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.

Personal Transformation & Radical Remissions

My friends who’ve known me for a long time know, that I sometimes go through periods of being “closed for renovation.” Time when I need to hibernate or go inward for introspection. Time to get back in touch with ME, to rediscover what’s important to me, what I really really want. Wintertime is a good time to do that.  The bears do it and after all, I didn’t get the nickname “Momma Bear” without reason.

Spring is a time of transformation.  The caterpillar wraps herself in a cocoon to emerge in the springtime as a beautiful butterfly.  There’s a natural rhythm to personal transformation. Change happens whether we want it or not. We are always transforming in one-way or another. We now know that we actually get a new body every seven years as our cells die off and new cells are created.  We know that even the brain can create new neuro pathways, at any age. We are not bound by our current condition; neither are we bound by our genes.

I lead a weekly nutrition support group for an oncology clinic where we share specifically how we can change the genetic expression of our genes through diet, and mind body practices. A frequent guest speaker, Victoria Wood RD, MPH, CNS says, “We can become “the conductor of our own genetic orchestra”, or we can feel stuck and paralyzed by our circumstances.  The truth is, even the scariest of diagnoses, like cancer is not a death sentence.  Instead, it can be that wake up call to change the environment creating the dis-ease.

We now have the opportunity to actually learn about Radical Remissions from the subject matter expert. A PhD researcher who has spent over a decade interviewing, researching and studying those who have healed themselves against all odds.. To quote, Dr. Kelly Turner, “If we are trying to win the war on cancer, doesn’t it make sense to study those that have already won?”

Dr. Turner is now offering an online course, RadicalRemission: Applying the 9 healing Factors into Your Own Life, that you can listen to and take at your own pace.  As I said in last week’s blog, I am proud to be affiliated with her and she’s granted my readers an extra 10% off the 20% early registration price. The entire course has been discounted from $245 to $175 but only until April 1^st. So click HERE now to register.

You know that I believe in the power of having a private coach. Not only is this what I do for a living; I also have my own coach and mentors that I invest in. Not everyone can afford private coaching but being part of a group is so vital for support. Personal transformation, although a natural process, takes courage and a conscious commitment and we could all use some encouragement and guidance in the process. Group and online programs like this can be a perfect companion.  I welcome anyone to join our weekly luncheon at The Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders, Wednesday at 12noon. RSVP to me at ljackson@ccbdmd.com Our Integrative Wellness Program also offers yoga and meditation classes, and more.

Have a wonderful weekend and celebrate the many messages of renewal that spring brings to us.

Carpe Diem!

ABOUT LISA JACKSON, RN, CHC, RYT
Lisa is an author, inspirational speaker, retired RN, certified health coach and yoga teacher. Her book, Savvy Secrets: Eat,Think & Thrive; Seven Steps to Optimal Health, is a self health book to enable healing from within.  Her goal is to inspire wellness and to help others look and feel their best at any age. Lisa is part of the New Self Health Movement, the International Health Coach Association and the Wellness Inspired Network. She is the mother of four adult children, a Grandmother, and believes that optimal health should not be a secret! When she is not coaching, speaking and writing, you can find her practicing yoga and joyfully sharing Carpe Diem Dance at every opportunity.

Optimal Health is Not Complicated; Maximize, Minimize & Prioritize

Do you, like me, have a hard time prioritizing self?

I start many presentations with this slide "Optimal Health is Not Complicated; Maximize, Minimize and Prioritize.”

...and yet doing this consistently is a challenge. Here lies the value of a health coach. I have my own coaches. I have a business coach and paid mentors that I work with. I still have to practice consistently prioritizing myself. Some of us are givers. We love to give, We thrive on giving, but we can give so much we wind up running out of gas.

We don't wait until our car runs out of gas before we fill it up. We don't put cheap gas in a Ferrari if we want it to perform with optimal performance. Why do we do this to ourselves? Do you ever fill yourself with cheap food or wait until you’re starving before taking a break? Do you plan and prepare a nutritious meal to fuel you for the day? Do you prioritize joyful activities and rest and relaxation every day?  It’s so easy to jump out of bed and get on the computer or get to the “to do list”.

So how do I prioritize me? I strive to practice treating my body and my soul as if it were my precious baby. 

Isn't it interesting how when you're pregnant, you don't drink? Most pregnant women sustain from alcohol, stop drinking coffee, and start taking vitamins. They start eating better foods and when they need to rest, they rest! This creates a healthy child, this creates a healthy body. As Mothers, we intuitively know this. So why do we stop these practices after the baby is born? What can you do today to nourish and nurture your body as if it were your baby? Can you love and nurture your body as you would your unborn and newborn child? Will you Begin today to consistently prioritize self? 

If you are local, join us today and bring your loved ones to Love Your Body Day at Reston Town Center. Bring your yoga mat and try different classes with different instructors from 10-3pm or visit some of the vendors that are in my Wellness Inspired Network, Beloved Yoga Studio, Neck Back & Beyond, Life Wellness Centre and Dr. Wes Rocki. In addition to having a booth with goodies and book signing, I will be giving a short talk on Seven Steps to Optimal Health at the Art of Healing Tent next to the pavilion @ 3pm.(I've touched on two steps in this post, Begin & Nourish.)  http://www.loveyourbodyyogafestival.com/ 

Here's to your health and nourishing choices; Carpe Diem!

With Love & Gratitude,

Lisa