A client asked me about carrageenan at our last meeting. I had researched this about ten years ago and it had seemed pretty benign. All I could find about it was that it was a red seaweed that was used as a thickener. Seaweed... I am a big fan of seaweed eat it all the time... but not in this form. Apparently this red seaweed is extremely processed and is in every alternative milk, mock meat products and other processed foods.
So yes it is derived from a benign source, but because it is so highly processed it can create issues like inflammation, leaky gut, bowel irritation like Irritable Bowel Syndrome and possibly contribute to cancer. Most of the research is done using the degraded form of carrageenan which is not used in food and causes the above reactions. The food grade is the un-graded form and is considered safe by the FDA. But, and it's a big but...research shows that the ungraded form can be transformed during the digestive process into the degraded form. An some research shows that both cause inflammation. I have decided to start avoiding carrageenan the best I can and have decided to start making my own alternative milks with just a few ingredients: nuts or seeds, water, salt, maple syrup and vanilla powder, blended in a high powered blender and strained. The possibilities are endless as to the flavors you can make and the taste is even better than store bought milks. I know that many cannot or will not make their own milk for various reasons, so I have found a few alternative milks that do not have carrageenan in them. So far there are only three: Whole Foods 365 brand of Almond Milk, Pacific Oat Milk and Tree of Life Almond Milk. I will have these on hand for those times when I don't have time to whip up a batch of milk! As for other products, check the labels and if it contains carrageenan, you may consider switching to a brand that does not contain it. Please check out my facebook page for other links to information on carrageenan.
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Probiotics...what are they and what do they do for me?
Probiotics are beneficial bacteria. The word probiotic means "for life" and they are an essential part of bodily functions. We have some microbiota (bacteria) that are unique to each one of us; these are the bacteria that stay in our bodies for a long time. They need help surviving; you can do this either by feeding the bacteria with healthy fruits and vegetables, making fermented vegetables or taking a supplement. The additional bacteria fill in the gaps of your personal bacteria to help support your immune system. What do they do?: · They help white blood cells fight disease · Control putrefactive bacteria in the intestines · Provide important nutrients for building the blood · Assist in digestion · Protect the intestinal mucosa · Prevent diarrhea and constipation · Help with bowel elimination · Manufacture B vitamins and Vitamin K · Inhibits pathogens How do I take them? You can either supplement with a probiotic or eat fermented foods which contain live cultures. The benefit to eating fermented foods over supplements is that fermented foods are a whole food that is teaming with wonderful bacteria. It can be economical if you make the fermented foods yourself because the base is usually cabbage and you can make a lot at one time and refrigerate them to slow down the procreation of bacteria. I love these, I make them all the time and each time they come out tasting a little different. With a supplement it is pretty easy, you take the pill one time per day (unless otherwise instructed by your practitioner) usually with vitamins so you don’t forget and they go to work. Be careful when supplementing. Make sure your probiotic is from a reliable source. Many of the probiotics tested in supermarkets contain dead bacteria. That is not going to help you populate your GI tract and may hurt your wallet because they are not cheap! Look on the product for cGMP (certified good manufacturing practice), this means that they are certified by a third party and what is on the label is in your product until the expiration date as long as it is properly stored. These manufacturers tend to take extra steps to assure quality products. You may have seen probiotics that are “enteric coated” with the claim that the bacteria will survive the digestive processes. This is not necessary because probiotics are acid loving and thrive in a more acidic environment. The enteric coating just gives your body something else to metabolize that it may not know what to do with it. Why do I need probiotics? Antibiotics, steroids, birth control pills, hormone replacement therapy, processed foods and stress all contribute to depleting our natural microbiota. Regardless of how you feed your friendly flora, it needs to be done to keep you healthy. When you think of bone health what mineral comes to mind? Most people would say calcium. Well would you be surprised if I told you that calcium is not the only mineral involved in keeping your bones healthy? There are 17 other nutrients involved, that's right there are 18 nutrients that make up bones and they all work synergistically together. So if there are 18 nutrients that make up bones, why do we only hear about one? I think it has a lot to do with the dairy industry because calcium is abundant in dairy (not very bioavailable, but abundant), it could also be that calcium is what gives bones their strength and rigidity.
So what are the other 17 nutrients? Phosphorus Manganese Vitamin A Essential fatty acids Magnesium Copper Vitamin B6 Protein Flouride Boron Vitamin K Silica Vitamin D Vitamin B12 Zinc Vitamin C Folic Acid Most of these nutrients can be found in plant foods like dark green leafy vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, sea vegetables and grains. The only one that would be animal based would be B12 but vegetarians can supplement and if you have healthy gut bacteria some B12 can be made by the body (this is where fermented vegetables can come in handy) Ok, so those are the nutrients that you need to take in, then you need to be careful not to consume to much of the bone robbing nutrients:
Other factors to consider for bone health - smoking hinders bones self repair mechanisms, alcohol inhibits absorption and increases excretion of bone building nutrients, antacids are toxic to the bones, antibiotics kill off healthy bacteria and can result in weakened digestion, heavy metals can accumulate in the system because they are not easily excreted, stress can lead to excretion of bone building nutrients These are things we need to think about throughout life, not just when we get older and doctors start testing you for osteoporosis. Bone is constantly being broken down and rebuilt, a problem occurs when bone is being broken down faster than it can be rebuilt. If we are eating the right foods and not too many of the bone robbing nutrients, we can aide our body in this process and ensure healthy bones for life. It is that time of year, the weather turns cold and your skin gets scaly. I don't know about you, but this year as soon as there was a little nip in the air my hands became so dry that no amount of moisturizer in the world could keep them moist. I even turned to my deep repair cream from Mychelle Dermaceuticals. Nothing! So I asked myself, why are my hands this dry? Normally you look at hydration, I have that covered. Then fats am I getting enough? Yes. So then I looked at my Essential fatty acid balance. Omega 3: Omega 6 well in my diet I get in a lot of Omega 3s in the form of chia seeds, hemp seeds, flax seeds, and walnuts. These also have Omega 6 fatty acids and using food they should be in the proper balance. Well, I threw off my balance by supplementing EPA/DHA (omega 3) because I read that Omega 6 and Omega 3 fatty acids share the same conversion enzyme 6-delta-desaturase (D6D) which makes the conversion pathways competitive. Omega 6’s are more biologically active which gives them an edge over Omega 3s to promote inflammation. Some instances that can interfere with D6D activity: trans fatty acids, alcohol, low levels of B6, magnesium and zinc.
I don't eat a lot of oils or processed foods so except for my nuts and seeds now I was probably not getting enough omega 6. So I started supplementing with Borage oil, within a few days the dry skin was gone! So if your hydration is good and you are getting enough fats, check your essential fatty acid ratio that might be the reason you have Being vegan, this vitamin has always been on my radar. Recently, I was reading a book on autoimmune diseases and it was talking about B12 deficiency being a possible cause in most autoimmune cases and alot of the studies were talking about the people eating "good sources" of B12. Good sources being animal products. So it got me thinking, in today's day animals are not raised the way they once were, they are not out on pasture eating grasses, but confined to close living quarters on slabs of concrete being fed corn and grains (and being injected with antibiotics and hormones). A very unnatural diet... B12 comes from the soil, animals don't make B12, they eat it and then you eat the meat and as long as everything is working properly in your body, you absorb the B12. If the animal is not grazing, then they are not taking in the bacteria and not storing the B12 that you would be eating. So it would make sense to me that even though these people thought they were eating food with a high B12 content, they in fact, were not and would show signs of deficiency. You don't need a lot of B12, the RDA is 2.4 mcg per day and most multivitamins provide 100 mcg. But what if that's not enough? Absorption could be an issue that some may have. If B12 is not being absorbed properly it is likely due to lack of hydrochloric acid (stomach juices) or lack of intrinsic factor. Without sufficient hydrochloric acid, the vitamin is not released from its protein source and not available for binding to intrinsic factor. Without sufficient intrinsic factor, the vitamin will not be absorbed. Another absorption issue is that if you take in too much at one time, it floods the receptors and only a certain amount is absorbed, so the amount in a multivitamin is not fully being absorbed. You need to break the dose up.
The good news is that we do recycle this vitamin, reabsorbing it over and over and it can take years for a deficiency to show up. And it is a water soluble vitamin so there is not toxicity to supplementation. The bad news is that your serum levels don't reflect your cellular levels meaning if your serum level is below 500-600 ug/ml you will likely be showing signs of deficiency but your lab work will come back normal. The range for "normal" B12 is between 200-1000. Make sure when you go for blood work that B12 and homocyteine is checked because if you are deficient in B12 your homocysteine level will go up. The functions of B12: DNA synthesis Maintains the sheath that surrounds and protects nerve fibers Promotes normal growth and bone cell activity Helps in the production of Red Blood cells Coenzyme for new cell synthesis Helps maintain and repair tissues Essential for a functioning nervous system Reforms folate coenzyme Helps to break down some fatty acids and amino acids Promotes normal immune function Deficiency symptoms: Muscle weakness Irreversible neurological damage Anemia (B12 is needed for folate conversion into its active form) Malabsorption conditions (can occur after gastric bypass surgeries) Disorders of the small intestines Abnormal sensations like numbness and tingling Clumsiness, awkward movements Unsteady gait, loss of balance Memory problems, confusion, dementia Decreased vision Depression Sleepiness So how do we get enough? If you are eating meat, then make sure that the animal has been grass fed their entire lives, if you are vegan, there are alternatives, like fortified foods for example: Red Star Nutritional yeast, fortified soy milk or supplements. If you are taking supplements, I wouldn't just supplement B12 though because the B vitamins work synergistically together, a B complex is a much better choice. I am new to blogging so I figured I would start with something we all need...WATER! Especially with this hot weather we've been having, I thought it was a good place to start! Most people don't drink near enough water...fluids yep that's usually covered with coffee, sodas, teas, sports drinks. None of these drinks replace your need for water. In fact, most of them actually make you need more because they contain caffeine which stimulates you to release fluids from your body.
Why do we need Water? Water is one of the most important and most forgotten about nutrients. Our body is about 75% water and our brain is 85% water, without water you won't survive, every cell of your body needs water. If you don't drink enough water you become dehydrated. What does that mean, dehydrated? Technically it means your body doesn't have enough fluids either because you are not taking them in or you are losing too much. When this happens your bodily fluids become concentrated and water is taken out of your cells and your cells shrink and things don't work as well as they should. You know what else happens when you are dehydrated? The body starts to store fat...now I have your attention! It stores fat mainly because our sensations for water and food are felt the same way and most people eat the food and forget about the water. To combat this, try drinking water the next time you think you are hungry! Water has so many functions, one of the most important functions is to clear toxic wastes from the body. If you are not drinking enough water, the toxins accumulate and can cause inflammation which in turn can cause a disease state. Water is a source of energy, it generates electrical energy inside your cells and helps to either heat or cool your body, it helps prevent DNA damage, it helps to break down food because it is a major solvent in the body, it helps reduce fatigue, it even helps to combat cancer by bringing oxygen into your body. There are so many other beneficial tasks that water does for us, we should be drinking at least 8-10 cups of water that's 64-80 oz. That is just to replace what you have lost through your daily metabolic activities like breathing and clearing out cellular debris. If you are outside sweating, you need to be drinking more! In fact, half your body weight is what you are striving for! So how do we get in enough water? Drink water first thing in the morning to rehydrate after your nighttime fast adding some lemon to the water will help to alkalinize your body. Drink plenty of water throughout the day, drink water at least 30 minutes before meals, but don't drink water directly after meals because it will dilute your digestive juices. Don't wait for the physical signs of thirst because by then you are already dehydrating.... |
AuthorKerri Ferraioli Archives
March 2023
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