Nourish Balance Thrive

Paul Jaminet, Ph.D was an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, became a software entrepreneur during the Internet boom, and now provides strategic advice to entrepreneurial companies while pursuing research in economics. Paul’s experience overcoming a chronic illness has been key to his views of aging and disease. Paul and I started by discussing the birth of their new baby Luke, and since I have a 15-month old daughter, I got sleep envy. I regularly use LED lighting to entrain circadian rhythm but I realise I could be doing more of the same for our daughter Ivy. Paul then announced that he's working on a cookbook. Next we talked about the Perfect Health Retreat, which frankly sounds awesome. The retreat caters for every aspect of diet and lifestyle including diet, rest, exercise and stress reduction. It's a learning experience woven into a beach holiday. I was interested in Paul's experience dealing with chronic infections because I too had the same problem. Now I see it everyday in our practice. My advice was if the diet and lifestyle described in the Perfect Health Diet are not working for you, find someone that can help you figure out the reasons why. Paul recommends getting most nutrients from food, but also has a recommended supplement list. Finally, we talked about my experience switching over to a low carb version of the Paleo diet. Paul's problems got much worse when he went low carb, whereas my performance improved markedly. It's important to point out that I went through the transition after fixing my chronic health complaints. Paul thinks that the healthier you are, the more likely you are to withstand a carbohydrate deficiency. I'm still not convinced that such a thing exists! Buy the book on Amazon and join the Facebook group.

Mickey Trescott is a cook and one of the bloggers behind Autoimmune Paleo. After recovering from her own struggle with both Celiac and Hashimoto’s disease, adrenal fatigue, and multiple vitamin deficiencies, Mickey started to write about her experience to share with others and help them realize they are not alone in their struggles. She is a certified Nutritional Therapy Practitioner by the Nutritional Therapy Association, and is the author of The Autoimmune Paleo Cookbook, a guide and recipe book for the autoimmune protocol. You also can find her on Instagram, or on her book tour. Mickey and I have a lot in common. We both suffered a health crisis; we both are sensitive to gluten, and both had thyroid issues. The good news is that using a combination of the Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) and functional medicine we've both made a full recovery. You can too! You can read the full version of Mickey's story, from asthma to Hashimoto's thyroiditis over on her blog. I first discovered her book using the Google search "AIP cookbook". At that time, the Paleo Mom had tons of great information on the science on her site, but there wasn't much in the way of help trying to figure out what you should eat. Mickey's cookbook proved to me that AIP wasn't just survivable; it was good! It's important to note that whilst AIP is a crucial first step to recovering from autoimmunity; it's not the only part. Rest, exercise, stress management and supplements are all important. An unhealthy host makes a great home for infection and hormone imbalance. The liver often struggles to keep up with the additional demand and the burden of nutrient deficiencies. Figuring all this out is only hard if you're guessing. Don't guess, do a test! Find out how in a free 15-minute consultation. Sign up and I will send you a PDF preview of the cookbook and a 2-week AIP meal planner!

New Year's resolutions suck. Why wait to make a change? But still, we know that accountability is important, and if everyone makes a change all at the same time then there's added accountability. In order to achieve your goal, you must first break it down into manageable steps. The first steps are planning. If the step requires not doing something, raise the barrier to entry. For example, if you want to avoid a particular food, don't keep it in the house. If there's something you want to do more often, lower the barrier to entry. TRX and kettlebells are great for lowering the barrier to working out. If you don't have a resolution, consider tracking your heart rate variability (HRV). Joining our Clinical Rounds program will be helpful for two reasons. First, we'll be there each week on a webinar to answer your questions. Second, there's added accountability--we care and want to know if our recommendations work! Image credit.

Health and athletic performance have been a passion of mine since early adulthood. For the first 17 years or so, all my ideas were all dead wrong. Low-fat, high-carb, vegetarianism, polyphasic sleep. All terrible ideas. Then came the Paleo diet and lifestyle and with it success. Now I think I'm less likely to be dead wrong, and more likely to be incomplete. Katy Bowman is a witty writer I've been following for several years. I wrote to Katy her telling her about Nourish Balance Thrive and how her ideas might help me to do a better job as a coach. Katy is unique in her analysis of movement and how it affects genetic expression and cellular life. Quite possibly a missing piece! With radical, science-based health directives, Katy is taking the health-and-wellness world by storm with her bold “exercise is not movement” platform. A biomechanist by training and a problem-solver at heart, she has helped thousands reduce chronic pain, increase bone density, and improve metabolic health through movement and proper alignment. In addition to writing for her award-winning, and science-y blog KatySays.com, she is a regular source for national health publications and is regularly featured on radio, television talk shows and news segments. Creator of the Aligned and Well™ DVD series, Katy’s groundbreaking work in pelvic floor restoration has made her particularly popular with midwives, OBGYNs, and others concerned with pelvic mobility, strength, and health. Her books, Every Woman’s Guide to Foot Pain Relief: The New Science of Healthy Feet (2011) and Alignment Matters (2013), have been critically acclaimed and translated worldwide. Her most anticipated book, Move Your DNA: Restore Your Health Through Natural Movement, was released in the autumn of 2014.

Bike fit has a massive problem that's best illustrated with an example. The first time I had a fit done, I found myself wearing a plastic wedge in between my cleat and the pedal to correct the discrepancy between the length of my legs. The bike fitter did his very best to make me fit the bicycle. The bike fit process reminds me a lot of the experience I had with my primary care doctor. Rather than asking why my legs were a different length, the fitter just addressed the symptom with a plastic wedge. The wedge was all well and good until I needed to wear a mountain bike shoe, and then I ran into all sorts of problems. Leg length discrepancies that are the result of the bone being of a different length are surprisingly rare. The cause of the problem lies in the soft tissue and can often be fixed using some simple exercises. Nigel McHollan is a biomechanics coach from Edinburgh in Scotland. Unfortunately, in order for Nigel to help you're going to have to see him at least once in person. The mountain biking is great there, so start making some holiday plans! There may also be a chance to see Nigel when he visits California for the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon in June of this year. Nigel can be found on the Web at www.nigelmchollan.co.uk In the show, we also mention Biomechanics Education and Martin Haines.

In this episode, registered nurse Amelia, food scientist Julie and me discuss protein. Protein is fascinating for a million different reasons; not enough eventually leads to muscle wasting, too much to an inefficient conversion to glucose.  How much protein should you be eating? What type? When? Unfortunately, we can't answer those questions but we can certainly guide you through some self-experimentation to find out. Amino aicds are the building blocks of protein. Certain amino acids are gluconeogenic, meaning they can enter the citric acid cycle and be converted into malate and pyruvate and then glucose. Others are ketogenic and convert into acetyl-CoA and then ketone bodies. Many amino acids are both ketogenic and gluconeogenic! It's complicated, but know that the branched-chain amino acids  leucine, isoleucine and valine are the most ketogenic, and you should favour them for the purposes of athletic performance. Branched-chain amino acids have been shown to increase the effectiveness of the ketogenic diet. Your body has two states: fasted (without food) and post-fed (absorptive). Long endurance activity is likely to induce the fasted state, and when combined with the presence of catabolic hormones like cortisol and epinephrine, this will lead to the breaking down of skeletal muscle tissue (bad). You can potentially avoid this by supplementing with branched-chain amino acid capsules during the activity. My favourite supplement for this is MAP. In general, Julie prefers whole food sources of protein rather than supplements like MAP or whey protein. Whey is a rich source of cysteine, the primary rate-limiting factor for glutathione production, but a potentially less allergenic source is PharmaNAC. Amelia rightly points out that it's not just about the amount of protein consumed, but how well it's digested and assimilated. Digestion seems to become less efficient in older people so they may need to eat more protein. Infections and general dysbiosis can also affect protein digestion, especially as with an h. Pylori infection. We see lots of infections on the new upgraded BioHealth 401H GI Pathogen screen. Organic acids testing gives tremendous insight into cellular metabolism and can help you understand exactly how well you're utilising your protein. Do you have questions? Please get in touch, and we'll answer them on the show.

Dr. Seth Oberst uses a holistic, progressive approach to human movement patterns and their impact on sport and function. Dr. Oberst received his Doctor of Physical Therapy degree from Ohio University and has undergone extensive training through an APTA-credentialed Sports Residency. He has presented on motor control topics at national conferences for clinician scientists, provided continuing education for healthcare professionals, and regularly consults with fellow coaches and physiotherapists. Currently practicing in South Carolina, Seth focuses on performance-based sports medicine with an emphasis on returning individuals to elite-level sport and function. Dr. Oberst uses a movement-based, neuroscience-centric treatment approach combining manual therapy and progressive strength and conditioning techniques. His clients include collegiate, professional, and Olympic athletes in both team and individual sports; competitive age-division and Masters athletes as well as power lifting and CrossFit competitors. He also works as an Injury Prevention and Performance Consultant for several high school sports teams and CrossFit affiliates. I was excited to get Seth on to discuss the ways in which endurance athletes can utilize strength and conditioning for both athletic performance and longevity. We also talked about the sympathetic nervous system and how its activation can lead to difficulty breathing. I like to think that my approach to improving physiology and biochemistry is like Seth’s functional approach to training. We’re both always asking why, what’s the cause of this dysfunction that we’re observing. Never stop asking why! Seth writes over at sethoberst.com and is also available for one on one and remote consultations.  

Kelly Starrett is a coach, physical therapist, author, speaker, and creator of mobilitywod.com, a site that has revolutionized how athletes think about human movement and athletic performance. Together with TJ Murphy, Kelly has co-authored a new book Ready to Run. I'm not a runner (or am I--listen to find out more) but I enjoyed the book immensely. Think of it as the instruction manual for the human body part I: movement. I don't care if you're a swimmer or cyclist, there's something here for you. It's also pleasingly manageable in its size and complexity, something I appreciated after Becoming a Supple Leopard. In this interview, you'll discover the 12 standards that will keep you running and free of injury.

Introducing Amelia, the newest member of the Nourish Balance Thrive team. Amelia is a registered nurse working with a very sick population in Utah. Disenchanted with the medical system, Amelia came to functional medicine partly through her own health struggles. A low fat, traditional standard American diet lead to constant hunger, and initially Amelia got good results switching to the Atkins diet. I thought this was really interesting because Amelia was never looking to lose weight, in fact she has always struggled with the opposite. The ah-ha moment came after discovering saliva hormone testing via Sean Croxton and Dr Kalish. Amelia was suffering from depressed cortisol and a Giardia gut infection and correcting these issues lead to the health improvements that inspired her to become a certified practitioner. I will be forever grateful to the Robb Wolf podcast for giving me the opportunity for Amelia to find us, and she will be working remotely to help anyone looking to improve their health or athletic performance via phone and Skype. Limited time offer: use this link to book a free 15-minute consultation.

Hal Elrod is a #1 bestselling author, international Keynote Speaker, hall of fame business achiever, one of America’s top Success Coaches, national champion Sales Manager, record-breaking Sales Rep, ultra-marathon runner, grateful husband & proud father. Wow, that's a lot to live up to and live up to it he did. I enjoyed this conversation with Hal; his genuine enthusiasm is something I admire greatly. Hal is a wonderful salesman, and frankly by the end of this conversation I couldn't wait to hang up and check out miraclemorning.com to download the two free chapters. If, like me, you're already sold, head over to Amazon and buy a copy of the book. How did I do as an interviewer? Email me and let me know!