Maintaining fitness of a lifetime, and better health - Overtraining & Adrenal Fatigue (Part 7)

How much do you know about your brain? How much do you really know the vital functions of your brain and the role of regulating stress pathways? How would you know, if there are some form of degeneration of the brain areas which can affect the autonomic nervous system or stress response? For some people, they experienced symptomatic reactions, but for others, it may be asymptomatic. 

Imagine, when you have given up hope on conventional medicine on your on-going symptoms of fatigue, low libido, and digestive issues and perhaps even resistance weight loss, you then made up your mind to seek help from alternative medical practitioners. After some research done on your own, you consult a naturopath or maybe a holistic practitioner. As symptoms being assessed by the practitioner, in most cases, you may well be diagnosed with adrenal fatigue or exhausted adrenal glands. You are then prescribed herbs and supplements which support your adrenals, thinking that it will fix the root cause of your symptoms, but in some cases, it may not be the case. 

Bear in mind, most holistic practitioners tend to treat the symptoms too, but instead of using prescription drugs, a natural non-drug approach is prefered. Minority of naturopaths or similar holistic health practioners may dig deeper into finding the underlying cause of the problem, it may turn out to be a hit and miss situation. In some cases, the symptoms return after some time, due to actual causal factors are not tackled. Example, one may be prescribed adaptogenic herbs or DHEA supplements. Do note that adrenals are just a factory making stress and sex hormones, but these little glands do not have mind on its own. 

Today, I will explain about hippocampus. The hippocampus is the part of our brain most responsible for mitigating the stress response, and it helps coordinate your adrenal circadian rhythms. As such, it also has the richest repository of cortisol receptors anywhere in the brain. It's the first part of the brain to deteriorate in Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia and is the first part of your brain to suffer under chronic stress. People with neurological instability originating in the temporal lobes, which house the hippocampus, commonly suffer from migraines, seizure disorders, hypoglycemia, mood swings, and other types of instabilities. Normal levels of cortisol in the brain aren’t necessarily problematic, but chronically elevated cortisol levels lead to what neuroscientists and stress physiologists refer to as increased allostatic load. It readily leads to neurodegenerative changes and impaired stress management over time along with many other unpleasant consequences.

Remember, the hippocampus is involved in long-term memory storage, and stress-related atrophy can lead to memory and cognitive impairment. Signs and symptoms of adrenal circadian dysregulation need to be taken seriously, since this can increase your risk for cardiovascular disease, gastrointestinal problems, compromised immunity, and Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia. The hippocampus expresses the highest level of glucocorticoid receptors within the brain and is particularly vulnerable to the effects of stressful experiences. As for other areas in the body, the gut resides the most cortisol receptors. When a person has a huge belly and body fat around the mid section, that typically describe the individual as chronically stressed and also high consumption of sugars too. High secretion of insulin from ingestion of refined carbs and sugars will convert to body fat and primarily store in the gut area. But the problem is, most people tend to be immune with daily stressors, especially mental and emotional stress. Think of your terrible boss on your neck day in day out, or working shifts rotating between night and morning for years, the stress mechanism will adapt and continue adapting for years, but the alarm will go off when comes a period where the body can no longer handle it anymore. I've personally known some of my clients and friends who have been living with chronic stressors, taking the beating for years. 

Cortisol has been found to be toxic to cells in the hippocampus, a structure that plays a critical role in the consolidation of short-term into long-term explicit memory as well as descending control of the HPA axis. Chronic stress, which continually marinates your delicate hippocampal tissue in cortisol, is a major cause of hippocampal degeneration. But there are other factors that may be involved. For example, as I explained earlier, eating too much sugar and starchy foods leads to both insulin and cortisol surges and glycation damage, along with inflammation and damaging free radical activity. Neuroinflammation caused by these foods, gluten exposure, and other forms of immune reactivity to food and other environmental/dietary substances may also be at fault, as may underlying autoimmunity. 

Also, methylation defects or poor or inadequate intake of crucial methyl donors may generate inflammation (as may high homocysteine levels and methyl donor deficiencies), especially when it comes to methylated vitamin B12 and folic acid. Deficiencies of elongated forms of omega-3 (DHA) can lead to hippocampal tissue compromise, too. Our delicate and vulnerable temporal lobes are continually caught in the cross-fire of modern day stress and nutritionally depleted diets. It's a recipe for disaster.

Please take note that hippocampal degeneration is no joke. This issue is all too common nowadays, and it's showing up in younger and younger people. Radiologists who see it in even relatively young individuals are starting to refer to it as a normal variant of aging. There is nothing normal about this in any way, shape, or form, simply because it is becoming increasingly common! The same with man-made disease cancer, as more people are dying from it, but is it normal? Definitely no, but it is becoming increasingly common. We need to carefully safeguard this part of our brain today more than ever. It is the part of our brain least adapted to the kind of stress we associate with modern life. It needs your special attention to function and age at its best!

One clue to as why the prevalence of hippocampal degeneration is increasing may lie in recent research published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, which has revealed that diets high in carbohydrates (sugar and starch) have an 89 percent increased risk for dementia. Conversely, those eating a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet exhibit a 44 percent reduced risk. Additional illuminating research published in the Journal Neurology in November 2013 found that consistently higher blood sugar levels clearly adversely impact cognitive function. 

When we do a simple common sense math here, all of us have been told to eat more carbohydrates (primarily from grains and wheat), and lower the intake of fats, the increase of neuro-degeneration amongst the population is showing the same trend. Sleep problems, cognitive decline, dementia, depression, Alzheimer's, and other neurological disorders. Remember, our body can virtually build nothing with carbohydrates (apart from stored glycogen), but it can build a mountain of critical materials in the body from fats and proteins. One with the lowest amount of fats consumed, the higher the risk of depression, obesity and neurological impairments. 

As new year is around the corner, why not set a simple transitional diet protocol for 14 days? Lose the carbs, eat your fats! You will be surprise to find out how much of weight you lose, and how well your brain can function and with optimal mental clarity, you will be able to handle daily tasks better and say goodbye with mood swings and crashing all the time after meals. As I lay out the symptoms of hippocampus dysregulation below, if you score half of the list, it's time you take things more seriously. Stay tuned and Happy New Year!

SYMPTOMS OF HIPPOCAMPAL DYSREGULATION

- Difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep 

- Energy crashes in the late afternoon 

- Difficulty getting going in the morning 

- Difficulty winding down at night 

- Memory problems 

- Difficulty learning new information 

- Forgetfulness (People with this issue are always having trouble remembering where they parked their car or put their glasses, car keys, cell phone, TV remote, etc.) 

- Neurological instability, such as mood swings or emotional reactivity, and migraine and seizure susceptibility 

- Stress intolerance

Reference/Journals:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3494735/

http://www.drperlmutter.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Neurology-2013-Kerti-1746-52.pdf 

Maintaining fitness of a lifetime, and better health - Overtraining & Adrenal Fatigue (Part 6)

When we eat certain foods or a meal, most of us rarely think about nutrition, digestive enzymes, antioxidants, vital minerals and also beneficial bacteria. What do most of us think prior to gulping down that beverage or eating a meal? Since the last decade or so, most people from young to old age, tend to be emotional eaters, driven by cravings for sugars and gluten, as mindful eating has been long forgotten amongst most of us.

Relationship with foods is no longer acknowledged and established amongst the modern society, the fast paced digital world has derailed us from how we should prepare and eat traditional nourishing foods, a tradition which kept our older ancestors healthy, functional and reproductive for countless generations.

In today's post, I will talk about just that, the vital nutrients which feed our brain and adrenals, and the entire mechanism chain which regulates our stress pathway. How important food can be, when it comes to providing the needed fuel and feeding the cells of these organs and glands? Let's discuss some of the vital nutrients which most of us are depleted and also other genetic factors which could play a role too.

First nutrient, Vitamin B12. A vital nutrient which majority of us suffer from low levels due to various factors. Bear in mind, even a moderate low level of this vitamin, can lead to depression, anemia, fatigue, and other health conditions. If one suffer from a prolonged deficiency of Vitamin B12, the damage of the brain and nervous system can varies from moderate to permanent. This is bad, if the brain is not functional and damage, the rest of the body will suffer too.

As anyone can Google the list of foods which is high in Vitamin B12, the best source of this vitamin nutrient is animal based foods, primarily seafood, organ meats (liver), beef, fatty fish, etc. How about vegan or vegetarian? What are the sources of foods which could still bio-available for people who can't eat animal based foods? Well, the choice is scarce, but if one could still consume dairy products and eggs, those would be an alternative source of Vitamin B12. If one consume a higher amount of this vitamin, it would primarily stored in the liver, for future use, and the rest will be excreted from the body.

While food sources is important, it would be wise to know what factors could deplete this nutrient in the body. Of of the most common factor is birth control pills. For women using this contraceptive method, it is important to take note and weigh the consequences. The other factor is hormone replacement therapy (synthetic), as this may apply to only a specific category of population but this therapy protocol is increasingly popular amongst older women. Besides that, the most widely used drugs of all the three, is acid blocking medication. It is now so common amongst the population who suffer from digestive issues ranging from acid reflux, GERD, indigestion, bloating, etc. The medical treatment has become a 'standard' practice and a regular 'ritual', prescribing acid blocking drugs to patients all over the world. Bear in mind, a powerful drug called proton pump inhibitor (PPI) can block stomach acid to a minimum zero production, depleting this nutrient involving in the intrinsic factor in the stomach.

Next, a genetic defects of MTHFR plays a role in producing MTHFR enzymes needed for healthy methylation and also involvement in any chemical reaction form of B Vitamins. This process is critical in converting amino acids homocysteine to methionine. The body uses methionine to make proteins and other important compounds. Also, without healthy, functional MTHFR, homocysteine cannot be converted to methionine. As a result, homocysteine builds up in the bloodstream, and the amount of essential methionine is reduced. Also, elevated homocysteine has been highly correlated with active neurodegeneration, impaired hepatic function, and compromised cardiovascular health.

When foods is concern, take a wild guess which source score the highest amongst the whole list? Yes, it's animal's liver, especially beef. In a person with truly impaired MTHFR function, obtaining your folate from exclusively methylated sources becomes especially critical.

Some of the supplements or sources to support the chonically stressed out brain is folic acid, preferably in liposomal liquid form, for better absorption. Another awesome nutrient would be choline, found abundance in egg yolk, needed for making acetylcholine. For eggs lovers, this is another reason why we should eat the whole egg, and not just the white, as most nutrition is in the striking orange yolk which we have been told is going to give you a heart attack and bad for the heart. A total nonsense, cholesterol is our friend, not enemy.

Meanwhile, other important nutrients such as Omega 3 fatty acids and arachidonic acid are also critical for brain health, and arguably the most important nutrient of all, is cholesterol! A diet rich in cholesterol is decidedly brain healthy. An estimated of 25% of cholesterol in the body is in the brain. Anything which interfere with the body production of cholesterol needed for physiological functions is definitely not a good idea. In this case, statins or also known as cholesterol lowering drugs, is the best way to inhibit cholesterol production by the liver. When you go against your body of producing cholesterol needed for so many vital functions, you are setting up a whole list of health conditions such as memory dysfunction, depression, endocrine issues, neurological instability, cognitive disorder, anxiety, and susceptibility to seizures and migraines too. Love cholesterol, embrace it, it is not the villain.

Next on the list is Vitamin D. This hormone is not only protective of cancer, but also anti-inflammatory which protects the delicate Omega 3 fatty acid. What is the best source of Vitamin D? For countless generations, the sun provide what our body need for optimum health, and it's free. It is listed a one of the most deficient nutrient of the general population, Vitamin D. Barely any time spent outdoor under strong sun, almost all of us spend easily 99% of our time indoor, away from sun exposure. I'm addition, most of us medicate ourselves with refined carbs and sugars and going on a low cholesterol diet, no thanks to dietary recommendation and so called nutrition and health experts.

Last but not least, I regard it as king of all minerals, magnesium. It is involved in more then 300 biochemical activities, one will realize how important this mineral is to the body. It displace excess aluminum, aids in detoxification, and is essential for a calm, functioning parasympathetic state. Increased levels of magnesium in the brain promote synaptic density and plasticity in the hippocampus. As I've blogged about this vital mineral in previous post, I will not deep dive into this discussion, but it is important to avoid as much exposure to chlorine and fluoride in water, refined sugars and stress.

In the next post, we will learn more about the role and importance of hippocampus, which relates to stress and adrenal regulation. Stay tuned.

Buying 'Organic' products : What you need to know

Eating organic whole foods is important, an essential component to achieving and maintaining ideal health and functional body. As more people are 'trying' to consume more organic foods, are they really eating real foods, or merely just processed foods which are labeled 'Organics'? If you want to know the truth of the so called 'Organic food products', this post may interest you.

First question, "Are you primarily eating organic whole foods?" Or are you eating mainly processed sugar laden foods which are labeled 'Organics'? Most people feel or think that they are eating healthier, without realizing the fact that they are bombarding the body with processed sugars, preservatives, wheat and primarily refined carbs. Are you just giving yourself another excuse to eat more sugars and wheat? 

One of the most common question people asked me, "Is organic whole wheat bread healthy?" The answer is a straight NO, but slightly less damaging to the body, but the concept of 'Organic' must not be an excuse of eating wheat-based foods or processed sugar loaded food products. How about organic energy bars? Or perhaps organic beer or processed fruit juices? Well, the focus here is, eating single ingredient whole foods, such as broccoli, chicken, eggs, fish, coconut oil, beef, organ meats, etc. The goal is gluten or wheat free, and avoid refined sugars to your best ability. Eating organic ice-cream will do more harm then not eating it, or being hungry for couple of hours is so much better then hitting that so called organic bread or muffin.

From the illustration structure below, you may be surprise to find out the profit-connection between processed food titans and some of the organic food manufacturers. As the trend of food purchase is shifting to organic industry, the processed food giants know where to invest, and the acquisitions of 'Organic' food companies is a clever way of sustaining the business and generating more profits.  

Remember, every dollar you pay and buy food products from these companies, you are supporting the processed food industry. Voting with food dollar is so powerful, and it start with you, one individual at a time, to support local farmers and organic whole foods industry. The amount of money spent on eating these so called 'organic' processed food products, can be invested to buying local organic whole foods.

Meanwhile, the second illustration photo below shows the connection tie between SEED-PHARMACEUTICAL-CHEMICAL companies. Very few people is aware of this multi trillion dollars 'secret' partnerships, and we as consumers are the guinea pigs and victims. To find out more about these connections, please visit the sources provided below, thanks to cornucopia.org. 

The so called 'Organic' food products connection

'Seed-Chemical-Pharmaceutical' connection, a multi trillion dollars industry which are making all of us sicker and fatter

How to ensure buying from trusted sources?

- Buy from local farmers who grow their own organic crops (get to know your local farmers and visit their farms)
- STOP buying food products from food manufacturers listed in the 'Organic Industry Structure'
- Only buy from trusted organic food products, but the focus is still eating organic whole foods as foundation of daily rountine



Source:
http://www.cornucopia.org/who-owns-organic/
http://www.cornucopia.org/seed-industry-structure-dr-phil-howard/

Maintaining fitness of a lifetime, and better health - Overtraining & Adrenal Fatigue (Part 5)

As most people go through their lives on daily basis, some experience the obvious stress, and for some, they are not aware of, even if it happen on almost every workday. For much of the time, we know stress when we feel it, but for certain scenarios, we tend to get 'immune' to it, and we didn't realize it's a stressor. 

Let's take some of the most common situations where most of us experienced it on regular basis. As we are heading to work during rush hour, the traffic is simply not moving, you have a meeting to attend, and you are afraid to get fired or complain by your boss. The unpleasant feeling of stress is felt by most people, but there are also some situations where we are so get used to it, such as commuting in an hour long thinking that you are in for a ride. Or, in another scenario, you get used to sleeping late, going to bed 2 or 3 am on nightly basis, happened for years, and your just don't feel it anymore. 

The thing is, whether you know it or not, your brain does. This vital organ is command central. it detects the dangers in your internal and external environment and sends out signals and chemical messengers, including those that go directly to the adrenal glands. Bear in mind, the brain is the key organ of the response to stress because it determines what is threatening and therefore, potentially stressful, as well as physiological and behavioral responses which can be either adaptive or damaging. 

In this post, we will discuss more about the brain, and the mechanism that are involved with regulating aspects of the adrenal glands. 

Hypothalamus - It is essential to the HPA axis that regulates the amount of cortisol your adrenal glands produced at any given time.

Hippocampus - The area of the brain's temporal lobe that helps to coordinate your cortisol circadian rhythm.

Mesencephalic Midbrain - Controls the amplitude of your adrenal response.

Pineal Gland - Helps regulate circadian cortisol and melatonin balance.

The first 3 areas of the brain, are part of your limbic system, or sometimes it's called the emotional primal brain. Brain messages are carried via neurotransmitters and inflammatory compounds called cytokines, delivered to what are referred to as PVN (paraventricular nuclear) cells in your hypothalamus, which determine how much cortisol your adrenals need to produce at any given time.

Let's say if there are too much stimulation or too many stimulants, too much stress or too much exercise, the result will be overstimulation or even agitation. And if there is are more inhibitory messages, then your cortisol output will be inhibited, for better or worst. it's all about appropriate messaging and feedback loops.

Bear in mind, infections and certain types of inflammatory cytokines can have huge dampening effect on the hypothalamus, either through receptor down-regulation related to chronic inflammatory bombardment or depressed CRH release, as seen with autoimmune conditions. Also, certain inflammatory cytokines can block the stimulatory effects of CRH and ACTH on the pituitary and adrenal cortex.

There are multiple ways which a hypothalamic mishap, which can lead to adrenal dsyregulation. It can send a message to the adrenal glands that causes them to release too much cortisol or not enough. In this scenario, taking adrenal herbal protocols or supplements may seem ineffective ain't it? The problem is not the adrenal glands itself, but in the message it is receiving from the brain.

As you can see, although adrenal dsyregulation is known by many alternative medical practitioners, but few would truly understand part of this mechanism which could be alter what's really happening here. In fact, if this is the case, it is not glandular in nature at all, but is instead often due to mechanisms and dsyregulation in the brain that lead to faulty signaling to the adrenals. Remember, your adrenal glands are just simply a hormone factory, they basically do what is being signaled by the brain.

I know, by now, some of you must be thinking. If my holistic or naturopathic doctor may misdiagnose this scenario, how on earth would the doctor get into the root cause of my supposedly adrenal related problem? Not to mention those patients who are being poorly diagnosed by conventional doctors and almost entirely no clue what is wrong with these exhausted sick people.

More and more people are replying on stimulants such as energy drinks, coffee, tea, soft drinks, and any foods laden with sugar. For others, nicotine in cigarettes, alcohol and wheat based foods as source of quick but short lived energy boost. In order for one to assess the level of adrenal dsyregulation, calculate the amount of stimulants needed for regular or daily dependency. It's the same concept with trying to boost testosterone level using synthetic formulas, or perhaps sleeping pills to enable sleeping disorder.

In the next post, I will discuss about other part of the brain (hippocampus) and also certain ways and nutrition protocols to support and feed the brain. Stay tuned.

Maintaining fitness of a lifetime, and better health - Overtraining & Adrenal Fatigue (Part 4)

By looking at the skin tone of a person, one could tell if he or she spend most of the time indoor or outdoor. Fair skin individuals, tend to be deficient in sun exposure as well as Vitamin D level too. Why spending good amount of time outdoor during day time is critical? How does sunlight exposure matters to health and even related to fitness? 

Imagine, a person who is awaken before the sun rise, headed to the studio set and work all day indoor, exposing to bright lights. At the same time, it's raining outside during the day, with moderately bright sunlight during showers. Study has shown that exposure to bright sunlight after 30-60 mins upon awaken from sleep during morning, will initiate the 'cortisol awakening response'. Meaning, the circadian rhythm kick start for that day itself, to initiate a supposedly proper rhythm for day and night cycle. Exposure to natural strong sunlight for just minutes in the morning, triumphed the strong artificial lights indoor for the entire day. 

A typical individual who head to work early in the morning, being transported by car or commuter, generally lack of sunlight exposure and intensity, losing the ability to kickstart the circadian rhythm for the day itself. If any of you have tried before, spending time outdoor in the morning or daytime during summer or hot weather, you tend to be able to fall asleep earlier in the night, and achieve quality sleep during night time. The cortisol and melatonin cycle is crucial, as part of hormonal cycle and without distressing the adrenals.

Not getting enough time outdoors during the day or living in a place far from equator where there are more dark hours than sunlit ones especially in the winter time can alter melatonin secretion. Bear in mind, if your melatonin is low, your sleep is going to be lousy. Lack of REM sleep, then you may not dream, which is actually necessary for your mental health. Poor sleep, poor recovery, poor fitness. Apart from that, there are also some sleep medications may interfere with quality restorative sleep. 

As you may wonder, after pulling an all nighter staying awake or flying across multiple timezones, you fall sick a day or two after that. Melatonin primes your immune function and thus, stimulates inflammation, while cortisol tends to dampen immunity and reduce inflammation. That's how these two chemicals work together in a modulatory pattern. Cortisol is not the villain here, and there is no bad guys nor good guys, as each different chemical or hormones in the body play it's own important role to ensure the body function optimally.

For people who suffer from insomnia or any sleep related problems, it would be ridiculous to think that it is due to deficiency in sleeping pills. For some, taking melatonin supplement may help for short term aid of making one sleep better, but this is not recommended for long term fix. Even for any holistic protocol or approach towards insomnia or similar sleep related disorder, relying on melatonin supplement could make the condition worst if prolonged application. Reason? It disrupt the natural rhythm of the body ability to regulate circadian and potentially disturbs the integrity of the pituitary gland. Bear in mind, oral melatonin typically does not cross the blood brain barrier and can down regulate endogenous melatonin from being produced in the brain, which is needed for healthy detoxification there. If one feels better and can sleep well after taking melatonin supplement, it is likely you have leaky brain! Both good and bad news at the same time.

As for some naturopathic doctors or practitioners, they may recommend or prescribe at bioidentical hormones, but it should not be used as a long term fix for any hormonal depletion or dsyregulation. it does not matter if you are 30's or 60's. It will impact on your circadian rhythm, but for some patients, a quick short term application could help them in various ways.

For many years, I've personally known may people including fitness enthusiasts and even personal trainers, who live on processed foods or refined carbs diet, and burning off their adrenals even further by performing exercises which flood the body with elevated cortisol production. Some may think that as long as I can run 5 km daily for the last 8-10 years, or having the ability to do Crossfit day in day out, I'm healthy and fit. That is just another sign of these individuals shooting their adrenals from all possible angles.

There is virtually no way for the body to make seratonin and melatonin for bedtime, if you are bombarding yourself with junk loaded garbage. Eating primarily carbs or sugars from grains, wheat and processed or fast foods will inhibit the conversion of tryptophan to these crucial neurotransmitters. One may think that they can fall asleep when they hit the bed at 1 or 2am. Remember, it is not because of ideal levels of melatonin produced by the body, but it is the exhausted adrenals from the daytime stressors which drained the energy levels and flat you out entirely.

Try choose a random workday, you will notice many people around your workplace gulping down soft drinks, coffee (the green logo cup), and teas (caffeinated) just to keep the energy going at office, those will accompanied with carbs loaded lunch and breakfast, as the cravings and dependency on sugar, gluten and caffeine become bad to worst overtime. Buying fake energy with these stimulants during the day, will knock off your adrenals, and for the ones who is chronically stressed out from other factors such as job, relationship and family issues, this is a big whopping nail in the coffin.

We have more people who suffer from depression and sleep disorders then ever before. With the increase of sleeping pills and SSRI prescriptions for 'zombies' and depressive patients, the rates of these disabilities are on a record high, and it does not tally with the overly prescribed drugs for these conditions. The rates of depression should be all time low, and we should see more people hitting REM sleep with less insomnia cases. But why it's the opposite instead? It just doesn't make any sense at all.

Meanwhile, below are some of the simple things you can do, for a better restorative sleep, and without most nights of quality sleep, there is no way your immune system can reach it's maximum healing potential.



What to do before bedtime?

- No work nor any electronic devices usage by 9pm (or at least an hour before bedtime).
- Switch off all wireless devices and set mobile phone to airplane mode (wireless router, radio, etc)
- Avoid caffeinated beverages in the afternoons
- Avoid odd hour shift work or late night outings
- Ensure adequate amount of protein (animal based) during dinner
- Try add a tablespoon of coconut oil with dinner, or before sleep
- Drink tulsi herb (tea form) instead of melatonin supplement, before bedtime.

Maintaining fitness of a lifetime, and better health - Overtraining & Adrenal Fatigue (Part 3)

What if the body's stress adaptation system becomes malfunction? What if adrenal dsyfunction is not necessarily the result of one thing, but can be caused by many different factors? Is adrenal dysfunction necessarily progressive in nature?

As many of us go through our daily lives for countless days, months and years, how much do we really realize the impact of stress to our health and body? Some of us suffer from chronic stress, for others, the adaptation system for stress becoming less and less functional, and eventually broke down somewhere along our lifespans. From regular partying when we were in high school and college, to eating crap diet most of our lives, and enduring stressful job and relationships, how much do we all know about adrenal glands? The very vital crescent-shaped glands that sit on top of each kidney like a cap. Small glands with huge job, imagine these little glands need to secrete chemical messengers that communicate with our brains, immune system and metabolism for our entire lives! 

Firstly, let's get to know cortisol a little better. Although this stress hormone is not as popular as adrenaline, but it is vitally important for a long list of functions in our body. It influences macronutrients metabolism, but if abused in excess, cortisol can lead to metabolic disorder and immunosuppression. This primary stress hormone is largely catabolic in nature, meaning, it generally breaks things down. However, a minimum amount of cortisol is needed for certain anabolic or building, functions such as gut repair. It counteracts inflammation. It can also increases fatty acids in the bloodstream to be used as fuel for energy. 

For whoever concern about mood and emotional stability, this particular hormone plays a crucial role. Chronic cortisol secretion inhibit seratonin (happy hormone), GABA (anti-stress neurotransmitter), and deplete your reproductive sex hormones too. When one is often depressed or feels stressed out, GABA and seratonin are the primary neurotransmitters which drop low whenever the brain perceive as stress as cortisol pouring out day in day out, further depleting anti-oxidants levels and stealing sex hormones too.

As how humans have evolved, cortisol help the body cope with emergency by increasing blood sugar level. The liver undergo a process called gluconeogenesis through protein mobilization from peripheral tissues that are converted to glucose. Bear in mind, cortisol is neither good or bad, but it has been made villain by the medical industry. This vital hormone needs to be present in the right amount at the right times to be optimally beneficial to the body. In other words, a healthy rhythm, or some may call it circadian rhythm.

I remember many people asked me "How do I know if my cortisol hormone is regulating optimally?" Firstly, your cortisol level is normally highest in the morning when you first wakes up. If you have to drag your butt off the bed to awaken yourself, that's a sign of adrenal fatigue, or exhausted adrenals. Over the course of the day, cortisol secretion eases and reaches at its lowest point when the darkness increases and during bedtime (9 to 10pm). As one stays awake late at night, your body will perceive as summer or daytime, and cortisol secretion continue to pour out, suppressing melatonin (sleep hormone). The entire hormonal pathways will be affected directly, causing dsyregulation of insulin, ghrelin, leptin and sex hormones.

Throughout the night when we sleep, blood sugar level drops ( in a perfect world ). But, the problem is, most people are eating a high carbs/sugar meal or dinner before they hit the bed, spiking blood sugar and triggering cortisol during sleep period. Wonder why you fall asleep and awake about one of two hours later for possibly no reason? Bear in mind, cortisol is an awakening hormone. We are suppose to have low cortisol at night and during sleep, and increase when we are awake during the sympathetic nervous system regulation.

I have personally known too many people in my life, the ones who want to achieve ideal fitness and lean body, but they scored poorly and neglected the aspect of good circadian rhythm and sleep wake cycles. The body primarily goes into repair, rebuild and rejuvenate when it is is resting mode, especially deep uninterrupted sleep. The 2 phases of repair during sleep is vital, from 10pm to 6am.

Bear in mind, a typical pattern of a circadian rhythm dsyregulation of an individual, similar to roller coaster ride. A classic example would be, the person wakes up feeling tired and exhausted, having the need to drink that cup of coffee or tea to get the morning started. For some, the craving for refined carbs and wheat based foods are very a dependency for breakfast. And yes, even tons of personal trainers and doctors and going through this unrealized adrenals dilemma. Bread, sugars and caffeine,  appear to be a norm for most part of the globe, and we are shooting our adrenals even further, as breakfast may well kick-start the 'vicious cycle' for that particular day. For someone who suffer from circadian rhythm dsyregulation, he or she would chronically irritable and agitated, emotionally reactive and having problem winding down at night, and restless when sleep. These type of people, tend to have trouble managing stress in their lives.

This type of circadian rhythm need to be taken seriously and addressed aggressively with diet, and nutrition protocols and support. Dependent on stimulants such as sugars, gluten, alcohol, nicotine and caffeine is definitely not the solution. In fact, these stimulants will destroy your hormones and making the adrenals even more fatigue with prolonged consumption. The 'fake energy' is brief and damaging to the body, not to mention extremely addictive especially coffee and gluten-based foods (wheat) and of course, SUGAR, arguably the no.1 public enemy in terms of health and weight gain.

As for these individuals, they are primarily sugar burners, and have low tolerance to of blood sugar swings. They rely on sugars as primary source of fuel, and I meant simple/refined sugars. You may be asking, how would I know if I'm a sugar burner? It's simple. Try eat a meal primarily consist of fats and perhaps moderate amount of protein, and virtually zero carbs. Once your feel full after the meal, and if you crave for sugars or carb-based foods, you are most likely insulin-resistance and sugar burner. It doesn't matter honey, fruits, starchy vegetables, grains or processed sugars, your brain will still perceive as sugars.

Now, let's shift gear and visit the gym. When we hit the gym, or perform any form of exercise or even play sports, our body breaks down into a catabolic state. Doesn't mater resistance training or running marathon, the longer the body undergo stress (physical), your brain sends signals to the adrenal to secrete cortisol for survival purpose. Wonder why your feel weaker after every set of doing bench press or squat? You get weaker after every rep and set as the workout routine prolonged.

As the main focus for most people is on weight loss or building a nicer toned body, most of us fail to listen to our body, thus, in most cases, endocrine pathway goes haywire, and the body release way more stress hormone then other beneficial hormones when it comes to exercise or 'workout'. In a nutshell, we are hurting our body physiologically and physically too.

Maintaining fitness of a lifetime, and better health - Overtraining & Adrenal Fatigue (Part 2)

The term adrenaline, comes to mind when one experience scenarios such as roller coaster ride or perhaps being chased by a stray dog. But, in fact, cortisol is really our primary stress adrenal hormone. It has huge variety of influences. It response to stress, involve in carbohydrates, protein and fat metabolism, it is also a catabolic hormone. Most fitness enthusiasts and gym rats know what anabolic is, and in this case, it is the opposite, which means breaking things down. But, we do need a low amount of cortisol for function such as repairing the gut and address inflammation. It is a true blood sugar hormone, and our  adrenals release cortisol when we are in a state of surival mode, flight or fight situation. Our body goes for the rocket fuel because it may think that we are under threat and the need to outrun or fight off a predator. 

In the modern society,  people stressed out in their lives, blood sugar can be chronically elevated, and for most elite athletes, cortisol level is chronically high, peak output is a stressful thing to do. High ortisol equally to elevated blood sugar and vice versa. In the world of  'dreaming of 6 pack abs' body or getting the physique of a bodybuilder or even fitness models, we have officially raise the 'cortisol bar' of new stress standard. Many of us self abused our body physically and hormonally. Think of burning a candle faster then what it should be, your adrenals are taking the hit round the clock. 

Some of you may have a considerable clean diet, but constantly thrashing your body in the gym or training for marathon or trialthon may well age you faster, increase gut permeability, damaging brain cells (BDNF), and always set your sympathetic nervous system ON, while enabling your body in a catabolic state. In a perfect world, it releases in a rhythmic pattern,  high in early wee hours, and lower when the sun is setting down, and lowest when darkness increase with very minimal light. We should be able to get a good night sleep, but more and more people are now suffering from insomnia, either difficulty to fall asleep, or poor interrupted sleep during the night. Sleep is as vital as your exercise and diet routine, and if your body is contantly in catabolic stressed out mode, it will lose the ability to cope with recovering and repairing itself, thus, more damage then doing good. 

Well, some of you may wonder, how can I measure my stress hormone cortisol? Would the standard blood test tell me anything? Think of watching a movie teaser of maybe 60 seconds. Would you be able to know the entire story and what's happening to your circadian rhythm or adrenals health? Of course not. You may do a salivary adrenal test (ASI), to measure salivary level of cortisol. Blood levels of cortisol serum is about 99% of protein bound and unable to be utilize by the body. So, if you are looking at the free form of cortisol level in body (done throughout the day with different time), the real time data obtained will give a much bigger picture of what's happening with your adrenals and circadian rhythm. In other words, you get to see what kind of pattern your body is operating in. You would be surprise to find out how many people are suffering from adrenal fatigue, the insomniac and the 'snooze-heavy butt' , people who have problems waking up in the morning having to drag their ass off the bed. Meanwhile, most people cortisol rhythm is out of whack during the day too, as levels go sky high in the afternoon, mainly from dependancy of caffeine and stimulants such as sugars and wheat. 

As more cafes and coffee shops are opened from time to time, we are growing into a caffeinated population. Commercially sold coffee products are high in mycotoxins and pesticides, further destroying the hormones and suppressing the immune system. Some people have the need to drink a pot of coffee just to get the morning going, and feeling irritable and agitated during the day has become so common, that we are seeing more 'bad-mood' society around us. Think of roller coaster, a similar pattern of energy all over the place. This particular person who dependant on caffeine to get the day going, are so tired and ending up unable to wind down during the night and have a restless 'high-cortisol' sleep.

Now, imagine you tired, restless, maybe partial brain-fog too, and you realize that you are on schedule to hit the gym and need to workout today. No pain no gain remember? You then ignored what your body is trying to tell you, and you guzzle down more energy drinks and coffee to get the day through, and maybe a protein shake when you are in the locker room of the gym before your RPM or LES Mills class. The cycle will keep on rolling as vicious as it gets, and your body is catabolizing itself into survival mode, infections and inflammation are brewing inside the body, and autoimmunity is just the matter of time before the alarm goes off. I'm sure you have friends or fitness buddies who often tell you that they are sick and down with flu or cold. A society of fit but sick human being. 

 In the current fitness industry, the mainstream approach is GO-GO-GO! Burn more calories and workout more regularly. Want short cut to weight loss or body transformation? Drink your shakes and add in more weight loss supplements, and don't forget, participate in marathon or daily gym sessions. We are being constantly chase by sabre tooth, lions and tigers almost 98% of the time. Human body has evolved for thousands if not millions of years, to be in a relax state of mind, which is the opposite of what we are going through right now. Perhaps the reserved 2% is used for hunting and emergency survival situations. Coming from a fitness background, myself has witness a commercially money driven industry, which not only drain and stressed out the clients adrenals and state of health, this has becoming comical in some way, which almost the entire community is buying into the whole no-pain-no-gain calories burning approach. The self-abuse paradigm is not only decreasing life-span ,quality of life and health, as our ancestors will never do things in such a way. 

Now, let me present to you Dr. Hans Selye. He was often regarded as the father of stress physiology. A brilliant endocrinologist and researcher, and was nominated close to 10 times for Nobel Prize. His findings, research and his adrenal exhaustion model are still being taught as of today, by some of the naturopathic doctors, holistic health practitioners and even clinical nutritionists. 

Dr. Hans Selye

Are you really suffering from adrenal fatigue or faulty signaling from the brain?

The model of Hans Selye proposed in 1950's seems intially logical and theoretically progresses in three stages.


1) The acute stage, in which an initial stressor causes a release of stress hormone cortisol.
2) The resistance stage, during which cortisol levels may be either high or low.
3) The exhaustion stage, in which cortisol release becomes chronically depressed due to adrenal exhaustion.

The last stage of this progression, is regarded as the last nail of the coffin. By that point, your adrenals are 'barbecued' and gone. Although Hans Selye proposed adrenal exhaustion model is right about most things, but today's researchers in the field of stress physiology may debate one or two things. Stress and adrenal exhaustion do not necessarily progress in a predictable stages. For instance, we now know that a person can go into elevated or depressed patterns of cortisol release almost overnight. A traumatic event could easily trigger this state, it doesn't matter if you are a female or male, or even at any age. Any yet for someone else, stress maybe chronic or even severe for many years, and his or her cortisol levels may never change. Unfortunately, most of the natural medicine is still in the 1950's with respect to adrenal issues. In conventional medicine, if it isn't full blown, end stage Addison's or Cushing's disease then it isn't real.


Stay tuned for next post.

Maintaining fitness of a lifetime, and better health - Overtraining & Adrenal Fatigue (Part 1)

Gyms are booming everywhere, locally and internationally. We now have more gym memberships all over the world, then ever before. We have many more people joining the gym, as part of improving health and fitness, and of course, getting in shape and achieving a better physique. The question is, how much truth people actually realize what is going on to the body, especially when it comes to regular gym sessions, or even doing excessive exercise and training?

As we live in the 21st century, a busy hectic lifestyle, some people don't even have time to break for lunch, having their meal while attending their work, and you should realize the ones walking on the streets and malls texting and using their phones (being hit by a bus or fall into a drain would be a sight). While majority of people try to squeeze their time doing the things they are interested (such as facebooking and mobile networking), spending hours on preparing meals and exercising daily are no longer a viable option. Apart from weekdays, some still walk the dog and enjoying the 60 mins jog in the weekends.

While more people hitting the gym more often then before, in this case, Malaysians. The question remains why we are officially the fattest nation in Asia? Shouldn't most Malaysians stay lean and in shape? Doesn't make sense isn't it? If exercise more can make one stay healthy, lean and sustainability fit, then Malaysians and most nations with gym memberships would reflect a totally different statistics ain't it? 

We have heard from people all over the place, fitness and health magazines, and even your personal trainer, to "Get More Exercise" or "Train Regularly".  Even better, now we have mobile phones and watches which can tell you how many steps you take in a day. This is becoming comical as we now dependent on electronics to tell us how to move and exercise. From getting so called dietary healthy advise from dietitians and nutritionists to brainwash us to eat more grains and processed foods, to personal trainers beating the crap out of clients draining those poor folks adrenals and energy, and here we go, "My smartwatch or mobile phone tells me to take 10000 steps today in order to lose weight!".

I remember years back, I used to be a regular gym goer, bounced from membership to another, gyms after gyms, trying to check out their facilities and equipments, hoping the new gym would look and feel more luxurious then the one I joined. For the guys, they prefer gym which has lots of working professionals good looking ladies flooding the place. Else, what's the point of pumping those irons and flexing those biceps right? Well well, what happen to health and fitness? Why are we so derailed and off course from the truth of exercise, fitness and health?

In this  topic, I'm not going to discuss about 6 pack abs, big arms or even how many miles you can hit down the road. I will reveal what physical stressor is all about, how about our body adapt and response to stress and the missing puzzles from conventional wisdom. As most people are chasing the 'short-cut fix' from pills to 'insanity' exercise programs, the world has seriously gone mad. Our great grandmother didn't even exercise and she was lean and healthy. What gym? What calorie? 

First of all, if you wan't to lose weight in a healthy way and achieve sustainable fat loss, you need to get rid of the 'calories in calories out' mentality. The whole theory of burning calories from the exercises you perform is simply old school and misleading. If this entire calories madness is true, we would all be lean and look like fitness models and achieve 12% body fat right? Female adults trying to go on diet more then ever, reducing calories and eating low fat diet. Overweight and obese folks are trying to lose that excessive pounds by joining gyms or even running marathons. In fact, we have more people participating in marathon and triathlon then ever in the history of mankind. We have more gym memberships since primal ancestors step foot on planet earth. Guess what, none of our caveman ancestors nor great grandparents generations ago knew what exercise nor treadmill is about. Calories in calories out? Nah, never heard of it. 

Before we dive into fitness, exercise or health, let's have an overview of what stress is all about. Let's understand how the adrenals work in our body. It's sometimes shocking to know that some people beat the crap out of themselves in the gym trying to stay 'fit' and healthy, but they do not even know the little pair of 'stress-making factory' located on top of their kidneys.  Nonetheless, they don't even know what stress is, and how their body react to what happen whenever they do 90 mins of Crossfit drills, run 20km, RPM class, or even long steady-state treadmill jog. The point is, it doesn't matter which type of exercise you perform, it is what you do to your body, in terms of how the brain communicate with your adrenals to secrete the amount of stress hormones. We call it the HPA axis. 

Stress, can be regard as purpose of survival or normal, but could be harmful and abusive to the body physiologically if we are not aware of what we do to our body, chronically, if prolonged for longer period or years. If you are hardwired with the mentality of 'burning calories' to lose weight and be healthy, you are setting up yourself for adrenal fatigue and other related chronic health problems. Especially the ones with stressful lifestyle and poor diet, regular gym sessions or exercises could turn out to be the final nail in the coffin. I'm sure you heard from some of your friends who gain weight and felt even more exhausted after joining the gym or started some sort of youtube workout programs. 

Just about every medical and health professional would agree that exercise is an essential component of any healthy lifestyle regimen.  You would be hard pressed to find a disease that does not list “exercise” as either a preventive or a therapeutic treatment. Doctors, dietitians, trainers will tell you to exercise regularly, workout more often,  in order to lose weight and achieve better health. But do these professionals assess and evaluate your lifestyle, stressors, and state of digestion (diet)? The answer is most likely NO. In fact, most fitness instructors or personal trainers don't even though what exercise is all about. Is it all about workout only?  The approach of 'burning calories' is NOT the answer to losing body fat in a healthy way without compromising the thyroid functions and metabolism, as well as accelerate aging and draining the adrenals.  

The law of thermodynamics, explain the theory of energy in and energy out, in this case, calories expenditure from exercise (workout). When we talk about workout, it is all about expending energy from so called "excess of calories consumed" in the body. If this is true, imagine the need to run for 5km daily in order to burn off that extra few hundreds of calories consumed on each day! Our basal metabolic rate itself, is already 70% of our total caloric requirement. What does that tells you? Common sense will tell you that most of the survival functions in the body requires most of the energy, in this case, it's calories from foods. By just heart rate, breathing, pulmonary functions, resting, and for most vital functions to work, our body need approximately 70% of calories daily. 

Imagine you cut down your calories or having the urge to burn off the 'extra' calories. You are further depleting your body of nutrients and in energy deficit state. Your thyroid functions will slow down if you perform long hours of exercise, on top of your daily stressed out busy work schedules. Stress hormones over-spilled! Cortisol up, thyroid functions down. It's all about survival mechanism.

Stay tuned for part 2.

Products Swap & Healthier Foods - Locally Produced or Imported

If you are a coffee addict, chocolate lover or dairy products enthusiast, check out below products and foods which you may ponder to try, whenever you get the chance to buy them locally, travel overseas or purchase it online. It's delicious, nutritious, gluten-free and high quality. 

For some of the lucky ones who are staying in the country which grow tons of biodynamic organic high quality foods, you should take advantage of such foods and products available in your area. From farmer's markets to health food stores, you need to know what products to buy and avoid, and which ingredients to look out for too. 

For organically grown whole foods, it is not as complicate to choose and buy. But, as for certain foods products, if you want a good selection and higher quality goodies, you may try some of the products I explored and tried. For instance, instead of eating Margarine or commercial butter, you may opt for organic (grass fed raw if possible) butter. Or buying from an organic coffee stall or cafe (when travelling outside), rather then Starbucks or any commercial pesticides-and-mold-loaded coffee. A healthier, more nutritious, preferably gluten free products swap is always a wiser choice when you travel overseas or even doing weekly groceries or online purchase.

Fair trade, organic coffee products, preferably single origin

Organic locally hand-made goat cheese

Biodynamic Organic Brie

Biodynamic Pastured organic eggs

One of my favorite, high quality raw goat cheese

Locally hand-made natural Ligurian raw honey

Cravings for cake? try this gluten-free sold at a market stall, instead of commercially sold cakes

Ancestral cooking essentials, high quality organic ghee

Biodynamic organic unpasteurized butter

One of my favorite foods, organic unrefined raw coconut oil and butter

Clean taste with no weird smell

Easy to bring while travelling, small pack coconut butter, brain rocket fuel

An alternative to eating breads, gluten, wheat, soy and preservatives free.

If you need your caffeine dose while strolling in a foreign city, try to look for this organic coffee stall or cafe.

Biodynamically grown avocados, highest quality available

I like it raw. Oh yeah, raw milk is really difficult to find these days, especially organic grass-fed products.

Biodynamic FULL CREAM yogurt, say no to low fat please!

Traditionally made in small batches, unhomogenized, loaded with good bacteria

Biodynamic Organic Unpasteurized Greek-Style Feta Cheese

One of the awesome organic raw chocolate product, 100% cacao!

Only one ingredient, 100% cacao beans

Fans of Kombucha, you may check out this beverage product

Awesomely delicious organic raw chocolate coconut butter

More cold pressed unrefined raw organic coconut oil

Shots of good bacteria - Organic natural kefir yoghurt