deepak

One of my 7 Pillars of Health, Performance and Longevity is movement in the right dose for you. No movement practice is complete without adequate rest and recovery, a step many people completely ignore. Besides stretching the muscles after exercise, you want to keep your Fascia healthy. To dig a little deeper into Fascia, I have asked Sheena Taggert to provide another guest blog post below.

Did you know that scientists are considering fascia to be the largest system in our body instead of skin? What is Fascia? Wikipedia defines it as “a band or sheet of connective tissue, primarily collagen, beneath the skin that attaches, stabilizes, encloses, and separates muscles and other internal organs”.  It allows free movement of the muscles, carries nerves, blood vessels, lymphatic vessels, and fills spaces between muscles.

Think about fascia and why it needs to be maintained this way: When you are preparing chicken for supper and you go to remove the skin it is the white membrane that holds the skin down. Now these chickens that we eat are only a few months old. Over time our fascia can become stuck and it may be stuck in a bad position that can cause pain. Fascia can become shortened, adhered, or restricted due to surgery, trauma, sickness, inflammation, or postural imbalances created by tension patterns of the muscles. Myofascial release is the technique that maintains your fascia. It separates the fascia from skin to muscle, muscle to muscle, and muscle to organ fascia.

Here’s my experience with myofascial release technique: I’m not sure why exactly I have issues with my fascia but since releasing it I have been able to maintain the gains I’ve received from massage. I notice when I have a spot missed by myofascial release that within hours my massage gains seem to disappear. I have hyperypkyphosis which is the excessive curvature of the thoracic spine and after a massage it was feeling great! Unfortunately, as soon as I started driving home the pain was back. I realized that releasing the fascia over my spine was missed. On my next appointment we corrected it and the gains were maintained for weeks instead of hours and I was once again able to maintain my new posture.

Pain is the body’s way of telling you something is not right. By the time you feel pain it means your body is already pulled out of proper alignment. Bones keep the body upright, ligaments hold the bones together, muscles create movement, and holding it all together is your fascia attaching, stabilizing, enclosing and separating.

Have you been dealing with a problem that has not been remedied no matter what you do or professional you have seen? Myofascial restrictions can be remedied with a combination of massage therapy, heat, and by stretching and strengthening the muscles to obtain your optimal physical health.

I look forward to seeing you,

Sheena Taggart RMT 

Restore function and life through the re-education of muscles and elimination of pain.

Many people are carrying a lot of stress from many sources, including the many hidden sources of stress that I discuss in my courses. Fascial release is just one of the ways to reduce the stress on your body. If you need to optimize your Health, Performance and Longevity, lets talk about all the strategies that can work for you.

I had first heard of this book about four years ago when the author was doing some promotion for it, and I remember thinking it seemed interesting. Over the years, this book keeps being brought to my attention in various ways. Then I found myself in the summer of 2020 with one client that wants to explore breath work to possibly get into an altered state for reflection, another client who has sleep apnea and is open to trying to get off the CPAP machine and the debate of whether wearing a mask harms your health via retained CO2. These three ideas pushed me to finally purchase and read this book.

The book is broken out into four main parts.

The first is titled the Secret of Breath, which introduces the concepts and science. The premise being that humans are meant to breath through our noses and only need to recruit the mouth in times of duress. However, we have become a society of chronic mouth breathers and chronic over breathers. Excess oxygen can prematurely damage your tissues through the generation of excess free radicals. Over breathing causes the narrowing of airways and the constriction of blood vessels, leading to reduced blood flow to the heart and other organs and muscles. The Bohr Effect is detailed, which explains that the amount of carbon dioxide present in our blood cells determines how much oxygen we can use. Opposite of what most of us were taught or believe. This part also introduces the reader to the BOLT score, a measure of how efficiently your body uses oxygen. It is a simple exercise you can test on yourself.

Part two of the book is titled the Secret of Fitness, it introduces and discusses the use of techniques for enhanced performance, what many Olympic athletes do and how to simulate high-altitude training when you cannot actually be at high altitude. Benefits including increasing your VO2 max or endurance potential.

Part three is the Secret of Health. It explores how improved breathing leads to weight loss, reduced sports injuries, the relationship between oxygenation and improved heart function. It also provides tools to eliminate exercise-induced asthma for those prone to it.

The last part is called Your Oxygen Advantage program, and provides a number of programs to follow depending on your personal situation and need, providing simple diagrams and graphics to assist you on your journey.

As I write this review, and as a result of reading this book, I have been taping my mouth while I sleep for two months to train my body to nose breath. While there are many factors that can influence respiratory rate, I have noticed a general decline in my respiratory rate while sleeping as tracked by my Oura ring. Meaning, I am taking less breathes and actually oxygenating my body more. I have been more conscious of nasal breathing throughout the day. It took a few weeks of training, but I can now complete a HIIT strength training session only breathing through my nose. Next up is improving my CO2 capacity such that I can take more paces with a breath hold. Thus far I can only walk 18 paces or jog for 6 with holding my breath.

The BOLT score mentioned above is from 0 to 40 seconds. I started out with a decent score of 21 seconds and have thus far increased it to the mid-to-high 20’s, day dependent, with the goal of getting as close to 40 seconds as possible.

The client I mentioned earlier has tried going a few nights per week without wearing their CPAP machine, thus far with no deleterious effects. No notice of gasping for air by their partner, no tiredness in the morning etc. They were impressed enough to buy this book themselves.

Breath work is so important for stress release and resetting our parasympathetic nervous system and is something that I have been using with my clients for years and include in my corporate presentations, however, these techniques are so simple to use I have now begun to incorporate them with my clients as another breath tool in the health arsenal.

I would recommend this book for anyone wanting to improve their health and performance. I have certainly become more aware of all the mouth breathers out there and have started to work on some of these techniques with my children for benefits related to their development that I haven’t even addressed in this review.

Want to learn more or work with me on Optimizing your Health, Performance and Longevity? Contact me.

I first became aware of who Sayer Ji was by seeing a few presentations he had given on various Health Summits of various topics. He came across as a very knowledgeable, and compassionate person. Then when this book came out and he made the media rounds and I heard him on a couple of the podcasts I follow, I knew I needed to start following him and subscribed to his newsletter at GreenMedInfo.com. Soon after I decided I needed to buy and read this book.

In this book Sayer really unpacks the antiquated thinking and scientific dogma that is obstructing peoples understanding of their innate untapped potential for self-regulation and healing.

I think this is a must read for anyone SERIOUS about health, so I am not going to give away too much in this review, but let me tease you with some of the topics covered.

There are three parts to this book.

The first is titled: Your Body and the Miracle of Regeneration

In this section he describes how DNA, MicroRNA and Gene Expression is revolutionizing biology, how food acts as information for our bodies, the wisdom of the diets our ancestors had as opposed to the junk food diet’s we now have (my words), and how epigenetics is still barely discussed in medicine. The last chapter of section one discusses new studies and science on the biophysics of energy synthesis.

I agree with the author that for the majority of healing, your body with millions of years of experience knows what to do better than any pharmaceutical or treatment that is 100 years old or less.

There is a near infinite amount of energy stored in our bodies and if we can just harness that energy properly, we can be healthier for so much longer.

The second part of the book is titled: Rethink Chronic Disease, Prevention, and Healing

This is the bulk of the book and discuses cancer’s origins, prevention and treatment. Using lifestyle practices for brain health, which is something I am a huge proponent of. Understanding the myths and facts about heart medications, cholesterol and the inflammation connection to these issues. Reversing metabolic disease which I know is possible, as well as a chapter on rewinding your biological clock, something I am of course very interested in as I work my way to being a Centenarian.

While I have been aware of the flaws of cancer treatment for some time, Sayer introduced me to some new research that I had never seen before. Things that should be the standard of care. This kind of learning is why I read books like this.

There is a section on the problems with calcium supplementation that so many people, especially women, are told then need as they age.

The final part of this book is titled: Regenerate RX

This is where Sayer gets into the practical tips to clean-up your body, getting back to ancestral nutrition, supplementing to nourish your healing body and finally techniques for mind/ body healing.

As this gets down into the nitty gritty, I will leave that for you to explore on your own if you choose to read this book or if you choose to work with someone with a holistic approach to health like myself.

I have stated many times before, I appreciate a book that has lots of references to follow-up on, which this book does at 50 pages.

This book is about the New Biology, the New Science and it pushes back at the old established and I would suggest corrupt dogma, we have all heard for most of our lives. There is no wonder that Sayer Ji and many other trail blazers in health have censored by mainstream media (aka bought by Big Pharma and Big Food). I applaud him and others tirelessly working to bring this new important information to those who are open and willing to listen.

I highly recommend this book and if you want to learn how to implement these strategies into your own Health, Performance and Longevity plan, let’s have a conversation.

I have written before on how to pick a quality personal trainer. Let’s take it a step further and talk about choosing to work with someone who specializes in Functional Fitness.

First let’s define what Functional Fitness is? Functional fitness exercises are designed to train and develop your muscles to make it easier and safer to perform everyday activities, such as carrying groceries, getting up out of a chair, getting in and out of the car etc. Functional fitness can be done indoors or outdoors, in a gym/ facility or in your own home.

Not every Personal trainer is certified in Functional Fitness. Does that mean that one can’t learn on their own through research and trial and error, No, but there are extra courses that one needs to take to have a true understanding of how to incorporate Functional Fitness with clients in a safe and efficient manner.

With any trainer, you are going to want to work with someone who accepts you for who you are and does not judge you for your past behaviors or choices that led you to your current situation.

You should never feel ashamed working with a trainer who is patient, supportive and sensitive.

The trainer is respectful of you and your time, including your view of the world. You want to work with someone who you feel is trustworthy.

You both want to have clear expectations of the workout and relationship.

The trainer does not believe in failure only feedback. The trainer needs to be committed to providing timely and specific feedback of your progress.

Do they explain what skills and capabilities are leading to your success? Do they provide periodic assessments of your goals?

One key thing to look for is: Does a trainer give you a proper physical assessment of your posture and physical imbalances before you begin any program? If not, MOVE ON!

You would be surprised how many trainers, especially at big box gyms, just jump right into the exercises without knowing more about your personal body mechanics.

Many would argue that a Cross-Fit, Obstacle or similar workout is Functional Fitness. Sure, our ancient ancestors needed to lift heavy rocks, climb trees, jump across ravines etc. However, in today’s mostly sedentary lifestyle with more and more people deconditioned and unwell, I would argue that most people do not need to do these complicated, potentially dangerous exercises.

Now, if you are training for some specific event or goal, sure, we can talk about how those can fit into your lifestyle. If you are keen to exercise at a gym, then I suggest you seek out a trainer there that has had specialized training as I mentioned above. Talk to the gym management to identify who these people are.

Now for a variety of reasons, many people whether they be women, the elderly, time constrained or resource constrained, just do not like to nor have the time to go to a gym.

So, for the purposes of the rest of this article I am going to focus on those people who want to work out at home or office and in a minimal amount of time.

I feel for the vast majority of people, there are only FIVE Functional Movement exercises that one needs to do. Sounds simple right? Well it is in a way, but let’s not forget that proper form and your safety is of upmost importance. That is why it is imperative to seek guidance from a trainer who has had this specialized training, at least at the beginning until you feel confidence in your own skills and body mechanics.

There are many ways to make these five exercises harder or easier, such that anyone at any level of fitness can complete them for satisfaction and development.

With any imbalances that may be identified during your personal assessment, your program would be modified, but the five key functional fitness exercises are:

A Pushing Motion, ex. Push Up (helps you get out of bed or off the floor, helps close doors etc)

A Pulling Motion, ex. Row (helps you grab groceries out of the car or grab something off the top shelf etc)

Squat (helps you get out of a chair or off the toilet)

Lunge (helps you climb up stairs or get in and out of your car)

Plank (helps build and maintain core strength)

Seems too simple right? Again, tempo, intensity and modifications can make these five exercises accommodating to the beginner or those injured to very challenging for those progressing or advanced.

Having a trainer who knows how to incorporate these into your lifestyle with your individualized body mechanics is key to your enjoyment, safety, progress and overall health.

While I take a holistic approach to working with my clients and address: The 7 Pillars of Health, Performance and Longevity. This includes Functional fitness that plays a role in your health moving forward. Contact me to learn more.

Your EXCEPTIONAL YOU is waiting to come out and achieve your EXCEPTIONAL RESULTS. I would love to be a part of your journey.

For those familiar with my story, you know I severely hurt my back a number of years ago, and while I am pain free now, I work on my back and core strength every day. While I did not suffer from Hyperkyphosis, I sometimes see it with my clients. When I came across this wonderful article explaining it, I reached out to the author to see if she would be a guest writer.

So let me introduce you to Sheena Taggart and her own words below.

Hi Everyone,

I wanted to introduce myself and my new business. My name is Sheena Taggart and my business is Connective Wellness Therapeutic Massage. Recently I finished my schooling at MH Vicars School of Massage Therapy and became a Registered Massage Therapist. For the last 9 years I have worked for Canada Post in Springbank and Redwood Meadows and can’t wait to see my customers again in my new profession!

I chose this profession because of what I have experienced with my body and the medical professionals that helped me get to where I am today. I have seen an upper cervical chiropractor who would manipulate the first cervical vertebra as well as provided a stretching booklet that was followed by me. In the 7 years since I have maintained the adjustment with very few appointments since. With my physiotherapist I have worked on all kinds of problems such as rotator cuff muscle imbalance, sciatic issues, anterior pelvic tilt, and chronic tight neck and shoulders. I found if I kept up with my stretches and strengthening I wouldn’t need to go back. The problem is I didn’t always do my stretches and strengthen.

It was with massage that I found I was getting more lasting benefits. I talked to my massage therapist about all the many things she can treat and realized massage was something I could be passionate about. In school I learned about myofascial release which is the connective tissue that is between the skin and muscle, as well as surrounds the muscles and organs. I started doing myofascial release on my classmates, my massage volunteers that I had as homework, and myself. I am currently seeing a myofascial specialist as I continue to unwind my body and plan to continue my education in myofascial release. My journey has helped me to understand the body and how it works. Because of this journey, I am now able to create a lasting effect by treating the cause, not just the symptoms.

As I look around at people’s postures I have noticed that most people have an exaggerated curved upper back, protracted shoulder blades and a head forward posture which is called hyperkyphosis. It is often accompanied by hyperlordosis which is in the lower back. This can happen with certain medical conditions such as osteoporosis, ankylosing spondylitis, Pott’s, and Scheuermann’s disease. If that is not an issue the main culprits are sustained poor posture (slouching or sleeping in the curled-up position) or emotional causes when unconsciously trying to appear small. Occupational sources can be excessive hours sitting and weightlifting since there is an overemphasis on the pectoralis and flexion strengthening exercises. Symptoms these people might be experiencing could be chronic headaches even migraines, sore tight shoulders, jaw issues, tight neck muscles, and nerve issues in the arms and hands. With really bad hyperkyphosis it can also affect our breathing.

This illustration of poor posture provides an idea of the pounds of pressure put on the cervical vertebrae with the increased curvature of the spine.

As long as the vertebrae are not fused the good news is this can be fixed. I am proof of that!

The treatment for hyperkyphosis is a massage once a week for 6 weeks which would include heating the shortened muscles, myofascial release, trigger point release, stretching techniques, and stimulation of the inhibited muscles. For homecare there is a stretch and strengthening plan to follow. Following the 6 weeks is an assessment to determine next steps (if any!). Everyone is different so there is no one size fits all solution. Results depend on where a person starts from and if they have been able to keep up with the homecare.

I look forward to seeing you,

I would like to thank Sheena for being a guest writer on my blog. Whether you feel you have hyperkyphosis or not, but aren’t quite feeling yourself physically, I encourage you to reach out to a Massage Therapist, Physiotherapist, Acupuncturist or Chiropractor in your local area.

If you need help finding someone, reach out and I can tap my network for you. Or if you want me to perform a postural assessment for you, either in-person or virtually, contact me!

Besides having a wide array of interests, you might be wondering why I am posting a book review on this topic as opposed to my usual delves into health. The fact is that relationships play a huge role in your overall health and are one of the main themes in my program for longevity and the first thing I work on with my clients.

Nobody is perfect and I am always looking for ways to improve myself and my tool kit for dealing with the relationships in my life. My wife and I listened to a presentation by a psychologist on talking to your adolescent. She recommended a number of books, and this seemed like one that we both could learn from, plus we were hoping that a family member might pick it up as well while we were vacationing together.

The full title of the book is Positive Discipline for Today’s Busy (& Overwhelmed) Parent, How to Balance Work, Parenting & Self for Lasting Well-Being. The Authors are Jane Nelsen, EdD, Kristina Bill and Joy Marchese.

Instead of a review per se, I have noted the ideas and thoughts that jumped off the page to me and that I thought were important enough to make notes for.

Helping children feel special.

One small but powerful thing can be to create nonverbal signals that you can use with each other to share love -ex. A quick thumbs up when you pass in the hall, or patting your heart to send a message of love across the room.

One of the most powerful ways to build strong bonds with your child is to spend scheduled special time with them.

Plan Special Time with Your Child

Brainstorm a list of things you would like to do together during your special time. When brainstorming, don’t evaluate or eliminate. Look at your list together and categorize.

Protect the family meal as often as you can.

Use your calendar to schedule non-negotiable family time. Schedule specific blocks of time for family meetings.

Take time for hugs. There is always time for a three-second hug.

Write Love Notes to your Children.

Don’t do anything for children that they can do for themselves.

Several points about Non-punitive parenting:

1. Non-punitive parenting does not mean letting children “get away” with their behaviour.
2. It does mean helping children explore the consequences of their choices in a supportive and encouraging environment so that lasting growth and learning can take place.
3. Most people turn out “fine” even if they were punished, but they might have learned even more had they received both kindness and firmness to learn mistakes.

Are you satisfied with “fine” or do you want your children to have the kind of nurturing that helps them bloom into the best people they can possibly be?

Too many parents boss their children around and then wonder why they rebel.

Encourage Contribution. As children grow, they become more and more capable of contributing. Let small children help. Take time for training them over and over and over again.

Being both kind and firm is extremely important with teens. Here are some kind and firm tools to remember:

1. Connection before correction. Connection can be physical touch, making eye contact, validating feelings, listening and being curious, making sure the message of love gets through, and showing empathy by getting into your teens world.
2. Being excited about mistakes. Instead of lecturing and ridiculing, learn to celebrate mistakes.
3. Joint Problem Solving. When teens are respectfully involved in problem solving, they are much more likely to keep agreements.
4. Special time. Plan for a weekend breakfast together, or time to attend special functions that are of interest to your teen.

Children can be very creative when they are treated respectfully and allowed the opportunity. Ask your children for their ideas on solving the problem of organizing and getting chores done.

In family meetings but also at other times it is key to focus on solutions instead of blame. You will be amazed by the capability of children to find solutions when they are invited to do so.

Why would a child respond favorably to a situation that would certainly not be motivating to you?

Seven Guidelines for Positive Time-out

1. Understand that a time of conflict is not a good time to teach and learn.
2. During a time when there’s no conflict, teach the value of taking time to calm down until the rational brain can be accessed.
3. Encourage your children to design a positive time-out area that will help them do whatever they need to do until they feel better and can do better.
4. Suggest the child choose a name for this area, something other than “time-out”.
5. Design your own tine-out area.
6. During a conflict, ask your children if it would help them to go to their positive time-out place, or for you to go your own time-out area.
7. If appropriate, follow up with teaching time at a later moment, when everyone is feeling better again.

4 Steps in order to recover from our mistakes -The 4 R’s of Recovery

                Step 1-Recognize. “Oops, I made a mistake.”

                Step 2-Reconnect. This can be done verbally by validating the child’s feelings: “I can see that my behaviour has hurt you.” Or it can be done nonverbally, through a hand on the shoulder, getting down to eye level, or holding hands.

                Step 3-Reconcile. “I apologize.”

                Step 4-Resolve. “What can we do to make things better? Let’s work on a solution together.”

Take responsibility for what you create in your life. Dig deep and figure out how you created the situation you complain about. Responsibility does not mean blame or shame. Awareness of personal responsibility gives you power and options to create what you want.

Inconsistent behaviour does not inspire confidence and communicates to others that we can be influenced or even manipulated. Consistency is key in all areas, be it with family or colleagues.

People will listen to you after they feel listened to.

Mindset profoundly impacts our ability to agree on a way forward and that the levels of actions both parties are prepared to take in order to work on the relationship. It impacts our ability to communicate with each other, express love, practice forgiveness, and satisfy our partners primary goal of belonging.

When children don’t believe they belong, they feel discouraged and may misbehave. Likewise, when you don’t feel loved, valued, and accepted by your partner, you are unlikely to put forth your most kind and loving behaviour.

Perfectionism is rooted in insecurity and a deep need to prove one’s worth by doing things flawlessly.

When partners feel unappreciated in their efforts to help, they may avoid being hurt by spending more time away from home or doing solo activities.

Many relationships are taking a backseat to the urgent demands of work and children. Little to no time is carved out to enjoy each other. This is a huge mistake. Children benefit when they witness a happy and loving partnership. Your children learn about relationships by observing you.

Special time should be a priority over other time commitments so that the relationship isn’t always downgraded to last on the list, which can easily happen if both partners work.

Affection is one of the most powerful ways to make your partner feel cherished. Regular affection sends a powerful message of belonging, which summons our most loving behaviours. Affection meets the core need to feel special and deeply cared for.

There is a special sense of connection when you share your innermost thoughts and feelings, hear the innermost thoughts and feelings of your partner, and find similarities to marvel at. The need for meaningful conservation continues throughout the relationship, and it is painful to both parties if intimate sharing stops. The cost to the relationship is loss of closeness and connection and belonging.

Many couples have conflict because one partner is unable to appreciate the separate reality of the others individuals thoughts, feelings, desires and beliefs. We advocate that both parties are free to see things differently based on their personal beliefs, and that those differences are accepted and valued by the other. Its ok to disagree on things.

Often it is sufficient to show interest and wonderment at your partners enthusiasm and to encourage him or her to explore those interests as much as possible. Your partner will feel truly valued and accepted, and you will hopefully encourage you in your interests in return.

Couple meetings should be separate from family meetings. Parents need some grown-up time to, to bond and strategize.

Couple Activity:

1. Separately create a list of things you would like to do with your partner
2. Get together and share your lists. How many of your items are the same?
3. Brainstorm some other ideas that you would like to do together
4. Divide list into regular things and bucket list things
5. Get out your calendars and schedule time together. Make this a final part of your weekly couples meeting
6. Journal about the difference this activity makes in your relationship and share with each other.

We tend to underestimate what our children can do. When we show faith in our children, they develop courage and faith in themselves. Instead of lecturing, fixing, or doing it for them, say, “I have faith in you. I know you can handle this.”

Explain the task in a kind way as you perform it while your child watches. Do the task together. Have your child do it by herself while you supervise. When she feels ready, let her perform the task on her own. Don’t step in and correct it or do it for her -let her own it.

If you don’t have faith in your children, how else will they learn to have faith in themselves? The foundation actions to show faith in your children are avoidance actions, such as avoiding overparenting, avoiding rescuing, avoiding fixing, and avoid reminding (lecturing).

Example is the best teacher. Do you expect your children to control their behaviour when you don’t control your own? Withdraw from the conflict and calm down. If you do make a mistake and lose it, apologize to your children.

Make sure each child is loved for being the unique human she is. Don’t compare the kids in a misguided attempt to motivate them to be like another child. This is very discouraging.

These items or ideas are the ones that talked to me for our family to either incorporate newly or to make an effort to get back to again. Anyone who reads this book likely will have different takeaways, and likely coming back to a book like this again after some time, different things will speak to you.

As I mentioned at the top, strong healthy relationships is part of my first pillar of Longevity that I work on with my clients. Interested to see if I can help you achieve your Longevity goals? Contact me.

I was on vacation and devoured another book I was reading to the point I had finished it too fast and was looking for something else to read while we were going to be spending some time at the beach. A family member had this book laying out, and had been meaning to read it eventually so I grabbed it and dove in.

I had seen the author Trudy Scott present before in a docuseries or two, so she was not unfamiliar to me. The Anti-Anxiety Food Solution: How the Foods You Eat Can Help You Calm Your Anxious Mind, Improve Your Mood & End Cravings is the type of book that usually aligns with my health and coaching philosophies, but would I learn anything new? This book was published in 2011 and I was reading this in the summer of 2020, so would it be a little dated?

The foods we eat and how much of them can impact our brain chemistry and emotions to a high degree. Most people don’t realize how much of their moods, thoughts and feelings are influenced by their diet until they make a change. What and when you eat can be the difference between feeling anxious and staying calm for many people.

The book is a very easy read and not too technical. It starts off with common foods that cause people issues and some of the diet modifications one can employ to see changes in their life. There are a lot of charts and questionnaires throughout that can help people guide themselves to start making some changes or choices on their own without working with a professional. There are also some anecdotal stories woven throughout to make the concepts more relatable.

Chapter 5 was all about digestion, which was nice to see, as many books do not address these concepts and some of the simple things one can do to improve their food absorption.

Chapter 6 is about Brain chemistry and at the time I am working with a client that is looking to address some concerns in this regard, so this found me at the right time. I found the charts and questionnaires in this section helpful and will become a resource for me go forward.

The last part of the book talks about lifestyle changes, which are very important along with nutrition in addressing many issues including anxiety and brain health. There is a longer case study that the book ends off with.

There was very little that I disagreed with the author about, the only main issue was the form of certain supplements that were recommended, whereas I would suggest a different form. This could be due to the information available at the time the author was writing this book.

As mentioned above, there are a couple pages that will become a resource for me, but overall, there was not a lot of new information for myself. That being said, if you or a family member are struggling with anxiety and want a simple, easy to follow book to get started on your own, this book will do the trick for you. Even though it is 9 years old, it is still relevant and a good resource for someone beginning their journey into working with anxiety. At the very least, it is an easy read.

I had the privilege of being a guest host on the Health Simplified Podcast. This audio podcast is run by a couple acquaintances Dr. Shabnam Das Kar, Functional Medicine Consultant and Michal Ofer, Functional Nutrition Consultant. Shabnam and Michal are the founders of the MDS Program. The episodes I appeared in were the following.

Health Myths Part 1

Health Myths Part 2

Do You want to read a book that is going to piss you off? Most people would say no, but what about a book that pisses you off because it is so thought provoking and puts to the forefront things you thought were happening but lays out a well thought out argument to show you IT IS HAPPENNING!

Food Fix, Mark Hyman’s latest book, is such a book. While I have heard many of these arguments for a long time, this book backs it up with studies, references and detailed sourcing.

The book is comprised of five main parts, each tackling different but related topics surrounding our Health, Economy and Environment.

I do not want to spoil too much and I think every adult and teenager should read this book, so I will be brief in my overview. I will be circulating my copy amongst my circle of influence.

Part 1 is titled: The Health and Economic Impact of Our Food System

Among a number of topics in the first few chapters the author laws out an argument for how the way we look at food and its costs are completely wrong and understated. Also, how the epidemic of chronic disease around the world is due to our food systems. As someone who has overcome my own health challenges and now works with clients in this regard this is not new information to me, but laid out well to share with the average person. This leads to the discussion about how a handful of powerful companies have global reach with their products and how we as society need to push our governments to change fiscal policies to address obesity and disease. We tax the heck out of cigarettes, why not soda?

Part 2 is titled: The Dirty Politics of Big Food

This is the part of the book where you are going to start getting mad and shaking your head. You will learn how Big Food and Agriculture companies control the government and hence food policy. Did you know that there are 21 industry lobbyists for every member of the US Congress? And that the rules in place to protect independence are routinely broken and no one seems to care. You will learn how various governmental agencies tasked with protecting the consumer, that means all of us and our kids are not doing their job and actually allowing these companies to prey on our children in school. And finally, which should be no surprise to anyone, that some governmental policies are actually increasing poverty, promoting disease and destroying the environment.

Part 3 is titled: Information Warfare

If you weren’t already pissed off, the author adds in some more statistics to really get you boiling. He discusses how the Food Industry uses the old tactics of the tobacco industry to distort public health and nutrition science. Also discussed in this section is how many supposed advocacy groups are just fronts for Big food who bribe, I mean purchase partnerships and influence.

Part 4 is titled: Food and Society: The Destruction of our Human and Intellectual Capital

If you are not intricately connected, how many of you think about the farmers and people who grow your food? Maybe you know the guy at the counter at the farmers market, but what about the person in the field in some third world nation picking your vegetables and fruit? The author makes the case that these are neglected victims of our food system. We know this happens, but we usually don’t dwell on it too long as it is an uncomfortable topic. There is a lot of social injustice and oppression by Big Food that many of us are a part of. The last topic in this section discusses how food plays a role in Mental Health. Again, this is something I can attest to personally and with working with my clients.

Part 5 is titled: The Environment and Climate Impact of our Food System

Many people want to jump into various ideological camps about the Environment and as an extension to that Climate Change. There are the usual suspects you hear in the media, but nearly no one discusses the role our food system plays. The author does a wonderful job of outlining how the Food and Agricultural Industries contribute disproportionately to Climate Change, and why we all should care about Soil, Water and Biodiversity. For many people, your preconceived notions you believe or were misinformed on will be shattered.

This book is mostly U.S. focused, but these topics, problems and potentially solutions effect the entire world from the most advanced economies to those emerging.

One of the best things about this book, is that it is not all doom and gloom, it is not all facts, studies and statistics, but provides real actionable steps that everyone of us can do in our own communities or in our own families to start to make a difference. There are checklists throughout where you can make choices for you and your family and your community. Again, I was aware of many of these issues and problems beforehand, but this book really laid it out and has me thinking about my own actions and impact.

While at the time of writing this post, I can’t say I have implemented more than a handful of the recommendations to this point, but I am more educated to have conversations in our household and with others, to not only be more aware but to begin to make other substantial changes over time. That is the greatest gift of this book, awareness and education. I highly recommend it.

The author Robb Wolf, has been around the Paleo game for as long as I can remember, certainly before I turned my life around and got healthy. His first book The Paleo Solution came out in 2010. Wired to Eat is the follow-up and came out in 2017. Yes, this book is three years old. I have been meaning to read it for a long time and it never quite made it into my reading pile until recently. In anticipation of my library being closed for social distancing during COVID-19, I went in and grabbed Wired to Eat.

As this book is three years old, I will just give my very brief thoughts on it.

At this point in my journey and education, I didn’t find anything really new, considering the age of the book. However, I wish I would have read this book as I was in the beginning stages of my transformation. And the knowledge shared still holds true for those just beginning their own journey or who are thinking of making a change for their health. I would still recommend it to new clients.

The first part of the book gets into the how humans are “Wired to Eat” as the title suggests, discussing the Paleo Diet, Digestion, Individualization of nutrition, how food companies try and re-circuit our brains, and finally the importance of sleep, exercise and one’s community in regards to weight management.

The second part of the book gets into the authors plan for implementing a change to a more Paleo type diet for someone. This includes what he calls a 30-day Reset for an overall direction move, as well as a 7-Day Carb Test, where one can figure out which carbs are tolerable or intolerable for them. Remember nutrition is individualized. He also discusses Ketosis and Intermittent Fasting in this section. Nothing new here, but remember three years ago this was right at the forefront.

The last part of the book includes recipes and shopping lists to help those just beginning their journey. This has become all to common place now, but when I think back to three years ago, it was probably one of a handful of books that incorporated both knowledge of nutrition and practical recipes in one book.

While I agree with nearly everything in this book, due to the timing of me finding it in my personal journey and with working with my one-on-one clients it didn’t blow me away. But, that is not to say it is not a fantastic resource for someone beginning to look into a Paleo lifestyle and needing guidance.