Blog Posts

General Health Begins With Liver Health

3/4/2020

In the world of natural health, there’s a misconception that the liver stores toxins. It doesn’t. It processes and eliminates them from the body, but it doesn’t store them. It’s time to separate facts from fiction so we can learn how to better support our liver and general health.

The liver has over 400 jobs and promotes health throughout the entire body. Here are a few things it does for us. The liver:
- Regulates blood glucose by storing it in the form of glycogen. When the hormones insulin and glucagon signal a need for glucose (such as between meals or overnight), the liver will release glucose back into the bloodstream.
- Produces and regulates cholesterol. When the liver is suffering from things like nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, cirrhosis, or damage from medications, it can cause abnormal cholesterol levels.
- Helps eliminate excess nitrogen, a normal byproduct of protein metabolism. When a genetic disorder means we can’t do this, ammonia builds up in the blood and can cause brain damage, coma or death.
- Filters pathogens and other substances that travel from our environment via our food into our bodies and prevents them from entering the bloodstream.
- Contributes to the production of vitamin D with the help of the skin and kidneys. Vitamin D in itself has a huge number of roles including maintaining health bone formation, immune function, mental health, and reducing risk of certain cancers.
- Stores vitamins such as A, D, E, K and B12, and releases them into the body as needed.
- Detoxifies harmful byproducts from medications, changing them into a form the body can excrete.

The vast number of things the liver does means it promotes health through the entire body. Any damage to your liver will have consequences in many other areas of your health. For example, fatty liver disease, whether caused by alcohol consumption or otherwise, increases your risk of cardiovascular disease three-fold if you’re a man, or fourteen-fold if you’re a woman.

Taking care of your liver means supporting it through daily healthy choices. The best place to start is to work on avoiding substances that damage your liver, which of course means avoiding alcohol. Just 2 to 3 alcoholic drinks per day can harm your liver, and drinking 4 to 5 or more drinks in a row, known as binge drinking, can cause liver damage. Consuming alcohol leads to an increased risk of jaundice, cirrhosis, liver failure, liver cancer, and many other health conditions.

Medications such as acetaminophen (like Tylenol) can damage your liver if you take more than the recommended dosages, take it in combination with alcohol, or take it with existing liver damage. It’s worth addressing the root cause of why you’re taking painkillers and other medications to reduce your reliance on them.

Once you have addressed the most common causes of liver damage, it’s time to move toward things like reducing processed foods, addressing nutrient deficiencies by focusing on a nutrient dense diet (which we’ll tackle in an upcoming article), reducing exposure to environmental toxins, quitting smoking, and supporting habits that lead to quality sleep.

Practical Tips For Restful Sleep and Cardiac Health

2/26/2020

Chasing sleep can be hard, and we’ve all been there. Sometimes it feels like the harder you try, the more elusive it gets!

Quality sleep is something to celebrate and is an important component of preventing chronic disease. If you are habitually under slept, you have a higher risk for cardiovascular disease. This is true regardless of your age, how much you weigh, your exercise habits, and whether or not you smoke. A good night's sleep is heart healthy!

There are practical changes you can make to improve the duration and quality of your sleep, and improve your daytime alertness. This is known as “sleep hygiene”. Signs of poor sleep hygiene are:
- Frequent sleep disturbances such as waking in the night
- Feeling sleepy during the daytime
- Taking a long time to fall asleep

The good news is that there are many ways you can change your night time routine to improve your sleep hygiene!

Reduce or eliminate stimulants - Stimulants are substances that temporarily increase your alertness or energy levels. Reducing stimulants like caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, and sugar is one of the most obvious choices when trying to improve sleep quality.

Consider medication side effects - Consult the insert that came with your medications or speak to your pharmacist to ensure your prescriptions are not contributing to your sleep problems. It’s important to consider the efficacy of the medication versus the health costs of the side effects when considering the medications true value to you.

Commit to daily exercise - Even a gentle walk can lower stress levels, reduce anxiety, aid depression and help with sleep. Avoid vigorous exercise before bed however, as it can have the opposite effect!

Make your bedroom sleep friendly - Making your bedroom conducive to sleep means reserving it for primarily sleep. This means removing the TV, using an analog alarm clock instead of your illuminated phone, and not doing any work in bed. It also means making sure your bed is comfortable, your pillow suits your sleep position, and the temperature is kept a couple of degrees cooler than the rest of your home.

Turn off all screens - Television, phone, tablets, and digital watches should all be turned off at least an hour before you go to bed to reduce your exposure to melatonin disrupting blue light. You can increase the impact of this by investing in a pair of blue-blocking glasses which will further aid in melatonin production.

Create a black-out environment - Your bedroom should ideally be pitch black when you go to bed. Just like controlling your screen time before you go to bed, any light in your bedroom can further disrupt sleep. We recommend installing black-out curtains or blinds, and removing, unplugging or covering lights from devices such as fans and alarm clocks.

Cut the noise - For sound sensitive sleepers, invest in ear plugs and/or a white noise machine to reduce the possibility of being woken by unexpected noises.

Sleep routine - Limit daytime naps to 30 minutes, and create a predictable routine by setting a regular bedtime and wake up time.

Morning light exposure - Expose yourself to natural light first thing in the morning to encourage cortisol levels to raise and wake you up. If the winter months are gloomy where you live, a SAD lamp can help with this morning reset.

Eat protein - Eating protein such as eggs as part of your breakfast aids in the production of serotonin during the day, which will later be converted to melatonin to help you fall asleep in the evening. A small bite or two of protein before you go to bed can also help stabilize blood sugars throughout the night and prevent waking.

What happened? - If sleep problems started suddenly, think back and consider what changed at that time. This might give you some clues as to other areas in your life you might investigate. Did relationship troubles come to light, did something put you under financial pressure, or perhaps something changed at work? If you can identify it, you can work to allay your concerns about it.

Sleep is an often overlooked aspect of health, so make it as important as the food you eat and the supplements you take.

Boundary Setting for Heart Health

2/19/2020

The Heart Research Institute says 90% of Canadians over the age of 20 have at least one risk factor for heart disease. One of these is stress.

Stress contributes to high blood pressure and cholesterol levels, increases our stroke risk, makes us more likely to smoke, drink, eat poorly, and lose sleep. These all increase our risk of heart disease.

A specific way you can lower stress in your life is to work on boundary setting. Boundaries are the mental, emotional and physical limits you draw to protect yourself from being used, manipulated, or violated by others. When you have clear boundaries, you can free up resentment you may be carrying, and calm your emotions and nervous system. Which means feeling much less stressed!

Signs you need to work on boundaries:
- You say yes to doing things you’d actually rather not do.
- People often ask too much of you and it makes you feel resentful.
- You’re doing more for others than they do for you and you feel bitter about it.
- You feel other people often don’t appreciate what you do for them.
- Disappointing others is stressful.

Healthy boundaries are not just the limits you set for how others treat you, but also how well you respect other people’s boundaries too. If you have poor boundaries, you are likely to resent other people for exerting their own.

Healthy boundaries look like:
- You can express your preferences around your personal space, and allow others to do the same. For example, you don’t let people hug you if you don’t want to hug them (and allow your children to make that choice too).
- You’re comfortable holding different opinions to others, and are ok when they disagree with you. For example, you respect that your best friend has different political opinions to yours.
- You’re confident to step away from people and situations that are overwhelming you emotionally, and you allow others to do the same even if you’re the one overwhelming them. For example, only staying at a family holiday dinner for an hour because of rising tensions between relatives.
- You have your own spiritual beliefs that may be different from your family or friends, and allow others to do the same. For example, your parents go to church every Sunday, but you don’t feel you need to go as that’s not your belief system.

So what do poor boundaries look like? You might be a people pleaser, and feel the need to always help, fix, or save people at your expense. You may also be unable to say NO, or allow your self worth to be defined by what others think of you, or overshare personal information. It’s easy to see how loose boundaries can quickly become a chronic stressor in your life!

Noticing your boundaries is a good place to start, and the first clue is how you feel when they’ve been crossed. Which boundaries of yours are most often violated by others? Maybe a family member keeps commenting negatively about your food choices. You can assert that boundary by sharing that you’re not willing to hear about, defend, or discuss the food you choose to eat anymore. Your boss at work might expect you to check your emails throughout the evening while at home, and you may assert your boundary by saying you will be keeping your work email off your phone so you can recharge and do a better job in the morning.

Set your boundaries, and be consistent in asserting them. It’s a good way to start thinking about what’s best for you. By cutting down on the resentment you feel towards others and all the obligations we face, you can ultimately reduce your stress levels, improve your relationships, take better care of yourself, be more productive, AND improve your cardiovascular health!

Add Protein to Reduce Your Cardiac Risk Factors

2/12/2020

One in four Canadians has diabetes, undiagnosed diabetes, or prediabetes. That’s over 9 million people, and the numbers are expected to rise. It’s time for us as individuals to take action. Not only is diabetes itself a concern, but it is a major risk factor for heart disease. People with diabetes are at risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) 15 years before those without diabetes!

In our article Lifestyle Approaches to Reduce Your Risk of Heart Disease, we introduced a variety of holistic ideas to help you take control of your health. One of these ideas was to eat a nutritious diet. We suggested eating more cold-water fish, eliminating processed sugars, and avoiding inflammatory seed oils. Today we’re going to focus on protein and how eating enough protein can improve your blood sugar levels and reduce your CVD risk factors.

Protein is a macronutrient just like carbohydrates and fats but it’s more satiating - it makes you feel fuller - than fat and carbohydrates. While high fibre carbohydrates might physically fill your stomach, a protein rich meal flips a hormonal switch that tells your brain you’re full. A fibre-rich diet might make you feel full at first, but your brain hasn’t received that hormonal satiety signal so you may continue to want food.

Studies have shown that higher-protein diets stabilize your blood sugar. Perhaps you’ve experienced this. Think about the difference between eating just a plate of pasta and eating a plate of pasta with meat sauce. You feel quite different afterwards!

Higher-protein diets also lead to positive changes in metabolic, cardiovascular and inflammatory markers, reducing potential risk factors for CVD:

Higher-protein diets:
- Improve insulin sensitivity. This is your body’s sensitivity to the signals of insulin which tells the body to shuttle blood glucose into cells for use as fuel.
- Improve cholesterol and triglycerides.
- Reduce C-reactive protein, a test measuring inflammation in your body.
- Have beneficial effects on weight loss, particularly the loss of abdominal fat.
- Lowers blood pressure.
- Reduce HbA1C levels. This is the test that shows your average blood sugar levels over the past 2 to 3 months.

Some think that protein is bad for your kidneys, but that’s really just a myth. Studies have shown that eating protein up to 35% of your daily calories is safe for people without pre-existing kidney problems. There’s no reliable evidence that high protein diets increase your risk of cancer either, as long as you’re eating a balanced, nourishing nutrient-dense diet.

A good way to measure how much protein you might aim for in every meal is to use the palm of your hand as a guide to meat serving sizes. For eggs, it’s how many eggs you can hold in your hand (it’s at least 2 for adult women, and at least 3 for adult men). Make carbohydrates a side dish rather than the highlight of your plate, with healthy fats (such as avocado or olive oil) as a condiment-sized serving, and vegetables the star of the show! If you’re vegetarian or vegan, build your meals around protein-rich beans and pulses.

To further support the abilities of protein to reduce heart risk factors, consider adding in Truehope OLE (Olive Leaf Extract) and Truehope Inositol.

Truehope OLE acts as a hypoglycemic agent by slowing the digestion and absorption of starches from the digestive tract into the body. Both Truehope OLE and Truehope Inositol help improve insulin sensitivity, reducing insulin resistance (when the cells ignore insulin’s request to take up sugar from the bloodstream). When blood glucose can be moved into your cells, your body can make energy from it while lowering your blood sugar levels.

There are many dietary changes you can make to reduce your CVD risk factors, but increasing the amount and quality of the protein you eat packs a beneficial punch!

Author

We want to provide nothing but the highest quality information and advice for our followers to improve their health, which is why at Truehope Canada, we're happy to say our writer is a Certified Life Coach and Registered Holistic Nutritionist.
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