Heather Weddell Nutrition

Your Joy & Vitality Expert

Metabolic Health

Stress Busting – 8 Strategies to Try Now

Hormone Health, Metabolic Health

Stress – we all know it and we all feel it. Some days are better than others. Yes, it is part of our daily life, but why has it become such a focus in recent years? How come we are all searching for stress management techniques?

Did you know that the American Institute of Stress found that about 33 percent of people reported feeling extreme stress? And check this out:

  • 77 percent of people experienced stress that affects their physical health
  • 73 percent of people had stress that impacted their mental health

No wonder the World Health Organization called stress the “epidemic of the 21st century.” Plus, many research studies have shown that mismanaged or ignored stress can lead to serious issues.

Do you need to do some stress busting?

Signs and Symptoms of Stress

There are many signs and symptoms of stress. Often, we experience these symptoms clustered together. Frequently, they overlap because they are interrelated. According to the Global Organization for Stress, symptoms can be physical, emotional, psychological, and behavioural. 

Stress symptoms can be physical, emotional, psychological, and behavioural.

Physical symptoms can include:

  • various pains
  • muscle stiffness
  • rashes
  • digestive issues
  • blood pressure issues
  • weight issues
  • immune system imbalances leading to more colds, flu and infections.

Emotional symptoms you may notice include:

  • anxiety
  • fear
  • depression
  • irritability
  • anger
  • frustration

Psychologically you may notice:

  • memory loss
  • an increased inability to concentrate
  • confusion
  • a racing mind

Stress can affect your behaviour too. You may notice yourself:

  • drinking more alcohol
  • arguing more
  • yelling
  • crying
  • isolating yourself from others
  • developing nervous habits like nail biting

Stress and Your Hormones

To simplify it, consider stress as a physiological response that often feels emotional. Whether we are running around trying to meet all our obligations, or we are unhappy, frustrated, angry, nervous, or actually in real immediate danger, our body has the same reaction. Our adrenals are programmed to help protect us from physical danger. Therefore, they respond by releasing the hormone adrenaline to provide extra energy and strength. This is the “fight or flight response”.

Unfortunately, our body does not know the difference between physical danger, or striving to make a deadline, or just being super busy. The hormone cortisol increases during “fight or flight”. And this is the very hormone that can cause many of our health problems when it gets out of balance.

Normal cortisol levels are necessary. Cortisol is our “awake” hormone and allows us to function and be alert. But when we are stressed, our cortisol levels rise. Too much cortisol has been linked to many health concerns such as:

  • heart disease
  • cancer
  • diabetes
  • depression
  • anxiety
  • weight gain
  • headaches
  • and more

Why does it feel emotional?

The adrenal glands interact directly with the nervous system. When it is agitated it can make us feel moody, depressed, anxious, jittery, and fatigued, and can cause headaches. The adrenals also affect:

  • the gastrointestinal system
  • the circulatory system
  • the respiratory system
  • the immune system.

Seriously! The adrenals are connected to every activity in the body. Why? Because if you were in real physical danger, the adrenals need to be able to control every aspect of the body. This is how it prioritized functions to maximize your ability to defend yourself against a saber-toothed tiger – by either “fighting” or “fleeing”.

Here are 8 Stress Busting Strategies you can try NOW

Exercise, especially outdoors is a great stress buster

1.  Take a short break and get some fresh air. Taking a walk outside is a great way to do this.

2.  Find tranquility by listening to classical music.

3.  Reduce your screen time and shut it off completely at least 2 hours before bedtime. This will also help you to get a good night’s rest.

4.  Exercise gives you a break, produces endorphins (helpful hormones in your brain) and can help you decompress.

5. Clear your mind by talking it out with a close friend or by journaling. Listening to and helping a close friend is also super beneficial because it focuses your energy away from your stresses and onto solutions.

6.  Eat a well-balanced diet of fresh whole foods. Did you know that 95% of your serotonin (chemical linked to happiness) receptors are in your gut? Also cut back on caffeine. It can spur feelings of anxiousness and restlessness. Oh, and stay hydrated with 6 to 8 glasses of water a day.

7.  Watch a comedy. Laughter can shrink stress responses and stimulate your heart, lungs and body muscles

8.  Chew gum. Chewing gum can help reduce anxious or down feelings, fatigue, and put you in a better mood.

A Holistic Approach to Stress Management

Managing stress effectively requires a personalized plan based on all the main pillars of health. A holistic approach to stress management, based on the pillars of health, is widely considered the most effective because it recognizes the interconnectedness of various aspects of well-being. When one pillar is neglected, it can negatively impact the others, leading to an imbalance that makes an individual more susceptible to the damaging effects of stress.

As a Registered Holistic Nutritionist, I focus quite a bit on Physical Health: This pillar focuses on the body’s physiological needs.

  • Nutrition: A balanced diet provides the necessary nutrients for optimal brain function, mood regulation, and overall physical resilience. Poor nutrition can lead to energy crashes, inflammation, and exacerbate stress responses.
  • Physical Activity/Movement: Regular exercise helps reduce stress hormones, boosts endorphins (mood elevators), improves sleep, and strengthens the body’s ability to cope with physical and mental demands.
  • Sleep: Adequate and quality sleep is crucial for the body and mind to repair, restore, and recharge. Sleep deprivation significantly impairs cognitive function, emotional regulation, and increases susceptibility to stress, anxiety, and depression.

Other pillars I support my clients with are:

  1. Emotional Health: This pillar deals with recognizing, understanding, and managing feelings.
    • Emotional Awareness and Regulation: The ability to identify one’s emotions and respond to them constructively is key. This includes learning healthy coping mechanisms for stress, rather than allowing emotions to overwhelm or control you.
    • Mindfulness and Relaxation: Practices like meditation, deep breathing, and other relaxation techniques can significantly reduce stress and anxiety, improve focus, and promote a sense of inner peace.
  2. Mental/Cognitive Health: This pillar relates to our thoughts, learning, and cognitive function.
    • Cognitive Function: Engaging in mentally stimulating activities, managing thoughts, and fostering a positive mindset contribute to mental clarity and resilience.
    • Stress Management Techniques: Beyond emotional regulation, this includes developing skills like time management, problem-solving, and reframing negative thoughts to reduce cognitive load and stress.
  3. Social/Spiritual Health: This pillar emphasizes connection, purpose, and meaning.
    • Social Connection: Fostering healthy, supportive relationships provides a crucial buffer against stress and loneliness. Human connection reduces emotional strain and offers a sense of belonging.
    • Sense of Purpose/Spirituality: Having meaning, direction, or a connection to something larger than oneself can provide inner peace, resilience, and a framework for navigating life’s challenges. This can be through religious beliefs, community involvement, or personal values.

Why this holistic approach is the best for stress management:

  • Interconnectedness: Stress isn’t isolated to one part of your life. Chronic stress impacts your physical body (e.g., increased cortisol, inflammation), your emotions (e.g., irritability, anxiety), your thoughts (e.g., difficulty concentrating), and your relationships. Addressing all four pillars simultaneously creates a synergistic effect, where improvements in one area positively influence the others. For example, better sleep can improve mood and cognitive function, making it easier to engage in physical activity and manage emotional responses.
  • Root Cause Addressing: A holistic approach aims to address the root causes of stress and build overall resilience, rather than just treating symptoms. If someone is constantly stressed due to poor sleep and an unhealthy diet, simply trying to “think positive” will be less effective than also optimizing their sleep and nutrition.
  • Sustainable Well-being: By building strong foundations in all areas of health, individuals develop a more robust and sustainable capacity to handle life’s inevitable stressors. It’s about creating a lifestyle that inherently reduces vulnerability to stress and promotes overall flourishing.
  • Empowerment: This approach empowers individuals to take control of their well-being across multiple domains. It recognizes that personal choices in these four areas have a profound impact on stress levels and overall health.
  • Comprehensive Resilience: Life throws many challenges our way. When all four pillars are strong, an individual has a greater capacity for resilience, bouncing back more effectively from adversity and maintaining a balanced state even in demanding circumstances.

In essence, thinking of health as a table supported by four legs is a powerful metaphor. If one leg is weak or missing, the table will wobble or collapse. By intentionally nurturing each of the four pillars, you create a stable and resilient foundation for managing stress and living a more balanced and fulfilling life.

Book your complimentary Clarity Call with me to discover which of my programs or services would be best for your unique needs.

Metabolic Health – 5 Measures

Metabolic Health

Have you been hearing more lately about metabolic health? Or maybe you have heard about metabolic syndrome? You may be wondering what on earth metabolic health actually is and if it is something you even need to concern yourself with.

What is Metabolic Health?

First, let’s be clear that metabolism and metabolic health are two separate things. Metabolism is your body’s process of breaking down foods you eat and converting them to energy. While this is related to metabolic health, it is not actually one of the markers.

Metabolic health is clinically assessed with 5 different measurements:

  • Waist circumference
  • Fasting glucose
  • Systolic blood pressure
  • Triglycerides
  • HDL cholesterol

These 5 key measurements indicate the level of your metabolic health. Ideally, you want all five within the healthy range. If you have 3 or more outside of that range, you have what is known as metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome increases your risk of developing chronic diseases like Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. Having metabolic syndrome can significantly reduce your quality and length of life.

While weight can give you an idea of your health risks, your metabolic health is important because it tells us more about what’s actually going on in your body. It shows how your body is processing fats and sugar in your diet, and how it’s responding to insulin.

What if I only have 1 or 2 metabolic measures out of range?

Even if you don’t clinically have metabolic syndrome, that doesn’t necessarily mean you are metabolically healthy. That’s because metabolic health is a spectrum – not something you either have or don’t. There is a wide range of things that happen between being in good health and developing diabetes or obesity. Plus, often the symptoms of metabolic sickness go unnoticed or don’t show up until your condition is severe. So even if you feel fine or don’t notice any warning signs, having just one of the 5 measures outside the healthy range can have short-term and long-term effects on your health.

What are the symptoms of poor metabolic health?

Many of the markers of poor metabolic health, like high blood pressure or raised glucose, can only be picked up on tests. They won’t usually have any noticeable signs or symptoms. You may only notice them if they start to cause problems like diabetes or heart and circulation problems.

Symptoms of diabetes include:

  • needing to urinate more often
  • being very thirsty
  • losing weight without trying
  • fatigue – feeling tired or lethargic
  • blurred vision
  • slow-healing cuts and bruises
  • frequent or recurring illness

Symptoms of heart and circulation problems include:

  • pain in your chest (angina)
  • pain in your legs when you’re walking
  • fatigue
  • shortness of breath
  • numbness and tingling in extremeties
  • swollen ankles
  • dizziness

How can I improve my metabolic health?

The good news is that you can improve your metabolic health with changes to your diet and lifestyle. But is all starts with understanding your unique biochemistry and what works for you. That is why the Metabolic Balance program is such a success for my clients. We start with a comprehensive assessment of your current diet, health and lifestyle, plus we test over 30 blood values to give us a full picture of your current biochemistry and needs.

We then use that data to create your personalized nutrition plan. This ensures that your body is getting exactly the nutrients it most needs for optimal health. Of course, there is more to health than your diet. That is why the full support and personal coaching included in the program covers the 4 pillars of health: nutrition, exercise, sleep, and stress.

Improving Health with 4 Pillars

Nutrition: This has the most significant impact on your metabolic health. Eating a diet that’s full of fibre-rich vegetables and fruit, lean protein, and healthy fats is integral to a healthy lifestyle. Doing the opposite -eating processed foods and refined sugars – can have serious detrimental effects on your metabolic health. 

Eating a nutritious, balanced diet composed of colourful vegetables, fibre, lean proteins, and healthy fats — while avoiding processed foods and refined carbs — is the most important to way to stabilize your glucose levels. This is key to preventing insulin-resistance. Remember, your fasting glucose level is one of the five measurements of metabolic health. When fasting glucose is out of range, you increase your risk of metabolic health problems and even metabolic syndrome.

Exercise: Getting enough exercise — especially resistance or strength training — is key for heart health (which is inseparable from metabolic health) and increasing muscle mass. This helps regulate hunger levels, glucose regulation, and body composition. It can also improve insulin sensitivity.

Sleep: Practicing good sleep hygiene (getting enough sleep and sticking to a consistent sleep schedule) is critical to metabolic health. Poor sleep can make you less insulin sensitive, increase your stress, and cause you to make poor choices.

Stress: The stress hormone, cortisol, actually makes you temporarily insulin resistant. This is alright if you are experiencing short-term stress, but chronic stress leads to increased insulin resistance and inflammation. This is very bad news for your metabolic health.

Addressing your Metabolic Health Concerns

There is a lot of information available on the internet for all sorts of health concerns and issues. Unfortunately, there is plenty of misinformation mixed it that can be hard to identify. Plus, you will find plenty of conflicting information. This is because you are looking at generalized recommendations – many of them from people who found something that worked for them. Well, that doesn’t mean it is the right solution for everyone. In fact, what is beneficial to one person could be a health disaster for another person. No two people are alike and each body will react differently to recommendations.

Remember that your biochemistry is unique to you. Cut through the hype, skip the frustration of sorting through truckloads of confusing information and just get to focusing on you. That is what I do as your holistic nutritionist. I encourage you to start with a complimentary Clarity Call to discuss your concerns and ask your questions. I will help clarify your options and provide you with recommendations that are best suited to your specific needs. Your health is your most precious resource – invest in it wisely.

Heart Healthy Hormones – 4 Actions to Take

Hormone Health, Metabolic Health

Being Heart Health Month, February is a time to bring attention to the importance of heart health, and what we can do to reduce our risk of disease. In Heart Healthy Hormones – What you Need to Know, we discussed the role your hormones play in your heart health. We covered a number of hormones and systems:

  • Insulin from the pancreas
  • T3 and T4 from the thyroid
  • Adrenaline and cortisol from the adrenals
  • Estrogen and testosterone from your sex organs

Now that we can clearly see the importance of healthy, balanced hormones to maintain good cardiovascular function, let’s look at what we can to do love and support these key systems.

1. Keep your blood sugar levels stable

Stable blood sugar is one of the keys to healthy, balanced hormones

To keep your blood sugar levels in check and maintain your cells’ sensitivity to insulin, work on including these tips into your lifestyle:

· Ditch the simple sugars and processed, packaged foods. Focus on eating nourishing whole foods that include lots of vegetables, some fruits, a good amount of protein and some healthy fats. This will help provide a slower rise in blood sugar and give you more stable energy levels. 

· Eat at regular intervals throughout the day to avoid highs and lows in your blood sugar levels. This will also help keep your energy stable throughout the day.

· Exercise regularly – this includes both cardio and weight-bearing exercise. This is great for your cardiovascular system and will also help keep you at healthy weight which is beneficial to maintaining stable blood sugar.

· Are you a smoker? Quit. Smoking is a risk factor for insulin resistance, and diabetes.

· Get enough sleep – ideally 7 to 8 hours each night. Insufficient sleep is also a risk factor for insulin resistance and diabetes.

2. Help your thyroid function well

Your thyroid is a key player in heart-healthy hormones.

Iodine is supportive of good thyroid function to help with the production of the hormones T3 and T4. Make it your goal to include more iodine rich foods in your daily diet:

  • Seaweed: try combo, kelp, wakame, and nori
  • Cod
  • Shrimp
  • Tuna
  • Prunes
  • Lima Beans

If you have or suspect thyroid issues, consult with your physician for appropriate testing. As a nutritionist, I can create a diet plan for you that addresses the needs of your thyroid in a complete, effective, multi-faceted approach.

3. Support your adrenal glands

Healthy amounts of adrenaline and cortisol depend on the optimal functioning of your adrenals– which also produce estrogen and progesterone

Stress causes your adrenals to shift their attention to pumping out adrenaline and cortisol, shunting production of progesterone and estrogen. That can throw your hormones out of balance. To keep your adrenals functioning well, stress management is key. Here are some strategies to try:

· Shift from coping to management strategies. This often means planning your time, prioritizing tasks, and anticipating events that may be more stressful than others.

· Incorporate breathing exercises throughout your day. Make this a habit in stress-free moments, and it will be readily available for you during stressful times. Breathing deeply and exhaling fully can help slow your heart rate and bring you into the present moment. And deep breathing can actually lower your cortisol levels!

· Foster and lean on a support network. Healthy relationships can support your mental and emotional well-being when life gets tough.

If your adrenals are sluggish, adaptogens may be helpful. Essentially, an adaptogen helps balance adrenal function whether the adrenals are overactive or underactive – pretty amazing, right? My blog post, What is an Adaptogen? will tell you more about what they are and how to incorporate them into your diet.

Adaptogens can support your adrenals - one step to heart healthy hormones

4. Get enough quality sleep

Better quality sleep is key for every aspect of your health

There are plenty of great reasons to ensure you are getting a good night’s rest every night. But many of us find it difficult to get good quality sleep every night. Have a look at some factors that influence the quality of your sleep as well as 7 strategies to help you get the rest you need in my blog post: Better Quality Sleep.

Want some help balancing your hormones? 

Get your FREE Quick Start Guide to Healthy Hormones

Heart Healthy Hormones – What you Need to Know

Hormone Health, Metabolic Health

February is Heart Month. This is a great time to bring attention to the importance of cardiovascular health. More importantly, how can we reduce our risk of cardiovascular disease with heart healthy hormones?

Heart disease affects approximately 2.4 million adult Canadians – that is about 1 in 12 adults. Every hour, about 12 Canadian adults die from diagnosed heart disease. It is the second leading cause of death in Canada, and it is THE leading cause of death in the United States. In the U.S. one person dies every 37 seconds from cardiovascular disease. 647,000 Americans die from heart disease each year – that is 1 in every 4 deaths.

Those are some pretty staggering numbers – a good reason to dedicate the month of February to bringing awareness to cardiovascular disease. You may already be aware that men have nearly double the risk of women for heart troubles. But women in their menopausal and post-menopausal years see their risk increase due to a decrease in estrogen levels. 

Hormones play a role in cardiovascular health, in both men and women

In fact, when it comes to the health of your heart, there are several hormones that play a major role. How well your hormones are functioning directly impacts your cardiovascular system. This means that when your hormones are behaving, they may help prevent heart disease. And when they are out of balance they can contribute to the development of heart disease.

Key Systems for Heart Healthy Hormones

Your cardiovascular system includes your heart and circulatory system (blood vessels that carry blood away from and towards the heart, arteries that carry blood away from the heart and veins that carry blood back to the heart). Your circulatory system carries oxygen, nutrients, and hormones to cells. It also removes waste products, such as carbon dioxide.

Imagine that your circulatory system is a highway and your hormones are vehicles travelling on that highway. If your hormones are vehicles, then we can imagine that the glands that produce them are car makers who are all part of the larger control system – your endocrine system. 

The endocrine system has makers of hormones all through your body: the pancreas, thyroid, adrenals, ovaries, and testes, to name a few. Let’s look more closely at the major hormones associated with each of these important glands and how they can affect your cardiovascular health.

Support your heart with healthy balanced hormones
Support your heart with healthy balanced hormones

Pancreas: Producer of Insulin

Your pancreas secretes insulin. Insulin is the hormone that regulates blood sugar levels. Having insufficient levels of insulin or insulin resistance can cause health issues. If blood sugar levels remain elevated for extended periods of time you may develop symptoms of pre-diabetes. Left untreated, this can lead to the development of type 2 diabetes. This is a major risk factor for cardiovascular problems like high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and heart disease. So, insulin is one of the players in your overall heart health. Keeping your blood sugar levels stable is key to your hormone health and your overall wellness. Check out Heart Healthy Hormones – Take Action for tips to help you keep your blood sugar in check.

Thyroid: Maker of T3 and T4

Your thyroid makes and releases several hormones into the blood. The most prominent ones are Triiodothyronine (T3) and Thyroxine (T4). These are hormones that play a key role in your metabolism, normal heart and digestive functions, mood and bone maintenance.

T3 and T4 work together to regulate metabolism and heart rate. So balanced levels of these hormones are key to your overall good health. If levels are low it can affect digestion and contribute to constipation. It can also cause a slow heart rate resulting in circulation issues. If levels are too high it can result in an overly active metabolism leading to unhealthy weight loss and an increase in heart rate. This, in turn, could cause issues with body temperature regulation, anxiety, and more. 

You can see how thyroid hormones have a direct effect on the heart. Also, hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. Learn how to best support your thyroid in Heart Healthy Hormones – Take Action.

Healthy adrenals are important to heart health
Healthy Adrenals are important to heart health

The Mighty Adrenals: Producers of Adrenaline and Cortisol

Your adrenal glands play important regulatory roles in several body functions. These include stress response, immunity, and metabolism. All of these are regulated by the release of adrenaline and cortisol (among others) from the adrenals. During the stress response (fight or flight) adrenaline and cortisol both play important roles. Adrenaline is the hormone that helps you prepare to either fight or flee. As adrenaline rushes into your systems, your heart rate increases, ensuring your brain and muscles are primed for dealing with the perceived threat. But, it also increases the level of sugar in your blood to provide your body with instant energy. Recall the effects of elevated blood sugar on your heart health. Yes, everything is connected!

Cortisol is meant to help the body convert stored energy into readily usable energy in the form of glucose. So, during a stressful moment it is helpful. However, when cortisol levels remain high, as they often due in our fast-paced society, it can lead to anxiety, overeating, and weight gain. And we are all familiar with the fact that being overweight is another risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

Dealing with stress in a healthy manner is key to our adrenal health. Discover some key tips and strategies in Heart Healthy Hormones – Take Action.

Estrogen: an important heart health hormone
Estrogen – an important heart health hormone

Reproductive Organs: Makers of Estrogen and Testosterone

Ovaries, the primary female reproductive organ, are responsible for secreting the hormones estrogen and progesterone. Both of these play a role in menstruation and an overall healthy reproductive system. Estrogen represents an entire class of hormones that affects almost every tissue or organ, including the heart and blood vessels. Here are some of estrogen’s known effects on the cardiovascular system:

  • Increases HDL cholesterol (the good kind)
  • Decreases LDL cholesterol (the bad kind)
  • Promotes blood clot formation (also causes some changes that have the opposite effect)
  • Relaxes, smooths and dilates blood vessels so blood flow increases
  • Soaks up free radicals (naturally occurring particles in the blood that can damage the arteries and other tissues)

The testes are the sex organ in the male reproductive system responsible for the secretion of testosterone. This is the hormone responsible for the development of male physical sex characteristics. Its influence is clearly exhibited during puberty when males start to notice: lower voice, increased body hair, general growth, and muscle development. Testosterone also plays a vital role in healthy sperm production. Studies on the effects of testosterone on cardiovascular health are still inconclusive. Some find that higher levels have negative effects and other find that lower testosterone levels have negative effects. The safest bet is to maintain optimal, balanced levels of hormones.

Keep in mind, though, that men’s endocrine systems also produce estrogen – just in much smaller quantities than women. Research speculates that this lower level of estrogen may be a contributing factor to the statistics of men being more prone to cardiovascular disease than women.

Aging and Hormones

Levels of these sex hormones fluctuate over the lifecycle – for both men and women. As you age, the secretion of these hormones will decline. For menopausal women, the ovaries eventually cease their estrogen-production role, leaving the adrenal glands to take over. This leads to producing much lower levels of estrogen. Men’s adrenals also produce estrogen. So, keeping your adrenal glands happy and healthy is key to your heart health.

Support for your hormone health

Your health is your most valuable resource. Don’t trust it to random, general information on social media or salesy websites. What you really need is to cut through the hype and conflicting information and get personalized recommendations from a trusted professional.

This is why I offer a free Clarity Call. It gives you the opportunity to confidentially discuss your personal health concerns and goals with me. I will provide you with a variety of recommendations to help you get started down the right path for you.

Book your Clarity Call today. Let’s get you confidently taking the right steps for your health.

7 Steps to Better Quality Sleep

Metabolic Health

In the last blog, The Importance of Sleep, we learned about what is really going on while you sleep and how these processes ultimately affect your health. There are plenty of great reasons to ensure you are getting a good night’s rest every night. But many of us find it difficult to get good quality sleep every night. Let’s look at some of the factors that influence the quality of your sleep as well as some strategies to help you get the rest you need. 

Factors Impacting Your Quality Sleep

For some, good sleep can seem like a complex puzzle. Many factors can influence the quality and duration of your sleep. If you have trouble sleeping through the night, take note of the list below. Be mindful of which of these factors you incorporate into your day then try eliminating for a few weeks to see how it improves your sleep:

Caffeine:

This stimulant usually wakes up the body and can keep you from feeling tired. In fact, caffeine blocks adenosine, a chemical that your body secretes to make you sleepy. While this might be a benefit in the morning or during a long day, ingesting too much caffeine in the late afternoon or early evening can affect your sleep. Opt for herbal teas over coffee later in the day.

Alcohol: 

Drinking too much alcohol too late in the evening can disrupt your sleep patterns. More specifically, it can disrupt your REM sleep, leaving your cycles incomplete. On a simpler level, alcohol is a diuretic, meaning it increases the urge to urinate more frequently. So, having too much alcohol can also disrupt your rest because you might have to make more frequent trips to the bathroom.

Diet: 

The timing and content of your last meal can affect your readiness for bed. Think of the blood sugar surge that comes from a meal or snack. The boost in energy late in the day can keep you from winding down easily. Also, when your body is working at digesting it can prevent you from entering Stage 2 of the sleep cycle.

Physical activity: 

Regular exercise can help you maintain a regular sleep schedule. Just don’t exercise too late in the evening before bed, or your body won’t have time to settle back down before turning in.

Stress level and emotional state: 

Consider how stressful your day was or your emotional state throughout the day. If you’re feeling especially worn down, worried, or otherwise stressed, it can be very difficult to quiet your mind for bed. Meditation and yoga can be helpful practices to help bring down cortisol levels and relax in the evening.

Bright lights: 

You’re constantly being bombarded by light, with can impact production of your sleep hormones. Make sure your room is dark, and take a break from bright screens from phones, television and tablets before you tuck in.

7 Strategies for Quality Sleep

In addition to eliminating those factors that can mess with your sleep patterns, here are some other tips to consider to help you get the most from your sleep:

1. Caffeine Deadline

Consider cutting back on the amount of caffeine you drink, or impose a “caffeine deadline”—a point at which you won’t ingest any more for the day. Some herbal teas, like lavender or chamomile, are naturally very soothing and relaxing, making them a great choice later in the evening.

2. Alcohol in Moderation

Drink alcohol in moderation or impose an “alcohol deadline” so that your body has time to readjust before bed. Remember that alcohol is an inflammatory substance and hard on your liver which has the job of detoxing it from your system. Your body already has plenty of toxins to eliminate while you sleep, rest and restore. When it comes to alcohol, less is definitely more!

3. Skip the Snack Attack

Avoid eating a meal or snack too late in the evening. Digestion takes your body a good amount of energy and can actually prevent you from entering Stage 2 of the sleep cycle. Throughout the day, stick to low-glycemic foods to avoid too much fluctuation in your blood sugar levels.

4. Get Moving

Exercise regularly, preferably early in the day. A good starting point is 20 minutes per day—and work up from there. There are plenty of great short exercise videos online for free. A great stress-busting exercise for me is a brisk 3km walk in the afternoon with my dog – especially when the sun is shining

5. Plan & Prioritize Sleep

Plan for at least seven hours of sleep. You may need more than seven – I know I do! But this is a good target to work up to if you’re currently and routinely getting less than this benchmark. While you may not be able to reach seven hours immediately, start incrementally heading for bed sooner so the change is gradual and more doable – remember, it takes time to change your body’s internal clock.

6. Make Sleep a Routine

Set a regular bedtime and waking time—and stick to it, even on weekends. This kind of routine is helpful for keeping your body’s internal clock in rhythm – this is key to maintaining the natural sleep cycle.

7. Wind Down your Day

Incorporate relaxation or meditation into your wind-down routine. Stop working and turn off screens at least an hour before bedtime.  Dim your lights, play light instrumental music, try reading something for fun. A warm bath and/or light stretching can also help your body release tension before laying down. A warm bath or shower plus a cup of lavender or chamomile tea has me out and sleeping like a baby in no time at all!

Developing new habits can take time. Be patient with yourself and keep working at it. If you need some support while you are creating new sleep habits, consider a fast-acting, sugar-free melatonin supplement that promotes the body’s natural sleep and wake cycles – Pure Rest from Usana.

References: https://askthescientists.com/healthy-sleep/

The Importance of Sleep

Metabolic Health

How important is sleep to your overall health?

Most of the time, we do not stop to consider the importance of sleep is to our overall health. Sure, we know that when we are tired we need to rest and recharge. But, you may be amazed at how hard your body and brain are actually working while you sleep. And this is what makes sleep such a key factor to your overall health – sleep activates the process that not only helps you rest and recharge, but also to repair and support many functions in your body.

Each night your body is meant to go through the sleep cycle about 4 to 5 times. Each sleep cycle lasts approximately 90 to 120 minutes and consists of 4 separate stages:

The 4 Stages of Sleep

Stage 1

This is the lightest stage of Non-REM sleep. This is the drowsy period between wakefulness and sleep and can easily be disrupted causing awakenings. In this stage, everything starts to slow down. Muscles soften, heart and breathing rates decrease, and brain-wave patterns begin to slow down.

Stage 2

This stage is also classified as Non-REM sleep and is a light sleep and awakenings do not occur as easily as in Stage 1. Brainwaves continue to slow down and your muscles relax even more. Heart and breathing rates continue to slow, and your body temperature begins to decrease.

Stage 3

This is known as deep Non-REM sleep and is the most restorative stage of sleep. Here, your heart and breathing rates come to the lowest point of the entire sleep cycle. Your muscles are extremely relaxed and rousing you would prove difficult. It’s this stage that is integral to quality sleep. Without enough time spent in this sleep state, you will not awaken feeling well-rested.

During deep sleep, human growth hormone is released and restores your body and muscles from the stresses of the day. Your immune system also restores itself.

Stage 4 

This is the final stage of the sleep cycle and is known as REM sleep, or rapid eye movement sleep. It is also commonly known as the dreaming stage. Eye movements are rapid, moving from side to side and brain waves are more active than in Stages 2 & 3 of sleep. Awakenings and arousals can occur more easily in REM. Waking during a REM period can leave one feeling groggy or overly sleepy.

In many other ways, REM is also quite the opposite of the preceding three stages. Heart rate increases and breathing rate can quicken and become irregular. Eyes move rapidly behind the eyelids and brain activity livens. Dreaming is commonly experienced during the REM sleep stage. Your body might actually experience temporary paralysis of the limbs, a protective measure to keep the body from acting out movements about which you dream.

Your body cycles through these four stages 4 to 5 times in succession until you wake up. It’s necessary for you to experience both NREM and REM sleep to be healthy.

Symptoms from Lack of Sleep

When we don’t get enough sleep to feel awake and alert, we begin to experience symptoms of sleep deprivation. These symptoms increase the more sleep deprived we become:

  • yawning
  • moodiness
  • fatigue
  • irritability
  • depressed mood
  • difficulty learning new concepts
  • forgetfulness
  • inability to concentrate or a “fuzzy” head
  • lack of motivation
  • clumsiness
  • increased appetite and carbohydrate cravings
  • reduced sex drive

From this list it is easy to see how lack of sleep can lead to mood issues, depression, learning difficulties, accidents, weight gain, and troubles at home and at work. Are you beginning to see the importance of sleep?

Sleep deprivation can negatively affect a range of systems in the body.

The importance of sleep gets even clearer when we start taking a closer look at the negative effects of sleep deprivation.

  • Not getting enough sleep prevents the body from strengthening the immune system and producing more cytokines to fight infection. This can mean a person can take longer to recover from illness as well as having an increased risk of chronic illness.
  • Sleep deprivation can also result in an increased risk of respiratory illnesses.
  • A lack of sleep can affect body weight. Two hormones in the body, leptin and ghrelin, control feelings of hunger and satiety, or fullness. Sleep affects the levels of these hormones. Sleep deprivation also causes the release of insulin, which leads to increased fat storage and a higher risk of type 2 diabetes.
  • Sleep helps the heart vessels to heal and rebuild as well as affecting processes that maintain blood pressure and sugar levels as well as inflammation control. Not sleeping enough increases the risk of cardiovascular disease.
  • Insufficient sleep can affect hormone production, including growth hormones and testosterone in men.

Hopefully the importance of sleep is clear to you. Sleep is one of the most important habits affecting your health. In my next blog post we will look at the factors affecting sleep and some tips for better quality rest. Until then, set your intentions to get 7 to 8 hours each night of good quality sleep.

References:

https://askthescientists.com/healthy-sleep/

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/307334.php#effects

https://www.tuck.com/stages

5 Measures of Metabolic Health

Metabolic Health

Have you been hearing more lately about metabolic health? Or maybe you have heard about metabolic syndrome? You may be wondering what on earth metabolic health actually is and if it is something you even need to concern yourself with.

What is Metabolic Health?

First, let’s be clear that metabolism and metabolic health are two separate things. Metabolism is your body’s process of breaking down foods you eat and converting them to energy. While this is related to metabolic health, it is not actually one of the markers.

Metabolic health is clinically assessed with 5 different measurements:

  • Waist circumference
  • Fasting glucose
  • Systolic blood pressure
  • Triglycerides
  • HDL cholesterol

These 5 key measurements indicate the level of your metabolic health. Ideally, you want all five within the healthy range. If you have 3 or more outside of that range, you have what is known as metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome increases your risk of developing chronic diseases like Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. Having metabolic syndrome can significantly reduce your quality and length of life.

While weight can give you an idea of your health risks, your metabolic health is important because it tells us more about what’s actually going on in your body. It shows how your body is processing fats and sugar in your diet, and how it’s responding to insulin.

What if I only have 1 or 2 metabolic measures out of range?

Even if you don’t clinically have metabolic syndrome, that doesn’t necessarily mean you are metabolically healthy. That’s because metabolic health is a spectrum – not something you either have or don’t. There is a wide range of things that happen between being in good health and developing diabetes or obesity. Plus, often the symptoms of metabolic sickness go unnoticed or don’t show up until your condition is severe. So even if you feel fine or don’t notice any warning signs, having just one of the 5 measures outside the healthy range can have short-term and long-term effects on your health.

What are the symptoms of poor metabolic health?

Many of the markers of poor metabolic health, like high blood pressure or raised glucose, can only be picked up on tests. They won’t usually have any noticeable signs or symptoms. You may only notice them if they start to cause problems like diabetes or heart and circulation problems.

Symptoms of diabetes include:

  • needing to urinate more often
  • being very thirsty
  • losing weight without trying
  • fatigue – feeling tired or lethargic
  • blurred vision
  • slow-healing cuts and bruises
  • frequent or recurring illness

Symptoms of heart and circulation problems include:

  • pain in your chest (angina)
  • pain in your legs when you’re walking
  • fatigue
  • shortness of breath
  • numbness and tingling in extremeties
  • swollen ankles
  • dizziness

How can I improve my metabolic health?

The good news is that you can improve your metabolic health with changes to your diet and lifestyle. But is all starts with understanding your unique biochemistry and what works for you. That is why the Metabolic Balance program is such a success for my clients. We start with a comprehensive assessment of your current diet, health and lifestyle, plus we test over 30 blood values to give us a full picture of your current biochemistry and needs.

We then use that data to create your personalized nutrition plan. This ensures that your body is getting exactly the nutrients it most needs for optimal health. Of course, there is more to health than your diet. That is why the full support and personal coaching included in the program covers the 4 pillars of health: nutrition, exercise, sleep, and stress.

Improving Health with 4 Pillars

Nutrition: This has the most significant impact on your metabolic health. Eating a diet that’s full of fibre-rich vegetables and fruit, lean protein, and healthy fats is integral to a healthy lifestyle. Doing the opposite -eating processed foods and refined sugars – can have serious detrimental effects on your metabolic health. 

Eating a nutritious, balanced diet composed of colourful vegetables, fibre, lean proteins, and healthy fats — while avoiding processed foods and refined carbs — is the most important to way to stabilize your glucose levels. This is key to preventing insulin-resistance. Remember, your fasting glucose level is one of the five measurements of metabolic health. When fasting glucose is out of range, you increase your risk of metabolic health problems and even metabolic syndrome.

Exercise: Getting enough exercise — especially resistance or strength training — is key for heart health (which is inseparable from metabolic health) and increasing muscle mass. This helps regulate hunger levels, glucose regulation, and body composition. It can also improve insulin sensitivity.

Sleep: Practicing good sleep hygiene (getting enough sleep and sticking to a consistent sleep schedule) is critical to metabolic health. Poor sleep can make you less insulin sensitive, increase your stress, and cause you to make poor choices.

Stress: The stress hormone, cortisol, actually makes you temporarily insulin resistant. This is alright if you are experiencing short-term stress, but chronic stress leads to increased insulin resistance and inflammation. This is very bad news for your metabolic health.

Addressing your Metabolic Health Concerns

There is a lot of information available on the internet for all sorts of health concerns and issues. Unfortunately, there is plenty of misinformation mixed it that can be hard to identify. Plus, you will find plenty of conflicting information. This is because you are looking at generalized recommendations – many of them from people who found something that worked for them. Well, that doesn’t mean it is the right solution for everyone. In fact, what is beneficial to one person could be a health disaster for another person. No two people are alike and each body will react differently to recommendations.

Remember that your biochemistry is unique to you. Cut through the hype, skip the frustration of sorting through truckloads of confusing information and just get to focusing on you. That is what I do as your holistic nutritionist. I encourage you to start with a complimentary Clarity Call to discuss your concerns and ask your questions. I will help clarify your options and provide you with recommendations that are best suited to your specific needs. Your health is your most precious resource – invest in it wisely.

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