A new study has been released showing how chemical imbalances are a main reason for insomnia.

They finally realized that those people who complain of insomnia produce 30% less GABA (gamma-amminobutyric acid), which is a powerful neurotransmitter (chemical brain messenger) that helps calm and relax the body.

This is something that has been known for years by both the drug manufacturers and natural medicine practitioners. The only difference is that drug companies want to prescribe a medication that will alter the way the body uses GABA. The drug does nothing to help increase the amount of GABA, which is the approach most natural medicine doctors recommend. We also don’t want to forget that every drug has some type of negative side effect…that is often not mentioned or publicized.

There is a more in-depth article discussing this issue and how the over-stimulation of our brain due to stress and diet causes the body to produce more of the stimulating neurotransmitters such as adrenaline (epinephrine) and norepinephrine. This is what triggers the imbalance…the over-production of our ‘stimulating’ brain messengers to the brain messengers that calm and relax us. If we simply try and increase the amount of GABA and other calming brain messengers without also lowering the amount of ‘stimulating’ brain messengers….we probably won’t get the desired health benefit.

The name of the game is to help increase the production of GABA, but also the other chemical brain messengers such as serotonin, magnesium and glycine to help calm and relax the person. This is what Neuro Calm is all about. It helps increase all the brain messengers that help you fall asleep, balance your mood and deal with the anxiety and stress in your life with specific nutrients as 5-HTP, magnesium, glycine, glutamine, taurine and of course GABA.

Give it a try if you struggle with insomnia, depression and anxiety, because all these problems have been associated with a decrease level of those calming brain messengers. Don’t forget the actual cause of the imbalance is a result of stress and diet, which has lead to adrenal fatigue and exhaustion. So the more stress and the more you ask your adrenal glands to produce more cortisol and adrenaline (epinephrine) the less serotonin and GABA occurs. This is why we always recommend using Adrenal Fuel together with Neuro Calm. We actually call it our AM-PM Stress Recovery Program.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_71177.html

Not only is exhaustion a major complaint for many people, but it seems like weight gain, cravings, PMS, hot flashes, allergies, depression, and loss of libido also accompany this problem.

It’s called adrenal fatigue, or exhaustion as a result of stress and poor diet. It’s commonly overlooked by mainstream medicine, but it’s so much more than simply stress and cortisol. It’s the adrenal glands and the duties they have to perform.

Adrenal Function

The adrenal glands – we have two of them – are commonly known for producing our stress hormones, cortisol and adrenaline. But they produce other hormones that are responsible for so much more. They help regulate our metabolism, mood, heart rate, blood pressure, blood sugar, immune, reproductive, and digestive system. They connect with so many other bodily systems that when they get out of balance, it’s like the first domino dropping. They affect other systems, which is why so many people who struggle with adrenal fatigue may also have many other general complaints.

The adrenal glands, like the thyroid and reproductive organs, are part of the autonomic nervous system. They regulate everything without us having to worry about them. The problem is that constant stress triggers the continual production of cortisol and adrenaline. The body is designed to handle short-term stress, NOT prolonged, continual stress. Cortisol and adrenaline are not bad hormones, as many infomercials would like us to believe. It’s the continual production of those hormones telling the body to "fight or flight."

When the body is in that "fight or flight" mode all day, it doesn’t allow the other system, called the "Resting Digesting" mode, to turn on. This will throw off your metabolism because cortisol and adrenaline will burn calories from carbohydrates and protein instead of stored body fats. This is why so many people have a hard time losing weight and keeping it off. Learn more about adrenal fatigue and weight loss in To Burn or Not to Burn, Fat is the Question (Brown Books). Yes, their body is burning calories, but they are NOT burning calories from stored body fats, which is also why they struggle with cravings, mood swings, lightheadedness, and lack of concentration and focus.

Elevated cortisol will do the following:

The constant demand to produce more cortisol and adrenaline can directly affect the production of DHEA and aldosterone.

DHEA is known as the anti-aging hormone and is needed to make testosterone and estrogen. We know that the more DHEA one has as they age, the fewer health complaints they have. Lack of DHEA and its ability to make testosterone could be associated with loss of libido and inability to build lean muscle – even though you are exercising. Aldosterone regulates sodium and potassium, which are integral in regulating our blood pressure.

Why Is It Overlooked?

Mainstream medicine doesn’t address the cause – they merely address the symptoms. They don’t recognize that the adrenal glands – just like our thyroid, ovaries and testes – can be a little overactive or a little underactive. In short, there is not a medication to prescribe if the adrenals are a little sluggish, like they do for the thyroid, ovaries, or testes. Besides that, most traditional doctors rely on blood tests, but the best test to determine how well the adrenal glands are function is a 24-hour saliva test that measures cortisol four times during the day and DHEA. NASA uses that test.

It’s More Than Just Cortisol

Infomercials have the general public thinking everyone is making too much cortisol, but the constant demand of stress coupled with the wrong diet will deplete the adrenal glands and their ability to make adequate levels of cortisol and adrenaline. This is when our health problems become more dire. Your body becomes too exhausted to "fight or flight." Figuratively speaking the "saber tooth tiger" caught up with you and your body is breaking down.

When the adrenal glands are exhausted, we don’t produce enough cortisol to activate our immune system, release our growth hormones, reduce inflammation, rebuild our digestive system, etc. This is why people with adrenal exhaustion have so many additional complaints besides fatigue and weight gain. These are the people who also suffer from fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, depression, chemical imbalances and many other degenerative and chronic health problems that aren’t getting better. It’s not always too much cortisol – many patients aren’t making enough, which is why proper testing is invaluable.

Overcoming Adrenal Fatigue

Overcoming adrenal fatigue is a two-pronged process. It’s a lot like financial debt…where you have to cut your spending and increase your earnings. The same is true with adrenal fatigue and health in general. Stop or reduce the things that are making you unhealthy, while at the same time nourish and strengthen your adrenal glands with the proper diet and supplementation. First identify where your stress is coming from and reduce it.

Stress is anything that causes your adrenal glands to work more. There are different types of stress and stress is cumulative. We need to reduce the demand we place on our adrenal glands in order to overcome adrenal fatigue. Use our "online health quizzes" to help identify your stress.

Next we need to nourish and strengthen our adrenal glands. Stress depletes the body of specific nutrients, so we need to add vitamin C, B, and zinc to our diet. A typical multivitamin will have these nutrients, but not in the quantity the body may need for the amount of stress you are under.

We also need to support our adrenal glands with specific "adaptogenic" herbs such as ashwaghandee, rhodiola, cordyceps, and ginseng. These herbs help balance out the adrenal glands and are included in Adrenal Fuel. If they are too active, they can bring them back down. If they are too low, they can help stimulate them. These adaptogenic herbs are also known to help resynchronize the whole brain-hormone connection.

Don’t expect to see big or even moderate results if you only want to swallow a handful of supplements without making some changes in your life. Overcoming adrenal fatigue is a process. There is not a magic pill, nor is there a drug to address the cause. But if you want to address the cause of your problem, not the symptoms, and overcome many of the health issues you are facing, it can be done, and it can all be done naturally.  If you follow the "Healthy Steps Program" for 30 days...you will begin to notice a big difference in how you feel, as the program walks you through the healing process. 

Download | Duration: 00:06:30

Unfortunately, there is a lot of hoopla from infomercial promises, which is why I wanted to devote some time and bust all the infomercial hype that is being spewed on the airwaves.

The first thing I can tell you, and I can’t emphasis it strongly enough, is that there are "NO" magic pills or potions that are going to fix all your troubles. Overcoming any health complaint – whether it is fatigue, weight gain, arthritis, diabetes, osteoporosis, and the list goes on – is a process! It’s not going to happen by merely swallowing a bottle of "magic promises."

Fact is cortisol is only part of the problem. Cortisol and adrenaline are important hormones that help regulate our metabolism. Infomercials like to make everyone believe that they need to lower their cortisol levels, but more than half the patients we test have cortisol that is too low – NOT too high. That means we have to raise their cortisol levels in order to get their metabolism working properly.

Many of the infomercial products are designed to lower cortisol, but if your cortisol and adrenaline are already low and you begin taking a product that is formulated to lower cortisol, it is definitely taking you down the wrong road.

The real problem is the adrenal glands, which produce cortisol and adrenaline, have become exhausted and depleted due to all the stress in your life. Therefore, supporting the adrenal glands with proper supplementation goes a long way in restoring your metabolism. I recommend using a product like Adrenal Fuel, which is formulated to both nourish those depleted adrenal glands and balance out those hormones with all the adaptogenic herbs that are included.

If you are not sure if your cortisol is too high or too low, you should consider having your adrenal glands measured through a saliva test to determine if stress has taken its toll on your body. Constant, prolonged stress will disrupt your metabolism and throw your hormones off, which can trigger your body to store fat instead of burning fat. So, focus on supporting and strengthening your adrenal glands.

What determines how well anything is absorbed into the body is mostly controlled by how well your digestive system is functioning. If you have a history of bloating, gas, indigestion, and other irritable bowel problems that are irritating and inflaming your digestive tract, it is going to affect how well your body absorbs any nutrients. It doesn’t matter if it came in liquid or capsule. Infomercials that try and market their products as being better absorbed than tablets or capsules are talking hype.

Liquid vitamins are like moving into a furnished house; everything is already there. Whereas vitamins that are in capsule or tablet form still need to be broken-down or opened up in order to become available for the digestive process. Capsules are usually pretty easy to dissolve and open up, but tablets are a little trickier, because to pack all those nutrients into a tablet takes a lot of compressive force and various binders and fillers to get it all to stick together. This could make the tablet so hard it won’t break apart.

Some tablet manufacturers do a great job in making tablets that easily dissolve or disintegrate. I always tell my patients when they purchase a vitamin/supplement that comes in tablet form to try and crack it open with your teeth. If it feels like a jaw-breaker, and seems impossible to break with your teeth, how do you expect the little enzymes in your stomach to break it down? It doesn’t, so if you can’t break open your tablets with your teeth, find another vitamin supplement because those probably aren’t being absorbed very well.

As a strength and conditioning coach, this is the one that really cracks me up because you are NOT going to add any muscle to your body unless you exercise those muscles. To think you can sleep and build muscle is crazy without first stressing them. Yes, you do release most of your growth hormones when you sleep, but if you didn’t exercise those muscles, there isn’t anything to repair. The only way muscles become more toned and firm is by exercising them. So when you hear some infomercial claiming that you could add inches of muscle by swallowing their pills, I have a bridge I would like to sell you! Stay away from those products.

If you want to add some shape and tone to your body, you can follow my "Super Seven Workout," which is spelled out in To Burn or Not to Burn, Fat is the Question" (Brown Books). It is a complete, whole body workout that utilizes both aerobic and anaerobic training principles.

There are so many more claims that are being spewed out onto the airwaves. I will continue this column in the weeks to come and try and separate the truth from the hype. Stay tuned!

Technology is amazing. In the last 20-30 years, we have developed computers that are smaller and faster. We have satellites, plasma televisions, razor thin phones, iPods, and Wi-Fi. We have developed new technologies in so many areas, yet why do we depend on so many lab tests that were discovered 40-60 years ago? Haven’t we made any advances in medicine that allow us to measure how well the body is functioning?

How many times have you heard someone say, "The doctors did all these test and everything is fine!" But we still feel fatigued, can’t lose weight, or get rid of these headaches or indigestion.

Could the simple blood test that was discovered more than 50 years ago be a bit outdated when it comes to measuring how well the body is functioning? Blood tests are great for measuring certain things, but often they don’t give a clear enough picture of how your body is functioning.

In the past 10-20 years, there have been a number of new tests that provide so much more information than a typical blood test. Unfortunately, mainstream medicine takes quite a long time to implement new technologies, which is why so many people are frustrated when their doctor can’t figure out what is wrong with them.

Saliva tests are great for measuring hormones. They are less expensive and provide much more information. Typical blood tests for hormones look at what are called "totals." Unfortunately, looking at ‘totals’ gives you the amount of both the inactive and active component of the hormone. This is where a lot of mainstream medicine misses the problem, because the values you need to pay attention to are the active components, which are called the "free-fractioned" form.

If you only look at ‘totals,’ that gives you the combined values of active and inactive hormone. It could be 80-20 one way or 20-80 the other way. Your ‘totals’ may look fine, but it is the active or free-fractioned component of that hormone that gives you the more accurate picture.

Stress is a major factor in so many health problems, yet mainstream medicine doesn’t routinely measure how well the adrenal glands are functioning. The adrenal glands are primarily known for producing your stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline, but they also produce many other hormones, including DHEA (also known as our anti-aging hormone), progesterone, estrogen, testosterone, and aldosterone (which balances your sodium and potassium).

When the adrenal glands get overworked due to constant stress, that affects your energy levels, your ability to lose weight, your mood, your libido, and the list goes on. This explains why so many people who have adrenal fatigue suffer from weight gain, fatigue, allergies, depression, cravings, hot flashes, PMS, indigestion, osteoporosis, and high blood pressure, to name a few.

A 24 Hour Saliva test for the adrenal glands lets you know if stress is at the root of your health problem. The test measures how well the adrenal glands are functioning. Is your body constantly in the "fight or flight" mode? The body is designed to handle short term stress – not prolonged, constant stress. This could explain why so many people struggle with so many health issues.

When a patient complains of fatigue, weight gain, headaches, and joint pain, many doctors will measure the thyroid and prescribe a medication. They don’t measure the adrenal glands. Could this be because there is not a medication to prescribe if the adrenals are a little low or a little high, like your thyroid, ovaries, or testes have been found to be?

The thyroid, adrenals, and reproductive hormones are ALL a part of your autonomic nervous system. Mainstream medicine recognizes that your thyroid, ovaries, and testes can be a little under-active or overactive and they have a prescription for those problems. However, they don’t recognize that the adrenals glands can be a little sluggish or hyper, which is what adrenal fatigue and exhaustion is all about.

If you are struggling with a health condition you are not getting results from, check to see if stress and your adrenal glands are at the root of the problem by doing a 24 Hour Saliva test . The saliva samples are collected at home and sent to the lab where they measure cortisol, DHEA, insulin, and immune status.

Another great test to determine heart health and inflammation is a Blood Spot Fatty Acid Profile. It measures the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3. This is a critical test because omega-6 (arachidonic acid) fatty acids trigger inflammation, whereas the omega-3 fatty acids trigger your natural anti-inflammatory molecules.

The over-consumption of saturated and trans-fats, along with omega-6 fatty acids, triggers inflammation, which is a root cause for heart disease, arthritis, and weight gain. Therefore, this simple blood spot test will help you determine if your diet is putting you at risk for heart disease and hormonal imbalances and contributing to your arthritic pain.

This test is also very helpful because the wide use of statin (cholesterol-lowering) drugs increases the amount of omega-6 to omega-3s, thus causing increased inflammation.

Like the Adrenal Stress Profile, the Blood Spot Fatty Acid test reveals how well the body is functioning. Based on that information, you can adjust your diet and supplement protocol appropriately and address the real cause of your health problems.

Research has shown that the omega-6/omega-3 ratio is a much better predictor of heart health than cholesterol levels. Unfortunately, there isn’t a drug to remedy this problem. The solution is to eat less saturated fat and eat more fish, olive oil, nuts, and seeds, or supplement with a high potency fish oil to lower your odds of dying from a heart attack or stroke.

This is a urine test that looks at the various pathways and by-products of your hormones, neurotransmitters (brain messengers), metabolism, detoxification, and digestion. Basically, it looks at what your body is excreting. If you are excreting too much or too little of certain metabolites, it correlates to various health problems. The solution is to adjust your diet or supplement protocol in order to balance the deficiencies or excesses. It’s a great test that can key into deficiencies and imbalances.

This is a urine test that measures free radical damage at the tissue level. Free radical damage has been implicated in heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s, glaucoma, macular degeneration, anti-aging, and more. Free radical damage is nothing more than your cells dying off, or degenerating at a faster rate than they can regenerate. The faster the cells and tissues die, or degenerate, the faster your body withers and ages - so, the more you slow this process, the longer and healthier your body can function.

Antioxidants such as vitamin C, E, zinc, selenium, gingko, and bilberry slow down the free radical progression. Fruits and vegetables are loaded with antioxidants. However, if your diet doesn’t include them and is loaded with refined, processed, fast foods, your body will not be getting enough antioxidants. Therefore, your body will be aging and withering at a faster rate.

If you slow the aging down from the inside first, it will have a much more dramatic effect than all the anti-aging creams and lotions. Remember: you nourish and deteriorate from the inside-out!

Blood tests are great for measuring certain things, but there are newer and better tests that give you much more information as to how well the body is functioning. When you can restore normal function to your metabolism, liver, thyroid, hormones, intestines, etc., you restore health. These tests don’t correlate with any specific medication, which may be why mainstream medicine doesn’t use them that often. However, these tests let you know you need to adjust your stress, diet, and nutritional protocol if you want to overcome your health issues.

A new study just came out showing that eating dark chocolate on a regular basis may help lower levels of inflammation, which is the root cause of heart disease, NOT elevated cholesterol or high blood pressure, as most drug manufacturers want us to believe.

Keep in mind we are talking about 'dark' chocolate, NOT milk chocolate, so don't think you can go grab a chocolate bar at the grocery store and think you are getting all the nutritional benefits that come with dark chcolate.

Dark chocolate is loaded with antioxidants, magnesium and also PEA (phenylethylamine), a excitatory neurotransmitter (brain messenger) that is know to help us get rid of the blues.  PEA is usually low in people who struggle with depression, which is why, when we eat dark chocolate - we feel this energetic pick me up.

Running is another way to increase PEA, which may be why many people who begin to run or walk outside begin feeling less depressed....they are stimulating the production of their PEA.

If you haven't tried our NatraLean Health bar, which are made with dark chocolate....give yourself a treat.  They are low glycemic and hypoallergenic.  The reason they are hypoallergenic is that diet is the major cause of inflammation and at the root of heart disease.  Knowing that we understand that many people have developed "hidden food allergies" that they aren't aware of, which is why the NatraLean Health bar is gluten and dairy FREE.

If you are also struggling with feelings of depression, the natural fix is to get out and get some exercise, preferably in the sun, or try our natural "chill pill" called Neuro Calm.

Keep in mind moderation is the key to everything, so don't eat a pound of chocolate and think you are getting all kinds of benefits....I am sure there is some time of point of diminishing returns.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_70178.html

Over the last decade the tide has changed from low fat to low carb diets. Unfortunately, neither is correct. Research confirms the best diet to drop those extra pounds is a diet that consists more of what I like to call "slow" carbs.

SLOW-Carbs are carbohydrates that rate low to moderate on the glycemic index.

People who follow a low to moderate glycemic diet do better at taking the weight off and keeping it off for one simple reason. They keep their blood sugar stable, which keeps them in their ‘fat-burning’ zone throughout the day.

The glycemic index rates food according to how fast they cause your blood sugar to rise. Foods that cause a rapid rise of your blood sugar are rated high to very high. Whereas foods that cause a slow, gradual rise are classified as low to moderate on the glycemic chart.

The reason we look at how fast foods cause your blood sugar to rise is because sugars (carbohydrates) trigger your body to release a hormone called insulin. We are most familiar with insulin working to pull the sugars from your bloodstream into the cells for energy. Unfortunately insulin also works as a storage hormone. When you trigger a huge amount of insulin in response to a high carbohydrate or high glycemic meal, it triggers your body to store all those extra carbs as fat.

Common high glycemic foods to stay away from are anything made with refined white flour or refined sugar. Many of the processed, frozen, and packaged foods are made with refined flours and sugar. Things like bagels, muffins, breads, pastas, cereal, pancakes, crackers, pretzels, rice cakes, tortilla chips, cookies and the list goes on are classified as high glycemic foods. These foods need to be avoided because they trigger a large surge of insulin and cause your body to store all those extra calories as fat.

Low glycemic foods are almost all your fruits and vegetables, as well as, nuts, seeds, beef, chicken, fish, eggs and most of your whole grains. As you can see we are talking about all the natural foods the good Lord gave us dominion over.

The problem is that more people are eating more processed, fast food and not enough of the foods the good Lord gave us. It’s like an epidemic, people are eating so much refined, processed, fast foods that they are triggering an overabundance of insulin which is causing problems such as obesity, cravings, hypoglycemia, insulin resistance, diabetes, high blood pressure, elevated triglycerides, ADD and depression. All these problems have become so prevalent and associated with elevated insulin that they have been grouped together and called Metabolic Syndrome.

The worst offender, and ingredient we should stay away from are foods and drinks that use ‘high fructose corn syrup’ as a sweetener. This includes all your soft drinks, fruit drinks, candies, health bars and shakes. Manufacturers will disguise high glycemic sweeteners with names like; maltodextrin, dextrose, maltose, and sucrose. Please don’t make the mistake and trade in one evil for another and choose foods made with artificial sweeteners to make it low fat or low glycemic. That’s like trading in a broken leg for a broken arm. Neither is good!

The key to successful weight loss comes by staying in your ‘fat-burning zone’ throughout the day. High glycemic foods or high carb meals take you out of your fat burning zone because your blood sugar is constantly racing up and down and trigger the wrong hormones. Insulin is not a good or bad hormone, it does what it is designed to do. When you produce a lot of it your body will store those extra carbs as fat, as well as, inhibits the production of glucagon, a hormone that works to breakdown fats.

These two hormones, insulin and glucagon work on opposite ends of a teeter-tooter, when one is up the other is down and visa-a versa. Glucagon is a dieter’s friend, because of its ability to breakdown fats. Protein triggers the production of glucagon, while carbohydrates trigger the production of insulin. When people follow a low fat diet they tend to eat more carbs. People who eat low or no carbs, usually eat more protein and trigger lots of glucagon, but the body and brain needs carbohydrates for energy and to function properly.

Low carb dieter’s tend to be easily agitated because their brains aren’t getting enough fuel. Normal brain function depends on carbohydrates. When your blood sugar drops because of the wrong foods, missed meals or eating low carbs it hampers normal brain function. This is why so many people are struggling with cravings, irritability, mood swings, difficulty concentrating and focus. Their brain is being depleted of its primary fuel, which causes problems.

A meal or snack that keeps your blood sugar stable should have a good combination of protein, fats and carbohydrates. All three of those nutrients are important for the proper function of our body. When we eat too little or too much of either of them, we create imbalances that throw our hormones and blood sugar out of whack, which messes up our metabolism. When we eat more of the foods the good Lord gave us to eat, in their natural state, we can keep that balance. It is when we eat more of the foods that have been processed by man that creates all kinds of problems.

Finding good quality food that is convenient is a difficult task which is why many people have turned to health bars instead of junk food. Be careful of many of the health bars on the market. Many are glorified candy bars with some added protein. Many are made with artificial sweeteners, trans fatty acids, peanuts and MSG. Those are all No-No’s and should be avoided. I would recommend trying the NatraLean Health bars, which are low glycemic, hypoallergenic and do a great job of keeping your blood sugar stable.

It's more than how many calories you eat and burn!

The typical school of thought for losing weight is a matter of burning more calories than we eat. Unfortunately that’s NOT how it works! There are too many people who are ‘stuck’ on their same weight even though they have been eating right and exercising. The reason is simple. They are not taking into consideration how stress and the hormones they produce control our metabolism.

Mistake number one is, NOT all calories are the same. We would like to think that when we burn calories we are burning calories from stored body fat from around our waist and bottom. That simply is not always the case. The body burns calories from either fats, carbohydrates or proteins (lean muscle). To assume that the body is always burning calories from stored body fat is our number one mistake and is simply WRONG.

It’s easy to say that a 30 minute jog burned 300 calories, but it doesn’t tell us if we burned 300 calories from the breakdown of fats, carbs or muscle. We could have easily burned 300 calories from the breakdown of carbohydrates or worse we could have burned 300 calories from lean muscle tissue (protein) which is the last thing we want to do.

The body is designed to burn calories throughout the day from fats as opposed to carbs and proteins, but most people who struggle with their weight are usually burning more calories from the breakdown of carbs and proteins NOT fats. In other words they are NOT staying in their "fat-burning zone" throughout the day. Yes, they are burning lots of calories, but they’re NOT burning calories from stored body fat. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have any carbs in your system. Your body will than breakdown lean muscle.

The reason people aren’t efficiently burning stored body fat has nothing to do with the amount of calories they ate or burned, but more to do with what regulates their metabolism. This brings us to the second point or mistake, which is hormones regulate our metabolism. As we said before the body can either burn calories from fats, proteins or carbs. Our metabolism is predominately controlled by our hormones. Some hormones burn fats, some hormones store fats and some trigger our body to burn carbs and protein. So to automatically assume that the 300 calories you burned came from the stored body fat around your tummy and bottom is wrong.

The hormones we are talking about are cortisol, adrenaline, insulin and glucagon, which are stimulated by stress and diet. Too much stress in your live will cause an over-production of cortisol and adrenaline which can trigger your body to burn carbs and proteins instead of fats. The same is true about insulin and glucagon. Too many carbs and you produce more insulin which stores fat, whereas glucagon burns fat and is produced when we eat protein.

So how can you tell if you are burning carbs instead of fats throughout the day?

If you answered ‘yes’ to a few of these questions it is a good indication your body is constantly burning calories from carbohydrates and proteins instead of stored body fats.

Here are some simple steps you can take to ensure your body is staying in its ‘fat-burning’ zone throughout the day.

1. Examine the amount of stress in your life. If stress is constant you could be producing too much cortisol and adrenaline, which is throwing your metabolism off. Take our "online health quiz" to see if stress is a problem. If you want to be more scientific. Have your cortisol and DHEA levels measured through a saliva test to determine if stress is impacting your metabolism. FYI…not everyone’s cortisol is too high! Many people under long term stress make too little cortisol and adrenaline, which is referred to as adrenal exhaustion.

2. Take a look at your diet. You can NOT skip meals or eat refined, junk food. It causes your blood sugar to drop and stimulates your adrenals to make additional cortisol and adrenaline.

3. Make sure you eat breakfast and it includes good protein and fats. A predominately high carb breakfast, like cereal or bagels….will throw your blood sugar off for most of the day. Good protein and fats at each meal will help reduce the surge of insulin and stimulates the production of glucagon, which aids in the breakdown of fats.

4. Check your digestion. If you struggle with bloating, gas, indigestion, heartburn or other irritable bowel problems it is causing irritation and inflammation. This triggers further production of cortisol, therefore add some digestive enzymes, look at food combining and possible "hidden" food allergies.

5. Deep breathing exercises for 1-2 minutes or longer throughout the day can lower cortisol and adrenaline. This is important because the more cortisol and adrenaline you produce the more insulin you produce. It’s a ‘vicious cycle’because cortisol makes your body resistant to insulin which in turn causes even more insulin to be produced.

Playing the calorie counting game doesn’t work. It overlooks and ignores the impact stress and diet has on our hormones. Remember, the good Lord didn’t design a bad hormone. Cortisol and insulin are not bad for us, but if we overproduce them they throw all the other hormones out of whack.

This may or may not be a subject for everyone to hear, but the numbers keep showing that the rate of infertility is climbing. What’s causing it is not clearly understood but this past week I did a radio show on the subject and how to help improve the odds for both men and women.

Click to listen to Action Steps for Health…

The basic overview is that stress is the leading cause of infertility. There are many different types of stress other than the obvious fear, worry and anxiety. There are chemical stresses, physical stresses and dietary stresses to go along with all the mental/emotional stress in our life.

Some of the chemical stresses are the obvious air and water pollution, but it also includes pesticides, hormones and antibiotics in our food. Along with artificial sweeteners, trans fatty acids, preservatives….and let’s not forget all the different cosmetics women slather upon themselves.

Physical stress includes not enough sleep, too much exercise, being overweight. While the dietary stresses come as a result of skipped meals, the wrong foods, and bloating, indigestion, heartburn, reflux…etc. Add them all together and stress could be stealing all your progesterone.

Women have heard it for years….reduce your stress if you want to get pregnant! Stress has a terrible affect of stealing your progesteronein order to make your stress hormones cortisol. This is critical, because your body needs progesterone in order to make a baby. But if a large percentage of your progesterone is being used to deal with stress instead of having a baby…you will have a very hard time getting pregnant or if you do the low levels of progesterone is the number one reason for miscarriages.

The diaghram above shows how the body goes about to make your reproductive hormones. As stress increases the body will direct more of its energy to deal with all the stress and produce more cortisol and adrenaline. This will eventually cause a decrease production or your DHEA, testosterone, estrogen and progesterone.

Testosterone is needed to help keep your libido going, but it is also needed by man to produce healthy sperm cells. The best way to help increase those levels are with intense exercise…there is more about that on the radio show.

Going back to women and progesterone. Mainstream medicine typically does a progesterone screen on day 21. Unfortunately many women are lead to believe their progesterone is fine when in fact it could be so out of line or irregular. Saliva tests are the best way to measure progesterone every third day. This allows you to track your progesterone fluctuations, which are normal. Often times we see women’s progesterone going down when it should be going up or vice-a-versa. Also elevated FSH and LH are keys that tell us the problem is not with the ovaries, but with the Hypothalamus Pituitary Adrenal Axis (the brain connection), which is responsible in signaling the ovaries to produce and release an egg.

I hope you find this information helpful. If you are struggling with fertility and think stress might be a problem, let me suggest you have your adrenal glands measured first. This is critical because if your adrenal glands are exhausted…it will deplete all your reproductive hormones and cause a decrease in progesterone, estrogen and testosterone.

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Conventionally raised animals…those raised on grains…have a ratio of about "twenty to one," meaning every time you eat beef, chicken, eggs or milk from your typical grocery store - the high ratio of saturated fats from that animal are what contribute to our health problems. The imbalance and the lack of the good omega-3 fats are a key reason for heart attacks, strokes, depression, hormonal imbalances, arthritis and diabetes and one of the main reasons a high potency fish oil should be something we should all be taking .

If you do struggle with heart disease, arthritis, hot flashes, hormonal imbalances, night sweats, PMS, depression or diabetes increase the amount of omega 3 fats in your diet by eating more of the foods we are talking about and supplement your diet with a good fish like our Sea Energy for 30 days and notice the difference.