Category Archives: Gluten

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Biochemical changes and health matters

Biochemical changes

Biochemical changes and health matters a lot in the establishment of a health weight

Biochemical changes and health matters: Linking stress and obesity

Over the past decades, many people have alleged without any scientific evidence that stress and obesity are linked together closely. This has been the running hypothesis for a very long time but, now scientific research is confirming by bringing forth proofs and evidence supporting this connection. Explicit biochemical changes appear to help in explaining this link and, the medical professionals understands these reasons better and are in a better position to address the prevalence of obesity epidemic facing U.S and beyond in the global space. However, doctor Dalal Akoury MD who is also the founder of AWAREmed health and wellness resource center agrees that the most disturbing aspect of the link between stress and obesity is that, it tends to be self-reinforcing. That is to say, very often, when people are stressed they may eat improperly and that may cause them to gain weight which can cause more stress thereby leading to even weight gain which you’re trying to fight off.

Biochemical changes and health matters: The biological connections

If you have been keen you must have realized that each time you’re stressed it is always a common practice that you will tend to crave comfort foods which are high in fat or sugar and researchers have established that specific hormones may play a role in this process.

Serotonin – reaching for fattening comfort foods during stressful times may be an attempt to offer self-medication. Consuming carbohydrates raises the body’s serotonin level and serotonin is the body’s feel-good chemical. It makes you feel better. Under normal circumstances, people under stress don’t make smart or healthy food choices. Very often their choices of carbohydrates are rich in fat, like muffins, pastries, doughnuts, and cookies which are not necessarily healthy foods.

Cortisolresearchers have also discovered that chronic stress can cause the body to release excess cortisol, a hormone critical in managing fat storage and energy use in the human body. Cortisol is known to increase appetite and may encourage cravings for sugary or fatty foods.

Neuropeptide Y.recent studies also have established that the human body processes food differently when under stress. One study established that lab mice fed a diet high in fat and sugar added significant amounts of body fat when placed under stressful conditions while those mice fed a normal diet didn’t add as much weight despite the stress. This finding has been linked the phenomenon to a molecule called neuropeptide Y which is released from nerve cells during stress and encourages fat accumulation. A diet high in fat and sugar appears to further promote the release of neuropeptide Y.

Finally, from the facts listed above, there is no doubt that all the biochemical changes matter a lot in weight management and as a society, we have a duty to bring some serenity in the weight loss management. To that effect, doctor Akoury made a decision of establishing this medical center to help in transforming each individual’s life through increasing awareness about health and wellness and by empowering individuals to find their own inner healing power. Efforts like this are essential in containing weight gain prevalence and you can benefit from it by scheduling an appointment with her today for the commencement of your recovery program.

Biochemical changes and health matters: Linking stress and obesity

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Addressing gut health treatment professionally

Addressing gut health treatment

Addressing gut health treatment professionally for wholesome health

Addressing gut health treatment professionally

In our series of articles addressing the issues surrounding gut health and the brain, we want to further explore this discussion by focusing on what the experts are saying about this condition. This is going to be interactive and informative discussion that you do not want to miss. I want therefore to prevail upon you to keep reading even as we seek the opinion of experts from AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center on this particular agenda. To help us understand better, we want to look at Gut health expert treatment recommendations in a designed formula which is popularly denoted as the “five R’s” denoted as: remove, replace, reinoculate, repair and rebalance. By the time we will be done with the five R’s, you will be on the know, so that addressing gut health treatment professionally will be the only choice you will desire to make.

Addressing gut health treatment professionally: Remove

Suppressing the symptoms with different kinds of medication does not help in cases like this and therefore option would be identifying and removing the source of gut-lining irritation this way you’ll be walking the right path to total eradication. You can also take the following steps into consideration:

Diet elimination: Eradicating common irritants like sugar, dairy, gluten, soy, and the chemical additives found in many processed foods can provide a remarkably quick relief, who notes that sugar alone is enough to cause gut problems for many. A properly conducted elimination diet can help you pinpoint which foods are causing trouble: you can test this by eliminate a given  food stuff for some time maybe two weeks, then reinstating it and observations of the effects.

Keeping of food journal: keeping records of what you feed on how they affect you is very important. Any feeling of bloat, fatigue or gassy would mean that food item must be added to your elimination list. Most likely your gut is telling you what foods it is sensitive to and obedience would be very necessary.

Limit use of alcohol and NSAIDs: Alcohol taxes the liver and steals nutrients from the gut. NSAIDs inhibit the body’s production of prostaglandins, substances needed to rebuild the intestines’ lining. If you use a full therapeutic dose of NSAIDs for two weeks, there is a 75 percent chance you will develop a leaky gut that doesn’t go away when you stop taking the drug.

Root out infections: Leaky gut can be instigated by any number of pathogenic microorganisms and parasites that thrive in the gut’s warm, mucosal environment. If food-level interventions aren’t helping, find a healthcare practitioner to run tests and administer treatment to you. Remember that with the present of parasites in the body, it may not matter the quality and quantity of nutrients you have, they won’t just help you under such circumstances, says doctor Akoury.

Addressing gut health treatment professionally

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Gut-Brain-Skin-Microbiota Axis

Finding gut health treatment solution professionally

Finding gut health treatment

Finding gut health treatment solution professionally beginnes with understanding leaky gut symptoms in good time

Finding gut health treatment solution professionally: Replace

Having dealt with the first treatment option in the previous article we now want to progress to the second step which gives your body what it needs to rebuild the gut lining. Experts from AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center have associated the inside of the small intestine to a towel covered with millions of little loops (called villi), which are further covered with millions of little fibers known as microvilli. If the gut is leaky, those fibers get matted thereby hampering regrowth and the absorption of nutrients from food and the vicious cycle continues because the villi need those nutrients to survive. Therefore to solve this riddle finding gut health treatment is very important and expert recommends:

Take more of whole foods: it is important to note that the body needs the components in their real, fresh food to repair any damage and rebuild healthy new tissue. Whole foods are full of vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients, plus enzymes the small intestine needs to heal. You can also prioritize non-starchy vegetables and lean proteins by eat plenty of good, whole-food which help strengthen cellular membranes. Therefore as the body heals, it will trigger the elimination of toxins and other byproducts through the large intestine. And for this to happen effectively, the body will need lots of fiber inform of roughages from the food stuff from colorful vegetables, berries, legumes, nuts, seeds, and whole-kernel grains. Doctor Akoury advises that to be safe one should work towards taking at least 30 grams of fiber a day.

Supplement with glutamine: The most plentiful free amino acid in the body; glutamine supports immunity and digestion by fueling the cells that line the small intestine. Glutamine heals the intestinal lining more than any other nutrient and it is recommended that one takes 10 to 20 grams daily.

Consume more of omega-3 fatty acids: These are beneficial to the gut calming inflammation and rebuilding healthy cell walls. In animal studies, adding essential fatty acids improved the tight junctions between the gut lining’s cells and enabled the gut to fend off additional injury.

Finding gut health treatment solution professionally: Reinoculate

Once your body has patched up the leaks in the gut, you need to help it grow a healthy layer of good bacteria flora that help protect the GI tract and assist with digestion. These beneficial bacteria strengthen your immune system, improve metabolism, help your body make vitamins, and aid in the absorption of minerals. The two most important groups are lactobacilli and bifidobacteria.

Add a probiotic: High-intensity probiotic support rejuvenates and replenishes a microbiome damaged by antibiotics or a poor diet. Doctor Akoury recommends a high-potency probiotic of at least 50 billion active cultures twice daily. For added insurance, he says, choose one that is enteric-coated, meaning it will ferry the bacteria through the stomach’s acid and release them into the alkaline intestines.

Finding gut health treatment solution professionally: Repair and rebalance

Finally once you’ve got your gut on the road to wellness, it’s time to focus on lasting lifestyle changes. Sliding back into the habits that caused your leaky gut will only invite the return of health problems you want to avoid. Here are two key strategies for supporting ongoing gut health:

Eat mindfully: this may sound off show but nonetheless before taking your first bite, look at your food and take in its aroma. This will trigger the cephalic phase of digestion, an initial release of enzymes that help break down your food. And as you eat, chew thoroughly, paying attention to your food’s flavor and texture. Avoid multitasking or rushing while you eat. Take pauses and breaths between bites, allowing your digestive system to keep pace.

Calm your central nervous system: Under stress, the body’s nervous system kicks into fight-or-flight mode the opposite of its rest-and-digest mode. Recalibrate by cultivating a calmer, more centered state. Consider a daily meditation or yoga practice. Or on a stressful day, swap heavy weightlifting for a tai-chi class. Take note that each time when you change your thoughts you change your physiology as well.

Finding gut health treatment solution professionally: Replace

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Brain Coordination and The Reward System

Food, abused drugs and sexual interests share a common pathway within our brains’ survival and reward systems

Brain CoordinationStudies indicate that food, abused drugs and sexual interests share a common pathway within our brains’ survival and reward systems. This pathway leads into the area of the brain responsible for our higher thinking, rational thought and judgment. When an addict’s brain takes over that survival and reward pathway, it tells the person that having illicit sex and inappropriate thoughts are good for them the same way the brain tells a normal person that food is require when he is hungry. These changes in brain’s reward pathway translate into a sex addict’s obsession with sex and of other related activities such as obligatory sexual behavior despite understanding the ill effect of this behavior on oneself. This lack of sense of self harm is also followed my failed attempts to limit of completely terminated such sexual activities.

The idea that a person can be addicted to food has recently gotten more support from science. It is even perfectly fine to say that over eating and eating disorders are a form of addiction, obesity is not a life style, if it’s a food related obesity problem then it’s the outcome of addiction to over eating. Addiction plays weird games with our reward system; scientists have discovered that for some people the same reward system is activated through food (especially eatables rich in sugar and fat) which is generally activated by the consumption of addictive drugs such as heroin or cocaine. Like these addictive drugs, for these people certain foods trigger feel-good feelings resulting in the release a dopamine; a hormone that is associated with pleasure through reward system. The pleasures they get from high levels of dopamine make them feel the need to eat again and again to gain the same form of satisfaction.

Now comes drug addiction, many of us fail to understand how people get addicted to drugs, it’s a common misconception that drug addicts lack moral principles and will power because otherwise they could simply choose to change their behavior. That’s not how drug addiction works; drug addiction is a complex disease and quitting requires much more than a strong will power to change this behavior. In reality many of drug addicts really want to quit but they simply can’t. It is because of the change drugs have brought in their brain’s reward system that forces them to even commit compulsive drug abuse. It’s an established fact that the initial decision of taking drugs in most of the cases is voluntary but the later consequences and changes in brain that occur over period of time severely  compromises a person’s self control and hamper his ability to resist the strong urges of taking drugs.

Sexual addiction somehow follows the same patterns of addiction as food and drugs. It fools ones reward system into thinking that this is the ultimate pleasure and without this, survival is impossible. A sexual addict’s brain start making a person believe that sex is as important as food, just like a normal person have to eat three or more time a day, a sex addict has to do or plan such activities as many times to survive. What he fails to recognize is the lack of balance and control. Even eating more than necessary is detrimental to health, having sexual urges more than required are devastating for the addict as well as the society.

All of these forms of addictions manifest themselves in similar fashion however the mechanism and factor behind how a person gets addicted to food and sex and how the reward system is being changed are not very clear. In the case of drugs it’s comparatively easier to explain how our brain gets affected by drugs. Drugs contain certain chemicals that alter the brain’s communication system and interrupt the ways in which our nerve cells send, receive and process information signals. There are two major ways through which drugs can disrupt normal brain function. Firstly by mimicking the brain’s natural chemical messengers and secondly by over stimulation of our brain’s reward circuit.

Some drugs have similar structures like our chemical messengers called neurotransmitters. These neurotransmitters are naturally produced in the brain and are key role players in our chemical signaling pathways. The similarity of drugs allows them to fool brain receptors and stimulate nerve cells to send abnormal messages. Other drugs, such as cocaine have the ability to cause the nerve cells to release strangely hefty quantities of natural neurotransmitters such as dopamine. These signals also hinder the regular recycling of these brain chemicals, which is required to shut off the signaling between neurons. The result is a brain drenched in dopamine, which is present in those regions of brain that control movement, emotion, motivation, and feelings of pleasure. Due to the over activation of this reward system (normally responding to natural behaviors associated with survival such as eating and spending time with loved ones) certain euphoric effects are produced in response to psychoactive drugs. This reaction ensures a recurring pattern that teaches people to repeat the rewarding behavior of abusing drugs.

It is evident from the researches addictions apart from drugs, such as food and sexual, are caused by a greater tendency of impulsivity. Those individuals, who have been more impulsive easily fall prey to addiction. Once the addiction successfully alters the reward and survival pathways, the manifestation of addiction becomes exactly like someone is addicted to a substance. There is a pressing need of understanding these addictions and formulating integrated solutions that can counter addiction and related symptoms in more efficient way. For this purpose we are organizing a “Integrative Addiction Conference” whose sole focus is on addiction and its integrative solutions. If you are a health professional, a professor, a practicing psychologist or even a student, this conference is a great opportunity to contribute in these fields of knowledge. Our main topics deal with the same niche as of this article, so register right away and get maximum benefits through our link below

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gut-microbiota

Brain Signalling and Coordination

Bidirectional signalling between the gastrointestinal tract and the brain is regulated at neural, hormonal, and immunological levels

Brain CoordinationAn exciting new concept is emerging in health and disease is the capability of microbiota in the gut to establish communication with the human brain and alter its behaviour. This can introduce a new arena, that when people make decisions, whether they are influenced by the microbiota of their gut or not. The bidirectional communication between the brain and the gastrointestinal tract is essential for keeping homeostasis. This signalling is regulated at hormonal, neural (both enteric and central nervous systems) and immunological levels. Disturbing these systems leads to modifications in stress levels and general behaviour. There is an elevated co-morbidity noted between anxiety and other psychiatrically-related symptoms and various gastrointestinal disorders, like irritable bowel disorder (IBS). This is why it is essential to learn the exact mechanism of this communication.

One of the approaches used to research the connection between microbiota of gut and brain is by using experimental animal models. Germ free mice which completely lack contamination from any sort of gut bacteria offer great possibilities for research. Female germ-free mice were used to show the lack of conventional microbiota leads to anxiety level being reduced in one study while the other showed that there was increased responsiveness to stress with male mice that were free of germs. The reasons for the results being different are not familiar at the moment, but it is presumed that gender might play a role when it comes to these effects. One more important aspect to consider regarding the recent data is that male animals suffered some endocrine and neurochemical effects of growing up in an environment free of germs, but there were no noted immune effects. Of course, this doesn’t mean that this could exactly be the real situation with humans, but the researchers did generate some insightful data on whether microbiota can change one’s behaviour or not.

Probiotics

Probiotics are important and can help in the treatment of various gastrointestinal disorders such as Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). There are clinical studies that show that using probiotics causes the IBS patients to be in a better mood and reduces their anxiety. The mechanism of action remains unclear, but it is determined that certain probiotics have the possibility to lower inflammatory cytokines; enhance the nutritional status and lower oxidative stress. It is clear that there are probiotic agents that can alter certain aspects of the microbiota-gut-brain axis and, therefore, influence the brain and behaviour.

Antibiotics

Intervention with antibiotics has been known to cause the reduction of biodiversity of the fecal microbiota, postponing the colonization by some probiotic agents. Use of antibiotics was the most convenient artificial way to create dysbiosis of the intestines with animals used in experiments. After allowing antibiotics to disturb the microbiota for a period of 7 days, mice have shown either anxiety reduction as well as an enhancement in locomotor behaviour. There are also studies that showed that rats induced with stress during early life expose signs of modified behaviour and modifications of fecal microbiota in their adult life.

Infection

There are studies that observed animal behavior after having an infection but failed to show a clear way the gut is communicating with the brain, offering a solution that there are multiple routes. Mice that were infected with Citrobacter rodentium showed some increase in behavior similar to anxiety after 7 or 8 hours from getting infected, but there was no influence on their behavior after two weeks or a whole month. The infection and the psychological stress can jointly affect the CNS, but since no overt inflammation was noticed and an increase in neuronal activation didn’t happen in vagal ganglia, it is thought that the signaling between the gut and the brain is done through the vagus nerve.

Another study that showed the involvement of the vagus nerve to communicate from the gastrointestinal tract to CNS was when a Salmonella Typhimurium was used for an infection. The results once again showed that vagus plays a role of huge matter in signaling immune information from gut to brain, as well as in homeostasis related with the immune system. However, there were other studies, such as the one where Campylobacter jejuni was used in mice, which showed some implications of the vagal nerve in the effect of communicating this pathogen and its effects to the brain.

Many studies were conducted in the recent years and that shows that the need for understanding cellular, molecular and physiological foundation of communication between enteric microbiome gut and brain is essential. This is something that remains to be discovered and future studies. This issue will also be a topic at the Awaremed’s Network Integrative Addiction Conference, which can be a great opportunity to meet fellow professionals and share your opinions and experiences. If you want to sign up for the conference, you can do it here.

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