Remove Sugar To Boost Your Immune System

The Benefits Of Quitting Sugar

You probably know all about the dangers of refined sugar. It rots your teeth, increases your risk of chronic disease, causes weight gain, inflammation, promotes unhealthy bacteria in the gut and much more. But quitting refined sugar doesn’t just allow you to avoid these adverse effects, it also allows you to enjoy a range of benefits. The list below highlights five of the top benefits you can enjoy by quitting refined sugar.

1. Enhanced Energy Levels

Refined sugar enters your bloodstream almost instantly which causes your energy levels quickly surge and crash. When you start to eat less refined sugar, these fluctuations in energy levels will become a thing of the past and you’ll find that you generally have much more energy throughout the day. Not only does this help you feel great but it also makes you much more productive and allows you to perform all your daily tasks effectively.

2. Younger Looking Skin

One of the biggest negatives of consuming refined sugar is that it damages your skin in numerous ways.

First, it causes the collagen and elastin in your skin to become inflamed. These structural proteins help your skin stay firm and youthful looking. When they constantly become inflamed as a result of regularly eating large amounts of refined sugar, they become less effective which causes your skin to sag and wrinkles to form.

Second, the inflammation caused by eating sugar has been shown to aggravate various skin disorders including acne (a disorder characterized by red pimples on the skin) and rosacea (a skin disorder characterized by burning and redness).

When you stop eating refined sugar, you’ll also stop damaging your skin in the ways described above and you’ll find that it looks much smoother, more vibrant and youthful.

3. Easier Weight Loss

Sugars passes through the digestive system very quickly and because of this, foods that contain high levels of sugar aren’t as satiating as foods that contain minimal amounts of sugar. This means it’s much easier to overeat and consume large amounts of calories that lead to weight gain when you’re eating lots of refined sugar.

Quitting sugar will mean that you’ll feel much fuller every time you eat and naturally eat less food. Food cravings will come less often and because you’re consuming fewer calories, it will be much easier to lose weight.

4. Better Sleep

The energy surges and crashed caused by eating lots of refined sugar are very disruptive to your sleep patterns. They make it difficult to sleep and have a negative impact on your sleep quality when you do manage to fall asleep.

Cutting sugar out of your diet stops it wreaking havoc on your sleep cycles and allows you to enjoy restful, better quality sleep.

5. Stronger Immunity

Numerous studies have shown that refined sugar is a huge contributor to chronic disease. It causes inflammation in the body, damages your blood vessels and has a negative impact on your vital organs including your digestive system, which leaves you open to a wide range of ailments, illness and diseases.

Reducing your intake of refined sugar stops it damaging your body in this way and allows it to heal. Not only does this make you less susceptible to ailments that are directly caused by refined sugar but it also boosts your overall immunity.

Lifestyle Diseases and COVID

As a Kentuckian, it hurts to see our Governor close businesses and restaurants, rather than trust people to take care of their own health.   Rather than push a mask mandate that clearly does not stop the spread, why not teach people how to live healthy lives so that they are strong and healthy and can overcome a virus?  

When you look at the statistics of who is most affected by COVID, it is the people with LIFESTYLE DISEASES such as heart disease, obesity, diabetes type 2, high blood pressure, insulin resistance, and high cholesterol who struggle with recovery.   So why doesn’t the governor push information out to We the People on how to improve our lifestyles and reverse these diseases?  Why does the governor close gyms and require masks (that don’t work) when these are the exact business we need to stay open in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle?  Why are the drive-through restaurants allowed to be open (mostly fast-food, which promotes Lifestyle Diseases) but the dine-in restaurants that tend to have healthier choices get shut down?  

These Lifestyle Diseases can be reversed with proper nutrition and exercise!   Medication may be necessary in the short term to get a handle on your issues, but I’d urge you to also take action by changing what you are eating and starting to move your body every day.  There’s a very good chance that you can reduce your medication or possible even get off your medication.  As always, it is critical that you work with your Doctor before adding an exercise plan, a new eating plan or adjusting your medication.

Gyms should be open and stay open so that people can exercise (without a mask)!   Our bodies were made to move and we NEED to move in order to stay strong and healthy!   Restaurants that serve healthier foods (not just fast foods and processed foods) should stay open so we can gather together.  Studies show that social isolation and loneliness can increase stroke or the development of cardiac heart disease by 30% (2016 Study by Nicole Valtorta, PhD, Newcastle University epidemiologist).  We should be able to make our own choices regarding whether to isolate due to our own poor health or to be able to socialize because we are  healthy.  Healthier food choices need to be available for us, not just the fast-food drive restaurants that are linked to poor health.

I would encourage you to stay healthy by eating a diet filled with mostly vegetables (and lots of green veggies), skip the fried foods, and add lean protein.  Be sure to eat foods with high fiber to keep your gut healthy.  Remove foods that cause inflammation.  Drink lots of water instead of sugar-filled drinks.  Keep moving your body every day so that you can stay strong.  Be sure to take a high quality multi-vitamin.  THIS is how we can overcome a virus.  

How to Avoid the Fall Weight Gain

Fall is here and sometimes with the cold weather, I crave comfort foods.  What is it about this time of year that it seems like we put on weight?   I know that the holidays are right around the corner, but could it be something more than just overeating all the wonderful holiday meals and treats?  

It seems that there is more to fall weight gain than just holiday eating.  We know that there are animals that, before hibernating for the winter, they overeat so that they can put on fat for the times when food is scarce.  Looks like our Creator gave us some of those genes as well.  Studies have shown that humans have some similar hibernation genes, which may be why we tend to eat as much as 200 more calories a day in the fall than what we eat in the spring.  

If you are like me and are not wanting to put on any more weight during the fall and winter, what are some things we can do to avoid the seasonal “fluff”?  Since we no longer need put on weight in order to make it through a winter of deprivation that our ancestors may have suffered through, what can we do to avoid the seasonal weight gain?  

Turns out, there are a few things that we can do to maintain our middles and avoid seasonal weight gain.  Here are a few:

• Get outside during the day for a brisk walk to get some exercise and fresh air. Exposing yourself to sunlight/daylight can help you ward off seasonal affective disorder. Plus, getting exercise will help you stay healthy and in shape!

• Be active during the day so that you are tired and ready for bed when it’s time to go to sleep.

• Shoot for 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night.

• Go to bed early and get up early. If you need a nap in the middle of the day, keep it short. A 20 minute snooze should energize you without taking away from your bedtime routine.

• Eat your main meals earlier in the day so that your dinner is your smallest meal. This allows you to burn more of your calories during the day. It also allows your digestive system to rest at night.

• Finish your dinner no less than 2.5 hours before bedtime. Our bodies will not rest and recover if it is digesting food all night.

• Avoid eating at night.

Here is a lovely fall recipe from my November Meal Plan that is full of fiber and fall goodness to give you all the comfort of a steaming cup of soup.  Remember, fiber foods help you feel full and helps keep your digestive system happy!  

Fall Veggie Stew

Serves 4

1 tablespoon coconut oil

2 large leeks, chopped and washed well

4 garlic cloves, chopped

2 fennel bulbs, chopped

2 yellow squash, chopped

1 bunch Swiss chard

1 cup basil leaves, roughly chopped

Sea salt and black pepper, to taste

2-15 ounce BPA-free cans pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1 teaspoon red chili flakes (optional)

½ bunch parsley, finely chopped

2 cups vegetable broth

4 Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Add coconut oil to a large soup pot over medium heat. When hot, add leek, garlic, and fennel. Sauté for about 3 minutes. Add squash, chard, basil, salt, pepper, beans, chili flakes (optional) and parsley. Cook on high heat for 5 minutes or until some liquid has evaporated. Serve with Large Salad on the side.

Omnivore option: Whole Roasted Garlic Rosemary chicken, chopped and on top of the stew

*Add more vegetable broth if you like more liquid in your soup.  

If you are looking for a Holistic Health Coach that can help you stay on track and lose weight during the Holiday Season, let’s chat to see what your goals are and how I can help you!

Would you rather...

Recently, I made a FB post talking about the differences in calories when you eat fast-food vs. eating whole, real foods. I had a photo of an In-and-Out Burger with fries and I got so many people talking about how good that burger looked and how they loved In-and-Out Burger!  It was a fun interaction and it had people salivating over getting a juicy beef burger! One person asked if this type of meal was okay to eat. My response was you can eat anything you want!  But in this blog, I want to point out that it is exactly this type of food that is killing Americans at an extremely high rate!  Heart disease is the number one killer of Americans.  The CDC states that about 655,000 Americans die from heart disease every year.  And what, you ask, is the leading cause of heart disease?  It is high cholesterol, high blood pressure and smoking.  Heart disease was also the leading cause of death of people with diabetes type 2.

To get an idea of they way most Americans eat, let’s take a look at a quick study done recently by Grubhub.  They analyzed which foods were ordered most frequently during the pandemic and how much higher the numbers compared to the previous year.   According to Grubhub, these were the foods most ordered from January 1 through June 20, 2020:

• Plant based burgers were 291% more popular than in 2019

• Spicy chicken sandwiches were 299% more popular than in 2019 

• Chimichangas were more popular by 195%

• Beef burritos were more up by 181% 

• Potato tacos (sweet potato) were up by 169% compared to the same time last year.  

• Acai bowls were another favorite, which were up by 359% compared to 2019.  

So, where are all the vegetables?  Yes, plant-based burgers and acai bowls are great, so kudos to the people eating more veggies and fruits here!  But let’s take a closer look at the other foods:  burger patties are typically served with a white-flour bun and with a side of french fries.  Chimichangas are really just deep-fried burritos (wrapped in white flour tortillas).  Spicy chicken sandwiches are breaded and deep fried chicken breasts served on a white flour bun.  These meals are filled with refined flours, saturated fats (animal fats) and inflammatory oils. We can see that these meals are lacking vegetables, fiber, lean protein and fruits that people need to create a healthy diet. Plus, the oils that these foods are fried in are highly inflammatory causing a host of other problems.  

Just to be clear, it is the vegetables, fruits and complex carbs that have the fiber and most of the vitamins and minerals that our bodies need.  Yes, lean proteins are considered "complete proteins” in that they give us essential amino acids and protein that our bodies need.  However, studies have also shown that eating a plant based diet along with quality nutritional supplements can provide our bodies with everything they need in order to be healthy and strong.  

It is exactly this kind of diet described by Grubhub that is killing Americans and placing us at risk of heart disease and diabetes type 2.  How many people do you know that are on cholesterol medicines?  How many of your friends or family members are on high blood pressure medicines?  How many people do you know that have diabetes type 2? Unfortunately, these medications only reduce the risk of heart disease by 20% to 30%, according to Dr. Gregor author of How Not to Die.  Is it worth taking these medications with all the dangerous side-effects to only have our heart disease risk reduced by 30% at the most?  And have you even read what the side effects are with these types of drugs?  And even while taking these drugs, 70-80% of heart attacks still occur!  

Heart disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes type 2 are all lifestyle diseases.  Which means that these diseases can be avoided and/or reversed by changes to your diet and lifestyle.  You can start adding in more vegetables, fruits and fiber.  Avoid the fast-food restaurants and fried foods.  And start moving your body!  You can significantly reduce your cholesterol and blood pressure just by making healthy eating choices and moving your body!  

Yes, a juicy beef burger on a bun with a side of french fries is a delicious treat!  These types of meals should not be eaten often.  Eating a healthy diet comprised of mostly vegetables, fruit, complex carbs and lean protein will give us a better quality of life so that we can live longer, free of disease.  I think it’s worth the trade off, don’t you?  

Balancing Your Mental and Spiritual Health for Whole Body Wellness

We tend to be focused on our diets and exercise when it comes to taking care of ourselves, but in order to have whole body wellness, we need to also take care of our mind and spirit as well. Just like our body needs exercise, whole foods, and proper nutrition in order to stay strong and healthy, our minds and spirits need attention as well in order to stay strong and healthy.

When I start to get busy and my schedule starts to fill up one of the first things to go is my time doing morning devotions. I will almost always get some sort of exercise or body movement in somewhere and try to eat as healthy as I can, but it’s easy to put my spiritual/mental health on the back burner. And when I’m tired after a long day, it’s easy to just scroll twitter, the news feed and instagram to see what’s going on in the world rather than to be disciplined to get in my daily devotional. The results are almost always the same when my habits start going downhill: no morning devo = mindset starts to go downhill. I start to get more anxious and worried, rather than trusting that God has it all under His control.

As I was listening to Priscilla Shirer (my favorite teacher) this afternoon, she mentioned that the breastplate (spiritual armor) is one of the most important pieces of armor that we can put on. This is the one piece of armor that we need to be sure that we are continually wearing. We will be attacked by the enemy, we will have life come at us hard and we need to have God’s armor on at all times so that we do fall while under attack. God’s armor helps us to remain impervious to the attacks of the enemy.

I believe that we as Americans have not ever had to endure real persecution for our faith. But a time is coming that we will need to have endurance and perseverance to be able to finish our our race while being faithful to Christ. Just look around at the political temperature right now. We are seeing churches being shut down, worship not being able to take place, and Jew’s in New York unable to meet for church or worship. Make no mistake, the enemy is at work looking to snuff out the name of Jesus Christ. There are hard times coming. We must keep our faith strong and our spiritual armor on to be able to withstand what is coming. If we ignore our faith or don’t consistently feed our faith with God’s word we will have a weak and shallow faith that will be unable to withstand the coming storms.

We must be as disciplined as we are with our diets and exercise to remain reading, praying, and learning scriptures to be able to have a faith that is deeply rooted like a strong oak tree so that when the enemy attacks us and our families, we are able to stand strong. Persecution will come, but if we are prepared, strong and ready for war, we will overcome.

What do you need to do in order to make your mental and spiritual health a priority?

Four Principles to Live By for Weight Loss

When I work with clients, I teach them the best way to lose weight is to eat real, whole foods.  

Dieting can be so restrictive and it is easy to put weight back on when you go “off your diet”.  

But when you learn to eat whole, real foods and eliminate the processed foods, it can become a lifestyle that is easy to maintain and to keep weight off! 

Here are a few principles to think about when you choose your food:

Eat Real Food - at least 80-90% of your food should be whole foods, not the processed and packaged foods that we can just pop in a microwave to heat and then eat.   Look for high quality proteins in animals and legumes, nuts, seeds, veggies, fruit, whole grains (if you can eat them), organic dairy, olive oil, herbs, spices, teas, coffee and water. 

Food Can Give You Good Health Or Move You Away From It - the food you eat gives your genes and microbiomes directions.  It can repair, replenish, and nourish, or it can create inflammation and illness in your body.  Eat enzyme-rich, probiotic-rich and prebiotic-rich foods.  Find locally grown food if possible.  The vibrancy of the food you eat translates directly to your own vibrant health.  

Eat a Rainbow of Food - Look for colorful foods.  The green, orange, yellow, red, white/tan, and purple/blue foods are loaded with phytochemicals, vitamins, minerals, fiber and other ingredients that our bodies need to function at peak levels.  

Learn to Cook - Cooking at home gives you control over what goes into your meals.  Eating out at restaurants puts you at the mercy of their inflammatory oils used for frying and cooking, using less than stellar ingredients, and also using processed foods.  When you cook your own food you know exactly what goes into it and you can plan leftovers to use for future meals (pop them into the freezer for the future).  

When you eat whole, real foods you can control the quality of calories that you are eating and this can help you feel fuller for longer and help you lose weight.  This type of eating is sustainable and can help you live a quality life full of energy!  

sources: Digestive Wellness by Dr. Elizabeth Lipski

HOW CINNAMON AND HONEY CAN STRENGTHEN YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM

In the last 10 years, a movement towards achieving health through more natural means has become very popular. As a Holistic Healthy Coach, I love introducing clients to ways in which they can use nutrition to help aid and restore the human body, including weight loss.  In this article, I have listed a few items that can be found in your home.   These two food items can actually help boost your immune system!

Honey

This golden substance produced by bees has long been associated with healing and health. For thousands of years, people have used honey for application on wounds, and science now reveals some of the secrets to its marvelous properties!  Studies have shown that honey contains powerful antioxidants. These vitamins and trace minerals help to break down free radicals that can cause massive damage to cells and can possibly protect against a multitude of possible ailments.

Honey is also probiotic, in that it delivers many of the important flora responsible for proper digestion, and the control of metabolism in the body. As honey is digested, the microflora deposit themselves into the stomach and large intestine to aid in digestive function, as well as provide a buffer against harmful microbes by attacking them and destroying their membranes.

Cinnamon

Cinnamon is a favorite autumn spice that comes from the inner bark of trees belonging to the the genus of Cinnamomum. This flavorful and festive spice is well known for its contributions to recipes, but it has many hidden properties which make it an important player in the world of natural health. For one, cinnamon is full of antioxidants, which can help with healthy aging. They also have the ability to help repair cells damaged by cancer causing agents.

Cinnamon is also a powerful anti-inflammatory and can lessen many of the risks associated with heart disease, which include high cholesterol and high blood pressure. Having less stress on the body also means a more efficient immune system and allows the body to fight infection.

When honey and cinnamon are combined, their antimicrobial power is strengthened. The combination of these two powerful antimicrobials and antioxidants may even help to prevent some sickness in people. They also work together by stimulating white blood cell production.

Good Bacteria You Need for a Healthy Immune System

Most people are aware of the types of things that we need to do in daily life to remain healthy. Eating right, exercise, sleeping regularly, and having proper elimination are just a few of the basic activities that come to mind, but what if there was another important level that very few think about?  There is a tiny yet big world inside each person that is populated by bacteria which has a powerful impact on our health, vitality, and longevity. These tiny organisms (bacteria) help us to live by making processes inside our bodies possible, and they are often divided into two main groups.

Lactobacillus

These bacteria are generally helpful because they are responsible for many of the processing functions. When children are born, they receive them from their mother as they pass through the birth canal.  One of these bacterias such as Lactobacillus Acidophilus, is related to breaking down sugars into lactic acid. Lactic acid is a substance made in the body that is helpful in the fight against harmful strains of bacteria. There is also evidence that suggests that there are a few disorders that can be caused by a lack of these bacterial populations.

Modern advances have brought us marvelous advancements in medicine with antibiotics, but studies have shown that antibiotics tend to have a harmful effect on the good and helpful populations of gut flora, so it is necessary to supplement the bacteria by ingesting alternate sources of Lactobacillus.

Many of these helpful strains can be found in foods such as yogurt, kefir and other fermented food types. There are also a number probiotic supplement solutions available in you local Health Food Store.

Bifido-bacterium

Scientists now believe that over 3/4 of our immune system is located in our intestinal tract, with over 500 species of bacteria in the mix. With such a large population of bacteria living in us, it should be of little surprise that we depend on them so heavily for the various functions they serve on a daily basis. Many Bifido bacteria reside within the colon and large intestine. These bacteria play a heavy role in controlling elimination, aiding in digestion, and even have the ability to repair damage from carcinogenic sources in the body.

As you can see here, it is vital to keep healthy bacteria within our intestines so that we can keep our immune systems healthy.  You can easily find these in either food or supplement form. 

3 Immune System Boosting Supplements to Take Daily

Immune System Boosting Supplements

As we head towards cold and flu season, you may want to think about grabbing some extra supplements to keep your immune system healthy.

Supplements can be taken in many forms including pills, liquids, and powders. The trick to using supplements is to know your body. You need to know what your body is lacking in, what it needs, and how to achieve that goal. Here are a few immune boosting supplements that can give your body the extra edge it needs to boost the immune system and fight off illness without taxing your body.

Most people are lacking in daily dosages of basic vitamin and minerals. Our bodies do not make these, nor can we store them, so we must get our vitamins and minerals through the foods we eat and the supplements we take every day. What are bodies don't use get's eliminated via our elimination systems (urine etc.)

Probiotics

One of the leading supplements to take when you are trying to boost your immune system is a probiotic. There are several reasons for this, but the number one reason is your digestive system. When you get sick, your body may start to slow down and become sluggish. This includes your digestive tract. This means that toxins are being held in your body and could be harboring bacteria that makes it harder for you to get over the illness you are experiencing. Probiotics will help break down these toxins and flush your system. Probiotics can be found in fermented foods, Kombucha drinks, Kefir drinks and in supplement forms that are easy to take.

Omega 3

The main reason to add Omega 3 to your system is due to how it interacts with your white cells. The omega 3 fatty acids help your white cells to work at optimal levels to help fight bacteria. If you are taking Vitamin D supplements, the Omega 3 will also help the Vitamin D work at optimal levels as well. You can boost your omega 3 supplement during times when you are sick with a cold or flu to help boost the immune system and the white cells working on the bacteria. You can find Omega 3’s in ground flax seed and in chia seeds. They are easy to add to a protein smoothie, protein pancake or baked oatmeal.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is a standard when it comes to supplements for your immune system. Though you may know you should be taking it you may not know what it does. Though it does help building your immune system, it also helps to flush out your system while maintaining the stomach lining and intestinal lining and not disrupting or damaging these areas. You can take Vitamin C in many forms, but a juice or smoothie option will get the benefits into your system quickly and easily. You can find Vitamin C in a supplement form at your local Health Food Store and add it to your morning smoothie.

The key to remember when you reach for supplements is to grab is to look for certain labels. The trick to getting the purest form is to look for vegan labeled supplements if you are reaching for plant-based options. If you are going for non plant-based options then you need to look for a non-GMO label. This is due to the growing process of GMO foods that can hinder the benefits of the naturally occurring herb, plant, or animal supplement you are using.

3 Simple Habits to Keep You Illness-Free

3 Simple Healthy Habits to Keep you Illness-Free

Fall is here and you may have thought about the upcoming cold and flu season.  You know you want to find ways to keep you and your family free from sickness this season, but you aren’t sure where start.  You may know that changing your diet and exercise routine are part of that.  After that, you may be drawing a blank. There are some daily healthy habits you can start doing to keep you and your family illness-free. Here are a few of the habits that you may not  have already considered, may not even think about, or may not think you can apply to your life.

Prayer/Meditation

You may think that prayer or meditation sounds odd for a daily habit that reduces illness. The truth is, prayer/meditation can have a direct connection to your overall health. Meditation, which can be done in many forms, helps your body to slow down. It helps you to focus on root issues and find ways to handle those issues so they don't get out of hand. It allows you to calm down from daily issues such as problems with your children, work, or just things that are upsetting you. It is a time to reflect and to focus on your overall emotional health.

When you don't deal with these emotional and mental issues, it can cause your body to become tense and stressed. These tension and stress can increase your blood pressure, cause headaches, and lead to your immune system breaking down. Simple daily meditation habits can help reduce that and increase an illness-free lifestyle.

Journaling

You may hear the word journaling and immediately cringe. It does bring to mind to the idea of daily journal entries that are tedious. The truth is, you can journal in a number of ways, including video journaling. The reason journaling works is that it helps keep illness at bay is because of the elimination part of journaling.  It allows you to eliminate or get out the things that are troubling you and by doing that it has a direct connection to stress levels and can reveal stress inducing instances and people to you that you may not think of as an issue.

For example, if you are feeling anxiety and you have worked through the normal checklist of suspects, journaling can help you narrow down the others. By working through a journaling process on a daily process, you will find yourself able to rant, able to release stress, and able to figure out what may be causing undue stress so you can remove it. The reduced stress means a calmer body and mind, which means your body works at a more efficient level and your immune system is healthy and able to fight off illness.

Hydration

You may have a great meditation, journaling, workout routine, and diet routine. You may think that you have it all figured out, but if you are still getting sick, you may be missing the biggest link to reducing that illness. If your hydration is off, you could be causing stress within your body and organ system. Your body needs water to work properly, and juicing does not cover it. If you have everything else covered and you are still getting ill, try to increase your water intake. You can do this with several methods, including gallon jug marking and apps that are designed to remind you to drink water.

By applying these habits to your daily routine, you will start to notice that your immune system seems to be stronger and you seem to get sick much less. Keep in mind that a lot of the healthy habits you take on have nothing to do with eating or supplements and more to do with keeping your mind and emotions as healthy as everything else.