1. Eat tomatoes . This healthy food can decrease your risk of arterial aging, heart disease, stroke, memory loss, impotence and wrinkling of the skin. Tomato-based products contain lycopene, which has been shown to fight cancer. Sugar free tomato sauce packs a punch. Cooked tomatoes may be even healthier. Add some olive oil to cooked tomatoes.

2. Eat walnuts and almonds . These are great sources of omega 3’s which are heart healthy. So are hazelnuts and avocados. If you have to eat sweets, first eat the nuts (we say a handful not a can full) as this slows down the glycemic response. The fat in the nuts will slow your stomach and help your body process the sugar. Keep nuts refrigerated so they don’t oxidize.

3. Eat fish . Salmon, tilapia, cod, flounder, cod and mahi-mahi, if wild caught, are some of the best. Wild salmon is a great source of protein and omega-3s, Both are important for a healthy heart and a reduced abdomen! We recommend that you eat a serving of these fish three times a week or more.

4. Drink water . Drink ½ of your body weight in ounces of water of each day. Purchase a 64 ounce container to ensure you drink at least this much. We recommend you add a full squeezed lemon to an 8 ounce glass of water each day to cleanse your liver. Proper hydration gives you energy, acts as a natural cleanser and makes your skin healthier with fewer wrinkles (assuming you do no smoke). Water hydrates your skin. Be vigilant of dehyration when traveling by airplane.

5. Drink red wine . If you drink alcohol, try red wine. It contains reveritrol, which is a very strong antioxidant. It also has a relaxing effect and can help open blood vessels. The key is moderation. Remember that alcohol is dessert (sugar).

6. Eat cinnamon . During the holidays, there are “treats” that contain cinnamon. These include spiced cider, pumpkin bread and others. The good news is that the cinnamon in these treats help regulate your blood-glucose levels. Eating the cinnamon slows the movement of food from the stomach into the small intestine (a part of digestion called “gastric emptying”). When food enters the intestine more slowly, carbohydrates are broken down slower. Also, the cinnamon also increases a person’s insulin sensitivity. This is the ability of cells to respond to insulin’s signal to move glucose out of the blood.

7. Take a Magnesium Supplement . “Men with with the highest blood levels of magnesium are 40 percent less likely to die of any cause than those with the lowest levels.” Magnesium can help lower blood pressure in both MEN and WOMEN. It also helps with constipation and has a relaxing effect (lowers the stress hormone cortisol. Add 250 to 500 mg of a pharmaceutical grade magnesium.

8. Burn Calories Through Exercise . We recommend a daily exercise routine that burns at least 200 calories each day. The goal is to burn 500 calories per day but even a lesser amount is beneficial. A minimum of 1000 calories per week has been shown to help prevent the accumulation of visceral adipose tissue — the dangerous belly fat that causes arterial inflammation and hypertension.
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If you have any questions about your eating or weight or hormones , please email your question or questions to info@nbhlifetimehealth.com

By Mike Clark , Director of Education & Research

NBH Lifetime Health Weight Loss & Hormone Clinics, Medline South

The conclusion in that article was that for those who work at night, it is important that they eat during times when they are active – and NOT, for example, just before they go to bed. However, the issue of weight issues for those who fit in one of the following categories is more complex than just the timing of their eating: (1) night shifts workers, (2) persons who do not sleep well, and (2) for those who eat late.

However, this subject deserves further attention due to the many benefits of a restful sleep and the benefits of the “sleep” hormone, Melatonin. Further, the importance of not eating “late” meals applies to actions of our appetite hormone, Leptin. (See following articles on the importance of Leptin and the timing of eating.)

Restful sleep & Melatonin
The hormone Melatonin is our deep sleep hormone. It is affected by light. Our bodies are designed to increase melatonin at night when it is dark. Melatonin is depressed during the day when it is light. When we can say we “wake up refreshed,” then we know we have a good quality of sleep. This is critical for good health and optimal body weight.

The reasons are that if we do not sleep well, our immune system is weakened, we are tired so our exercise routine is interrupted (meaning we burn less calories), and our stress hormone cortisol rises which can cause insulin to rise. The latter two hormones , cortisol and insulin, tend to cause the body to store fat, particularly around the middle.

Melatonin helps you sleep and makes it easier for you to return to sleep after waking up during the night. For years, knowledgeable travelers have used melatonin to ease the transition between time zones with great success. However, Melatonin is not just for traveling between time zones.

Benefits of Melatonin
Melatonin is one of the best-studied and most effective anti-aging nutrients available today.

• Melatonin stimulates your body’s release of human growth hormone . HGH production slows down as we age starting at age 19. Studies have shown that’s improving HGH heightens energy, muscle gain, fat loss, skin appearance, and even sexual performance.
• Melatonin increases HGH levels even at small oral doses. In many animal studies, melatonin has been shown to increase lifespan.
• Melatonin is a potent antioxidant. It destroys disease and inflammation causing molecules called free radicals and stimulates extra antioxidant enzymes that protect against illness.
• It strengthens our immune system (remember that when we sleep our body repairs and restores itself). This is likely why it has been shown to protect against cancer.
• Studies show that melatonin can reverse aging in the brain tissues of mice.

Dosage and the 10% Rule
Some clients have advised us that they tried Melatonin and either it “did not work” or it made them feel groggy the next morning or they had a slight headache. The most common reason for these reactions is dosage – too much or too little. Another reason is source. Not all Melatonin is the same.

Finally, like in all products, either natural or prescription, there are always up to 10% of people who do not respond well.

By Mike Clark, Director of Education & Research

NBH Lifetime Health Weight Loss & Hormone Clinics, Medline South

For many, we have suggested Melatonin. The correct dosage and source are important. Others have either started with or added our sleep aid product, Kavinace. For the ladies, progesterone is often the answer. HGH helps with sleep as does taking Espsom Salt baths with added magnesium.

Labrix Labs has prepared the following information regarding the effect of sleep on obesity:
“Over the past several decades, the prevalence of obesity has grown to epidemic proportions. Concurrent with this rise in weight has been a similar epidemic of sleep deprivation. According to annual surveys done by the National Sleep Foundation, by 1998 only 35% of American adults were getting 8 hours of sleep per night, and that number fell to 26% by 2005.

A review of literature performed by the National Institutes of Health suggests that short sleep duration is strongly and consistently associated with concurrent and future obesity in children and adults. A number of mechanisms have been proposed including the idea that chronic sleep deprivation can cause feelings of fatigue which may lead to reduced physical activity. Perhaps more importantly, however, sleep deprivation may have metabolic and endocrine effects that increase caloric intake by affecting leptin, ghrelin, cortisol and insulin secretion.

Leptin plays a key role in regulating energy intake and energy expenditure by inhibiting appetite and increasing satiety. The absence of leptin leads to uncontrolled food intake and resulting obesity. Conversely, ghrelin is a hormone that stimulates hunger. Ghrelin levels increase before meals and decrease after meals. It is considered the counterpart of leptin.

Laboratory studies have shown that sleep deprivation may increase the risk of weight gain and obesity by up-regulating appetite via a decrease in leptin, and an increase in ghrelin.

It is well known that glucocorticoid use increases food intake, and alterations in cortisol levels associated with sleep deprivation can lead to an increase in food cravings, particularly sugar and salt.

Additionally, studies have shown that sleep deprivation leads to reduced insulin sensitivity, which can result in a prediabetic state and an increased risk for weight gain and obesity.”

Are you suffering from insomnia? Are you already overweight and at greater risk for obesity? Are you obese now? NBH Lifetime Health can help determine what hormones may be affecting your sleep, your weight and your quality of life.

If you have any questions about your sleep, weight or hormones, please email your question or questions to info@nbhlifetimehealth.com.

By Mike Clark, Director of Education & Research

NBH Lifetime Health Weight Loss & Hormone Clinics, Medline South

You know what it’s like: tossing and turning for several hours after you go to bed, worrying that you will not be functional for whatever you have to do the next day. You know that it is unhealthy when you do not get sufficient sleep but you do not know what to do about it. You wish that somehow you could magically sleep sound and wake up refreshed to start the next day full of energy.

Sleep is the time when our body rejuvenates itself in preparation for the next day’s activities. It is the time when our body repairs, rebuilds and replenishes our tissues, our hormones , our lungs, heart, kidneys, liver, and our immune system.

There are many reasons why a person might not be able to obtain a good night’s rest. These can include hormone deficiencies or imbalances, neurotransmitter deficiencies, improper nutrition, too much stress, alcohol, anxiety, medications, and worry. Sleep deprivation can result in a weakened immune system, lack of energy, weight gain, irritability, premature aging and a host of other health issues.

You are not alone!

According to a poll from the National Sleep Foundation (NSF), American women are very, very tired. 60% say they don’t get enough rest most nights of the week while 43% report that daytime sleepiness interferes with their regular activities.

80% of those polled say that when they are drowsy during the day, they just try to keep going–often by drinking caffeinated beverages (65% have three or more cups of coffee or other caffeinated drinks every day). Previous studies have also reported that women’s sleep problems are widespread.

At our NBH Lifetime Health Weight Loss & Hormones Clinics, we hear the same complaints from many of our male clients. Poor sleep quality does not discriminate! Why is this important?

Persistent sleep problems are a significant health issue because inadequate rest puts women and men at risk for other troubles. There is a direct association between poor sleep and poor mood. A large percentage of sleep deprived individuals report they feel unhappy, sad or depressed and some even report they feel hopeless about the future. Almost all will report a lack of energy.

Other problems associated with inadequate or poor quality sleep include cognitive difficulties. Inadequate sleep means the body is unable to strengthen the nerve circuits that underlie learning and memory, allowing the brain to make and consolidate new neural connections.

Further, poor sleep quality impairs the body’s ability to process blood sugar, impeding the action of insulin much as in diabetes. We often advise our clients that an important factor in weight loss is sleep. Sleep deprivation contributes to obesity and raises cortisol, the stress hormone. This in turn increases insulin, the fat storage hormone.

Sleeping five to six hours a night may sound pretty good, but it’s likely not enough to keep your immune system healthy. Restricting your sleep by a mere two hours a night for one week increases inflammation, which may set people up for heart disease.

Some Answers

Since sleep issues are one of the most frequent complaints we hear at our clinics, we offer a number of solutions to help our clients obtain healthy sleep. For women, it often is enough that they balance their hormones with progesterone and optimize any other deficient hormones. Even then, some of the natural products below can help. For men, optimizing testosterone and DHEA may be the only answer needed. However, like women, it may require a multi-factoral approach.

Natural Sleep Aids

Kavinace: Good quality sleep can often be obtained in just a few nights with the use of a natural product, Kavinace. Kavinace contains amino acids that strengthen our neurotransmitters and has a calming effect on the body.

In clinical applications, most experienced a significant improvement in their sleep quality in as few as 2 to 3 nights using either Kavinace by itself or a combination. In slightly larger doses, Kavinace has been successfully used to help patients suffering from anxiety and even panic attacks. We often recommend that a Epsom sale bath precede the use of the Kavinace as the magnesium sulfate in the Epsom Salt also has a calming affect.

5-HTP. 5-Hydroxytryptophan) supports your body’s balanced production of two important sleep-regulating hormones, serotonin and melatonin. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that helps regulate sleep, moods and appetite. But you need adequate serotonin levels to maintain this balance. 5-HTP is the serotonin precursor that is formed when tryptophan is converted into serotonin in your body.

In clinical research, 5-HTP increased the amount and availability of serotonin produced by the body. It is able to cross the blood-brain barrier to increase both serotonin levels and serotonin production in your brain so you can regain a healthy balance when you are sleeping, feeling emotions, or eating.

Eventually, the serotonin in your body is converted into melatonin, the hormone that helps regulate healthy 24-hour sleep cycles known as circadian rhythms. Aging and various forms of physical or emotional stress can decrease your melatonin levels and disrupt your sleep cycle. Fortunately, that balance can be regained. When 5-HTP increases serotonin production, melatonin production is also increased and that can help you regain a healthy circadian rhythm.

We have found that larger doses of a pharmaceutical grade 5-HTP can help women even more than men. We recommend 300 mg per day for sleep issues. The source of the 5-HTP is important as many of our clients will tell us that they have tried 5-HTP from the health food store (or local pharmacy) and it did not work. Our advice is to try our source for three reasons: 1. Not all sources are created equal, 2. The dose may have been insufficient and 3. It may work. Please note that it still may not work for a particular individual as not everyone responds favorably to one treatment.

If you have any questions about diabetes, please email your question or questions to info@nbhlifetimehealth.com.

By Mike Clark, Director of Education & Research
NBH Lifetime Health Weight Loss & Austin Hormone Clinic