What's Your Gut Telling You?

Yesterday, I had the privilege of being interviewed for the New Self Health Movement's Power Half Hour series on "What's Your Gut Telling You? You can view the 1/2 hour show here but I wanted to share a few highlights.

We mentioned the importance of vitamin D to prevent leaky gut and autoimmune disease. Did you know that optimal Vitamin D levels can also reduce cancer by 50% and decrease mortality from all disease? 

This week, I also had the honor of providing an in-service to the medical and clinical staff at The Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders on autoimmunity and the gastrointestinal tract. I asked Dr. Delara Tavakoli, an integrative OB/GYN to speak. She said, 

"We are no longer in the era of scurvy and rickets; 

we are in the era of preventative medicine".

The RDA (or really dumb advice) for vitamin D is 400 international units per day. This is the minimum you need not to get rickets. Most of us need 10 times this amount for optimal health.  Normal lab ranges are between 30-100 ng/ml but if 50% of the population has cancer, I certainly don't want to be normal. I want to know what optimal is! Optimal is 60-80ng/ml in healthy individuals, or higher if you have cancer or autoimmune disease, according to Dr. Tavakoli.

Epigeneticis, the study of the expression of genes proves we are not bound by our genes. We know that, "All Health Begins in the Gut" I don't care what your diagnosis, nutrition can make a drastic difference in your quality of life and often the outcome and prognosis.  I know this for sure. As a health coach, I have the honor of being a witness to patients and clients innate ability to heal.

I've shared this online course before on Radical Remissions, created from a Harvard trained Ph.D researcher who has interviewed over 6,000 cases of radical remissions. 

Lori, a co-host of the Power Half Hour Series and author of The Gift of Disease is also proof of the power to heal first the gut, then the body. She is now thriving, symptom free and medication free, after a diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis. Authors who are part of the New Self Health Movement will share powerful inspirational stories of self healing in future episodes of the Power Half Hour Series.

I shared in this interview a patient with Crohn's, another autoimmune disease. He experienced dramatic improvement in just 3 weeks by following my Kick Start Program and anti-inflammatory diet. 

How to prevent and heal from chronic illness and autoimmune dis-ease? Enlist the 5 R's of functional Medicine:

1. Remove inflammatory food (sugar, gluten, dairy and processed and GMO foods and trans fats)
2.  Replace processed foods with whole foods and nutrients and effective supplements. (Get micronutrient testing and ensure vitamin D is optimal not just within normal lab results)
3. Restore probiotics and prebiotics through supplementation and fermented foods
4. Repair the gastrointestinal tract using healthful foods and proven supplements
5. Rest and digest. Rebalance using stress management, yoga, meditation, exerciseand movement to improve sleep. Change negative attitudes and address negative thoughts.

What three things can you do? 

1. Try one new vegetable this week. Begin to crowd out processed acidic food with whole organic alkaline foods found in green leafy vegetables, legumes and some fruit. 
2. Supplement with vitamin D3/k2 until your number is in the optimal range. (watch your vitamin A too and other essential vitamins)
3. Come to our nutrition support group, Join our Thursday Power Half Hour and hire a health coach!

Carpe Diem,

Lisa

About Lisa Jackson, RN, CHC, RYT-500

Lisa is an author, inspirational speaker, and coach with a mission to inspire and empower others to feel their best at any age. She is also Executive Director of the Integrative Wellness Program for the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders.  

Her book, Savvy Secrets: Eat, Think & Thrive outlines seven steps that are fun and transforming. Lisa is part of the New Self Health Movement, the International Health Coach Association and the Wellness Inspired Network. When she is not coaching, speaking or writing, you can find her practicing yoga and joyfully sharing Carpe Diem Dance at every opportunity.

The Fifth Yama (or external discipline towards optimal health) is called Aparighara- Nonpossessiveness

I once read a book by Gary Zukov titled, Spiritual Partnernship. The message was that having a spiritual partnership means to be so committed to being authentic to who you are, to be so honest with yourself and your partner, that you will risk losing the relationship.

In other words, to be willing to risk disappointing another, by being true to yourself. It’s having faith and trust in the relationship that there is enough respect, unconditional love and acceptance to support one another for who each one of you are, and where each one is in this journey called life.

Yes, this takes courage and a commitment to self.

I’m reminded of the movie, “City Slickers” where Billy Crystal is having a midlife crisis and his wife supports his trip to a dude ranch to find himself.

How do we reduce suffering? We learn to let go of our attachments, to greed, clinging, coveting. In doing so, we find freedom within our self and within our relationships.

When we practice Bramacharya and Aparighara, we discover how to live in the present moment where we nourish our relationships and ourselves. It is learning to accept things the way they are in each moment; to let go of our expectations and criticisms so that we can fully absorb each experience without fear, without judgments.

It is the first part of the serenity prayer: 
“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, 
Courage to change the things I can, 
And wisdom to know the difference.” 

How do we create more peace in our lives? We let go of our need to control the outcome. We learn to trust our self and others.

Like the song we sang at my high school graduation:

“Rivers belong where they can ramble, Eagles belong where they can fly. I’ve got to be where my spirit can run, free, Gotta find my corner of the Sky!”

Can you practice letting go of unhealthy attachments and expectations? 

This does not mean not caring; it is just the opposite. This means trusting and loving enough to allow for individual freedom and respect. To seize the day so you can truly be present for any situation.

In both my personal life and in my practice, I’ve learned that I have to let go of my need to “fix others”. First this denotes that they are somehow broken (and this is inaccurate), and second it creates stress for both my family, patients, clients and myself.

Often the more material things we accumulate, the more stress we have in maintaining them. How can we find more peace and balance? We can let go of our attachments to things and practice non-excess and non possessiveness. This is Aparighara.

Notice what gives you pleasure and what feels like bondage. How can you lighten your load to experience the freedom to fly like an eagle?

The Yamas are referred to as external disciplines, giving us guidance on how to communicate with the world around us. The Niyamas are referred to as internal disciplines. Stay tuned for next week when I start to share the 5 Niyamas with you.

Carpe Diem & Namaste,

Lisa

About Lisa Jackson, RN, CHC, RYT-500

Lisa is an author, inspirational speaker, and coach with a mission to inspire and empower others to feel their best at any age. She is also Executive Director of the Integrative Wellness Program for the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders.  

Her book, Savvy Secrets: Eat, Think & Thrive outlines seven steps that are fun and transforming. Lisa is part of the New Self Health Movement, the International Health Coach Association and the Wellness Inspired Network. When she is not coaching, speaking or writing, you can find her practicing yoga and joyfully sharing Carpe Diem Dance at every opportunity.