coconut).  Here’s a tip on how to use them: Bake/grill/fry with coconut, avocado, sesame, and butter; sautée with olive, avocado, coconut, grapeseed, or sesame; marinade (do not heat) with olive, walnut, almond, or truffle; holistic use (keep cold) with fish, flax, and hemp.  STAY CLEAR AWAY from trans-fats (shortening, vegetable oils) as they are processed and chemically altered that they resemble nothing found in nature and will cause sudden inflammation!


I just made you really think about things didn’t I?  Exactly my goal!  I truly want good things for others and a better world for all.  Stay tuned tomorrow for the second part of this post all about thought, and how you can improve your ability to think for a prosperous life!

by Asim Khan
www.limitlessfitness.ca
info@limitlessfitness.ca