Your blood pressure is in your hand

Don’t treat disease,create health!-Dr Mark Hyman

It is illogical to think and believe that if your family history is heart disease,high blood pressure or high blood sugar, you will be a hereditary receiver. Genes are not your destiny for your chronic diseases. It’s all your environment, your lifestyle, your diet and other external factors working on your genes (EPIGENETIC). It’s how you live your life, shapes or determines whether your genes are switched Off or On or Expressed.

In other words, its the way you eat, its how much you exercise, how you handle stress and environmental toxins that are the underlying causes of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high sugar. High blood pressure is not a disease, it is a symptom that body reflects due to chronic stress, blockage/Plague in your arteries (caused due to poor eating habits), lack of magnesium, fibre, micronutrients, and dysfunction of the cardiopulmonary system due to lack of physical activities.

We have to think-

• What causes high cholesterol?
• What causes high blood pressure?
• Why we have to take medications for high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high cholesterol life long ? Why it doesn’t get permanently cure by conventional medicine?

Researches clearly explain by changing how we live is a powerful intervention for preventing heart disease and other chronic problem than any medication!

Our current medical paradigm is based more on managing disease and suppressing symptoms than it is on preventing and reversing the disease or promoting health. I encourage you to open my blog on -Functional Medicine for better understanding.   FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE-THE TRUE HEALER

Heart, Brain and Gut connection:

Most heart diseases begin in the gut and the most brain illness begin in the blood vessels. So these big three go together and determine overall health.

Healthy Heart condition

• Vessels stay wide open
• Vessels linning stays smooth
• Vessels wall stay flexible
• Heart muscles are strong
• Blood flows better

Four changes typically occur in middle age-

First stage– Arteries narrow– Gradually, sticky stuff what you eat, builds up, narrowing the arteries. Plague formation starts.

Second stage- Arteries harden- The vessels walls and the lining of the vessels become more rigid and less elastic. The heart has to pump harder to force blood through these stiff arteries, which lead to high blood pressure. Increased blood pressure puts a strain on the heart.

Third stage–Arteries become rough due to the plague.

Fourth stage-Blood thicken- Blood become thicker, less flexible and sticker due to sticky fats. As we age, the blood of the most people “clots too fast”  due to damage in blood vessels. Blood is supposed to clot only when it leaks out of a vessel, as in cut finger, not inside the vessel. So, everything inside blood vessels is congested and choked now.

What is Normal blood pressure?

• Normal: Less than 120 over 80 (120/80)
• Elevated: 120-129/less than 80
• Stage 1 high blood pressure: 130-139/80-89
• Stage 2 high blood pressure: 140 and above/90 and above
• Hypertension crisis: higher than 180/higher than 120 — See a doctor right away

Heart health depends on-

• The endothelium (inner lining ) of your blood vessels
• The walls of your blood vessels
• The blood
• The heart

Quiz time- Do you know the largest endocrine organ in your body?

Answer- It’s your Endothelium!

Endothelium-  Body’s largest internal medicine pharmacy.

Surprised??? I was thrilled with excitement when I came across internal medicine pharmacy-The Endothelium and wanted to explore more, guess you too! I was dumbfounded that we have an intrinsic medicine pharmacy and instead of exploring and activating it, we are dependent on extrinsic pharmacy, accepting its consequences as a victim throughout life. It’s a time for a revolution and brings changes to our lifestyle and understanding!

 

 

Searching for your fountain of youth? 

It’s inside your blood vessels. A person with healthy endothelium is “Young on the inside, which is reflected outside!”

Your circulatory system should be like the rivers in Alaska-clean and be flowing, with a smooth arterial wall. Putting junk in our mouth is like dumping garbage in a river. We may not feel the effects of arterial pollution(plague) right away but over time it builds up until the artery gets clogged.

You would be surprised to know that if we open up all the blood vessels and lay them out flat, they would occupy a surface area larger than several tennis courts.

How does endothelium function?

The endothelium is self-healing! Your blood vessels pharmacy secrets growth and repair substance called VEGF(Vascular endothelial growth factor).

Beautiful analogy, hope it gives clear and better understanding of your Endothelium and its function – Just as traffic causes wear and tear on the surface of a road. So can the constant high flow of the blood against the sensitive endothelial lining causes tiny tears and holes in the vessels walls. When this happens, the road crew which is standing by 24/7 make repairs, rushes into actions and quickly fills it. To keep traffic flow smoothly, the pothole must be filled with no rough edges and no overfilling. Healthy endothelium makes sure that potholes are filled correctly. If there is rough edges or uneven surface, platelets (the blood cells responsible for blood clotting when you cut a finger) get stuck and gradually build up a clot. The tiny balls of fat molecules(LDL) get stuck on the rough edges of the pothole. The fat + sticky platelets form a bump in the road causing plague-the number one cause of fatal”traffic accidents” in the bloodstream.

Please check this profound video by Dr William Sears, for better and comprehensive understanding!    PRIME-TIME HEALTH

Plague can build up gradually over years and slow or stop the blood flow to the organs, or break off and cause traffic jam(clot) resulting in a heart attack or stroke.

The inner lining of healthy blood vessels (Endothelium) is like a smooth highway over which the traffic of the blood passes. This linning contains billions of cells that don’t just sit there; they function like microscopic medicine bottles releasing nitric oxide and other hormones to maintain blood vessels healthy. Endothelium regulates blood pressure by releasing nitric oxide(vasodilators).

A healthy endothelium crew sees this bump developing and rushes to remove the plaque and clean up the pothole. They know how to quickly repair potholes and keep the traffic smooth and moving.

Two habits that influence whether those microscopic medicine bottles on the wall of endothelium will open and dispense the right medicine, in the right dose, in the right time-

• How we eat- keep sticky stuff (trans fat, dairy products, sugar, processed foods, refined carb etc) out of your bloodstream so that it doesn’t form plaque over the surface of the lids of medicinal bottles and prevent from opening.
• How we move- Exercises open the lids. When blood flows fast across the surface endothelium, it causes frictional force. The microscopic medicine bottles sense this extra blood flow and squirt out extra NITRIC OXIDE, which dilates the arteries (Vasodilation), optimizes blood pressure and delivers more blood flow and nutrients to organs. With exercises, you can train your endothelial cells to produce NITRIC OXIDE

How to control your high blood pressure?

First, evaluate your diet and sedentary lifestyle!!  Try lifestyle modifications, such as reducing body fat, limiting sodium, and alcohol intake, getting more exercise, and eating a healthier diet.

Steps towards a healthy heart and a normal blood pressure-

• Beginners ABCD plan by Dr Rish Sharma-The first step in preventing heart disease is to eat a healthy diet.  Many Novices in our centre practised ABCD plan reinforced by MRD for three to four months and the result was astonishing!

ABCD Takeaway

A-Apple, Almond, Avocado, Apricot, Asparagus, Artichoke, Amaranths, allium family(garlic/Onion/leeks/shallots etc

B-Brazil nuts, Banana, Beetroot, Berries, Beans(lentils/legumes/peanuts), Bok Choy, Brussels sprouts, Broccoli.

C-Carrots, Cashew nuts, citrus fruits, Cruciferous family(rocket, Cabbage, Cauliflower), Celery, Cucumber, Colourful Capsicum, Coconut, Cherries

D-Dates, Dry fruits not included elsewhere.

AVOID/MINIMISE

A- Alcohol in all forms, B- Baked food-biscuits, bread and cake etc, C- cigarettes, D- Diary in all forms except milk in tea and coffee may be.

Choose one or more ingredients from each rack and adore your real, fresh, vibrant food, an entire rainbow colour for a healthy living.

       

• Nutritarian diet(Nutrient dense food) Have a heart; don’t say NO to leafy vegetables! 
• Metabolic relaxation day- MRD is your decisive deviation(coined by Dr Rish) to give rest to your metabolism. It is fasting without fear!

There are two stages of digestion, the anabolic stage is when the body is busy digesting and the catabolic stage is when the body is repairing, detoxifying, and healing. … But eating again also stops the healing process because it sends us right back into the anabolic stage. Using the car example, the anabolic stage is when you fill the gas tank up and the catabolic stage is when you’re actually driving the car and burning the gas Joel Fuhrman 

• Nitric oxide and vitamin C rich food (Dark Chocolate, Raw cacao, Citrus-Oranges, lemons, and grapefruit contain high amounts of vitamin C, Pomegranate, Beets(Beetroot is loaded with nitrates), Garlic, Spinach, Watermelon, Walnuts  Remember, our body doesn’t make vitamin C like animals.

10 foods to Boost Nitric Oxide.                                                                       

Beetroot lowers blood pressure    

Beetroot juice helps heart failure patients recover more quickly

• Go nuts, seeds and berries- Brazil nuts rich in selenium and berries full of phytos (anti-rust nutrients, antioxidants) are an elixir! Flax seeds rich in lignan have been demonstrated in clinical studies to help control cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood sugar levels; reduce inflammation, and successfully treat constipation.
• Phyto-nutrient, anti-inflammatory, fibre rich diet- Plant eaters out live animal eaters. There appears to be a stepwise drop in hypertension rates the more plant-based foods you eat. Those eating completely plant-based diets appeared to have thrown three -quarters of their risk for developing this major killer out the wind. Think of animal protein as condiments!
• Magnesium rich foods.
• Hibiscus tea -Evidence shows that adding the hibiscus tea to your daily routine may offer additional benefits, comparable even to that provided by antihypertensive drugs. Tested head to head against a leading blood pressure drug, two cups of strong hibiscus tea every morning (using a total of five tea bags) was effective in lowering blood pressure as a starting dose of the drug Captopril taken twice a day. If you drink it, make sure to rinse your mouth with water afterwards to keep the natural acids in the tea from softening the enamel on your teeth. More than a litre a day is not recommended. (How not to Die, Dr Michael Greger)
• Sodium and potassium balance. Replace your conventional salt with Himalayan salt. Salt is a compound made up of about 40% sodium and 60 % chloride. Sodium is an essential nutrient, but vegetables and other natural foods provide the small amounts of sodium you need in your diet. If you consume too much, it can cause water retention, and your body may respond by raising your blood pressure to push excess fluid and salt out of your system. An ancient Chinese medical text(The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine)-“If too much salt is used in food, the pulse hardens.
• Eliminate dairy products, processed foods, trans/hydrogenated fat, sugar, juices and diet drinks. Fermented dairy products such as curd, kefir and a moderate amount of cheese are ok to some extent.
• Vitamin D and Omega-3 fatty acids play a pivotal role in lowering high blood pressure. Include flaxseeds by using two to four tablespoons of ground flaxseeds every day in your food. This can lower cholesterol by 18 per cent. Flax is tasty in shakes or sprinkled on salads or whole grain cereal.
• Eat high-fiber foods, ideally at least 50 grams per day. Beans, whole grains, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and fruit all contain beneficial fiber.
• Combine protein, fat, and carbohydrates in every meal. Never eat carbohydrates alone. To avoid the blood sugar imbalances that increase your risk for heart disease, eat adequate protein with every meal, even at breakfast.
• Don’t allow yourself to get hungry. Graze — don’t gorge — by eating every three to four hours to keep your insulin and blood sugar normal.
• Try not to eat three hours before bed.
• Drink green, chamomile and dandelion tea which can help lower cholesterol.
• Regular exercises. I encourage 30 to 45 minutes of cardiovascular exercise at least five times a week.  I also encourage strength training to build muscle and reduce body fat composition.

Exercise is a necessity, not a luxury, in preventing almost all chronic disease, from heart disease to cancer, from dementia to diabetes, from osteoporosis to osteoarthritis. You cannot age successfully without it. It is how we are designed. Dr Mark Hyman

• Stop stressing out your heart too much. Stressing alone can cause heart problems. Learn to reduce stress by doing regular relaxation exercises such as yoga, tai chi, meditation, breathing, guided imagery, or whatever it takes to engage the relaxation nervous system, which can lower cholesterol, reduce your overall level of inflammation.
• Limit toxins– Tobacco, alcohol, Stress, late-night screening, sedentary lifestyle.

How Nitric oxide, Fibre, MRD and Meditation can help you to reverse your High Blood Pressure?

• More nitric oxide causes blood vessels to relax and dilate, which lowers blood pressure. A deficiency of nitric oxide can lead to tense blood vessels and cause problems including high blood pressure, erectile dysfunction, and impaired kidney filtering. 
• Role of fiber–

How fiber lower cholesterol

Micheal Greger-How fiber lower cholesterol

• Why MRD?– From my experience of a few yrs, I will declare MRD, the invincible medicine for high blood pressure! For further exploration of MRD request you to read my blog on MRD and its health benefits –  Metabolic Relaxation Day
•  The role of Meditation in lowering blood pressure– 

Meditation and blood pressure

Meditation and cardiovascular risk reduction

Beyond medications and diets; Alternative approaches to lowering blood pressure

I am thankful to my dear ones and extended family for their enormous love and support. A special thanks to Dr Rish Sharma!

Disclaimer-

This blog is only for educational purpose and general understanding of wellness, not to provide you with any medical advice. By using this blog site you understand that there is no attorney-client relationship between you and the blog site publisher. The blog site should not be used as a substitute for competent medical/wellness advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state. Request you to use your common sense and practice things mindfully.

References:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17170603:

http://www.documentarymania.com/player.php?title=Forks%20Over%20Knives

https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/12/08/magnesium-health-benefits.aspx

https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2017/09/06/magnesium-deficiency-effects.aspx

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3593772/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25875025

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3068764/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4548432/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3235507/

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LIFESTYLE INTERVENTION FOR HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE, DIABETES AND METABOLIC SYNDROME

Everyone has a doctor in him or her; we just have to help it in its work. The natural healing force within each one of us is the greatest force in getting well. Our food should be our medicine. Our medicine should be our food. But to eat when you are sick, is to feed your sickness -Hippocrates

Do you want to cherish the delights of the world or do you want your prime-time years(40+) to be brief, and your calendar littered with doctors appointments? The choice is entirely yours.

This makes me downhearted that in our prime time, we are focused and working too hard, to secure our declining years, that we have forgotten to live in the present moment and are busy, like a honeybee, for the reassurance of retirement security. We have literally no time to eat healthy, breath, sleep, and relax. With such a mindset, exercise is a distracted thought. We are investing money and time in the old-age retirement plans. But what about Health retirement plans?

Do you have any Health retirement plans?!

We are working too hard towards saving money for the retirement, but not saving our bodies to enjoy it better. Not everyone can save as much money as they would like to, or have as much free time as they want. But you can work to save your health to enjoy all these! How will you enjoy your pension/retirement plan with collapsed health conditions? All your savings will be taken care of by Doctors and hospitals! Am I making sense?

The human body is resilient and can bounce back and repair itself with the right care. In my previous post, I have shared my transformation story. Be an asset to your family, not a liability. Make health your priority and hobby! Otherwise, 
WUSS-WAIT UNTIL YOU GET SICK STUPID– William Sears

I read Dr William Sears’ incredible book – Prime-Time Health – two years ago, which gave me new insights on wellness. Sharing golden nuggets of the book –
Create a new account -IRAH-(Individual retirement accounts for health )and deposits your health in this account on daily basis.

Metabolic syndrome, High blood pressure and diabetics are becoming an epidemic. India has been declared as the diabetes capital of the world! Isn’t this nasty and concerning?

India is the diabetes capital of the world!
World Health Day: India among top 3 countries with high diabetic population

Fortunately, these conditions are 100% preventable and reversible with your lifestyle changes, which need persistence, commitment and determination to the changes to achieve your desired health goal; but tragically, these measures remain unknown. We are bombarded by the media, Google and the scientific community with too much confusing, unhelpful messages. The key question is to ask-Is it working for you? Healthy living does not have to be complicated and expensive. It has to be simple, sane, enjoyable, efficient and sustainable! 

A vital meaning of Longevity comes from –LEAN
L– Lifestyle-How we live?
E-Exercise -How consistently we move?
A– Attitude-How we think?
N-Nutrition-How we eat?

If you are not your own doctor, you are a fool – Hippocrates

Stay tuned for my next blog on Lifestyle intervention for High blood pressure. Meanwhile, I would recommend, Dr William Sears profound book for your longevity and ultra Wellness!!

Stay focused, stay healthy!

Metabolic Relaxation Day

“Fasting and natural diet,though essentially unknown as a therapy,should be the first treatment when someone discovers that he or she has a medical problem”- Joel Fuhrman

Tradition and culture are an invincible part of our society. We too are so used to following them but most of the time blindly. This is the reason why many people think today that these traditional practices are mere superstitions. However, with the visitation of science, it has become quite evident that these practices do have a significant reason behind them. One such practice is “Metabolic Relaxation Day”. In this blog, I will try to modify the way fasting has always been looked upon in recent years and introduce a new dimension of fasting -which is not only reasonable due to traditions but due to its biological, physiological.neurological and spiritual benefits. 

This blog is actually an insight into my journey from fasting to Metabolic Relaxation Day. A few years ago, I used to do traditional fasting, where you fast, pray and bribe God for the fulfilment of your desires and dreams (Bangalow, salary, desired life partner, good grades in exams, nice car and the malarkies goes on). You pray and fast out of fear or just for the shake of your customs, not for the love of your mind, body, soul. I did traditional fasting for the past many years and was getting mentally weak with time. The very thought of fasting triggered hunger, fidgety and adrenal fatigue in me.

Then I was introduced to the practice of METABOLIC RELAXATION DAY by my mentor, Rish Sharma.I was influenced by his scientific and spiritual approach of MRD. I noticed a profound contribution of lingo in my mindset and discovered a new dimension and broader perspective of fasting. I REPLACE THE WORD FASTING WITH METABOLIC RELAXATION DAY. With this new scientific, spiritual, contemporary understanding and newborn mindset, I started enjoying my MRD and began to reap its health benefits in a few weeks.

What is Metabolic relaxation or intermittent fasting is?

Metabolic relaxation day, as the name suggests, is a relaxing, holidaying and rejuvenating day of your metabolism process. In simpler words, it is calorie restriction or restricted feeding day. On these days your body recovers and heals from all type of common(Physical, mental, environmental ), chronic or oxidative stress. It is actually a delicious recipe for fat loss and is a quintessential healer.

Now, I do flexible MRD’s once a week, Twice a week, every alternate day or sometimes a whole week(and yes I am the person who earlier felt exhausted by the mere thought of fasting). How you practice depends on you and your well-formed outcomes. Remember to have a good track of all the changes you begin to feel post starting any new practice! 

In our wellness centre to prevent and heal from the chronic diseases like- blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome, inflammations, thyroid, asthma, arthritis etc, and weight management, we focus on the following practices-

• Metabolic relaxation day
• Emphasis on Bio-individuality. What works for one person may not work for another, so we focus on customized training.
• Exercises with varieties and intensity.
• Cutting out process foods, refined grains, sugar, milk products and fruit juices.
• Adding real, whole, Low glycemic index, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory rich foods.
• Encourage our clients to eat mostly plants and think of meat and animal product as condiments.
• Eating weird grains( buckwheat, amaranth, quinoa, brown rice ) and avoid gluten.
• 10,000 min step diet
• Moving your body every after 30 mins.
• Advise prioritizing 7-8 hours of good sleep.
• Recommend to actively relax.
• Enlighten to get connected with your body’s original design i.e hunter-gather lifestyle

“He who eats until he is sick must fast until he is well”

In the plethora of health and fitness, we have one thing in common – INFLAMMATION. Heart disease, autoimmune conditions, arthritis, diabetes, cancer, digestive problems, anxiety, depression, brain fog, and hormonal problems all are an inflammatory response. And as a functional medicine practitioner, I see the immense impact of inflammation on the health of people around the world every single day.
The powerful tool to drive inflammation level down is –Metabolic Relaxation Day!
It has worked equally well for me and my clients. Below you will find an experience of MRD by one of our clients, Kalpana Chahar, who lost 13kg in five months with the support of this tool. This tool works well with exercise. 

Kalpana progress sheet

Kalpana’s experience of MRD

As I mentioned above, I personally use this tool weekly, sometimes twice a week. Once I did it for 21 days, relishing one nutrient dense meal a day(no need to be manic like me) and here are my personal experiences of MRD which I would like to share-

• Now, I feel more energized, empowered, enthusiastic, lighter, and great throughout the day.
• Calm and relaxed breathing. My resting heart rate(RHR) and breathing rate are lower.
• My body acts like a machine, well tuned and more energy efficient.
• Fast healing. Now, I understand my body has the potential to make its own internal medicines. I gradually gained a sense of control over my health and knew that I could help my body make its own longevity medicine.
• Clearer vision
• More sensitive nose.
• Fat loss.
• Leaner body.
• Improved body composition and fitness.
• Healthier skin.
• Emotional detox-Better Emotional hygiene.
• Improved sense of taste.
• Improved triglycerides.
• Thyroid test report normal.
• Self-control and improved willpower.
• Better resilience.
• Good gut feelings.
• Gut and brain working together and telling me if you stay committed to your practices i.e -eating well, eating right, practising MRDs, adequate sleep and proper rest, you will feel good. Always listen to your gut and brain voice- Eat right, eat less and chew longer. There is a hidden sweetness in the empty stomach.
• Now, I believe, I could greatly influence my destiny- Ageing healthfully and gracefully.

In actuality, Years of unhealthy eating and less physical activities had blocked all my senses and the helpful signals. It was as if my body was screaming – to hell with her and her nonsense. She is not going to listen to us anyway so let’s stop telling her what good and bad to eat and do and the consequences were following-

• I suffered from insomnia for 15-16 years.
• Unbearable pain in my joints
• Nagging lower back pain
• Severe neck pain
• Thyroid problem
• Daunting knee pain
• Muscle spasm
• Most of the time headaches and use to take painkillers.
•  Itchy, Irritating Vaginal infections.
• Poor posture.
• Brain fog
• Asthma(For a period of 6 months I was on steroid and Asthalin inhaler)

Starting days were a bit taxing but with determination, discipline, and limbic impulse control, I started enjoying MRD. I noticed that now I crave for the good quality of plants food, I also noticed that I was satisfied with less.
Eating less but good quality of food with all ingredients required by your body to function efficiently, your body has less food to metabolize, less oxidation(wear and tear on the body) and healthier ageing.

“Fasting is the first principle of medicine,fast and see the strength of the spirit reveal itself”-Rumi

Now my body seems to know that all real foods and spices are full of Phyto, natural anticancer, antiaging, and anti-inflammatory substance.
We all born with a sixth sense–The wisdom of the body. But decades of not listening to it has caused our awareness to fade. Now my sixth sense is turned on due to MRD. I keep reading lots of books, articles and research papers to find why real foods or exercises or breathing or mindful living or eating clean or MRD are good for me. The more you read, the more you become committed to achieving your real goal.

UNLEARN, LEARN AND RETRAIN YOUR METABOLISM TO KEEP YOU FIT AND HEALTHY-

“Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specifically your own”- Bruce Lee

We pay very little attention to our metabolism. But why? Is it because it never immediately attack us? or is it because of our unawareness? We have all heard of heart attacks but have we ever heard of metabolism attacks? Actually neither the heart attacks nor the metabolism, it is we who attack them with our habits, lifestyle, lack of activities, exercises, sedentary lifestyle and the list go on.

Unfortunately, we share a very abusive relationship with our stomach and digestive system. And I think we don’t care much about this abuse because it doesn’t lead to our sudden death. Loading the stomach with all junks is criminal.

In Ayurveda, 13 different types of Agni is mentioned and one of them is Jatharagni(Digestive fire or metabolism). Majority of diseases are the outcome of malfunctioning of digestive fire which leads to poor digestion, languid blood circulation, poor complexion, brain fog, low energy level, weak immunity against diseases. Thus in Aryuveda, promoting proper functioning of digestive fire is used for treating the root cause of most diseases.

“Udaram Vyadhi Mandiram”- Ayurveda (The stomach is abode of all disease)

“All disease begins in the gut”-Hippocrates

This means that your digestive fire i.e metabolism should be active and efficient. You can keep the fire active through a metabolic relaxation day ( or intermittent fasting), disciplined lifestyle, nutrient dense food, regular exercises and dynamic attitude. Our basic problem today is that our digestive capacity (or fire) is diminishing and our consumption is increasing!

Our ancestors had a very different approach than us. At that time availability of food was not easily within reach, they went for long periods without eating.Their circumstances and lifestyle gifted them “Metabolic flexibility” and our lifestyle have gifted us “Metabolic Inflexibility”. They were able to withstand harsh conditions and long periods of time without food through metabolic flexibility.

Metabolic flexibility is the ability to respond or adapt to conditional changes in metabolic demand by shifting back and forth between using glucose (from carbohydrates) and fatty acids (from fat) for fuel.
The human metabolism is a complex system, but here’s what you need to know to understand how our bodies use food to produce energy: When we eat (especially carbohydrate-loaded foods) our insulin levels rise, which stimulates our cells to take in glucose. The cell’s mitochondria, then, use this glucose to make ATP or energy. Amount glucose that is extra than what the body needs gets stored as glycogen and fat that isn’t utilized gets stored as well. During periods of MRD, the body calls upon this stored energy. And the longer the MRD period lasts, the more the body will eventually break down the fats to fatty acids to use as fuel.

If you can’t stay without food for long, feel like you need to take a snooze after a meal, hard time to lose weight despite all efforts, feel lethargic most of the time, then you may be experiencing metabolic inflexibility. The good news is that you can reset your metabolism by changing your lifestyle behaviour and feeding habits. Take charge of your metabolism and shift your gear from metabolic inflexibility to metabolic flexibility!

MANY WAYS TO DO MRD :

MRD has been very popular and trendy in recent years. There are many ways to practice MRD and all of them are equally effective but which one fits best will depend on the individual.
Note-It is very important to eat mostly healthy foods during your eating window. This won’t work if you eat lots of junk food or excessive amounts of calories.

8-12 WINDOW PLAN-

This method is also known as the Leangains protocol and was popularized by fitness expert Martin Berkhan. Doing this method of fasting can actually be as simple as not eating anything after dinner, and skipping breakfast.

For example, if you finish your last meal at 8 pm and then don’t eat until 12 noon the next day, then you are technically fasting for 16 hours between meals. In your eating window, you can have 2,3 or more meals.

I drink a cup of black coffee without sugar, lots of water and herbal tea on my MRD.

5:2 DIET: FAST FOR TWO DAYS PER WEEK-

This diet is also called the Fast diet and was popularized by British journalist and doctor Michael Mosley.

The 5:2 diet involves eating normally 5 days of the week while restricting calories to 500-600 on two days of the week. For example, you might eat normally on all days except Mondays and Thursdays, where you eat two small meals (250 calories per meal for women, and 300 for men), but eat regular clean foods the other 5 days.

THE WARRIOR DIET: FASTING DURING THE DAY, EAT A HUGE MEAL AT NIGHT-

The Warrior Diet was popularized by fitness expert Ori Hofmekler.
This diet also emphasizes food choices that are quite similar to a paleo diet – whole, unprocessed foods that resemble what they looked like in nature.

ALTERNATE DAY FASTING: FAST EVERY ALTERNATE DAY-

A bit extreme, so I don’t recommend beginners. Alternate-day fasting means fasting every other day, either by not eating anything or only eating a few hundred calories.

FASTING MIMICKING DIET-

It is a modified, scientifically based and nutrient dense plan. Instead of abstaining from food completely like a traditional fast, you still consume small amounts of food in a way that produces the therapeutic benefits of fasting.
Black coffee, tea, buttermilk is typically allowed, although not necessary—and make sure they don’t contain any added creams or sugars. You can also take Coconut oil and some dry fruits.

VOLUNTARILY FASTING; SKIP MEAL WHEN CONVENIENT-

Another option is to simply skip meals from time to time when you don’t feel hungry or are too busy to cook and eat.
It is a myth that people need to eat every few hours or they will hit “starvation mode” or lose muscle.

The human body is smart to handle long periods of famine, it is just missing one or two meals from time to time! 

So if you’re really not hungry one day, skip breakfast and just eat a healthy lunch and dinner. Or if you’re travelling somewhere and can’t find anything you want to eat, do a short fast i.e spontaneous MRD.
Just make sure to eat healthy foods at the other meals. Food quality is still absolutely crucial.
If you are already content with your health conditions and not find much room for improvement then please feel free to safely ignore all of this. And if you decide to try this out, then keep in mind that you need to eat healthy as well.
It is not possible to binge on junk foods during the eating periods and expect to lose weight and improve health.

BENEFITS OF MRD-

• MRD can help you to lose belly fat and maintain healthy body weight i.e your lean muscle mass and bone density.
• Blood levels of insulin drop significantly during MRD, which facilitates fat burning
• The blood levels of growth hormone may increase as much as 5-fold. Higher levels of this hormone facilitate fat burning and muscle gain and have numerous other benefits.
• Lower insulin, higher growth hormone levels and increased amounts of norepinephrine (noradrenaline) all increase the breakdown of body fat and facilitate its use for energy.
• The body induces important cellular repair processes(Autophagy), which removes waste toxic from cells.
• There are beneficial changes in several genes expression and molecules related to longevity and protection against disease.
• Promising evidence from animal studies indicates that MRD may help prevent cancer.
  (Fasting cycles retard the growth of tumours)
• Short-term fasting actually increases your metabolic rate by 3.6-14%, helping you burn even more calories. When your digestive fire is nice, bright, active and strong you can digest and assimilate all the nutrients from the food you eat and not just that the fire also helps you get rid of the toxins from the food.
• MRD can reduce insulin resistance, lowering your type 2 diabetes.(Intermittent fasting vs daily calorie restriction for type 2 diabetes prevention)
• MRD switch your body from being a sugar-burner to a fat-burner.
• Studies show that MRD can reduce oxidative stress and inflammation in the body which slow down ageing and prevent the development of numerous chronic diseases
• One of the most impressive benefits is it keeps your heart healthy by increasing HDL(good cholesterol ) and decreasing LDL and triglycerides(bad cholesterol) MRD improve numerous risk factors for heart disease such as blood pressure, cholesterol levels, triglycerides and inflammatory markers.
• MRD may extend your lifespan helping you live longer by boosting mitochondrial function.
• More resilient to stress.
• Excellent for your brain health. It promotes neurogenesis( growth of new nerve cells) and also increases the level of BDNF(Brain-derived neurotrophic factor) which is the fertilizer for your brain cells. Deficiency of BDNF has been implicated in depression and other brain-related problems. It prevents brain ageing and enhances the cognitive function. (Fasting promotes brain health)
• Balance Ghrelin and leptin hormone. Ghrelin is your hunger hormone, whereas, Leptin as your Satiety hormone. Ghrelin has been found to increase appetite and weight gain. Leptin is the hormone produced by fat cells which turn off appetite and makes us stop eating. Your leptin levels drop when you’re hungry and increase when you’re feeling full. So, if you want to lose weight on a long-term basis, you need to tune down ghrelin and tune up your leptin.
  Eating all the time sounds like it will turn off hunger and ghrelin. Surprisingly, the answer is the opposite – fasting. Eating, remember, does not necessarily make you less hungry. In my personal experience, eating makes you more hungry.

Final thoughts:

If you are looking forward to kickstarting your metabolism, lose body fat, improve your lean muscle mass, brain health, enhanced cognitive function while getting some more extra bonus overall health benefits as an incentive, the practice of metabolic relaxation days is right for you.

As mentioned above, There are many ways to do MRD, choose your own plan with the variation that fits your lifestyle and helps you to prosper in the best way possible. Remember,  everything does not suit everyone. 
MRD may not be a good fit and ideal for everyone. If you suffer from low blood sugar, for example, going without eating all day may lead to dangerous drops in blood sugar causing symptoms like fatigue, heart palpitations and shakiness. If you have diabetes, it’s best to work with your doctor to determine if MRD is right for you.
If you are a child or teenager and still growing, intermittent fasting is not recommended either.

I hope this will help you to lead a better life. Thank you.

Invited Comments from Rish Sharma on MRD

For the further exploration of this captivating topic, I encourage you to click the following links:

–Dr Mosely on fasting

-Intermittent fasting for fat loss-Dr Jason Fung

-Dr Jason Fung – ‘Therapeutic Fasting – Solving the Two-Compartment Problem’

-Fasting: An Ancient Solution for Modern Problems

-Fasting for Health & Healing | Dr Fuhrman

I am grateful to Harshi Kumar for her support in editing this blog! And Kalpana Chahar for sharing her MRD experience! 

I am thankful for all my present and past clients who are providing me with the opportunity to learn, to grow and enhance my skill. Without their invaluable support and feedback, our mission of goodness propagation would be incomplete.

STRESS- YOUR ALLY OR FOE?- IS DETERMINED BY YOU!

“IT’S NOT THE LOAD THAT BREAKS YOU DOWN,IT’S THE WAY YOU CARRY IT”-LOU HALTZ

Have you ever wondered how stress could work both as an agonist and as an antagonist? Stress could be your – ally or foe. It depends on your – lifestyle, attitude, mindset, choices, robustness, perception, management of psychic abilities and art of handling emotions. Either you handle your stress or your stress will handle you!

Stress has always an important role in our survival.Stress is not a disease that we should be afraid of. We are evolved out of stress. It’s our reaction to external pressure and a condition we experience in our daily life tensions. It is simply the body’s response to the changes that create taxing demands.

We often use the term “Stress” to describe negative situations, this leads to believe people that all stress is bad. It’s not true. Stress is good in short-term and harmful in long term. We need some amount of stress to grow and thrive! Stress is everywhere. You may notice stress while dealing with your kids, boss, office colleagues, spouse, managing your finances….. And while some stress is ok, too much stress can wear you down and make you sick mentally, physically and spiritually.

The first step to control stress is to realize that you are stressed. We become habituated of being in stress and don’t realize until the boiling point!

What is stress?

Stress is body reaction to harmful situations-whether they are real or perceived. When you feel threatened, a chemical reaction occurs in your body that allows you to act in a way to prevent danger. This reaction is known as “fight-or-flight,” or the stress response. During stress response, your heart rate increases, breathing quickens, muscles tighten, and blood pressure rises. You’ve gotten ready to act. It is how you protect yourself.

GOOD STRESS AND BAD STRESS:

Good stress is known as –EUSTRESS, whereas bad stress, is known as – DISTRESS. One more type of stress is – OXIDATIVE STRESS.
Eu-stress-The term was coined by endocrinologist Hans Selye, consisting of the Greek prefix EU- meaning “good/healthy”, and stress, literally meaning “good stress”.Eustress means beneficial or adaptive stress – either physiological, psychological, spiritual or emotional-having a good effect on your health, motivation, performance and emotional well being. Stress is healthful and the stimulus for growth. During positive stress, a feel-good hormone – ENDORPHINS (endogenous morphine- body’s self-produced painkillers), are released.
Distress– on the other hand, Distress is negative, harmful stimuli that make you weaker, less able, anxious, panic and less confident and in extreme result in depression. It occurs when something is difficult for an individual to cope with. Distress causes tension to build in body and mind and the situations seem daunting. Distress leads to poor decisions making skills. Physiological symptoms include -High blood pressure, heart problem, Type 2 diabetes, Thyroid problem, Headaches. Behavioural symptoms include- emotional eating, smoking, drinking, and avoiding the task at hand, negative coping skills.
Oxidative stress – Environmental factors and unhealthy lifestyle choices influence oxidative stress in humans. An elevated oxidative stress is a contributing factor to many chronic diseases such as coronary artery disease, an autoimmune disorder, cancer, diabetes, thyroid problem and the list goes on. It is a state of your body in which excess of free radicals is present. A free radical, is a molecule in an unstable state, with a missing electron. To gain the stability it takes an electron from a nearby molecule. It can happen in any part of the cellular structure. Now the second molecule is unstable and in turn, it needs to gain its stability by taking an electron from another molecule. Now, a dominal effect of electron stealing begins! This process leads to the cellular destructions. Free radicals are the by-product of the metabolic process. The problem comes from the excess of free radicals produced which leads to oxidative stress.

Stressors that cause common stress:

• Too fast change of our environment that our genes can’t adopt.
• Unemployment
• Educational stress on students.
• Workplace-Having too much responsibility and heavy workload, long working hours.
• The death of loved ones
• Divorce
• Traumatic events
• Toxic environment
• Toxic relationship
• Conflict with co-workers and family members
• Financial problems
• Fears

Factors that cause oxidative/chronic stress:

• Poor dietary habits and lifestyle.
• Eating refined carb, sugar and fried foods
• Dairy products and poultry
• Imbalance of omega -3 and omega- 6
• Carbonated water
• Drinking and smoking
• Sedentary lifestyle
• Air pollutants
• Insecticides and pesticides
• Stress-emotional and physical
• Excessive exercise
• Some medications
• Radiations/UV light

Today’s irony is that when no tiger is chasing us then also we are most of the time in – fight and flight mode, even in our sleep. We are stuck on sympathetic dominance. A proper balance of sympathetic and parasympathetic is the key to the good health!

The sympathetic nervous system is related to activities that require your mental or physical alertness such as work and exercise. The parasympathetic is related to more relaxing activities such as sleeping, eating, meditation, nature walks, Listening music etc.

We never have only one system working because both are necessary in order for the body to function.
Sympathetic is – fight and flight mode that prepares our bodies for action.
Parasympathetic is-rest and digest mode that produces a state of equilibrium in the body.

Fight and flight mode are not good for your health in long duration. It releases stress hormone- “Cortisol “which is a toll on your body. Cortisol produces free radicals which result in oxidative stress. Overproduction of free radicals can cause oxidative damage to biomolecules, (lipids, proteins, DNA), eventually leading to many chronic diseases such as atherosclerosis, cancer, diabetics, rheumatoid arthritis, post-ischemic perfusion injury, myocardial infarction, cardiovascular diseases, chronic inflammation, stroke …

Common effects of stress:

Indeed stress can affect your body, your thoughts and feelings and your behaviour.Being able to recognize common stress symptoms can give you jump on managing them. Stress that’s left unchecked can contribute to many chronic health problems. Common effects of stress-

• Headache
• Muscle pain
• Chest pain
• Fatigue
• Change in sex drive
• Anxiety, anger, depression and restlessness
• Overeating or under-eating
• Social withdrawal
• Exercising less often

Effect of chronic stress/oxidative stress on your body:

• Coronary artery disease
• Diabetic
• Cardiovascular problem
• Thyroid problem
• Autoimmune disorder
• Obesity
• Trigger depression
• Gastrointestinal problem
• Ruins your sleep
• Wreak havoc on your hormones.
• Asthma
• Neurodegenerative diseases such as –Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s
• Cancer
• Fast ageing

Stress detoxification pathway:

When you get stressed, you get physically, mentally and spiritually exhausted. Nobody wants too much stress in their life. Don’t let it dominate or overpower you. Let stress work as an agonist, not as an antagonist. Unlock your potential to handle your stress skillfully, otherwise, it will fill you with negative energies and promote a sense of failure, which can be devastating!

However, there are plenty of things successful people can do to counter a burnout and keep moving forward in life.

Act to manage common stress:

• Regular physical activity and work out. Exercises are to stimulate you and keep you active throughout the day. It boosts your happiness level and strengthens your immune system.
• Relaxation technique, such as deep breathing, meditation, yoga, getting a massage, listening music, meditative walk/forest bathing, gardening etc.
• Learn to Relax, Breathe and Take it easy. Simplify your life by doing less rather than more.Problem is that we are trying to do more and more things in less and less time and pay price in term of quality. Focus on quality of work rather than quantity.
• Get involve in creativity
• Set aside time for hobbies.
• Socialize with family and friends.
• Keep a sense of humour.
• Make sleep a top priority.
• Say” NO “more often. It will help you to focus on the most important project that matters to you.
• Unplug yourself from the technology. Decide a specific time to check your messages/emails. Don’t keep your gadgets all the time with you. Kill your darlings. Though technology has made our lives easier in a lot of ways, it can also increase the amount of stress people feel on a daily basis. Constantly checking your messages causes your brain to be overstimulated, leaving you hypoxic.Keep few hrs wifi free zone, it will increase your creativity and productivity! Utilize that time with your family, friends, in fulfilment of your dream project, self-healing, hobbies etc.
• Get in touch with your feelings and take time to listen to your body and emotions.
• Take responsibility for yourself.
• Adjust your attitude. Don’t fall into the trap of negative emotions that can quickly get out of control and only make us feel worse. Stress is a part of our life which cannot be avoided, but we can change our mindset! Instead of focusing on the negative, try to focus on the positives.
• Aim to find active ways to manage your stress. Inactive ways may use to manage stress-such as watching television, surfing the internet or playing video games, may seem relaxing, but they may increase your stress over the long period of time.

Act to manage oxidative/chronic stress:

• Eat nutrient dense food
• Reduce acid load of your body by -Rainbow eating/Alkaline diet. Make sure your plate is enriched with colourful fruits, vegetables, nuts and real food.
• NO to dairy products and poultry.
• NO to the refined carb, sugar and carbonated water.
• A proper balance of omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acid.
• Avoid alcohol intake, tobacco use, smoking, excess caffeine and the use of illicit substances
• Get rid of unhealthy life choices
• Boost your daily dietary intake of antioxidant, anti-inflammatory food, phyto-nutrient, fibre, herbs and spices. Antioxidant such as-Turmeric,nuts,vitamin C,green tea,garlic,onion,cinnamon etc.
• Be on at least 10,000 step diet daily
• Do Metabolic relaxation day(Intermittent fasting) at least once a week. Better to do twice a week or every alternative day for fast healing from oxidative /chronic stress. You can design your own metabolic relaxation day according to your personal wellness goal. Make sure your feasting days are nutrient dense rather than calorie rich.
• Fluid balance.
• Wash your fruits and vegetables with hydrogen peroxide to get rid of insecticides and pesticides.
• Avoid over-eating.
• Listen to your body.Avoid excessive strenuous exercise.Give your body time to heal. Go for an intermittent burst of moderate to the high-level intensity with intervening periods of rest and recovery. High-intensity interval training sessions should be performed once or twice per week.Do different types of exercises to enhance your organic fitness and to avoid boredom, overuse injury, emotional burnout and high level of oxidative stress.
• Get at least 7-8 hours sleep daily.

“YOU CANNOT GO BACK AND START THE BEGINNING,BUT YOU CAN START WHERE YOU ARE AND CHANGE THE ENDING!”-C.S .LEWIS

For further exploration of this fascinating topic, I encourage you to click on the below link –

Kelly McGonigal: How to turn Stress into an advantage

FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE-THE TRUE HEALER

Wellness Article

“Natural forces within us are the true healers of disease”- Hippocrates

Have you ever wondered why after so many advanced technologies and hospitals there are overwhelming chronic diseases and health problems?

According to a 2012 survey, nearly eight out of 10 physicians are somewhat pessimistic about future of the medical profession and are burnout today. Take a look at some of the findings:

• 87 percent agree that the medical profession is in decline.
• 58 percent would not recommend medicine as a career to their children or other young people.
• 34 percent would choose a different profession if they could do it all over again.
• 82 percent of physicians believe doctors have little ability to change the healthcare system.

Recent studies suggest that today’s children are the first generation expected to live a shorter lifespan than their parents.

ISN’T IT THE HIGH TIME TO WAKE UP?! “IF NOT NOW- WHEN? IF NOT YOU- WHO”?

The chronic disease epidemic is one of the most significant challenges humanity is facing today. They are the slow-motion plague. What do you want?

• A longer life with poorer health,
• A shorter life with poorer health, or
• A healthy life with good health.

Let’s crack the reasons behind of crashing and inundation of our conventional health care system.

DIET:

Our modern diet and lifestyle are out of alignment with our genes and biology. Our 10,000-year-old Primal genes expect us to emulate the way our ancestors ate and moved. Before farms and factories took over, human being lived most of our history eating a hunter-gatherer diet and living hunter-gatherer lifestyle. Our ancestors would hardly recognize modern agriculture and manufacturing or the food they produce. Our genes are not fully adjusted to these changes.

For most of evolutionary history, humans ate primarily meat and fish, wild fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, and some starchy plants and tubers. Nobody ate processed food. Nothing came in a bag or a box. There was no refined sugar, no refined flour, and no industrial seed oil. The food available was nutrient-dense and whole. The preparation was minimal.

The modern diet is a prescription for obesity, metabolic problems, and all kinds of chronic diseases. We went from eating a nutrient dense, naturally low-calorie, anti-inflammatory food, to eating nutrient depleted, calorie dense, Pro-inflammatory food

LIFESTYLE:

While there’s no doubt artificial lighting has been a boon from a cultural perspective it lets us stay up late to create art, literature, and music, but it also has had a disastrous effect on our health. When you understand it through an evolutionary framework, you begin to see its problems. We take advantage of expanded daytime to do more activities at night, but doing so disrupts our circadian rhythm. Every cell in our body is regulated by the natural light-dark cycle. When we change that cycle our bodies suffer.

Here’s how it works: When we wake up in the morning, sunlight hits our eyeballs and our cortisol levels rise, telling us it’s time to get up. When the sun sets and darkness falls, on the other hand, our melatonin levels rise, telling us it’s time to go to sleep.

What happens when someone lies in bed at night, screening before going to bed? The screen of gadgets emits blue light, which is like the spectrum of sunlight. When blue light hits the body, it sends a “time to wake up” message. That not only interferes with sleep but has been shown to deregulate metabolism, promote weight gain, and cause cancer. Changes to circadian rhythm mediated by light exposure can have profound effects on health.

Our environment has changed faster than our genes can adapt. Genes typically take hundreds or thousands of years to change; they simply cannot keep up with the pace of environmental changes.

BEHAVIOR:

We’ve known for a long time that exercise is important but going to the gym isn’t an adequate solution. If we look at exercise from an evolutionary perspective, we see that our ancestors moved all the time. They walked an average of 10,000 steps a day. They didn’t sit for long periods and they stood more than half the day. In between, they chased prey, ran from predators, and built things. If you work at a desk for a prolonged period of time but go to the gym four to five times a week, you’ll still be at increased risk of disease. The important change for them is to move from being completely sedentary to increasing their non-exercise physical activity.

THE WRONG MEDICAL PARADIGM FOR CHRONIC DISEASE:

Our current medical paradigm is based more on managing disease and suppressing symptoms than it is on preventing and reversing the disease or promoting health. Heroic interventions can prevent death, but don’t necessarily promote health.

Don’t get me wrong: modern medicine is incredibly effective in acute and trauma care. If I get hit by a bus, I want to be taken immediately to a hospital! We absolutely need oncology surgeons who can remove cancerous tumours and gastroenterologists who know how to perform a colonoscopy.

Today’s patient has multiple problems, sees multiple doctors, and requires multiple treatments that go on for years if not decades. The average visit with doctors lasts for just eight to twelve minutes max. It is impossible to deliver high-quality care in eight to twelve minutes when a patient has multiple chronic health problems. Such a brief appointments leave little to no time to dig into the important diet, lifestyle, and behavioural issues that are causing the patient its symptoms. In a ten minutes appointment, there simply isn’t time to thoroughly investigate all the possible causes of a patient’s chronic illness. Instead, doctors describe the symptoms and prescribe the drugs, and that’s the treatment. It focuses on suppressing symptoms rather than addressing the underlying cause of disease. If that doesn’t solve the issue, the patient usually gets referred to a specialist. Unfortunately, it’s rare for those specialists to communicate with one another; our current medical system isn’t set up to accommodate that kind of collaboration.

Imagine you get a rock in your shoe and it makes your foot hurt. If you look for help in the current medical system, you may get a description of foot discomfort along with the directions to the nearest drugstore for some extra-strength ibuprofen. Sure, ibuprofen would help to reduce the pain. But wouldn’t it be better just to take off your shoe and dump out the rock?

In most cases, there’s more than one rock. The first pebble might be a patient’s poor diet. The next comes from sleep deprivation, a result of going to bed late night, and only getting four to five hours sleep at night. Another rock is born from sitting at a desk for eight hours a day and failing to do any exercise. Some rocks are nearly invisible such as IBS (Irritable bowel syndrome), SIBO (Small intestine bacterial overgrowth) or gut brain axis problem caused by an autonomic nervous system issue, like sleep loss or stress. A skilled practitioner would identify the rock in the shoe and how it is possible in just eight to ten minutes?

For example, patients suffering from Type II diabetic require a lifestyle change; Patients need to remove unhealthy processed foods and refined sugars from their diet. Most doctors know but our current medical system doesn’t support patients to make the lifestyle changes required for long-term solutions. The result? Patients continue to live chronic disease, and doctors continue to prescribe them medication for symptom management.

FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE -THE TRUE HEALER                                                                  

Imagine you are in the boat, and the boat is leaking. You can bail water from the boat to make it sink more slowly, but if the leaks are still there, you’ll have limited success. Conventional medicine is mostly about trying to bail water out of the boat without fixing the leaks. Wouldn’t it make more sense to prevent the leaks from happening in the first place, and then fix them completely if they do occur? Functional medicine seeks to get to the bottom of things. It looks for the underlying cause of disease. Conventional medicine, on the other hand, is organized primarily around suppressing symptoms with drugs and surgery. It’s a quick fix band-aid.

 

FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE SYSTEMS MODEL:

Exposome:

The exposome is the sum of all non-genetic exposures an individual encounter from the moment of their conception to the moment of their death. It’s a new word that encompasses all aspects of our diet, lifestyle, air and water quality, toxins, social environment, family system, and so on. The functional medicine holds that any progress in a patient’s health must start here at the core.

Pathologies:

Pathologies are the underlying mechanisms that give rise to diseases and syndromes.

Let’s consider a syndrome like IBS. When our genes combine with environmental influences (such as poor diet, stress, sleep deprivation, exposure to toxins, etc), which in turn affect gene expression. These interactions lead to pathological mechanisms-such as gut infections, parasites or bacterial overgrowth in the small intestine, or a disrupted gut micro biome-that can the syndrome that we call IBS.

Diseases and Syndromes:

A disease is defined as a disorder of structure and function that produces specific signs and symptoms.Eg-Type 2 diabetes, GERD, Celiac disease.

A syndrome is a group of signs and symptoms that consistently occur together, or a condition characterized by a set of associated symptoms are IBS, restless leg syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia syndrome or premenstrual syndrome.

Signs and symptoms:

A Sign is an objective indication of a disease or syndrome that can be observed during a physical examination or through laboratory testing.Eg- blood pressure, high blood sugar, and oedema.

Symptoms, on the other hand, are the subjective experiences that the patient might report to the clinician. For eg, the type 2 diabetes patient, symptoms might include increased hunger and thirst, blurred vision, and fatigue.

 FUNCTIONAL (HEALTHCARE) VS CONVENTIONAL (DISEASE MANAGING) MEDICINE:

Conventional medicine sees and treats the symptoms, whereas, functional medicine view it as a manifestation of a pathology that results from the interaction between patient’s genome, Epigenome, and Exposome.

An even simpler example is migraines. If a patient reports having migraine headaches, he’s clearly describing a symptom. Headaches are not a disease; they’re not even pathology. Headaches are a symptom, but conventional model might address them simply with a prescription for painkillers. The conventional model typically seeks to manage disease, slow its progression, and help the patient live with symptoms. It misses the opportunity to prevent and reverse disease, because it works from the outside in, focusing mainly symptoms. Whereas, functional medicine, approach treatment from the inside and move outward.

CONVENTIONAL MEDICINE IS NOT TRULY HEALTHCARE-IT’S DISEASE MANAGEMENT.

The writing is on the wall, and conventional medicine should stop resisting change and start to embrace it. This is a battle that those who believe only in conventional medicine cannot win, and the more they resist, the more credibility and respect they will lose. This is truly the beginning of the end of the war in medicine.

“YOU WILLL NOT SOLVE THE CURRENT HEALTHCARE CRISIS IF YOU SIMPLY CONTINUE TO DO THE WRONG THINGS BETTER” – DR.MARK HYMAN

 Reference- Unconventional medicine-Chris Kresser.

Disclaimer: This blog is made for the educational purpose and general understanding of wellness only, not to provide you with any medical advice. By using this blog site you understand that there is no attorney-client relationship between you and the Blog site publisher. The blog Site should not be used as a substitute for competent medical/ wellness advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state.