Are All Fats Bad?

There a a myth about diet that has persisted for decades, despite many research studies saying the exact opposite. The myth is that FAT is bad for you, and that eating too much fat promotes obesity. The truth is, SOME fats are bad for you – those include trans-fats, or man-made fats, and fats that are inflammatory in nature, which come mostly from farmed meats, farmed fish and dairy products. These contain higher levels of a fat called arachadonic acid which can promote inflammation and increase pain, as well as heart disease, arthritis, allergies, and many other inflammatory processes. However, most fats are actually quite essential and very beneficial for your health. Good fats such as those in olives, and cold-pressed olive oils, avocados, coconuts, grass-fed and wild fish, flax and other natural plant oils actually can reverse the inflammatory process in your body, lower cholesterol, prevent heart disease and obesity, and bring your health back into balance. Your body needs fats to absorb your fat-soluble vitamins which many people are showing up in tests to be deficient in, vitamin A, vitamin E, vitamin D, and vitamin K. Your body also needs fats to make cholesterol, which in turn produces your sex hormones and stress hormones like cortisol. Your body also has hormones that are produced when you eat these good fats that help control your appetite (so you feel more full), and fats also keep you feeling full for a longer time, so you do not get the blood sugar and hunger swings that happen when you only eat carbohydrates. Fats provide a wonderful energy source for the body to workout and be able to maintain long, strenuous exercise, so it is an extremely important part of any elite athlete’s diet. For most people, adding fat to the diet actually helps them to lose weight, through the anti-inflammatory properties of fats, the appetite control, as well as the reduction in total carbohydrates that occurs when more of your calories come from good fats.

What Do My Adrenals Do?

Adrenal Energy

I have been asked this question often – where are my adrenals and what do they do?

Adrenals are small glands that sit on top of your kidneys in your lower back.  They are responsible for a number of important processes, and being so small, they can get easily overwhelmed and out of whack.  The adrenals first and foremost produce your ‘stress hormones’, cortisol and DHEA.  They help your body respond to all kinds of stress, be it physical stress from intense exercise, skipping a meal, or sleeping too little.  They also pump out stress hormones in response to mental stresses like stress at work, mile-long to do lists, conflicts, or worries.  Adrenals also help our body balance blood pressure, absorb minerals or electrolytes, affect conversion of proteins and fats into energy, and maintain blood sugar in a normal range.  Often when one of these systems starts to get out of balance, they all tend to go out of balance.  The main symptom of adrenal imbalance is FATIGUE, often deep and long-lasting fatigue that gets worse over time.  Along with that, other symptoms start to appear such as low blood pressure, hypoglycemia or difficulty managing sugar, weakened immune system, increased food cravings, and mood swings.  These apparently separate problems are all evidence of diminished adrenal function. If you are feeling a lack of energy, an increasing amount of effort needed to perform everyday tasks, mild depression or lack of motivation, and are waking up feeling unrested, you likely have some level of adrenal fatigue or reduced function.  Testing adrenals is as simple as a salivary test for stress hormone levels, combined with your doctor’s review of your symptoms and stressors.  Rebuilding the adrenals does take some time, but it is essential to regaining vitality and our natural remedies work very well for healing and rebuilding adrenal glands.