Category: Fitness - Anima Journey

Markus video on weight loss

8/11/2016

by Willow

Not sure how many of you have heard about Markus Rothkrantz; he and his wife Cara, who sort of seem to sex-up their videos somehow, have a business where they promote raw foods and raw food products.

I thought his video on weight loss might be interesting to some; it really reinforces [a little heavily] the importance of a healthy and fresh food diet, although I don't think eating some steamed veggies every now and then is a bad thing, to keep our bodies functionally optimally. Of course, getting all of our nutrients in fresh raw foods can sometimes be iffy depending where and how they are grown, and how long they had to travel and then sit on shelves. We grow many of our own greens, such as lettuce, kale, parsley and even celery, and we put our own soil amendments in the raised garden beds. But many people can't or don't want to grow their own. I am not so keen on buying supplemental 'green powders' but maybe they can help at times, especially if one is low in some nutrients.

Anyway, maybe you'll learn something from his video and/or pass it on! He mentions the documentary "Fed Up" in his video; I haven't watched that one yet. Hope to soon!

Markus Weight Loss Special Epic Finale

Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead

7/29/2015

by Willow

I recently watched "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead 2", a documentary done by Joe Cross about his process of going from an overweight unhealthy guy to being a promoter of a healthy diet by juicing and a focus on a plant-based diet. It's a great documentary and I encourage you to watch it and see what you think!

You can also learn more about Joe Cross and follow his work and information at this website: RebootWithJoe

Enjoy!

Did you know that there is essential fat?

10/29/2014

by Willow Aureala

As Iʻve written in other posts, Iʻve been reading Dr. Lavieʻs The Obesity Paradox and sharing some fascinating tidbits from the book with you.

I learned another that I want to share today: there are two categories of fat: essential fat and storage fat. Essential fat is necessary for normal, healthy functioning and can be found in fairly small amounts in the bone marrow, organs, central nervous system, and muscles. For men, essential fat is about 3% of their body weight, and for women, it is about 12%. Womenʻs essential fat also has sex-specific fat, which is critical for normal reproductive function, and thus found in breasts, pelvis, hips and thighs.

Storage fat is the fat accumulated underneath the skin, in muscles and other specific areas in the body. It includes fat that protects the internal organs from injury, and women and men have about the same amounts of storage fat.

I left a teaser in my last post about The Obesity Paradox: that not all fat real estate is the same. Well, Dr. Lavie reports that "excess visceral, or belly, fat is the classic sign of being over-weight and susceptible to health risks" (p. 57). This type of fat releases fatty acids, inflammatory compunds and hormones that can lead to problems like high ʻbadʻ cholesterol and high blood pressure. It may be, researchers speculate, that visceral fat is so problematic because it is related to an overactive stress response. Visceral fat cells also release their metabolic products directly into the portal circulation: blood going from the gastrointestinal tract and spleen through the portal vein to the liver. Visceral fat is also associated with insulin resistance and accelerates the aging process.

The fat around womenʻs hips, thighs, and buttocks keeps its contents, meaning it doesnʻt release harmful metabolic products into the body. These fat cells hold on to their fat very tightly and protect the liver, but also makes it hard to lose the fat in these areas. Studies have found, too, that the body fat in these areas [hips, thighs, buttocks] actually has high value for the body, protective factors. In fact, studies have shown that the fat in these areas may actually help reduce cardiovascular risk factors, as well as lower triglyceride levels. Thus, liposuction of these areas might actually increase risk for heart disease!

Thus, as Lavie points out: "Body fat has different personalities we never knew existed and that have everything to do with our health and longevity" (p. 60).

More to come on The Obesity Paradox!

Is there such a thing as a healthy person who is obese? Some say yes!

10/26/2014

by Willow Aureala

As Iʻve mentioned before, Iʻve been reading The Obesity Paradox by Lavie, and itʻs been quite interesting! One of the things many of you probably already know is that inflammation is a possible indicator of illness and disease, and keep us metabolically healthy [no disorders such as diabetes, high blood pressure, or the like]. Interestingly enough, there are many people who are classified as obese according to the body mass index [BMI], but do not develop such diseases and they are called metabolically healthy obese, and make up as much as 35% of the obese in the U.S. In fact, studies have been conducted that have shown that metabolically healthy people had lower levels of several inflammatory markers, whether obese or not. Thus, those with ʻgoodʻ inflammatory profiles also tend to have healthy metabolic profiles.

In a study reported in Diabetologia, researchers suggest that one reason for those who are obese but do not have metabolic disorders is that these people may have better functioning mitochondria. People who are obese and also metabolically unhealthy tend to "have impaired mitochondria and a reduced ability to generate new fat cells" (p. 51). And, those with impaired mitochondria and problems with fat cells may explain "why fat cells in unhealthy obese individuals balloon to the point that the cellsʻ internal machinery is impaired and they die off" (p, 51-2). This leads to inflammation and accumulating fat where it is more problematic: heart, muscle, and liver where it damages those organs. While fat cells in obese people who are metabolically healthy can make new cells to store excess fat and it tends to go under the skin where it is fairly harmless. So, one question researchers are exploring is whether it is the damaged mitochrondria that leads to inflammation or inflammation that leads to damaged mitochrondria.

More research is being done on understanding the role of exosomes, which are small sacs produced by fat and other cells. These exosomes may go to other parts of the body and induce disease-triggering mechanisms.

So, researchers, and thus the public, is learning more about metabolic health, as well as the role that different organelles, such as mitochondria and exosomes, play in obesity and metabolic health. Lavie also mentions that while belly fat has been said to be the worst kind of fat to carry, mainly because it is involved in inflammation compounds, it may be, as Lavie states, that "when it comes to fat real estate, location matters. But, itʻs not everything" (p. 53). More on that to come!

Maybe atherosclerosis is not a modern plague?

10/17/2014

There has been much discussion and debate about hardening of the arteries [atherosclerosis], which can lead to heart attacks and strokes. It seems like this condition started becoming a noticeable problem along around the 1950s and has been a growing concern with our more sedentary lifestyles, smoking cigarettes, and obesity rates skyrocketing. However, CT scans of mummies spanning four geographies and over four thousand years show that atherosclerosis has almost always been a common condition, especially in older folks. 137 mummies show that atherosclerosis could just be a part of the aging process, rather than poor diet or being a couch potato. Your thoughts?

From: Lavie, Carl. 2014. The Obesity Paradox: When Thinner Means Sicker and Heavier Means Healthier.

Can having a bigger waist size be a good thing? Apparently, yes

9/23/2014

Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

by Willow Aureala

Of course, no one thing is THE main factor or variable that accounts for something. However, just looking at the topic of waist fat or waist circumference, according to research by Dr. Lavie and others [and thousands of participants], People who have a larger waist size have been found to live longer and survive a heart attack, cancer, kidney disease and deadly infections. It seems that for some percentage of people, being overweight may actually have some protective factors.

One important question Dr. Lavie asks in his book The Obesity Paradox is "Could there be a genetic, evolutionary reason to be a little chubby when we're older and at greater risk for disease (and not beat ourselves up while trying to get down to what we think is an ideal weight"? (p. 15). I think that's a really good question. I do have concerns about the extreme focus that seems to be occurring in research on genetics because that in itself could lead to the sort of attitude like 'well, there's nothing I can do about it; it's just in my genes' and people could be defeatist and not attempt to make any lifestyle changes. But, it is also just as valuable to look at components such as genetics because this can give us a more balanced or rounded [pun intended] or inclusive idea of how the body works.

Dr. Lavie shares that in his practice and research, he noticed that "the people who fared the worst weren't just low in body fat, but they were low in muscle mass and cardio fitness, too. So, it's not only the presence of fat that helps us to live long past a horrible diagnosis of a chronic condition, but it's also the existence of what's called cardiorespiratory fitness. There's a great divide between being just fat and being fit and fat" (p. 15).

Dr. Lavie goes on to ask some other important questions that I'll also address in this blog post; for example, how much exercise is enough; is there such a thing as too much? Does running long distance or working out for long periods of time put too much strain on our hearts and actually reduce our longevity? What Dr. Lavie and others have discovered about fitness is that "We are not so much born to run as born to walk" (p. 16). So, just as too little exercise or too little fat may not lead to optimal health, so too could too much exercise or too much fat.

Here are some pieces of information, based on research, that I have found fascinating, and perhaps you will too:

Diabetes patients of normal weight are twice as likely to die as those who are overweight or obese
Heavier dialysis patients have a lower change of dying than those who are of normal weight or underweight
Mild to moderate obesity poses no additional mortality risks to those already suffering from heart disease
Being overweight is not related to increased mortality in the elderly
Obesity can help someone with cancer or an infection such as HIV live longer

Do these issues sound counter-intuitive to you? They certainly do to me! I have a really hard time wrapping my mind around those bullet points above! And, this is one reason I'm reading Dr. Lavie's book; to learn more about these topics.

As Dr. Lavie points out: "A good paradox in science is a good problem to have if you're looking for the truth; it opens the door to new information" (p. 17). So, I'll be sharing more of this paradox with you as I learn more! :)

The Fat is Fit [or it could be] Paradox

9/21/2014

Iʻve been reading a very interesting book called The Obesity Paradox by Dr. Carl Lavie [a cardiologist and researcher].

One point that Dr. Lavie writes about is that the notion that being fat also means that a person is unhealthy has actually been dis-proven by many studies over the last decade or so. Researchers have been learning that people who are in the overweight or obese BMI [body mass index] categories may actually be metabolically healthy [show no indicators of increased cholesterol, C-Reactive Protein, insulin resistance, and other common indicators of unhealthiness]. And, other studies have shown that many overweight people who have had myocardial incidents [such as heart attacks] seem to recover better and live longer than those with leaner BMI.

Researchers are trying to tease out the variables that could be in play in this evidence; some hypothesize that certain kinds of fat in certain places in the body may actually have protective factors.

But, as we all know, the body is a complex creature, and the variables at play are many.

Lavie does not recommend that those who are lean should bulk up and become fatter. However, his and other research indicates that it may well be that fitness, cardiovascular and muscle mass in particular, may sometimes or often be better indicators of health than BMI alone. People who are overweight but are fit seem to fare better against disease and disorders than those who are lean and unfit [and they are called metabolically healthy].

I havenʻt yet finished the book, so Iʻll be sharing some additional insight and information from Dr. Lavie. Itʻs quite fascinating to read about the debates that researchers are having regarding BMI [it appears to be a somewhat poor indicator of health, and researchers are proposing other indicators in addition to that], as well as the fat/fitness debate.

So, more to come! :)

Sweaty Does It!

7/14/2014

By Willow Aureala

We all would like quick, easy, and relaxing ways to be fit and healthy, as well as to live a long and healthy life, without the yucky diseases of the heart, veins, brain or other organs. And, while some aspects of longevity are debated [supplementation, diet, brain activities and the like], exercise definitely is not. In fact, exercise can result in dramatic changes, and increase in health, and it can even reverse some problematic bodily issues. Here are just some of the very solid research results on fitness and health:

1.     National Institutions of Health: “People who exercise regularly not only live longer, they live better”.

2.     A 10-year McArthur Foundation Study of Successful Aging concluded that “the powerful effects of exercise and calling it the only anti-aging regimen that actually works.”

3.     Besides quitting smoking, the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University confirm that “there is no single thing that will increase vitality at any age other than exercise.”

4.     A more than 40 year Harvard Nurses’s Health Study with over 250,000 participants notes that “higher levels of midlife physical activity are associated with exceptional health status.”

5.     Doug Seals, a vascular-aging guru at the University of Colorado, says “based on all available evidence, exercise has the most powerful anti-aging effect, head to toe.”

6.     The College Alumni Health Study, a 40-year study with 50,000 participants examining activity, health, and longevity found that people who exercise live better, look better, feel better, and live longer. Lifespan increases for each minute increase on a treadmill. On average, those who are active, lively and disease-free lived five years longer than those who don’t exercise.

7.     An 80-year long study of 1,500 Californians found that being active in midlife was the single most important predictor of good health.

8.     Regular exercise can help prevent more than 25 diseases and health conditions later in life, according to a review of more than 40 studies on the benefits of exercise in the International Journal of Clinical Practice.

9.     Research of the world’s healthiest and longest-lived people from Japan to Pakistan to Russia to Ecuador over three decades found that the two main things the healthiest had in common was chilling physical activity as part of their daily lives and a mostly plant-based diet.

10. Even if a person doesn’t start exercising until they are older, they can still reap benefits and turn back the clock: people aged 75 or older benefitted from starting an exercise program. Their muscle strength increased and reversed the progressive effects of ‘functional decline’ (the ability to perform daily acts of living).

So… you get the point: exercise is amazingly good for people to engage in to stay healthy, increase the lifespan, and maintain good mobility. Yet, amazingly, fewer than 2 out of 10 Americans exercise the recommended amounts – a modest 30 minutes five days a week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and prevention. Also, more than 25%of Americans get NO exercise at all.

What’s the BEST exercise to do?

Well, there are all sorts of studies and recent fitness craze-of-the month flavors to choose from. There is HIIT [High Intensity Interval Training], gentle jogging, fast walking [which may be the same as gentle jogging], burpee [yes, really, that’s a name for an exercise, which is, a squat, plank, into another squat, jump up, push-up – a basic calisthenics], squats, swimming, water aerobics, yoga, and many, many more. They all have their proponents, and they all have good health benefits. But, the bottom line is (and I have personal experience with this) choose something you enjoy and can stick with [or change things up periodically if it’s hard to stick with one thing]. The main thing is to move your body, break a sweat, and do it regularly. Get outside if you can and enjoy the outdoors [and get a little Vitamin D at the same time], or go to the gym a few days a week, or both, but do something and move your body! Your body and mind/brain will more than likely thank you in your ‘golden years’!

Reference:

Kessler, Lauren 2013. Counterclockwise: My Year of Hypnosis, Hormones, Dark Chocolate, and Other Adventures in the World of Anti-Aging, pages 162-177.