Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to participate in a Virtual Conference, which was a really great experience. The name of the conference was:  ‘Pre and Probiotics 2012: Building Gut Health Science and Claims’.

If you’ve been reading my Tips for a while, you might notice that this isn’t the first time I’ve written about probiotics – I did so in May 2008’s Tip entitled  ‘Probiotics and Gut Health’ and again in October 2009’s Tip entitled ‘Ten Steps to Build Immunity’.

I’m writing about probiotics again this month because they have so many incredible health benefits to offer us – some I’ve known about for a while, some I just recently learned about and want to share with you.

I often have clients who come to see me simply to get some help sorting through all the supplements they have at home. Some are taking dozens of supplements without really being sure of why they are taking them or what they are for.  Others are only taking a multi-vitamin, and often it’s one that isn’t really delivering much value.

While I believe we should get as many nutrients as we can from eating whole, unprocessed, clean foods, it’s not always easy to meet our daily nutrient requirements given the current state of much of our food supply, as well as our busy lifestyles. For these reasons, there are four supplements that I strongly encourage everyone to take, as many of us are deficient in the nutrients they offer, and it is very difficult to get enough of them through our food.  These are:

1. Vitamin D
2. Omega-3 essential fatty acids
3. Probiotics
4. A mutli-vitamin/mineral

I’ve written about Vitamin D, Omega-3 essential fatty acids, and multis in previous Tips, so I’m not going to say anything about them in this Tip, other than if you’re not taking them every day, you should be – especially Vitamin D and omega-3. The same is true for probiotics – and I’m not talking about getting them through yogurts that often have quite a bit of sugar in them too (which defeats the purpose of taking a probiotic in the first place by the way), but through a high quality source that has been clinically proven to deliver the health claims associated with probiotics.

A lot of food and supplement manufacturers are jumping on the probiotic band wagon and making a lot of noise about the fact that their products contain probiotics; however, it’s important to know that not all probiotics are created equal.

Health Canada states that the term ‘probiotic’ can only be used if there is human clinical evidence that the particular strain of bacteria leads to health benefits. In fact, the term ‘probiotic’ doesn’t mean anything unless it is:

• Strain specific
• Dose specific
• Condition specific
• Has GRAS status (Generally Recognized As Safe)

One bacteria which meets all of the above requirements is L. acidophilus DDS-1. This strain has over 40 years of research, over 200 studies on various health conditions, is of human origin (so we know it belongs – and knows exactly what to do – in our body), is 97% acid and bile resistant (so it won’t be destroyed by our digestive juices),  stable at room temperature for 2 years, and is ‘colonizing’ – which means it will be able to attach itself to our intestinal wall where it will “live long and prosper” (making Star Trek’s Spock proud!).

In addition to supporting digestive health and boosting our general immunity (common health claims associated with probiotics in general), the L. acidophilus DDS-1 strain has some other very impressive, clinically proven health claims, including:

• Significantly decreasing symptoms associated with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), including abdominal pain, bloating, belching, flatulence, diarrhea and constipation (1)
• Produces an antibacterial compound called ‘acidophilin’ that demonstrates activity against many disease-causing bacteria such as E. coli, Clostridium botulinum, and some strains of salmonella and staphylococcus – as well as preventing vaginal and urinary tract infections (1)
• Demonstrated to be effective in controlling atopic dermatitis in preschool children (1)
• Provides substantial protection again traveler’s diarrhea (1)
• Helps in the inhibition of Candida albicans – the common microorganism responsible for yeast infections and ‘leaky gut syndrome’ – a cause of food sensitivities among other things (1)
• Demonstrated a cholesterol lowering effects in rats (1)
• Stimulates the production of immune components that are known killers or inhibitors of tumor cells – that is, it has cancer-fighting properties (1)

If your reaction to the above list of health benefits was anything like mine (which was “Wow, that’s AMAZING!”), I’m hoping that you’ll take action as I did, by making sure that you take a probiotic supplement every day AND that it contains strains that have been clinically proven to provide the above health benefits.

We can also get probiotics from our food, in particular lacto-fermented food and drinks (http://www.westonaprice.org/food-features/lacto-fermentation), but many of us don’t get enough this way, so it’s great to know that we can meet our requirements through supplementation.

Since all probiotics supplements do not offer the same health benefits, make sure you choose one with well researched, clinically proven strains such as L. acidophilus DDS-1. Other considerations are whether or not the probiotic supplement is non-dairy, gluten-/wheat-free, corn and soy free, non-GMO, suitable for vegetarians and vegans, and is preservative-free.  If you need any guidance regarding the selection of a probiotic product, I will be happy to help you.

I like the statement (trademarked no less) made by Dr. Dash – the doctor who pioneered much of the probiotic research and the introduction of probiotics to the public via supplements:

Probiotics are more important than multivitamins and should be taken daily.™

– Dr. S. K. Dash (Former Vice President and member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the International Probiotic Association)

Seems that a probiotic a day keeps the doctor away…

To your health,

Anna

References:

‘Pre and Probiotics 2012: Building Gut Health Science and Claims’. Virtual Conference

Happy New Year!

I hope that you all had a wonderful holiday time with friends and family and that you happily enjoyed all the delicious meals and treats that come with the holidays…in moderation of course!

A lot of people have been sharing their New Year’s resolutions with me. The top two are to lose weight and to get ‘healthier’ or fit. These are great resolutions and this month’s tip discusses why most of us don’t achieve our resolutions and how we can change this, including access to a limited time free offer that I hope you’ll take advantage of.

I recently read an article that discussed some research that stated that even though over half of us are ‘confident’ we can achieve our resolutions when we first make them, by the end of the year, only 12% of us will be able to say that we were successful – and it’s not because our resolutions were impossible to achieve.

So, why are we so unsuccessful and what can we do about it?

Regardless of whether your resolution is to lose weight, or get fit, or eat better, or get out of debt, or reduce the stress in your life, or spend more time with your family, I believe there are two basic reasons why 88% of us fail.

First, we aren’t taking the right actions to reach our goals. This could be because we are lacking information, or we think we have the right information when we are actually misinformed, or we don’t know where to go for the best information, or we don’t have a practical, step-by-step, realistic plan regarding what we should be doing to successfully achieve our resolutions.

Second, we don’t have the right mindset to reach our goals. This could be because we’ve tried it before and failed, so even as we announce our resolutions, in the back of our mind we’re already thinking “you’ve never been able to do this before…what makes you think it will be any different this time around?”  Maybe we feel this way because the resolutions we’ve set for ourselves aren’t very practical or realistic in light of everything else we have going on in our already busy and stressful lives.

Let’s take a look at actions and mindset in respect to the most common New Year’s resolution: “I’m going to lose weight this year.”

So…

What are the right actions to take? Significant calorie restriction? Avoiding fats? Eating fats? Using artificial sweeteners? Avoiding artificial sweeteners? Eating less whole grains? Eating more whole grains? Avoiding snacks? Skipping lunch? Eating every 3 hours? Avoiding caffeine? Drinking green tea? Avoiding chocolate? Eating chocolate? Confused yet?

What is the right mindset to have?  Telling ourselves we are going to lose 50 pounds this year? Making lists of all the foods we need to avoid? Making lists of the things we don’t like about our body?  Making up for the piece of cheesecake we ate last night by going to the gym today? Using positive affirmations about our body?

Here’s a phrase that I hear frequently from people who say they want to lose weight:

“I know what I need to do to lose weight, but I just can’t do it!”

Here’s my take on the above phrase, broken into two parts:

“I know what I need to do to lose weight…” I can tell you from experience, that most people don’t know what actions to take to lose weight and this is, for the most part, due to the amount of misinformation and conflicting information out there about weight loss and nutrition in general. This can be addressed by getting educated in order to separate the myths from the facts regarding food, supplements and other factors that affect our weight such as hormones, chemical imbalances, and food sensitivities (even some really healthy foods can cause issues for some of us).

“…but I just can’t do it!” My feelings towards this come from one of my favourite quotes: “Whether you think you can or you can’t, either way, you are right.” (Henry Ford). This is a mindset issue and it can be addressed by learning practical tips and tools to adjust our thoughts and the words we use, which ultimately change our results.

In most situations, actions and mindset go hand-in-hand. It can be challenging to change the actions and choices that we have grown accustomed to. Even if we know they aren’t the best for us, we feel safe or ‘comfortable’ with them. But if we pay attention to our actions and mindset, change can happen!

Positive actions can be sabotaged by a poor mindset, and a positive mindset can be sabotaged by poor actions…but thankfully, the opposite can also happen. Poor actions can be turned around  by a positive mindset, and a poor mindset can be turned around by positive actions. For example, when we start to take the right actions, we will likely notice some good results. When we notice good results, we will likely be motivated to take more positive action. Additionally, when we notice good results, we are also more likely to develop a positive mindset about our actions…and as we develop a positive mindset about our actions, we will likely be more motivated to take more positive actions, and so on, and so on, creating a wonderful positive feedback loop!

So, if I’m going to lose weight” is a New Year’s resolution that you’ve made in the past and are hesitant to make again, or if you’ve ever thought or spoken the phrase “I know what I need to do to lose weight, but I just can’t do it!”, I’d like to offer you something right now that will help you to be among the 12% who successfully achieve their New Year’s resolutions.

As always, I look forward to partnering with you to help you achieve a healthier, more vibrant you in 2012!

Yours in health,

Anna

The holidays and all the preparations and parties that come with them are in full swing. Along with all of the joys and pleasures this time of year brings, many also feel overwhelmed at stressed at this time of year.

Stress is not all bad. Back in the day, Mother Nature designed it to be a short-term state that was meant to kick in to save our butts from potentially dangerous situations where the only way we could survive was to fight our way out of it or run away as fast as humanly possible! When we were out of danger, our stress response shut down. That’s how it was meant to work; but unfortunately, with our 21st century lifestyle, many of us are under chronic stress these days in so many areas of our lives:  jobs, families, relationships, finances – you name it.  Even if we’re just lying in bed or sitting on the couch worrying about all of these things (as opposed to fighting off or outrunning a sabre-toothed tiger), our stress response is still turned on.

When our body is under stress of any kind, our health can be compromised and there is a very fundamental, physiological reason for this. In this month’s tip, I’m going to give you a simplified explanation on why stress can affect our health. I’ll also tell you about a wonderfully relaxing and rejuvenating therapy that you can treat yourself to – and gift to others (a great gift idea for the holidays!) –  that will help to alleviate the effects of stress.

The impact that stress has on our health has to do with two parts of our nervous system: the Sympathetic Nervous System,  responsible for our ‘fight or flight’ response which is related to stressful situations, and the Parasympathetic Nervous System, responsible for allowing our body to repair, rest, rejuvenate and properly digest.

Chronic stress has numerous negative effects on our body, with some of the more common ones being:

• Excessive fatigue/exhaustion/low or no stamina (despite plenty of sleep)
• Poor sleep
• Feeling overwhelmed or unable to cope
• Difficulty concentrating
• Feeling sad or depressed
• Getting sick often
• Increased allergy symptoms
• Blood sugar imbalance
• Unhealthy food cravings
• Nutrient deficiencies (stress not only robs our body of many vitamins and minerals, but it also compromises our digestion, limiting the nutrients we absorb from healthy foods we eat)
• Digestive issues (burping, flatulence, acid reflux, constipation, diarrhea, etc)

In order for our body to be able to properly repair, rest, rejuvenate and digest, our Parasympathetic Nervous System needs to be stimulated and supported – and that isn’t going to happen unless we do something to either eliminate all the stress in our lives (sounds ideal, but likely not possible), or to help us deal with/relieve some of the stress (also sounds ideal…and is possible).

There are many ways to boost the Parasympathetic Nervous System, but I’m just going to tell you about one of them right now that has offered many of my clients significant benefits, and that is foot reflexology.

Foot reflexology is a hands-on therapy that involves applying various stretching, kneading and pressure techniques to the feet using the fingers, thumbs and hands. Some people refer to it as a ‘foot massage’ and while it is similar, it has a more focused approach as it is based on the premise that there are reflex areas (specific ‘mapped’ areas) on the feet that correspond with various parts of the body. This is made possible via nerve pathways and/or meridians. Meridians are energy pathways in the body and form the foundation of many complementary health practices such as acupunture. In fact, reflexology is sort of like an acupuncture treatment, but without the needles (which is very appealing if you aren’t fond of needles!) and like acupuncture, many sources claim that the history of reflexology can be traced back thousands of years to Asia.

By stimulating the reflex points on the feet, reflexology can positively impact many areas of our body and our health.  There are numerous studies that discuss the benefits of reflexology, which include:

• improves circulation
• reduces edema/swelling
• Improves sleep
• reduces stress and anxiety
• promotes relaxation, rejuvenation and repair by stimulating the Parasympathetic Nervous System
• increases energy
• boosts the immune system
• reduces pain
• improves digestion

Reflexology can be effective for both sudden on-set/acute conditions as well as long-standing, chronic conditions and is safe for any age.

A reflexology session lasts approximately 45 to 50 minutes.  In addition to providing numerous health benefits, it is simply one of the most wonderfully relaxing experiences that anyone can enjoy on a regular basis – and a real treat for our hard working, tired feet.

Give yourself or someone you care about the gift of a relaxing and rejuvenating foot reflexology treat this holiday season. Perfect Resonance Gift Certificates are available for foot reflexology or any service of your choice.  To purchase one, visit my east or west end locations (listed in the ‘Contact Us’ section of this website) or contact me at info@perfectresonance.com.

Enjoy!

Anna