Health

H2O Cocktail

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I read about this before, I guess a couple of years ago, and it popped up again, so I think I am going to add it to my “Healthy Wellness” morning routine. Especially since I have decided just this week that in order to make some financial progress I’m going to need to be selective about the supplements I take. I am currently working on identifying the most basic “must have” supplements. One that I know without a doubt is Magnesium. I read an interview recently with Robin Arzón VP of Fitness for Peloton, and she mentioned that she only takes like three or four supplements without fail, but does other things like the H2O cocktail as well as some “green powder” (not mixed together). Now the one she takes looks insanely expensive, Athletic Greens – $97 for 30 day supply. I also know that Wild Future Greens is about $80 for 28 servings, so that seems undoable, Organifi Green Juice is $70 for 30 servings, so I’ll probably stick with Amazing Grass greens powder for $22. They also have a chocolate version which my oldest puts in oatmeal. But I digress…

For my morning cocktail:

  • cup warm water
  • 1 tsp (or 1 tbsp) raw apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp Himalayan sea salt
  • 1 tbsp organic lemon juice
  • dash of organic cayenne pepper

Some people use this for constipation, and is also called a salt water flush or cleanse, and is designed to cleanse your colon. The salt is supposed to start the body’s own process of natural detox and waste elimination. It is also supposed helps get your digestive system back on track. Most effective if done first thing in the morning on an empty stomach

Other “miracle benefits” I’ve been told are: thin respiratory mucus and alleviate congestion; ease a sore throat; help to repopulate a malnourished gut microbiome; raise your body’s pH and lower inflammation; an early-morning re-hydrator, salt actually helps you digest your food more efficiently by increasing the amount of hydrochloric acid produced; helps reduce muscle cramps (even during the night); and alkalizes our blood (note, my Dr thinks the ability to alter one’s blood PH is complete hogwash, and he has a pretty solid argument. Our body must maintain a very tight range of PH in order to function and not shut down. Therefore, we are always near an optimum PH regardless of what we do. Our bodies may have to work harder at the expense of other body process in order to accomplish this which is a bad thing, but it will); and control blood sugar level.

Whether any of this is true or not, I don’t know. Experts at Harvard Medical School and the Mayo Clinic point out using apple cider vinegar can interact with certain supplements or drugs – including diuretics and insulin. So, people with diabetes should be cautious. Also, according to the Mayo Clinic, there’s little scientific support for these claims. Studies of apple cider vinegar for weight loss have not consistently shown significant and sustainable weight loss across diverse groups of people. There are, however, a number of studies suggest that vinegar might prevent spikes in blood sugar in people with prediabetes and type 2 diabetes by blocking starch absorption. A study from Arizona State University found that people at-risk for type 2 Diabetes who consumed ACV at meals kept their insulin levels in check and had 34 percent lower glucose post-meal. Another study led by the university tested a group of people with type 2 diabetes. The subjects consumed two tablespoons of ACV before bed*, which lowered their blood sugar levels by four to six percent by the morning.

Regardless, there are a lot of healthy people that swear by it, including people like Dr Axe, Kate Perry, Scarlett Johanson, and Robin Arzón VP of Fitness for Peloton, so what the hell.

So this research reminded me of something I had read about previously called water sole (pronounced solay), which I will probably mix up and keep on the counter to use in the mix above. Some of it’s “miracle benefits” are:

Helps with hydration: The body repairs and detoxifies naturally during sleep, but uses a good amount of water. That’s why we often get thirsty in the morning. Consuming a saline solution like sole helps the body to re-hydrate.

Electrolytes: Sole water contains the necessary electrolytes that provide you with the minerals you need to function and maintain your high energy level.

Improves digestion, energy, and blood sugar; detoxify the body and eliminate harmful bacteria, natural antihistamine, healthy veins, better sleep by relaxing the entire nervous system and control Adeline, reduce blood pressure, healthy skin hair and nails.

How to Make Sole Water

How to use the sole solution: Mix 1 teaspoon of the concentrated sole in a glass of water and consume on an empty stomach every morning. Do not use metal equipment to measure or touch the sole with metal objects.

Ingredients:
• 1 Qt. glass mason jar
• A plastic or non-metal lid
• 1-2 cups of Himalayan Salt
• Filtered water

Instructions:

IMPORTANT: Avoid using metal when making this. Metal from your spook or even the lid of your mason jar will de-ionize the salt. You can use plastic caps for mason jars. Or cover your jar with plastic wrap.

Plastic caps can be purchased here.

1. Fill the jar about ¼ to 1/3 of the way with Himalayan Salt
2. Add filtered water to fill the jar, leaving almost inch at the top.
3. Put on the plastic lid and shake the jar gently.
4. Leave on the counter for a day or so to let the salt dissolve. The Water will turn clear when its ready to use and the sediment left on the bottom of the jar indicates the water has absorbed its maximum amount of salt
5. If all of the salt is absorbed, add more salt and continue doing so each day until some remains. This means that the water is fully saturated with the salt and is ready to use.

Every morning on an empty stomach add 1 tsp of Sole to one cup of filtered water and drink up! Wait at least 30 minutes before eating a meal. Or in my case use 1 tsp to make the H2O cocktail above.

Peace!!

Have a Great Day!

Lubimûr

Finding My 1 Rep Max

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I Should have sent this out last Friday.

Last week was one crazy week. Of course hell week started back up. I also heard from the company I had been interviewing with, they made an offer and accepted it. Had to draft my resignation letter, take home all non-essentials from my cube in case I was asked to leave immediately after turning it in. then had to work out what I was going to say when I turned in my letter. I had to do all of this while grinding away at my deadlines. My girlfriend (yes I have one of those, finally after being single for over 6 years. Too picky perhaps…?) of 2 ½ months has been acting insecure about our relationship so I’ve been addressing that. She is moving way faster emotionally than I am, and while I have no doubt I will get there too, we aren’t teenagers so the practicality and logistics of relationships has to be balanced with the stage of life we find ourselves in now. I turned in my resignation letter and it went very well. I bought my 15 year old her first car, almost an entire day’s event since I am what you would call broke as hell and all I had to spend was what I got back on my tax return. We won’t talk about the BS of why her mom can’t contribute at all. On second though here’s a brief synopsis: In her mind letting me claim my daughter that lives with me full time and I carry the insurance on was her “monetary” contribution, despite the agreement that we would both fill out our returns claiming her and not claiming her, see how we got back the most money, and then combine everything we got back. The ex decided that since I claimed her, anything she gets back is hers and not for the car fund.

Last Monday the manager of the workout facility downstairs asked me if I would mind participating in a research study that one of her interns is doing with measuring a relationship between wingspan and bench press on rep max. Of course I said yes, and last Wednesday I did the first part of the study which involved finding my 1RM with a very wide grip. The hand placement was determined by the measurement of my wingspan.

I was rather pleased that I was able to hit 195, all things considered. The best I’ve ever done on the 1RM was 220, and that was back in my 20s when I was weight training regularly. I also haven’t been training with weights since back in … what, August or October? I can’t remember, I’d have to look. Plus I’m 52. So like I said, rather pleased all things considered.

I am going in for round 2 this Wednesday, and I’m curious to see how it goes. My hands won’t be quite as wide as last time, but still wider than normal. So with that in mind, today I’ll do light training, sort of like an active recovery type day. Make sure my form is good, get the muscles active but not stressed, do some antagonist muscle work, again low intensity.

Tomorrow I will do Moderate intensity, I’m thinking a few reps of 50% effort. Maybe 5 sets of 25 pushups throughout the day, a couple of isometric side delt raises, and maybe 1 – 2 sets of dumbbell military press for 10 reps each when I get home. I think I should do some trap work as well.

Wednesday I’ll try to get up earlier because my test will be at 11:30, and I read that you shouldn’t do 1RM tests for bench during the first 4 hours after waking because the spine may still be releasing fluid buildup from the night, and this could cause an injury. Before the test I’ll do some joint mobility drills for neck, shoulders and wrists.

3/11/2019 Monday

10:30 – Knee pushups x 20; med hand width; right shoulder catching a little bit causing a sharp twinge of pain. Not too bad, but something to keep an eye on.

– Scapular Squeeze against Chair Back x 30; mild intensity, arms at 60 degrees from body.

– Neck Mobility Drills

– NOX and BCAA; forgot about these but still need to take the to get my muscles loaded back up

11:25 – Yoga Pushups x 30; After that I think I need to add some trap work to tomorrow

– Shrugs x 50 (No weight obviously)

11:50 – Stairs x 2 floors;

– Elevated Pushups x 10; med hands; feet on second step; at bottom of 3rd time coming down stairs;

– Air Squats x 20; excellent form, medium stance; no rest from pushups; focused on glutes, screwing feet into floor; I was really winded

– Air squats x 10; narrow stance, just at 90 degree bend in knees; at top of 3rd time coming up stairs

– Biceps Iso-Flex x 50; not an intense squeeze, just enough to feel really good

1:05 – Stiff Leg Deadlifts x 50; it seems that if I squeeze my scapula during the movement it provides relief (stability?) for my lower back.

– Lunch: slice of Chicago deep dish, don’t judge me! It’s leftovers, I cannot waste leftovers!

3/12/2019 Tuesday

8:30 – Reverse Lunges x 10; non-alternating

10:00 – Seated Scapular Dips x 25;

– Pushups x 25; Narrow hands; focus on extending arms to the max;

– BCAA + NOX

10:50 – Pushups x 25; wide grip, exaggerated ROM; Pretty fast reps, thinking explosive movement;

12:30 – Pushups x 25; wider hands, butt in the air,

– Calf Raises x 30; single leg, elevated

3:15 – Straight Arm Plank x 90 seconds; wide hands

3/13/2019 Wednesday

Didn’t do any trap work last night as intended. For dinner I had smoked brisket, shredded carrots and yellow squash. Used very little lard, no real reason other than experimenting with some different cooking techniques. Took 2 Prime Male before bed in addition to my usual morning dose.

I’ve been trying to get fully hydrated, so far this morning I’ve had at least 25 ounces of water, probably 30 or even more but I know with 100% certainty I’ve had at least 25 oz.

9:00 – Knee Pushups x 25; knees were on my chair, wide grip focused on correct motion for bench press

– Shoulder Shrugs x 55; no weight, seated, 25 looking straight ahead, 15 looking up, 015 looking down

10:25 – Stairs x 3 sets of 2 floors ea.

– Neck Mobility Drills

11:10 – NOS + BCAA + Protein Powder + ACV and a little coffee with sweetened creamer, my blood sugar read 77. As of now I have consumed at least 50 oz. of water.

– Mobility Drills: wrist, elbow, shoulder

Well it looks like my 1 RM is 195. Tried 205, couldn’t get it off of my chest, backed down to 200, same story. I think my breathing and technique were off too. I know last time I sort of lifted my head off the bench when pushed, but this time it feels like I was pressing it into the bench. My neck feels a little fatigued. I feel good though, I do love the pump! Muscles swollen, flushed with blood; heart beating strong. I’m not going to do anything else with my upper body today, unless I do some arm flexing. With my neck feeling stiff after that, I am having flashbacks to when I separated my shoulder. Interesting side note, my lower back isn’t as stiff and sore as it was before I performed the test…

Feels like lunch time.

This Is Going To Be A Great Week!

Lubimûr

7 Worst Foods for Your Brain

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Sugar

High intake of sugary drinks has a negative effect on your brain (1, 2, 3)

Animal studies have shown that a high fructose intake can lead to insulin resistance in the brain, as well as a reduction in brain function, memory, learning and the formation of brain neurons (6, 7). One study in rats found that a diet high in sugar increased brain inflammation and impaired memory. Additionally, rats that consumed a diet consisting of 11% HFCS were worse than those whose diets consisted of 11% regular sugar (8)

High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) may be especially harmful, causing brain inflammation and impairing memory and learning.

Refined Carbs

Research has shown that just a single meal with a high glycemic load can impair memory in both children and adults (10). This effect on memory may be due to inflammation of the hippocampus, a part of the brain that affects some aspects of memory, as well as responsiveness to hunger and fullness cues (10).

One study looked at elderly people who consumed more than 58% of their daily calories in the form of carbohydrates. The study found they had almost double the risk of mild mental impairment and dementia (12). Another study found that children aged six to seven who consumed diets high in refined carbs also scored lower on nonverbal intelligence (13). However, this study could not determine whether consuming refined carbs caused these lower scores, or simply whether the two factors were related.

Highly Processed Foods

A study including 18,080 people found that a diet high in fried foods and processed meats is associated with lower scores in learning and memory (29).

In animal studies, rats fed a high-fat, high-sugar diet for eight months showed impaired learning ability and negative changes to brain plasticity. Another study found that rats fed a high-calorie diet experienced disruptions to the blood-brain barrier (30, 31, 32). The blood-brain barrier is a membrane between the brain and blood supply for the rest of the body. It helps protect the brain by preventing some substances from entering.

One of the ways processed foods may negatively impact the brain is by reducing the production of a molecule called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) (10, 33). This molecule is found in various parts of the brain, including the hippocampus, and it’s important for long-term memory, learning and the growth of new neurons. Therefore, any reduction can have negative impacts on these functions (33).

Aspartame

aspartame is made of phenylalanine, methanol and aspartic acid (35). Phenylalanine can cross the blood-brain barrier and might disrupt the production of neurotransmitters. Additionally, aspartame is a chemical stressor and may increase the brain’s vulnerability to oxidative stress (35, 36).

One study looked at the effects of a high-aspartame diet. Participants consumed about 11 mg of aspartame for every pound of their body weight (25 mg per kg) for eight days. By the end of the study, they were more irritable, had a higher rate of depression and performed worse on mental tests (37).

Another study found people who consumed artificially sweetened soft drinks had an increased risk of stroke and dementia, though the exact type of sweetener was not specified (38).

A study of repeated aspartame intake in mice found that it impaired memory and increased oxidative stress in the brain. Another found that long-term intake led to an imbalance in antioxidant status in the brain (39, 40). Interestingly mice and rats are reportedly 60 times less sensitive to phenylalanine than humans (35, 41).

A number of papers have reported that aspartame has no adverse effects (42).

Alcohol

When consumed in moderation, alcohol can be an enjoyable addition to a nice meal. Chronic alcohol use results in a reduction in brain volume, metabolic changes and disruption of neurotransmitters, which are chemicals the brain uses to communicate (43).

However, moderate alcohol consumption may have beneficial effects, including improved heart health and a reduced risk of diabetes. These beneficial effects have been particularly noted in moderate wine consumption of one glass per day (51, 52, 53).

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/worst-foods-for-your-brain

Written by Elise Mandl, BSc, APD on January 28, 2018

Today Is A Great Day!

Lubimûr

Vitamin C and Sugar – Who Knew?

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Human cells have receptors on their membrane surface which allows certain compounds to cross over into the cell. These receptors are very specific in regards to the type of binding molecule (ligand) they will bind with. Sugar and Vitamin C have a similar structure and therefore enter cells using the same receptor – the Glut-1 receptor. Insulin (the ligand) moves both glucose and ascorbic acid into cells, including phagocytic immune cells. These cells remove microbes, tumor cells and debris from the blood.

Almost all animals have the ability to manufacture vitamin C within their bodies and have no need to consume it from external sources, with the exceptions being guinea pigs, primates, and humans. The vitamin C is manufactured from glucose, and because of this, the Glut-1 receptor prefers glucose and will choose sugar over Vitamin C when it has the option to. As such, Glucose and ascorbic acid are in constant competition for insulin the insulin that is available. This means (for those of you playing along at home) that the more sugar you are consuming, the less vitamin C you are absorbing.

But wait, there’s more. As hinted at above, phagocytic immune cells can destroy pathogens. They do this by creating superoxide and other reactive oxygen species through a series of chemical reactions known as the HMP shunt. Ascorbic acid stimulates this process and glucose inhibits it, making it harder to fight diseases and viruses. Ascorbic acid has the ability to deactivate this if too much is in the system. The HMP shunt also produces ribose and deoxyribose which are necessary to for making DNA and RNA.

Reference:

– https://www.newswithviews.com/Howenstine/james52.htm

Have a Great Day!

Lubimûr

Limiting My Sugar Intake

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Sugar has once again popped up on my radar.  Not because I have started consuming more of it, but as I have read various articles I keep coming across links to sugar and its problems.  I mean, everyone knows it isn’t good for you, and everyone knows to try and limit it; I definitely do since I have juvenile diabetes.  I very rarely eat cookies, cakes, donuts and the like – and I mean very rarely, but I refuse to be afraid of some sweetness added to my coffee or the (not so ?) occasional treat like some ice cream or a mini candy bar.  I do avoid HFCS whenever possible, and try to use honey or perhaps raw sugar when I do sweeten something.

I’m not going to go into the ills of sugar right now, but what does it mean to limit it?  I have come across a book I think I am going to order – my oldest wants to read it as well – called Year of No Sugar by Eve O. Schaub.  On her blog she talks about just how insidious sugar actually is.  It’s in everything.  But shelving that for a moment, let’s get back to the point: limiting sugar.

“Nancy Appleton’s extensive research on sugar led her to uncover the fact that, for healthy individuals, the threshold of added sugar is two teaspoons at one time, no more than two to three times a day, totaling two tablespoons altogether.31”    – www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/zapping-sugar-cravings/

If you continue reading the article in the link you will find that white flour function similarly to sugar, but since I have illuminated bread and pasta from my diet, as well as most starches (that I am aware of) I don’t have to factor that in to my equation.  So here is My goal: to limit my sugar intake to no more than 2 tsp, 2 times per day.  Shouldn’t be that hard right?  I mean, I pretty much only add it to my coffee.  There is the issue of the apple juice I love to mix with tequila or rum however… And what about fruit?

Well the article above goes on to state that “Whole foods contain a cornucopia of vitamins, minerals, fiber, fat and other co-factors that mitigate the dangers of the residing sugars. Body chemistry is not as affected as with more concentrated and isolated sugar sources. Moreover, once a person’s body chemistry is stabilized, these more subtly sweet, whole foods will often be enough to satisfy sweet cravings.”  … “If you like fruit, the less-sugary choices of berries, cherries, and apricots are best.”

So there you have it, 2tsp 2-3 times per day of honey, maple sugar, or raw sugar.  (I can safely say that most of my intake will be honey, as I prefer to use honey since it has other health benefits besides being a natural form of sweetener).