Thursday 3 July 2014

6 Great Ways to Get Your Energy Back.

Where does my Energy come from? And 6 GREAT Ways to get it BACK!

Claire - Posted July 3, 2014 



Most people when asked will tell you that they wished they had more energy. But have you ever thought about where energy actually comes from. We often think we know the answer, but do we really?

Does energy come from the food we eat? Or the sleep we get? Does it come from doing what we love?

Before we can even come close to answering these, we have an even more pertinent question and that is what exactly is “energy”? If you think in terms of modern day appliances, the answer is easy – electricity of course. Or if you want to get more complicated, it is the movement of electrons. In this way our bodies are much the same, we move electrons around and… voila! Energy! This movement of electrons powers every process in every single cell of our bodies as well as every organ and system – our immune system, digestive system, cardio-vascular system and central nervous system just to name a few. If you really think about it, that is a LOT of electrons doing a whole lot of moving around. In other words, it take a LOT of energy to power a human.

Luckily our bodies have a few built in strategies to conserve energy when necessary. Many of our high energy using functions will only work when the others have the power turned down. Some examples are healing and growth happen when we sleep and aren’t really moving too much, or how food is not appealing at all when you have a fever because digestion is turned down, the same can happen when doing ultra-endurance exercise.

On the flip side of this some big processes that require loads of energy actually help to power other systems of the body and in many ways this seems to almost defy the laws of physics. One way this happens is something we see in children, often when a child is sick and burning a fever it triggers a growth spurt, either physically or developmentally. Coincidently, this would also be a time in which they wouldn’t eat very much. Both burning a fever and growing require vast amounts of energy, yet in these circumstances they happen simultaneously while there is a greatly reduced caloric intake.
What we get taught at school and through media is energy comes from the food we eat. This is seen in calorie counting diets, food labeling and even Facebook memes (how many burpees does it take to burn off that doughnut?). It is all calories in vs. calories out. What you take in gives you the energy to all that you need to do in the day. But it is not that simple, just ask someone who has struggled with a weight issue and done countless calorie restricted diets. They often don’t work, no matter how many calories they burn. Mostly because obesity is a dis-ease of too little energy, not one of too much.
So, if energy doesn’t actually come from food how do we power these energy hungry bodies of ours and feel like we could run a couple of marathons in a row?

Increase your Leptin sensitivity.
Leptin is a hormone we produce in our white fat cells. When it binds with the brain it acts as a fuel gauge, telling your brain how much energy you can spend. When we lose Leptin sensitivity we can’t read the gauge anymore, so our bodies go into fuel conserving mode. We feel sluggish and exhausted. Toddlers are the perfect example of being Leptin sensitive. They have the two modes; on and off. And they can run rings around almost any adult because of this easy access to their energy stores.

Get moving
Moving, particularly yoga as it uses every joint a muscle in the body can greatly improve your energy levels through a number of mechanisms. Firstly, it helps to improve Leptin sensitivity as well as insulin sensitivity, allowing cells to take up more energy. Secondly, it releases a cocktail of feel good hormones that help to energise both body and mind. Thirdly, 90% of stimulation and nutrition to the brain occurs through movement of the spine. Although our brain is only about 2% of our
body mass, it requires between 20-25% of our energy intake to function and for it to get that, you need to move your spine!


Get cold
Getting cold, like really cold can be a huge boost on your energy levels. There are a number of biological mechanisms that occur when you get cold but I will simplify it to make it easier. Getting cold makes you more efficient at sleeping, which means you heal faster, your brain gets better down time and you wake up with much, much more energy.

Get adjusted
Seeing a Chiropractor has some great health benefits, but in terms of energy the results are amazing. As I mentioned earlier, 90% of your brain’s stimulation and nutrition come through movement of the spine, but if you only have partial movement through some of those joints then all the exercise in the world will not fully charge your brain battery. This effect is highly apparent in the case of issues with movement through the neck.

Spend time in energetic company
Have you ever walked away from someone and suddenly felt like you could conquer the world? People pay thousands of dollars to listen to inspirational speakers because just being around someone who is enthusiastic and inspired can make you feel like a completely different person. Energy breeds energy and when that is happy positive loving energy, you can’t help but be wrapped up in it. Your body responds with a release of feel good hormones and you can suddenly do anything.

Do what you love
Like spending time with energetic people, doing what you love and working on your life’s purpose can give you more energy than seems humanly possible. When you feel good about what you do and do it with authentic passion your body releases all that stored energy.

Take your shoes off/spend time on the ground or in the ocean
Connection with the earth is not just some sort of hippie way of soaking up some universal energy. Without getting into the complicated quantum physics, when you get time to connect with the earth without the encumbrance of shoes or carpet etc. you take advantage of the earths natural electromagnetic fields (you know the ones that make compasses work). What happens is the same as when you put a fork in the toaster, although a lot safer and less dramatic, you equalise out the electric fields. With the example of the toaster, there are more electrons in the live wires of the toaster, so they travel to where there are less electrons, which is the earth, through your body. When your body touches the earth and you are in a state of exhaustion (low energy=low number of electrons) the same process draws electrons from the earth and into your body, rejuvenating and re energising your cells.

So, next time you get that 3pm slump, rather than go for a Mars bar or a cuppa-soup, try taking a walk outside with bare feet.


Same-Same but Different: Not all food is what you think it is.

Same-Same but Different: Not all food is what you think it is.

Claire - July 3, 2014 


Sometimes, things appear to be the same thing but in reality they are vastly different. This can create so much confusion when trying to make decisions about the best ways to optimise your health, especially when the research does not make these distinctions. So here is my top 4 list of things that look the same, but are in fact completely different:

Himalayan/sea salt vs Regular table salt



Surely you can’t stuff up something as simple as salt right? Unfortunately, yes we can. Most of the salt you buy at the supermarket is almost purely sodium chloride (NaCl) with some added anti-clumping chemicals added. On the other hand, pure sea salt or Himalayan salt is almost completely sodium chloride as well, but contains up to 84 trace minerals.
Yes, these 2 products are almost identical yet one costs a bit more than the other, but the key to health is in that word “almost”. Many of these trace minerals are vital for health and wellbeing and we really only need a small amount of them, but there is a huge difference between getting a small amount and getting none at all. For example selenium is an essential trace element found in both Himalayan and sea salt. Selenium is known for its powerful cancer-fighting properties, it is needed for heart muscles to function properly, to ward off damage cause by mercury and recycle vitamin C in the brain as well as keeping your thyroid functioning and regulating your metabolism by promoting methylation. Selenium deficiency leads to lowered immunity, heart disease, obesity, diabetes and cancer. All we need is just 60mcg per day. Every trace of it we get our bodies benefit* so having it make an appearance in our salt has amazing protective benefits to our health.
But selenium is just one of these 84 trace elements, I could have also written about the need for zinc, boron, copper, magnesium, manganese, iodine, chromium etc.
My personal favourite combination for adding healthy salt to our food is Himalayan salt with dulse flakes for added iodine and an extra mineral boost.

Unhomogenised milk vs homogenised milk


“Can you buy some not scary milk?” Was the request from my 14 year old step-son (sort of). What he meant was can I buy milk that is a completely consistent white fluid instead of one that was thick and creamy at the top and a little watery at the bottom. It is not his fault he was completely challenged by my purchase of unhomogenised milk, all he has ever known is that stuff we get for $1 a litre at the supermarket. So, why would I pay more than twice the price for something that the kids are hesitant to consume?

There is a huge difference between how your body deals with these two different types of milks and the results on your health can be astonishing, but first let’s look at the process of homogenisation. During homogenisation, the milk is pushed through a very fine membrane at high pressure. It is done to break up all the clumps of fatty cream and disperse them evenly through out the milk. In the process the proteins are also broken up into smaller proteins and some amino acids. The problem with breaking up theses milk proteins it that it means some of them can pass through the walls of the intestines and into the blood stream without being broken fully into their amino acid forms. This results in the body producing antibodies and inflammatory responses to protect itself against these free proteins. This can be a major contributing factor to health issues such as allergies, eczema, asthma and even mental health issues like ASD. Lite milk is even worse as it has added “milk solids” (read broken up proteins) to make it creamy unlike the watery almost blue looking skim milk of days past.
Even though they kind of look like the same product, not all milks are the same. I go for the “scary milk” at every opportunity.

Organic fruit and veg vs conventional fruit and veg


This is one the most people sort of get, but what they miss in the detail can make all the difference. Yes your organic fruit and veg don’t have the herbicides and pesticides sprayed all over them like your conventional fruit and veg, but there is another factor that is just as significant as the lack of serious toxins.
Growing your own organic fruit and veg can be really hard, most people who try it give up and either stop growing stuff or start spraying the bugs. The reason it can be so hard is that to have bug resistant plants, they actually need to be super healthy. This means they need their water, sun and nutritional requirements met and that is not always simple. But on the flip side, a plant that has all of those elements attended to, also grows fruits, roots and leaves with a higher density of nutrients. A small organic apple contains more vitamins and minerals than the largest of a conventionally grown apple, you need much less organic fruit and veg to get the nutrition you need.
Where possible, go organic. If it is not in your budget, have a look at lists like the “dirty dozen and clean 15″. For where you can save money and where organic is vital.

Grass-fed meat vs grain-fed meat


The difference between grass-fed and grain-fed meat is a bit like why you would choose organic fruit and veg. What you feed your food changes how nutrient dense it is going to be when it comes to you eating it. For an example lets compare 2 pigs. The first is kept in a shed with no natural light, is fed a diet of corn and other grains lives on a concrete floor and is watered from a trough. The second is outside in the elements, sun, rain, wind, mud, grass. He scavenges some food from the ground, roots, fruit that has fallen from trees, leaves, grass and even insects and small reptiles and he drinks from a stream.
The first is going to have very high levels of inflammation in his tissues, from his diet, from the stress of lack of freedom, from standing on a hard surface all the time. He is going to have a much much high white fat content from both his diet and being protected from the elements and his gut flora will be completely off from the lack of soil bacteria and a narrow refined diet. This pigs meat would be very high in Omega 6 fats and lacking in many nutrients.
The second pig will be high in omega 3 fats due to the more wild diet and drinking water, also much higher in brown fat and therefore increased levels of vitamin A. Actually the differences in the nutrients from each of these animals would be so vastly different they wouldn’t even taste the same even if they looked identical in the supermarket. The first pig would produce an inflammatory response in your body, where as the second would produce and anti-inflammatory response. This example is much more extreme than say a grass fed steak and a steak from a cow that spent 120 days being “finished” in a feed lot, but even then there is a significant difference.
Always go for the grass fed where possible.

These are just my top 4. There are many other examples of same-same but different, these include cacao vs cocoa, bread vs real sourdough, honey vs raw honey… The list goes on, but let’s start with these ones and see how your health changes.
*The upper limit for selenium is 400mcg per day, beyond this selenium becomes a toxin in the body. This can be said for many of these vital trace minerals. The easiest way to avoid toxic levels is to get you nutrients from real food sources, which rarely allow you to overdose.