HealCircle.org

Category: Longevity

  • The Community Cure with James Maskell – Transforming Health Outcomes Together

    The Community Cure with James Maskell – Transforming Health Outcomes Together

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    James Maskell shares a single solution to the biggest challenges facing healthcare: chronic disease, escalating costs, physician shortages, care access and affordability, physician burnout, loneliness, and mental health.

    In his second book, James Maskell shows how community–specifically group medical visits–can help us solve these challenges. A supportive community provides the context for ongoing healthy behaviors, key to reversing chronic illness. By advocating for and facilitating group visits, those who are passionate about health transformation can shift the collective focus to prevention and root cause resolution.

    The Community Cure is a guide to group visits including how to run them, how to avoid pitfalls and overcome challenges as well as best practices for launching and facilitating a group visits.

     


     

    James Maskell, BIO

    With the soul of an advocate and the mind of an entrepreneur, James Maskell has spent the past the past decade sparking debate, shifting paradigms, and working to accelerate the evolution of medicine—starting with the doctors themselves. By empowering conventionally trained doctors, James is encouraging a seismic shift away from an over dependence on western medicine and toward a wellness-centered, functional medicine model, creating not just happier patients—but happier doctors, too. To that end, he created the Evolution of Medicine, a community e-commerce service which provides highly curated and customized resources, tools, products, and services, making it easier and more affordable for conventional doctors to embark on a new way of managing healthcare.

    James is also the creator of  the Functional Forum, the world’s largest integrative medicine conference with record-setting participation online, where innovators and industry leaders explore the latest news and the future of healthcare, in person and online—with more than 200 physician communities worldwide.

    In 2018, he founded Knew Health, an affordable alternative to health insurance, combining medical cost sharing and health coaching. He is also the author of two books, “The Evolution of Medicine” and “The Community Cure”.

     


    LET’S TALK HEALTH 
    Watch, learn, then come over let’s talk! It’s easier to heal together, we are waiting to welcome you ?

    healcircles


    ARE YOU SERIOUS ABOUT YOUR HEALTH?

    Then we have a gift to encourage you! Click here for our founder’s Free Health Journal. it gives you 30 days of free weekly tracking of your moods, diet, meds, symptoms, notes, goals and gratitude.

    free health journal


     

    Reversing Auto-immune Disease With Dr. Will Cole

     


     

    KEY LINKS:

    CONTACT:

    James Maskell,

    e: james@goevomed.com

    WEBSITE:

    jamesmaskell.com

    SOCIAL MEDIA:

    twitter.com/mrjamesmaskell

    instagram.com/mrjamesmaskell

    linkedin.com/in/jamesmaskell

    Liked what you heard? Love what I am doing with my mission of spreading the truth about how we can live healthier, happier and longer?

    Then please SUBSCRIBE, RATE AND SHARE with your loved ones!! They will thank you for it 🙂

    Till next time, wishing you health, love, and joy!

  • The Switch with James Clement- Ignite Your Metabolism with Intermittent Fasting & Keto

    The Switch with James Clement- Ignite Your Metabolism with Intermittent Fasting & Keto

    HealthBootcamps Youtube

    HealthBootcamps iTunes

    HealthBootcamps Soundcloud

    HealthBootcamps Buy The Book

     

    James Clement has found the great SWITCH to losing dramatic weight, easing chronic conditions, and staying healthier longer. He shares his research and science behind activating this switch in his new book, ”The Switch: Ignite Your Metabolism with Intermittent Fasting, Protein Cycling, and Keto”

    In this interview, we talk about this ancient mechanism for eliminating toxic materials, initiating fat burn, and protecting cells from becoming dysfunctional—or turning cancerous.

    Check out the interview for insights into how can we positively activate this switch? How frequently should we fast and for how long? Which foods dial up autophagy or, conversely, turn it down? How much exercise and what types are recommended? What’s the sweet spot between intermittent fasting, protein cycling, and ketogenic eating?

     


     

    James W. Clement, BIO

    James Clement has devoted the last two decades to the science of life extension. He is best known for his Supercentenarian Study, which has received international press (see: Betterhumans Supercentenarian Research Study in the News) in addition to a feature story in the New York Times by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Amy Harmon. A champion of the transhumanist movement, he is the founder of the Betterhumans non-profit, which is the world’s first specifically transhumanist biomedical research organization. Led by a collection of high-profile researchers, the organization focuses on bringing cutting edge scientific discoveries from the lab to the clinic, so that humanity can take advantage of these breakthroughs in a safe and inexpensive manner, as quickly as possible.

     


    LET’S TALK HEALTH 
    Watch, learn, then come over let’s talk! It’s easier to heal together, we are waiting to welcome you ?

    healcircles


    ARE YOU SERIOUS ABOUT YOUR HEALTH?

    Then we have a gift to encourage you! Click here for our founder’s Free Health Journal. it gives you 30 days of free weekly tracking of your moods, diet, meds, symptoms, notes, goals and gratitude.

    free health journal


     

    Reversing Auto-immune Disease With Dr. Will Cole

     


     

    KEY LINKS:

    CONTACT:

    James W. Clement,

    e: james@jameswclement.com

    WEBSITE:

    jameswclement.com

    SOCIAL MEDIA:

    twitter.com/JamesWClement

    facebook.com/jwclement

    instagram.com/jwclement

    linkedin.com/in/jwclement

    Liked what you heard? Love what I am doing with my mission of spreading the truth about how we can live healthier, happier and longer?

    Then please SUBSCRIBE, RATE AND SHARE with your loved ones!! They will thank you for it 🙂

    Till next time, wishing you health, love, and joy!

  • #7 Unusual Reasons I am Grateful Today!

    #7 Unusual Reasons I am Grateful Today!

    7 Highly Personal Reasons I'm Grateful for Today

    By Reena A Jadhav

    It’s November 21st and I’m up at 6:30 am. I can hear hubby on a cheerful work call, apparently from my daughter’s new snowy white couch brought in last night as part of her room redecoration project. She will be a high schooler in a few months and the fluffy pink middle school theme just won’t do.

    I am so grateful to be alive to redo her room, to giggle over drapes and candles. I get to see her go to High School. Just a year and a half ago, I was convinced I wouldn’t be around for that.

    Thank you for giving me some more time to enjoy the beautiful moments this life offers us daily. 

    I’m starving by 7 am. Sigh, my new microbiome constantly craves real meals and digests everything fast. I head down to the kitchen, blurry eyed as yesterday was a marathon between my various projects. I cook up lentil kale soup with quinoa for breakfast… I really am starving for real food…

    I sit down with my nourishing bowl, soft “happy music” playlist streaming from Alexa, not a single worry about food reactions. I couldn’t have eaten this meal a year and a half ago. My 28 symptoms were unpredictable and every bite was like a landmine expedition. Thank you for this moment of enjoying real food with no reactions. For the ability to eat without wondering whether I will have stomach cramps or rashes.

     

    Thank you for giving me back the pure joy of eating anything at any time. 

     

    Stomach fed, soul recharged, I get busy roasting sweet potatoes for tomorrow’s Thanksgiving dinner that we host each year for our family of about 35. This year is special; my cousin is visiting with his beautiful fiance from New York. There will be more chatter and the patter of little feet, as all the little ones will be over. There will be some side eyed judging, some childlike petulance, some over drinking and definitely lots of singing and dancing.

     

    Thank you for a loving extended family to host, to hug, and to hang with. 

     

    A few hours later the sweet potatoes are crispy, juicy and oh so delicious with a blend of cinnamon, cloves, honey, and apple cider vinegar. I send a picture to my 19-year-old as she’s in her Uber on the way to the Chicago airport to fly home today. “My baby’s coming home,” my heart sings. Not everyone’s baby is coming home this Thanksgiving. There has been a rash of shootings, kidnappings, and deaths in Chicago. Then there is the entire town of Paradise where no one has a home anymore due to California fires.

    Thank you for keeping her and us safe through the crazy and constant violence around us. Thank you for allowing us to still have a home today. 

     

    I have to try some of the orange gooeyness…I grab a spoon and moan at the delicious juiciness of cinnamon and clove spiced, brown sugared, and buttered sweet potatoes. Heck with portion control, I grab a bowl and head over to my swinging chair to take a moment to reflect on the gifts I need to pack for the karaoke winners, and yes everyone will be a winner!
    My thoughts flit to my husband, my parents, my children, my cousins and nephews, and nieces…all part of the pattern of the quilt of my life. All bringing “life” into my “life” with the laughter, the tears, the disagreements, the hugs …the love.

    “Are you joining?” I get a text reminding me I have a startup coaching call. Its a great company with passionate founders pursuing a strong business model. As we end the call, he thanks me for my insights. I smile, content at having contributed in a small way. Yes, bringing joy to others is the quickest way of bringing joy into your own life, says a lot of scientific research. Not everyone ends up in professions where they can feel like they have contributed to others in a meaningful way.

    Thank you for the opportunity to be of value to someone else. 

     

    It’s time for the last call with Bev, who is taking our Heal Your Gut Bootcamp with Dr. Grasser. She was kind enough to agree to record her day by day experience.

    We hop on the call and hit record. She starts by sharing how this is the first time she has not had gas after eating in years. Her entire recording is available on Healthbootcamps.com/blog 

    I then ask her about my book cover feedback and she loves the name #MAD and begins sharing how she got so mad when her doctor couldn’t help her with her gas and bloating and instead recommended anti-depressants. We hit record again! We are starting #MAD as a movement for everyone to share how they couldn’t get the help they wanted but how they healed themselves anyway.

    It’s a movement of hope to help those who are still trying to figure out what’s causing their health issues and how to reverse them.As we end the session, I’m grateful that I can do this.


    Thank you for the resources I have access to and for a supportive husband and family who make it possible for me to do this.

     

    I hop on Mailchimp to send out today’s newsletter. And I smile. We added another 42 subscribers, yay!

    Thank YOU for being part of the HealthBootcamps and HealCircle tribe. 

     

    Without you, I would just be talking very loudly to myself 🙂 
    You’re my family and I love you very much!
    Stay smiling and connect with me on Twitter @reenajadhav Linkedin www.linkedin.com/in/reena or Facebook Reena Jadhav

     

     

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  • 5 Crazy Things Intermittent Fasting Did to Me (and how I got through them!)

    5 Crazy Things Intermittent Fasting Did to Me (and how I got through them!)

    By Reena A Jadhav

    I love snacking! Grazing all day on nuts, Ferraro Rocher, Nutella, cookies dipped in tea …give me little sweet treats (like a child) all day long and I’m blissed out.

    Well, then this happened.

    In 2017, I almost ended up dying, 28 symptoms attacking me daily, and had to figure out an exit strategy from the grave.

    After a mini PhD in healing, I decided to embark on intermittent fasting with 2 large meals and herbal tea the rest of the day.

    I wanted the promised land of reduced inflammation, gut healing, mitochondrial recovery, organ rejuvenation, mental clarity, sleep through the night and beating away of sugar cravings.

    I could almost envision the new me through the shimmering mirage, all healed and rash free. No more swollen fingers like stumps or big hives on my cheeks. No more funky black lines on my palms or bathroom runs 10 times a day!

    I was so ready to get my life back. To heal.

    So I deeply thought through which day to commence my march to super health (I didn’t want vacations or parties to interrupt my carefully crafted design back to health). March 1 seemed like a great day for new beginnings.

    So it was that on March 1, 2017, I began an intermittent fast (IF) that would take me through an adventurous rocky road of recovery. A topsy-turvy roller coaster …did I mention hate scary rides?

    Here are the 5 crazy things I wish someone had told me when I first started! Why? Because any challenge can only be won with preparation. You can’t go into a battlefield without a plan and resources. Knowing where the mines are will get you to the end goal of not eating for 14 to 18 hours. I stumbled around for months before getting into the rhythm of a dinner by 7 pm and lunch at 12 pm. Here’s how I did it!

    5 crazy things about intermittant fasting no one tells you (and how to get through them!)

    So here are my top tips for ‘body maintenance’ and to your body thriving!

    1. Cravings -this fasting is NOT helping!
      They tell you IF kills cravings. What they don’t tell you is that fasting first pumps up the cravings and only if you defeat the dragon do they go away. My first week of IM was actually not so bad the second week of not eating after 7 pm brought out the sugar beast in me like never before. I would wake up with the strangest cravings for Baked Alaska and Chocolate Halwa, delicacies I had not devoured in decades. I got worried I was pregnant! My family freaked out and there were many times when my husband would restrain me while my daughter quickly grabbed the cookie box/chocolate bag/ice-cream carton out of my hands and hid it or threw it away. It got very ugly. It turns out the hormone ghrelin is the troublemaker here. When you start any kind of fasting it rises and rises and rises, creating that sense of desperate hunger. But it soon settles down into the new norm. To get through the rough few weeks of my battle with ghrelin I adopted the “honey on tongue” trick- I would put a dab of raw organic honey on my tongue and savor it till the desire to eat an entire cake would vanish. Another trick that worked was herbal cinnamon tulsi tea with monk fruit sweetener. So get ready to find your “honey on tongue” trick that will get you through the ghrelin spikes.
    2. Binges – food frenzy coming on!
      Apparently, IM should shrink our stomachs so we eat less. Clearly, my stomach didn’t get that WhatsApp alert. Till today, my daughter is horrified at how much I eat at, what I call, “feeding time”. Ever gone to a zoo and watched animal feeding? See how all the animals get so excited and eat voraciously, without stopping to breathe, until all the food is gone? That’s the new me. At 12 pm sharp I eat everything in sight. I always ate like a bird, according to my family. Now I eat like an elephant. It’s almost like my body knows there’s no food coming for 14+ hours and its time to hoard. The first few weeks I would eat less and be starving within an hour. My digestive juices were trained to wake up every hour on the hour due to my grazing habits. They were so confused when no little snack would show up. They would go nuts, demanding something to digest. It was quite an exercise in willpower! Which I really didn’t have much of those first few months- I was constantly in the pantry eye worshiping what I would eat at the next meal. It was quite comical for my family to watch, as they tell me. Then I got smart and started overeating and adding heavier proteins that would take longer to digest. Another great addition was psyllium husk that bulked up the meal. It took almost a month to retrain my digestion to only wake up at 12 pm and 5 pm but it eventually worked!But I still eat for about 1.5 hour each meal in quantity and variety that continues to horrify my 14-year-old!
    3. Chirpings – wake up at 4:30 am!
      I’ve never been a morning person, I love hitting snooze, snuggling in deeper and getting just a “few more minutes” of sleep. IF killed that indulgence, fast! Within 3 weeks I would wake up at 4:30 am like an alarm, without an alarm, and be wired without caffeine or sugar. I would try to get back in the dream state only to have my mind fully awake and ready to rock and roll. Something truly magical happened to bring my body into a balance that it hadn’t had since my middle school days. I had so much energy that I would go for a run and come back singing ready to get to work! No caffeine or banana chocolate chip muffin needed.With my dinner ending by 7 PM, I learned the trick that if I went to bed by 10 PM I would miss the hunger cycle. But if I was up at 11 PM I was back in the pantry starving and binging. So I changed my night owl routine just to stop myself from raiding the pantry. This one small change, I believe, kickstarted my tsunami of healing. It turns out that our body is naturally designed to wake up at dawn but in order for it do that it needs to work through the complex clean up and rejuvenation cycle. Which requires us to be in bed by 10 PM. Ayurveda also recommends finishing dinner 4 hours before sleep time to allow the body to focus on rejuvenation instead of digestion at night. So, if you want to sail through your IF transition then schedule bedtime at 10 PM and you’ll see amazing results!
    4. Feelings – anger, sadness, fatigue, cold, hot
      I’ve always been an even-keeled, low key, stable emotions kinda woman. No throwing things or wanting to ram into cars on the road. That all changed with IF. The first month I felt a gamut of emotions I had never experienced before. From road rage to sobbing for brownies…from freezing to melting …it was all very confusing. And painful enough to make me want to give it all up. My body was fighting the change with all its might. There’s science that supports emotional healing as the body heals, which means lots of deep down hurt wells up and then disappears.My family was fighting the change with all their might. They just wanted the old “Mom and Wife” back; this new one was a firecracker. The cause of all this mayhem? A combination of low blood sugar, blood flowing to fat stores, dehydration, hangry hormones and more. It was all very touch and go for a while. But I’m not known to give up, no matter how tough the climb. So I persisted with constant deep breathing and meditations. Something called Tranquil Mind herbal helped tremendously. So did baking, not working out and cutting down my commitments.  Recently, I interviewed Susan of Brightline Eating on my HEALTHIER podcast and she shared the science behind willpower as well as recommending not working out during fasts and transitions. So if you’re going to embark on a successful IF protocol long term, skip the exhausting gym visits and slow down your pace the first few weeks or months…or till your body settles into the new rhythm.
    5. Rumblings – shouldn’t my digestion be better?
      I remember the first week facing off with the loud sounds my belly made all the way from 8 am till 12 pm. Until I fed it, it made a fuss like a child!I hoped it was just a few days of drama but it lasted several weeks. Annoying and a little embarrasing frankly.My digestive reset took close to a month and gave me everything from bloating to constipation, both known side effects of IF.  Constipation I resolved through psyllium husk which also kept me bulked up between long meal breaks. Funky cramping tummy I fixed through herbal mint and tulsi teas. So there you have it! You have been informed of the perils that lie ahead in your journey to an IF lifestyle as well as simple tips remedies. Overall the benefits outweigh the drama and justify the upheavel this change inevitably brings with it. But …IF not for everyone and certainly not forever. So, 3 to 4 days a week I tell my body when to eat and the rest of the days I listen to what it wants! For me, its become a happy celebration of health and indulgence. How about you? I would love to hear your IF stories, so do share with me on social media or in comments below!

    Finally, get the MTFHR test done to determine if your liver could use additional support.

    If you already have a chronic illness, prioritizing detoxing is critical. Our body cannot restore and rebuild if it’s fighting off invaders. What’s amazing is that the moment your body is free of toxins it literally blossoms! Your energy will go through the roof, your skin will glow, you’ll see better, you’ll smile more, you’ll poop at least twice a day effortlessly. (Yep, you wanted to know about the pooping, right?)

    More importantly, you’ll know you are on the path to being disease free!

    If you need help, we’re are always here with a Health Bootcamp for you!

    Follow Reena on Twitter @reenajadhav Linkedin www.linkedin.com/in/reena or Facebook Reena Jadhav

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  • Diet for Health

    Diet for Health

    This is Step 6 of the article I wrote, 7 Step New Health Pyramid, which you can read on this Page >>

    By Reena A Jadhav

    We truly live in the best of times – and the worst of times.

    We have never had so much abundance and variety available. Mounds of delicious, addictive, affordable foods from all over the world are tempting us 24/7/365.

    But the price of this abundance and excess is, guess what? Obesity and chronic disease.

    Think about how the animal kingdom eats – horses eat hay, birds eat seeds, bees eat pollen. You don’t see bees chomping down hay or horses licking pollen off flowers. They instinctively know what their bodies need and are happy eating just those foods. (Have you ever seen an obese bee?)

    We have the same innate intelligence… however, we also have a problem: a brain that fears starvation and wants us to stock up. Our brain also loves dopamine rushes which – unfortunately – food provides in abundance. This creates a deadly combination of addiction and overindulgence (for me it was sugar, chocolate, flour, and butter).

    Living in our world of rich Starbucks aromas and cheap Krispy Kreme donuts we are all paying a heavy price for overindulgence.

    So you need to ask yourself, “is this food my fuel – or my funeral?”

    And there’s a bigger, hidden issue. (Yes, another problem.) We don’t know what’s healthy and what isn’t. Do we?

    One day coconut oil is good for you, another day it isn’t. Yesterday eggs were causing cholesterol but today they don’t. It’s enough to make us all throw up our hands in confusion as the so-called “experts” change their minds.

    Fake health news is everywhere. Companies fund studies (with top researchers of course) to support the “health” benefits of their poisonous products. Greed has beaten integrity and it’s impossible to know the real truth around research any more. No, a glass of wine daily is not healthy (not that you want to hear that!).

    And then there are the thousands of additives, chemicals, and GMOs, plus of course glyphosate, which all lace supposedly healthy foods with poison. It’s like having an evil stepmother at every store, feeding us their poisoned apples with a smile. Berries may seem like manna from heaven – but only if they don’t come gift wrapped in glyphosate which will obliterate your microbiome and create disease.

    False advertising is rampant, tricking us into thinking we are eating healthy. There is nothing natural about “natural flavors”. Packages have big bold words about health – and tiny print that reveals toxic chemicals (like carrageenan). Eating healthy can feel like a lot of hard work.

    Foods created in a lab – designed to be addictive – are everywhere. Addictions drive so many of our daily food habits. From that morning Starbucks run to the packets of chips you just can’t put down, we don’t stand a chance against all this masterful manipulation!

    As if that’s not enough, we’re not all the same. One person’s medicine is another person’s poison. An apple a day may keep the doctor away for you but it creates inflammation for me (fact – per my FIT test). Our bodies actually tell us quite clearly when something doesn’t agree with them, but we’ve lost touch and no longer listen to their whispers. At least, not until they start screaming out loud – and then we take pills that we’ve confused with “cures”.

    Eating out of season is yet another confusing experience for your body. Our physiological needs change with the seasons – yet we eat exactly the same all year round. We fly in blueberries from Mexico and lychees from China. We eat pumpkin in summer and plums in winter. Worse, we eat complex, heavy, hard to digest meals as the norm rather than the exception as they are so easy to procure. What would have taken half a day to cook (and hence only cooked weekly or monthly) is now available any time, anywhere.

    Take a moment to read those points again. Then pause to consider this: your right to healthy food has actually been taken away from you.

    If you want to eat to create health, you are going to have to break out of your current state of acceptance and trust. How many of these dangerous beliefs do you have?

    • Believing that all fruits and vegetables in the grocery store are equally healthy (they are not, buyer beware!).
    • Believing that the newest fad diet (right now it’s Keto) must be the cure-all because so many famous people are touting it. (It never is – just yet another marketing ploy to sell more of something.)
    • Believing the claims of the labels on your food (no, you can’t trust them – you need to read the fine print and ingredients list).
    • Believing that manufacturers have your best interest at heart (of course not – they care about their profits and bonuses way more than your health).
    • Believing that your doctor knows about nutrition and has the answers to everything (there are still MDs out there saying that nutrition has nothing to do with cancer).

    Are you wondering if I’m a conspiracy theorist who made all this up? Let me assure you that what I’m sharing was distilled from the 75 interviews I conducted with renowned MDs on the Healthier Podcast. From Dr. Mark Hyman to Dr. Zach Bush to Dr. Joseph Mercola, these doctors are all desperately trying to get this message out: buyer beware of your food choices today!

    If you are overwhelmed with what to do next, here’s my very simple plan that I started following two and a half years ago. I completely reversed all my symptoms (28, remember!) and experienced food as medicine first hand. Ok, ready to eat to heal? Here’s how you do it!

    1. Get Personal
      Figure out which foods are medicine – or poison – for your body. (It doesn’t matter what works for anyone else!) The shortcut for this is food sensitivity tests. I’ve done Viome, FIT, ALCAT and the common insurance covered food allergy test. The harder way is to keep a food diary and start with an elimination diet. Then as you add food items back in, see which ones make you lethargic and tired or symptomatic (gas, bloating, rashes, headaches). Exclude those completely.
    2. Buy Quality
      Eat only what’s grown organically, locally and in season, at least five days a week. There are wonderful local farmers’ markets in each town and that’s a Saturday morning date I never break. Once you start eating local produce you’ll never go back to packaged grocery store produce – it just doesn’t taste the same, not even the organic produce. It’s harvested too early, coated with wax and has been sitting around for a month before you buy it. Freshly plucked vine-ripened foods have a whole different taste and texture that you will crave once you try them. (This is a healthy craving!)
    3. Cut the Packages
      Eat less than 10% of your daily food out of a package. If it’s bought in a package it’s been processed. If it’s processed it’s not creating health. See how long lettuce lasts when not packaged vs packaged. There is something that’s added to packaged organic foods that makes them last so much longer. Because adding chemicals, that sounds like a great idea, right? And I’m not putting that inside me if I have an option.
    4. Cut Down
      Eat less. Give your body 4 to 6 hours of breaks in between eating meal. Time to process your food. To clean out the junk. To take some rest and recover. Overeating is an epidemic – portion sizes in America are out of control. Restaurants have been using larger portions to attract more customers and the outcome has been obesity and addiction. No one needs a venti latte or a “supersize” meal. We are not exactly running marathons daily. (More likely sitting in the car or on the couch.)
    5. Get Fasting
      Fast one day a week to help your body “reset” itself. Traditionally, most cultures used some kind of fasting. Now we all seem to be eating non-stop! But science now supports intermittent fasting as a path to longevity. Really, we shouldn’t need science to tell us that eating less (but high quality) food will make us live longer! It’s common sense – which we have all but given up on (preferring to worship at the altar of research, letting some ‘expert’ tell us what to think).
    6. Go Simple
      Eat simpler meals. Don’t combine too many different foods in one meal – instead, eat larger quantities of fewer types of food. Make it easier for your body to digest what you’re eating and you’ll feel a surge of energy after meals instead of looking for a pillow.
    7. Go Raw and Natural
      Try to eat half your meal as raw salads and fruits which have structured water to charge you up. In winter eat more warming soups, in summer more salads.
    8. Read, Read, Read
      If you’re going to buy packaged food, read the ingredients list first. If you can’t pronounce it, or it sounds like a chemical, take a breath – and put the package back. It takes a little getting used to but then it becomes a habit. My 13 year old doesn’t buy anything without first reading the label. Now we’re so efficient that in an instant she knows whether to even read the label or not – she just looks at the number of ingredients and puts it back on the shelf!

    Your diet should be a priority, not an afterthought. What you eat creates your reality. Your joy – or misery – is linked to your food. So why not eat to LIVE – to create a longer happier healthier life?

    It’s worth the time and money.

    You’re worth it!

    And we are here to help you with our programs.

     

     

    Follow Reena on Twitter @reenajadhav Linkedin www.linkedin.com/in/reena or Facebook Reena Jadhav

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  • Detox for Health

    Detox for Health

    This is Step 6 of the article I wrote, 7 Step New Health Pyramid, which you can read on this Page >>

    By Reena A Jadhav

    Every second that we are alive we are being (in)toxicated! Think about it: we’re living in a toxic soup of chemicals. In our food, in the air, in the stuff we touch and even in what we hear, see and feel. When you suddenly want to accelerate and ram into the car in front, that’s a toxic thought that creates a cascade of chemical reactions.

    The simple math for health is this: what goes in must come out. Our bodies are giant processors that take stuff in, suck out the nutrients we need, and throw out what’s harmful or unwanted. Your body is a brilliant self-cleaning machine (like some kind of super robot – only, you know, wetter) with a whole system of outputs – sweat, breath, urine, and poop. Most of our critical organs such as the liver, kidneys, lungs, lymph, skin, and the digestive system passionately scrub and squirt and clean all day long.

    Even the trillions of bacteria in the gut have the fun job of gobbling up whatever comes hurtling down the tube and digesting it into a waste matter that gets pooped out.

    Without such efficient cleaning, we would be a large stinky swamp! And sometimes we are…

    From bad breath to smelly gas, sour sweat, and weird growths, we have all experienced bouts of toxicity without realizing that’s what it is.

    Trouble really begins when crap starts to build up. And up. And up.

    And what goes in sometimes, somehow gets stuck. (Lovely!)

    This trouble is called toxicity and it’s the root cause of chronic illness and most disease according to Ayurveda (an ancient science of health from India). Ayurveda calls this toxicity Ama and recommends a serious 7-day program called Panchakarma to rid the body of toxicity from all layers.

    All layers?

    Yes, toxicity builds layer by layer. Initially, the toxins sit superficially ‘on the surface’ (a bit like a coat of paint) but with time, the toxins move into organs and then cells, disrupting normal cellular function and creating havoc. Like a car engine can’t function with residue, nor can your body function with toxins circulating all over.

    I had colon cancer at 35 years and an autoimmune crisis at 45 years – yes, that was my party of 28 symptoms. After months of research, I was able to self-diagnose myself with the MTHFR gene mutation (which afflicts a significant number of Asians) which makes it hard for the liver to do its job. When the liver is backed up you end up basically dying, little bit by little bit. That was me, with my deluge of symptoms coming from auto-intoxication and a gut that no longer digested anything properly. I had SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth – sounds delightful, right?) and gut dysbiosis adding to my toxic overload. My sugar addiction didn’t help. It took me 15 months to clean out the toxins that had been layering on for decades.

    But I had asked my doctors on multiple visits about my mild annoying symptoms from indigestion to bloating to fatigue – only to be told to take some Tums and get more sleep. This drives me crazy. Guess what? There’s no test for toxicity. MDs are NOT trained to notice the subtle signs of toxicity that don’t show up on regular tests. These can be addressed pretty easily with minor changes and regular maintenance. (Yes, like a car.) In fact, I have begun writing an anthology called Deceived: what you don’t know and your Doctor isn’t telling you to reveal more such information and actionable tips from World’s leading doctors.

    12 TIPS TO KEEP TOXINS OUT

    So here are my top tips for ‘body maintenance’ and to your body thriving!

    1. Got Gas?
      If your guts are gurgling at you, or you’re bloated like a balloon, it might sound funny but take it seriously. It’s creating the worst kind of toxicity that causes disease. Find the root cause and fix it! The root cause could be food intolerance (you can get tested for that), low stomach acid (take a supplement with each meal), stress (don’t eat while working), low enzymes (you can take a supplement for this with your meals too), overeating (eat smaller portions), SIBO or Candida, and fix your Leaky Gut with Restore.
    2. Take Time…
      To keep your body’s cleaning mechanisms working, eat your meals at least 4 hours apart. Don’t snack as that interrupts the complex digestive process kicked off when you eat a meal. Don’t eat after 7 pm or 8 pm latest, as your body’s overall cleaning is done at night and if there’s food to be digested that process stops.
    3. … and Take a Break
      Fasting once a week is a cultural tradition that makes a lot of sense to me now! It’s the quickest way to cleaning out any crap and giving your body a day off to recover. Intermittent fasting of 16 hours daily is also a proven way to address everything from obesity to diabetes.
    4. Boost Your Body
      Dry brushing your entire body and then oiling it before hopping in the shower will transform your daily ritual into a cleansing one. A weekly bath with Epsom salts or dead sea salts is another great way to pull out toxins sitting close to the skin.
    5. Heat it Up
      Sauna is my fun way to detox! Your skin is your largest organ for cleansing, so take advantage of it. Even the ancient Romans did it religiously. Join a gym or buy one for your home. A weekly sauna can be the easiest way to pull out toxins hanging out in fat cells and tissues.
    6. Breathe, Baby
      Deep breathing first thing in the morning or Zach Bush’s Nitric Oxide Dump workout are simple ways to push out toxins via the lungs. Most of us are shallow breathers and the culprits are technology and stress. You have to train yourself to take slow, deep rejuvenating breaths all day long. In fact, one of the reasons we yawn while sitting for long periods is carbon dioxide build up. So mindfully breathing correctly all day is another simple way to keep your body humming.
    7. Touch It…
      Massages are another fun way to get the circulation system working correctly and get the toxins out.
    8. …Move It!
      Our lymph system is the only design that’s a bit flawed (in case God is accepting input on Human 2.0). It doesn’t work without movement. Trampoline is a great way to get all the toxins stuck in our lymph moving out of our body. A lymphatic massage is another fun way to deal with the sludge.
    9. Sponge It, Baby
      There are some great food options such as Chlorella, Spirulina, and cilantro that literally pull out toxins from our gut. Supplements such as milk thistle and magnesium can also be critical to supporting the body’s detox efforts.
    10. Are What You Eat
      Imagine trying to clean your home without a powerful vacuum… yup, total nightmare! Cleaning our body can be so much simpler with nature powered vacuum, which comes in the form of fresh herbs, fruits, and vegetables. Add a couple of these daily to have a spotless interior: Lemon/Lime, Broccoli Sprouts, Spirulina, Chlorella, Alfalfa, Wheatgrass, Kale, Olive Oil, Brussel Sprouts, Sauerkraut, Ginger, Turmeric, Coriander, and Fennel. Or take a shortcut and try this Detox tea!
    11. Switch Off
      Do a digital detox daily or weekly – or at least monthly. Shut down all notifications and schedule a short time interval to check and respond to messages. Turn off all technology an hour prior to bedtime and don’t touch your tech in the morning until after (healthy) breakfast.
    12. Switch Out
      Do an emotional detox where you identify people that trigger you negatively and disconnect from them for a day or a week. Give your emotions a break from negativity and schedule time to build positive emotions through gratitude journaling or watching cat videos (or whatever makes you giggle!).

    Finally, get the MTFHR test done to determine if your liver could use additional support.

    If you already have a chronic illness, prioritizing detoxing is critical. Our body cannot restore and rebuild if it’s fighting off invaders. What’s amazing is that the moment your body is free of toxins it literally blossoms! Your energy will go through the roof, your skin will glow, you’ll see better, you’ll smile more, you’ll poop at least twice a day effortlessly. (Yep, you wanted to know about the pooping, right?)

    More importantly, you’ll know you are on the path to being disease free!

    If you need help, we’re are always here with a Health Program for you!

    Click here to read my next post Step #7: DIET>>

     

     

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  • What’s Your Mental Fitness Score?

    What’s Your Mental Fitness Score?

    By Reena A Jadhav

    My friend Audrey works out five days a week. On the sixth day, she does Bikram Yoga in sweltering heat. Then on the seventh day, she “rests” by doing an 8-mile walk.

    Know someone like that?

    Yes, we all know that one person who exhausts us, just by telling us their workout routine. As a nation, we spend over $26 billion annually, on fitness. That’s great; we’re looking hotter, wearing muscle shirts and lifting our body weight on our pinkies. In fact, in our online health bootcamps, the fitness section ends up being very popular!

    However, let’s talk about mental fitness for a change. Suicides of stars such as the iconic Anthony Bourdain or beloved designer, Kate Spade are shining a much-needed spotlight on our mental health crisis which is costing us of $200 billion and affects about 60 million Americans. Yup, 1 in 4 Americans suffers from some mental illness every year. It’s very likely that this number excludes the underreported teen mental health crisis.

    So what is going on?

    Some of the mental health issues are complex and inescapable, and my heart goes out to those struggling to heal from them.

    However, a portion of this crisis, in my opinion, is due to our mental “obesity”. We are mentally fat and out of shape, incapable of handling this crazy roller coaster ride, called life. Our mental muscles are weak and flabby from overstimulation and overfeeding on a buffet of mentally disturbing media tweets, posts, alerts, and dings.

    We have to remember that we are a beautifully brilliant mental program that’s absorbing everything around us.

    Unfortunately, what we absorb today by the way of mouth, sight, sound, smell, and emotions is driving our less than joyful mental state.

    It’s time we started treating our mind as the muscle that it is, and feed and flex it to keep it strong! In my opinion, the feeding of our mind includes not just nutrition but also sleep, socializing and social media.

    So, if we watch crap, eat crap, and sleep like crap, we are bound to feel and act like crap. Hanging out with crappy people? Guess how you’re going to feel the next day?

    I see it as simple math that no one mentioned to me when I talked to my primary care doctor years ago. Her terse reply was, “what do you expect, you’ve got two little kids, a full-time startup job and a traveling husband. Its normal to feel weepy and exhausted.”

    Now looking back, having conducted 75+ interviews with health pioneers, I can say definitely that it was not normal and it was totally fixable.

    Every day, every action either feeds your mind to joy or jitters.

    I wasn’t sleeping well, eating right or breathing and resting. I was literally doing everything to contribute to a terrible state of mind,

    So, whenever you feel sad, anxious, angry or reactive, take some time to think about what you’ve been feeding your mind lately. Better yet, become mindful of giving your mind exactly what it needs to stay fit!

    Check out the short and totally unscientific quiz below that I crafted to help you gauge your mental fitness. Then scroll down to see your results and the explanation for the quiz. Let’s get started!

    MENTAL FITNESS QUIZ

    1. Do you laugh at least 3 times each day with genuine (not fake!) glee and find joy in small things?
    2. Do you have the willpower to say NO to that extra brownie, drink, smoke, or double cheeseburger 90 percent of the time?
    3. Do you get at least seven hours of deep restorative sleep every night?
    4. Do you view social media, TV, Netflix etc for less than 2 hours every day?
    5. Are you consciously grateful for the little things like running warm water and almond milk at Starbucks?
    6. Do you spend time with people you love at least once a week?
    7. Do you get out in nature and say hello to the sun for at least 30 minutes a day, 5 times a week?
    8. Are you loved? Do you love yourself?
    9. Do you rest and breathe deeply several times a day for a few minutes?
    10. Do your meals include 50% healthy fats, fresh fruits, and vegetables?

    SCORE

    THE BOSS: MENTAL ROCKSTAR (8-10 YES)

    If you answered YES to about 80% of the questions above, your mind is rock solid. You are the boss of your emotions and you’re not about to let anyone tell you how to feel or what to feel. You know you are in a creation of love and are strong enough to handle any crap that may come your way. Also, you have strong boundaries and try to live mindfully.

    THE INTERN: MENTAL MIDSTAR (5-8 YESes)

    If you answered YES to at least 50% of the questions above, that’s a good start! However, you’re definitely not in charge yet. You’re like an intern, still doing what others tell you to do. Like a poor intern, your emotions are on a roller coaster depending on the 10 factors above. For you, a bad day is just one social media post away. Or around the corner from one sleepless night. It’s an exhausting way to live and you’re probably moody as heck!

    Remedy: Keep a diary and track which of the above-mentioned skills you need to work on to become the Boss!

    THE JANITOR: MENTAL ROOKIE (0-4 YESes)

    If you answered Yes to 4 or less, you’re probably familiar with mental messiness. Janitors have the fun job of cleaning up all the mess and so do you.  Your mental mess maybe the extra or unwarranted irritability, anger, anxiety, fear or just a constant stream of negative self-talk. You may be contemplating using or already using sleeping pills, happy pills, wake up pills, weight loss pills and any other pill you hope will fix whatever you think is broken.

    Sadly, no pill will. But there’s great news still: YOU can fix your problems!

    Remedy: Take each question above and figure out how to get to a YES on it. Take your time, but be sure to get that question to a yes before you move to the next. Eventually, life should get lighter, easier, and more engaging. Before you know it, you’ll be the Boss of your emotions and a heavyweight champ in mental fitness.

    (Legal disclaimer: See your doctor before you make any change to anything).

    QUIZ EXPLAINED

    So you’re probably wondering what the science is behind this totally unscientific mental fitness quiz created in a Starbucks while sipping steamed almond milk with nutmeg?

    Having interviewed almost 60 brilliant health practitioners I’m sharing how I came up with the quiz questions and the recommendations.

     1. Do you laugh at least 3 times each day with genuine (not fake!) glee and find joy in small things?
    Our brain creates pathways based on emotions. The more often you travel on the same emotional path, the more your brain subconsciously jumps onto that pathway. Translation – if you tend to laugh a lot, you’ll laugh even more. If you tend to find faults often, everything will always appear faulty. So the great news about this revelation is that we can fake our way to mental fitness. Find reasons to laugh (watch cat videos, memes, comedy channels, whatever tickles you) and you’ll find more and more things funny and entertaining.

     2. Do you have the willpower to say NO to that extra brownie, drink, smoke, double cheeseburger 90 percent of the time?
    If you remember your first yoga class or your first marathon, then you know what it means to push through when your body is screaming “NO WAY”. Willpower is the basis of mental fitness. Having the power to say No to spending an hour on Facebook, or simply deleting your twitter account is a significant piece of mental fitness. Otherwise, you’re merely one step away from being a robot programmed by the masterminds around you. Just like it takes willpower to walk away from a Krispy Kreme doughnut in the office kitchen, it takes serious willpower to walk away from negative self-talk. But, you can develop the inner strength if you focus on it. Start small, make a list of what you should be saying “No” to but aren’t. Then get started with one item at a time. Before you know it, you’ll be in charge with a strongly developed “No” mental muscle.

     3. Do you get at least seven hours of deep restorative sleep every night?

    According to so many studies, if you lose sleep, you lose your mind. There are hundreds of studies that show an undeniable connection between sleep and the mind. So if you’re a proud night owl, insomniac or a college student, your constant thoughts of misery may just your brain being sad about not getting enough zzzs. For some of us on the wrong side of 40 years, we would like to sleep, but can’t quite seem to catch that perfect snooze. Thanks to a little help from my podcast guests I now sleep like a baby. My secret potion? I apply some magnesium and take a drop of vitamin D with K. If you’re getting less than 7 hours of quality sleep, prioritize fixing it. These days there are such great natural sleep supporters that you have no reasons to suffer poor sleep. Just remember sleeping pills are not the answer, according to various doctors. It is vital to get natural, deep, restorative sleep.

     4. Are you on social media, TV, Netflix etc for less than 2 hours every day?
    Imagine eating the buffet at Bellagio, the Venetian and Mandalay Bay combined, at the same time, and for free? That is exactly what happens to our minds on social media! Naturally, our mind enjoys living vicariously through other people. Lying in bed scrolling through a celebrity’s social media feed, reading about a recent feud or reading someone’s food recipe is to our brain what a bubble bath is to our body. It just wants to sink in with a glass of wine and never come out. But then, there’s the subconscious thought flow that accompanies the passive scrolling: “I’m not as pretty, as rich, or as successful, as ____” producing an inevitable sense of sadness. The results of studies performed to evaluate emotional states after Facebook binging are not pretty. Worse still, the stories we often get riled up about on social media, in the news, or on Netflix are just that — stories! Perfectly filtered to feed our lowest emotions. Do not fall for them. It is time to take back your sanity! Limit social media and entertainment consumption to less than 1 hour a day, total. Instead, read a good book or go for a walk with a friend.

     5. Are you grateful for the little things like running warm water and almond milk at Starbucks?
    While social media can make you feel unloved and “not very special”, gratitude can fix it in less than 5 minutes every day. It is the closest thing to a “silver bullet” for all that ails you. For one thing, you can’t be grateful and sad/angry/anxious at the same time. So make up a list of specific things you are truly grateful for and read them daily! What I did during my two years of my health crisis is write a word of gratitude in the morning and right before bed. I ended up creating The Health Journal, a weekly health tracking and inspirational journal, as there was nothing easy or quick to track gratitude and my health. I’m not the only fan, check out what Kelly Noonan Gores says in our interview on the HEAL documentary.

    Just start by acknowledging simple, wonderful things that happen daily, like waking up! Jokes aside, millions don’t wake up every single day, so if you woke up that’s worthy of a little gratitude (according to Sadhguru) and me! Now that I’ve developed this practice, I find myself constantly saying thanks – for a delicious brownie that I couldn’t eat a year ago to the warm hugs from my teen daughters.

     6. Do you spend time with people you love at least once a week?
    There’s a sad transition that happens between childhood to adulthood. We stop hanging out with the people who love us unconditionally (ahem, parents) and start spending time with those who we want to associate with for various reasons. That might mean choosing the mean but popular kids in high school, the hot/cool teens in college, or the boring boss who controls your promotion. Nevertheless, we are subconsciously aware that these are transactional and transitional relationships built on some form of codependency and not love. As I get older, I realize how crucial it is that I cultivate loving relationships with people who respect me for who I truly am inside. Even the presence of only one loving friend can bring you a sense of general well-being. Yes, your spouse counts too! Prioritize spending time with people who really love you, from your family to those few friends who will drop everything if you ever need them.

     7. Do you get out in nature and “say hello” to the sun for at least 30 minutes a day, 5 times a week?

    As humans, we have gone from living under the sun and in nature to living inside and under artificial lights. This has changed everything. We often forget that the sun and moon power our design in a significant way. Our brains are wired to pick up cues from the sun, and our body needs the sun for thousands of processes (not found in a bottle called, Vitamin D+ K, although I take it regardless).  We need nature to keep us in balanced and in rhythm, yet, so few of us spend time having a picnic or a hike over the weekend. After sleeping, this is the second most important of the ten factors for mental fitness. It’s virtually a shortcut to better fitness! Schedule your daily lunch in the sun with your feet on the grass, instead of eating in a tiny cubicle, and watch everything get better! I am not exaggerating. Try it for 40 days and share your experience in the comments.

     8. Are you loved? Do you feel loved?

    Can you look in the mirror and say, “I love you” without cringing? Try it. It took me months before I could do it without giggling or making funny faces at myself. One of my favorite authors and inspirational speakers, Louise Hay, introduced this concept and calls it mirror work. The brilliant and famous psychologist to the stars, Marisa Peer, talks about the critical importance of being able to say, “I am enough.” A great antidote to the world making us feel unworthy is to look in the mirror and repeat, “I love you.” In my interview with Dawson Church on beating anxiety, he said at the very end that the most important thing anyone can do is to love themselves. It sounds easy, but so few of us treat ourselves the way we treat others. Track how many times you are mean to yourself with words like, “you idiot” or “stupid you.” How many times do you acknowledge that you love YOU? Every cell is listening, and they need to know that you love them no matter your size, color, level of education, bank balance, or accomplishments. Ensuring that you love you is the single most valuable thing you can do, starting today. Other than, you know, sleep, sun and laughing.

     9. Do you rest and breathe deeply at least a few times a day?

    Somehow rushing around has become a norm. Trying to pack three days of work into one has become a thing of pride. Perhaps not for all of us, but some of us. This only ends in sheer exhaustion. Rushing around creates many ripples with an overall dangerous impact. First, it makes you breathe poorly. You begin to experience shallow and quick breathing which creates a lack of high-quality oxygen needed by cells. Second, constantly hurrying signals to your brain that there’s a tiger somewhere (your body uses breathing to figure out when to release fight or flight hormones) which propels it into action by changing your chemical composition in seconds. More glucose is released, your digestion shuts down, sending more blood to your extremities. Your body is ready to fight or run and certainly not prepared for that sandwich you’re wolfing down while driving madly through traffic. Then, we wonder why digestive issues are the new epidemic! So, take time to rest, as your grandmother did. Rest after lunch. Take breath breaks where you simply sit for 5 minutes and a deep breath. Check out some great breathing exercises for anxiety with Dr. Mukta Khalsa here.

     10. Do your meals include 50% good fats, fresh fruits, and vegetables?

    Finally, we cannot conclude any fitness talk without a section on nutrition. After all, without food, we die. However, because our poor minds cannot speak as loudly as our cravings, they are ignored. So, I’m here to remind you that your mind would like some good fats, like avocado and olive oil, to feel safe and loved. It would love some juicy organic in-season fruit to feed its creative juices. It would like some dark greens as a connection to our beautiful planet. Feeding our mind a diet of lab-made food (sorry, but did you think that chicken nugget was real food for your mind?) only creates a huge deficit, which no amount of sleep is going to balance. Just like your car won’t drive on good wishes, your mind isn’t getting fit on nuggets. I’m not making a case to boycott nuggets if that’s your thing, but it should be an occasional treat. Prioritize feeding your mind for fitness. It will reward you with a burst of joy like you’ve never experienced before.

    Let’s prioritize mental fitness and together create a more loving life experience for all!

     

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  • The 6 Biohacks I Do Daily for Sleep, Cravings, Weight, Workout, Nutrition & Joy

    The 6 Biohacks I Do Daily for Sleep, Cravings, Weight, Workout, Nutrition & Joy

    By Reena A Jadhav

    I am almost 47 years old, which means ‘100% health” has become an elusive dream that I am constantly chasing.

    Why?

    Because I love sugar.

    And I love to stay up late at night.

    And because who enjoys grinding on workout machines in smelly gyms anyway.

    Oh, did I mention I thrive on snacking on sugary snacks late at night while browsing workout videos for tomorrow?

    So, I’ve had to think long and hard about creating a lifestyle that lets me be a “good girl” each and every day despite wanting to be “bad” all the time. Here are proven hacks that work for me, try them out and share what works for you!

    Biohack 1: Sugar-free go-to treats

    Anyone who gives sermons on cutting down sugar clearly is not a sugar addict and should not be giving said sermons.

    Ask me, I know all about cravings and crushes on deep dark chocolate, banana nut cakes, Tiramisus, biscotti dipped in tea, fluffy pastries with cherries on top.

    So to lecture me on giving up sugar is to not understand the demon I fight daily. My cravings are already more manageable now that I have fixed my nutritional deficiencies, microbiome imbalances, and stress levels. But they are always simmering under the surface, tempting me to drive through a Starbucks or binge on that carrot cake my daughter brought home last night.

    Here’s what I do instead:

    1. Vitamin Water Zero calorie with crushed ice or blended with ice
    2. Kite Hill almond yogurt with monk fruit or stevia and some cinnamon or cardamom
    3. Gluten-free homemade Banana cake 
    4. In an emergency- 5-HTP Enhanced with Vitamins B6 and C
    5. Satisfying Vegan Sugar-free Mocha

    Biohack 2: Sleep by 10:30 pm

    Some of us are night owls. It’s too bad that our body doesn’t care and insists on sticking to its own rhythm of healing and cleaning. Which means we really all need to be asleep by 10:30 pm regardless of the siren call of the moon.

    Prior to these hacks, I would get wide awake around 11 pm and doze off around 3 am. Now, I am out in a blink if I follow these:

    1. No chocolate, sugar or caffeine after 3 pm
    2. Magnesium at 10 pm
    3. Dinner ends at 7 pm
    4. Deep breathing: breath in slowly to a count of 10 then pause for 5 and breathe out slowly to a count of 15 to 20 and pause for 8. Do this till you fall asleep … in about 10 minutes!
    5. Optional- I hear from friends that a couple of sprays of CBD under the tongue will do the trick

    Biohack 3:  Workout for health

    I have friends who thrive in the gym. I even have a mother who looks forward to her “daily outing” to 24-hour fitness where she swims, lifts weights and more. But if you don’t have time or inclination, here are some very easy hacks to get the same benefits:

    1. Start your day with Zach Bush’s 4-minute workout
    2. Download the free HIIT app and do scientifically proven 7-minute workouts 3 times a day
    3. Stand don’t sit at work
    4. Walk everywhere, take the stairs, park far away and read other ideas here

    Biohack 4: Weight management

    Once you hit 40 years of age various body parts seem to start growing! I thought aging was degeneration, who knew it also could be an expansion of the belly, butt, love handles, double chin, thighs and more. So if you’re facing the constant battle of the bulge, worry no more. Wouldn’t it be great to stay the same weight as pre-marriage without constantly counting everything you put in your mouth? Here are some hacks that have worked surprisingly well for me over the last few years:

    1. Intermittent fasting for 16 hours
    2. Not eating after 7 pm but eating without counting until then
    3. Drinking sugar balance and detox teas weekly
    4. Adding fiber, fiber, fiber (acacia or psyllium husk are my favorites)
    5. Fixing my microbiome (this is my fav probiotic)

    Biohack 5: Nutrients

    We are meant to eat lots of nutritionally dense foods daily. Do you? I certainly don’t. I have really great days (when I come back loaded with farmer’s market produce and cook up deliciousness) but mostly not so good days (when I am trying to get the newsletter article written or a Health Bootcamp launched). But for me, nutrition cannot be a stepchild anymore. It gets the same priority as my firstborn with these hacks.

    1. A concoction of Spirulina, Moringa leaf powder, apple cider vinegar and fiber daily
    2. Mary Ruth’s liquid day and night multi-vitamins 3 times a week
    3. Organic Suja green juice or an Urban remedy juice daily
    4. Coconut water and young coconut meat 4 times a week (yes I buy and break coconuts and drink in nature’s multi-vitamin)
    5. Liquid IV for hydration 3 times a week or when I do hot yoga or sauna (you can take any electrolyte drink that’s clean)

    Biohack 6: Joy

    You can’t be truly healthy without joy. That’s a fact. Believe it. There’s so much science behind it. Now staying in a state of joy all the time in our crazy toxic world is a whole different article. In fact, various bestsellers have been written on it. I have personally interviewed so many great authors and attended meditation retreats that I have written about. Here are my proven hacks to get and stay in a state of joy:

    1. Daily 21-minute meditation (I do Shambhavi to get in a giddy state of drunken bliss)
    2. Daily 10 minutes of journaling (5 minutes Journal in the morning and right before bed)
    3. Daily activity from the Joy Calendar (its free when you sign up for our newsletter)
    4. Tulsi Rose tea (my favorite) or any calming herbal tea to bring a smile for no reason
    5. Walking in nature, soaking up the sun, barefoot in the grass, hugging an old tree, chasing after a butterfly or feeding a bluejay are all known to cause strange feelings of inexplicable joy, I suggest you try them!

    So there you have it, these are my 6 biohacks that keep me healthy despite myself. Want to transform your life too then check out the BIOHACK FOR HEALTH Bootcamp with Dr. Comella below and join us on our daily live coaching calls. I’m looking forward to meeting you!

     

     

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  • Step #4 JOY TO REGENERATE HEALTH

    Step #4 JOY TO REGENERATE HEALTH

    This is Step 4 of the article I wrote, 7 Step New Health Pyramid, which you can read on this Page >>

    “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim, and end of human existence.” Greek philosopher Aristotle almost 2000 years ago.

    Have you ever gotten tangled up in an existential crisis commentary in your head around, “What’s the purpose of my life? What am I doing all this for anyway?”

    Apparently, its to live a life of pure abundant joy.

    Nothing more, nothing less.

    There is no declaration that we must climb mountains and earn riches and produce 2.5 children while at it. There is no scroll commanding us to do more than what we can actually bear or to put ourselves in situations that steal our inner light.

    But the society we have crafted as humanity sure judges us for our accomplishments, no matter what we paid as the price. Perhaps if we judged each other based on how healthy and joyful someone was we would all focus our energies differently.

    Interestingly, various studies on longevity around the globe found happiness as a critical factor of health. One such research resulted in the book The Blue Zones and had some great insights into the people around the World that lived long healthy lives. All the Blue Zone communities had strong community bonds, minimal stress, and daily joyful activities like hanging out and playing chess outside the church (I made that one up as an example!)

    But how do you get to the elusive joy? It’s not a simple button that you can switch on at will.

    Or is it?

    Having done some intense meditation practices during my 15 months of healing I can personally vouch that there is a switch and it makes you giddy like you’re buzzed. You can read my meditation experience here.

    But not everyone’s insanely committed or crazy enough like me to go looking for that switch. So what are the alternatives?

    I believe like Mo Gawdat that happiness can be engineered. To paraphrase, it’s the difference between your expectation and your reality. Low expectations = happiness. He gives great examples including his own inspiring story of surviving his son’s untimely death.

    Today we know that each cell in our body reacts to our overall mood and vibration. As they say, each cell is listening for instructions and how you feel is a clear message to the cells. When you feel depressed, sad, anxious, cornered or helpless your cells can’t thrive.

    In fact, joy is like a muscle that you can build and strengthen by using it constantly. Not feeling joyful? As they say, “fake it till you make it” baby! Just like other muscles in our body that get stronger as we use them, so is the muscle of joy.

    The most important reason to “schedule and structure” joy into your life is that it is a feeding loop to the other steps including better diet, exercise, and sleep. You can check out the research studies and summary here. According to various studies, people who are joyful eat healthier, workout more and sleep better!

    Having interviewed over 50 of the top MDs and healers in the World I realized that our body only repairs and heals when it’s in a certain state. I call it the HEAL ZONE and we can choose to get in this zone each and every day to ensure our bodies are healthy. I created a list of activities that you can check out for free here to help you get in the heal zone in just minutes.

    Heal Zone is a core foundation of each of our Health Bootcamps.  They include everything from singing your favorite tune as loudly as you can to dancing with free abandon for 15 minutes to calling someone you love and telling them why you love them.

    You also have to remove what I call “joy killers” or people, words and things that rob us of our natural state of happiness. Think of what takes away your smile? Trump news? I would react so visibly that I decided to turn off all TVs around the house as well as mobile news alerts in order to keep my blood pressure in check.

    So my HEAL ZONE list also includes things like forgiving someone who has wronged you and taking a day off from listening to the news or getting social media alerts.

    Join us for a 14 day JOY challenge by choosing one HEAL ZONE activity a day and write it in your Health Journal to track how you feel at the end of the challenge! Share your experience below, I love hearing from you.

    Click here to read my next post Step #5: MOVE >>

     

     

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