#family

HOW STRONG IS THE EGG ?

Correct biochemical balance in our children help increase their resilience, balancing the impact from environmental factors

Have you ever seen a chick emerge from within its egg? The yellow and fluffy, soft and very cute little ball popping into the world.

Recently I read a quote by Jim Kwik, an expert in memory improvement, brain optimisation, and accelerated learning (Jim Kwik has a lot of interesting knowledge to share, so check him out if you do not know him yet). The quote reads:

“If an egg is broken by an outside force, life ends. If broken by an inside force, life begins. Great things always begin from the inside.”

What a fantastic analogy for our children, and especially for kids with Autism or other neurodiversity. Wouldn’t you agree?

Every child needs the strength, energy, and a certain level of resilience in their body to respond to outside stimuli in the right, healthy way. Inside capacity should correlate with outside effort; yin and yang; push and pull! Otherwise, the stronger external force will cause an imbalance and, consequently, a blockage.

Sometimes parents provide lots of positive external factors to support their child in the best possible way, but, for some reason, the child is not fully responsive to those stimuli. For example, you want your child to have better focus, be less hyperactive, process information better and attain better results at school. Right? With this goal in mind, as a caring, and loving parent, you may take your child to different activities, therapies, and educational programmes. But the child is only partially responding to all of your efforts. They improve a little bit, but then, no further breakthrough! Why?

Because the effort from outside exceeds the effort, or rather your child’s capacity to react, from inside.

Nowadays our kids often have low energy levels. They do not have enough essential minerals and other nutrients like essential fatty acids, amino acids, antioxidants, and vitamins. Their mitochondria do not work at full capacity to produce enough energy for optimal functioning, healing and learning. Our kids are full of different toxins that their bodies spend too much energy on trying to get rid of, to detox. Our children simply do not have enough internal strength to be able to react properly to the great activities they are being exposed to. Our children are, consequently, very sensitive and instead shut themselves down to feel protected from any stimuli (positive and negative).

Since our kids are so delicate and vulnerable, too much of a good thing could be TOO MUCH for them. Have you noticed this as well? We need to be careful to not break their “egg” with our outside force.

So, how can we generate better inside force, boost the energy level, and increase the resilience level of our kids? The answer is to RESTORE THEIR BIOCHEMICAL BALANCE by addressing malnourishment, dysbiosis, detoxification, and oxidative stress. Let’s help our kids gain the internal strength to better respond to an enriched external environment. Our kids need balance in their internal environment so that they can easily step out of their “protective state”, break out from their “eggshell” into reality, into your parental loving and supportive hands, into this world. Let us remember that “great things always begin from the inside.”

How strong is the egg — The impact of external and internal factors can be balanced out

My simple, yet very effective method could help to identify exactly if your child requires additional internal strength to step out of their ‘eggshell.’ Contact me to discuss how we can restore the biochemical balance in your child.

Book a free discovery call through my website: https://dririnaschurov.com/

Picture by Irina Schurov, photo by Paige Cody on Unsplash

ARE YOU LOOKING FOR THE ANSWER TO WHY YOUR CHILD ISN’T SLEEPING? 3 Tips For Mothers of Children With Autism to Help Their Little Ones Get a Better Night’s Sleep

How quiet and peaceful is your sleep? Do you manage to get quality rest during the night time? If you are a mother of a child with autism, then it is very likely that your answer to these questions will be negative! 80% of children with ASD have sleep problems and this, of course, affects the whole family and especially the mothers. These sleepless, restless nights when your child can not sleep for a long time or when even during sleep he is constantly moving and kicking, can easily drive you crazy. Have you been through this type of frustration? You are tired, you hide your head under the pillow, you try to use headphones, but nothing helps! And proper rest when your child has finally stopped wandering around or persistently tossing and turning and has fallen asleep is but a dream. THIS EXHAUSTION DUE TO LACK OF SLEEP IS NOT HEALTHY FOR ANYONE. Night rest is a very special period of time when our body is not just resting, but also detoxifying, restoring and healing itself. If you start to abuse this pattern of rest, so vital to our health, very quickly you will generate misbalance in your body, which may then result in any number of chronic health conditions. But how can you help your child to overcome these sleep disturbances? If you are searching for such a solution then this article is for you!

The 3 Key Points For Mothers of Autistic Children to Succeed In the Dietary Programme

By now, you will have probably come across the nutritional and dietary approach to autism., It has been in the media many times recently and you may have seen articles such as, “The miracle that cured my son’s autism in our kitchen” or “Autism recovery with the GAPS diet: one mother’s story”. As a mother of a child with autism, what do you think when you see articles like these? Interesting? Impossible? Nonsense? Another garbage? What flashes through your overwhelmed brain? When you are drained and tired from dealing with your special child 24/7 when you are overwhelmed from visiting different specialists and trying different techniques that may work but by no means dramatically improve the situation when you are afraid to think about the future of your child because you are not sure how he/she will cope in this uneasy world by himself when you experience all of these feelings and then somebody tells you that some diet could actually be the miracle treatment for your child… Of course, you may well be very sceptical or even angry towards such opinions and you, probably would not even click on any of the articles listed above to read through. You feel fed up with these ridicules media adverts!

FLU SEASON OR FESTIVE SEASON – WHICH ONE DO YOU PREFER?

Guess what, the exciting holiday season is approaching! But, at the same time, the season of being ill and unwell is also knocking on our doors! However, nobody wants to be sick during the festive period! We all dream of the great company of healthy loved ones, of having lots of fun and experiencing lots of joy! So, I want to share my personal experience to help you to stay festive and healthy during Christmas time and likewise any other time.

To my surprise, last week I got the flu. It was very unexpected as I had almost forgotten what it means to be ill! Really! Last year, all I had was a mild cold for a couples of days, but this year I experienced the proper flu! While I was in bed (always the best place to think) I remembered how I used to be ill regularly, 3-4 times a year for 3 or more weeks each time. I used to have asthma which would always be initiated by any bacterial or viral infection and normally took a long time to clear out from my body. I suddenly remembered the horrible feeling of being completely incapable of doing anything and of wasting many ineffective hours in bed. Do you not think life is too short to be ill and that we cannot afford to spend this precious time fighting the flu as opposed to doing something great and useful? Nowadays, too many people, especially children, are unwell over long periods of time and, as a result, develop lots of chronic conditions.

Interestingly, when people never get ill, that too is not very good for the body. You may be surprised, but, this is the truth. Let me explain. The prime aim of our immune system is to protect us from pathogenic bacteria, viruses and other invaders. Our immune system is always working by checking, identifying, removing and destroying “trespassers” in our body. Once “unwelcome guests” are identified, a whole series of chemical mediators are released and a whole cascade of reactions are activated. The inflammation reaction occurs in certain local areas of our body, causing symptoms like a sore throat or a runny nose. From the immune system’s point of view, this is a call for action that mobilises the body’s internal recourses to fight the infection. However, from our point of view, this is a complete inconvenience and we try to remove these symptoms with medications and thus interfere in the normal process of the body healing. To do its job properly, our immune system needs to know its “enemies” and, therefore, needs to be exposed to these bacteria and viruses periodically. But of course, if your immune system is healthy, then your illness will be very short and painless like mine was this time. Over 3 to 5 days, with as much of extra rest and sleep as possible, your body will be able to clear the symptoms without any further chronic consequences, such as e a cough or ear infection. This way the cold or flu allow the body to cleanse itself and boost its immune system. Therefore, never getting sick is a sign of a weak immune system rather than the other way around. Ideally, one or two colds per year is a good amount of exercise for our immune system to be in a good shape.

But of course, we need to be aware of a hypersensitive immune system when we experience different allergies and an overly reactive immune system which increases the chances of developing an auto-immune disease. Any unbalance of the immune system is not good for our health! Our body is very cleverly designed and our task is to listen to its signals and respond to them correctly. So, how does your body show that your immune system is out of balance?

Let’s see just a few symptoms that you really need to be aware of:

Regular colds and flu
Lasting chronic conditions after having colds and flu like cough or ear infection
Chronic tiredness and lack of energy
Allergies to food or environmental factors like ‘hay fever’
Skin problems like eczema, acne ect.
Inflammatory conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease ect.
Digestive disorder like IBS, celiac disease ect.

These are the main issues but naturally this list can be continued. And, of course, you noticed digestive conditions on the list. This is because our digestive tract and immune system are closely connected and up to 80% of the immune system is located in our gut. 70% of our immunity is established during early childhood and closely depends on our microbiome development and diversity.

Therefore, the best thing to survive the flu season is NOT to do a flu jab and NOT to stack your cupboard with concentrated vitamin C or nasal sprays and other medications, but rather to invest your effort in the prevention of getting ill and supporting of your immune system through the year! And you can start anytime! Please, remember that flu vaccinations are not helpful to you or your children and can cause many different problems and side effects. First of all, they add to your toxic load as they contain Mercury and this can be extremely problematic for some children causing some neurotoxic effects and leading to neurological disorders. Furthermore, lots of different scientific reports describe a connection between flu vaccinations and conditions like narcolepsy in children, foetal deaths and of course, more flu. You can read more about it here: https://vactruth.com/2013/02/01/8-damn-good-reasons/

I am so glad that I have spent some time improving my immune system naturally! It caused huge changes in my life and everyone in my family’s life. I am not afraid of traveling and getting sick any more and I look forward to the holiday period with the confidence of knowing that I will have lots of fun rather than spend it ill like I used to.

So, how exactly can this be done? How did I do it and what worked for me? I keep repeating that we are all very different and any recommendations should be followed with great care and you should always check your individual reaction to the changes that you are introducing. We need to learn to understand our own body’s language! In my situation, several life style changes were very effective. After moving to Switzerland, I started to spend much more time outside. We have a dog, Bella, and she needs to walked every day, 3 times a day in any weather. So, we just do it! To be in nature and in fresh air regularly helps to release stress and activate many vital body functions, including thinking, digestion, cardiovascular health and so on. Then, I started taking Juice Plus (whole food based supplement) that suddenly boosted my metabolism and I also lost about 10 kg of weight. By normalising my portion size, switching to organic products, reducing amount of gluten and grains in general, by diversifying my diet through eating more vegetables, introducing home-made fermented foods and many other different superfoods, I have manged to completely take control of my immune system and energy level I have forgotten when last time I bought any medications was. I prefer natural remedies and I am a big fun of essential oils!

Therefore, my advice to you is to not waste your precious time, invest in your health by making life style changes and restoring your connection to real food! Start this holiday season, do it step by step and celebrate every small achievement! I find Christmas is the best time of the year to cook together with your children, experiment with new foods, practice mindful eating and, of course, ask Santa Clause for a new exciting kitchen gadgets with which you enjoy many hours in your lovely kitchen! I have already made my Santa list! What about you?

As usual, I look forward to receiving your ever valuable questions, comments and feedback: irina@liveright.eu

ARE PROBIOTICS REALLY GOOD FOR OUR HEALTH?

In spite of the many articles about gut health and how hugely it impacts our body and brain function, lots of people are still confused about probiotics. I keep receiving questions about probiotics, prebiotics, fermented food and so on.

Let’s try to address this confusion right now to better understand what probiotics actually mean for us and what the best way to obtain them is.

Are probiotics new, trendy supplements that can help with any health condition? Are they a new panacea for all diseases? Are they the result of new technology and scientific breakthrough? Let’s explore.

Probiotic means “for life”. Probiotics are live bacteria that can be found in our digestive tract and which support our health. Remember that our body has 10 times more bacterial cells than human cells. WE ARE ACTUALLY MORE MICROBE THAN HUMAN!

Research clearly shows the link between our gut health, the state of our microbiome, the combination, number and type of bacteria inside of us, and the function of our body and brain. 80% of our entire immune system is based in our digestive tract! Our gut is home to the “second brain” since a big part of our neurological system called enteric nervous system is located there. Therefore, it is obvious that A HEALTHY GUT MEANS A HEALTHY BODY!

However, the way we live and eat today doesn’t provide good support for our gut flora. Antibiotics, medications, chemicals in body care products and cleaning products, a diet high in carbohydrates, processed foods, lots of sugar, stress; all of these factors are constantly damaging our gut flora. We are facing so many different toxic factors causing a huge imbalance in the microbiome where pathogenic bacteria, fungi, parasites and viruses can overgrow and trigger many health conditions. In the healthy gut we can see about 85% of good microorganisms and 15% of bad microorganisms. If this ratio is compromised, we start to experience its negative effect.

Nowadays, the majority of people have digestive problems and, as result, develop chronic inflammation in the body which cause many chronic conditions like chronic fatigue, thyroid imbalance, joint pains, migraines, depression and so on. That is why when people start to address their gut health issues, they can actually improve a variety of their clinical symptoms and help normalise the function of various systems in the body. And probiotics are doing exactly this, they can help to restore the balance between “good” and “bad” bacteria.

New research keeps proving the numerous benefits of probiotics. We now have strong evidence that probiotics help to:

Improve the function of the immune system
Boost the digestive system
Enhance brain function and positively affect different neurological conditions
Help reduce the level of chronic inflammation and therefore heal conditions like IBS (inflammatory bowel disease)
Improve many skin conditions including eczema
Overcome allergies and food intolerances

Hence, PROBIOTICS ARE ESSENTIAL FOR OUR HEALTH!

But where can we find these “little life savers”? Probiotics come to us either as supplements or in the fermented foods. Probiotic supplements need to be carefully chosen if you want to take an effective product. It is wise to see what type of bacterial strains a probiotic contains and if they are alive, active cultures. Also, it is useful to know if a product is stable, well characterised, clinically effective and highly potent. Different strains of probiotics support different systems in the human body. Therefore, diversity is crucial. It is recommended to choose supplements that have more than 10 different strains and rotate the intake of products in order to obtain a better variety. This means you need to take different types of probiotics over a few months rather than only one type over a long period of time. Based on the extensive research published in this area, in his book “Brain Maker” Dr David Perlmutter suggests to focus on supplements that contain at least the following stains:

Lactobacillus plantarum, which is crucial for a gut health and integrity
Lactobacillus acidophilus, which plays an important role in the microbial balance and controls cholesterol levels
Lactobacillus brevis, which improves immune function and increases levels of the brain-growth hormone BDNF
Bifidobacterium lactis, which boosts immunity and prevents digestive illnesses
Bifidobacterium longum, which has antioxidant properties and helps prevent colorectal cancer by effectively lowering the intestinal pH

I think that supplements are very useful and of course can be very effective when you travel or take some antibiotics or want to help your baby establish a better digestion process. However, as any other supplements, probiotics in capsules are a temporary solution. The best way to obtain the balanced set of “little life savers” is from real food!

It is important to understand that PROBIOTICS ARE NOT A NEW INNITIATIVE AT ALL! Throughout our human history, probiotics have been traditionally used in many different cultures as a way to save and preserve food. Fermentation is simply a metabolic process of converting carbohydrates, like sugars, into lactic acid through bacteria. During this process the bacteria multiply and lactic acid protects the fermented food. By fermenting milk, meat, fish, vegetables and grains, our ancestors were consuming probiotics for centuries. And of course, probiotic foods have a much broader variety of bacterial strains in natural concentrations and combinations which suit our gut much better than supplements. Furthermore, fermentation also makes the nutrients in the food more bio-available. For example, fermented cabbage contains 20 times more vitamin C than fresh cabbage.

Which fermented foods do you know? From my childhood, I know milk kefir, kvass, kambuch and sauerkraut. These are typical foods in Central and Eastern Europe. At the same time, in India people drink lassi – a local yogurt-based drink. In Africa people produce amasi – another fermented milk product. What about kimchi or miso? These are very popular fermented foods in Asia. Therefore, we are not reinventing the wheel at all. We are just reintroducing these great foods back into our diet! Nowadays we call them SUPERFOODS. However, if you buy these foods as ready-made, you will not be able benefit from the probiotics very much! Commercially available foods are processed, pasteurised and practically don’t contain any bacteria. The best way to benefit from fermented food is to prepare it by yourself!!! HOME MADE PROBIOTIC FOODS ARE THE BEST DOCTORS! Let’s get back to the kitchen and prepare some probiotic-rich foods. You can buy, or get from somebody, different cultures/starters to produce milk kefir, cottage cheese, water kefir, yogurt, kombucha, kvass. But even without any special cultures and starters, using just good quality salt and other spices, we can easily make sauerkraut, kimchi and fermented vegetables. It is so simple to make, yet you get so much from it! Please, do your research and remind yourself how to ferment foods at home! Talk to your parents and grandparents about it and you will be surprised by how much knowledge they have in this area. And of course, you can always ask me!

What about prebiotics? What are they? Prebiotics are actually foods that feed “good” bacteria in our gut and by consuming them together with probiotics we achieve much better results. Usually prebiotics are products that contain non-digestive fiber. When we eat such foods, fiber passes through our digestive tract intact and it is only in colon that it can be fermented by the gut microflora. Therefore, prebiotics play a very important role in the health of our microbiome and hence, of our whole body. Unfortunately, the modern western diet is very low in prebiotics and we need to make sure we consume enough foods like raw garlic, raw or cooked onions, raw leeks, raw asparagus, raw dandelion greens, raw chicory root and under-ripe bananas. Now that you know how important prebiotic foods are, I hope you will find a way to bring them to your diet!

To conclude, I want to say that A LITTLE BIT OF FERMENTED FOODS EVERY DAY CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE AND THE LIFE OF YOUR LOVED ONES! Is it not fantastic to have such “magic” in your hands!?

As usual, I look forward to receiving your ever valuable questions, comments and feedback: irina@liveright.eu

Better Sleep For a Better You!

Today, I am so excited to talk to you about SLEEP! It has been an interest of mine ever since I did my PhD research concerning human circadian rhythms and clock genes. I have always known how important it is for all of us to have good quality sleep and how everything in our smart body depends on our internal clock and cyclic pattern. But only recently, with all the new research findings available and my personal as my clients’ experiences from life style changes, I have realised HOW VITAL SMART sleep is for all of us! So, I cannot wait to share my thoughts with you!

Somehow, in our busy, crazy life style with a 24-hour activity pattern and travel across different time zones, we have started to think of sleep as a luxury. We need to study, work, take care of other people and then later on life, we may have an opportunity to catch up on our sleep. We have lost the ritual to get ready for our night rest, to take some time to relax, meditate, have a bath, read a book, talk to a spouse or simply have a nice calming herbal tea before we go to bed. Very often we keep working or checking our emails or social media pages in bed and only when we are completely exhausted, do we collapse into a short, non-deep, non-restoring and low-quality sleep. We sometimes even feel guilty that we sleep too much. And even though we understand that this is not the right way to do it, we still keep doing it! Does this sound familiar?

Meanwhile, statistics show that sleep deficiency directly relates to cancer, AD, depression, heart disease and the ability to loose weight. According to WHO, men with poor sleep record are twice as likely to have a heart attack and up to 4 times more likely to have a stroke. We know that shift work can have a devastating effect on health. People who are regularly working during night have a higher incidence of cancer, depression and overall chronical illnesses, in general. We should not forget that the human body has not been designed to sleep during the day and work during the night! The human body is driven by a solar cycle, even though we all have our own internal clock that can differ between people to some degree.

Often we do not realise how quickly sleep deprivation starts to affect our ability to think and perform. Research shows that even 24 hrs of sleep deficiency causes a 6% reduction of glucose that reaches our brain. So, the less we sleep, the dafter we become! And this is why, when we work very late because an important deadline or a project that needs to be finished, and when we try hard to focus, we start to crave sugary food. We need this extra sugar in our blood and brain to compensate for the reduced amount of it due to the lack of sleep. Our body is trying to survive and asking for glucose! We are becoming an easy victim of this survival mechanism and keep compensating for the shutting down of our brain by boosting our body with lots of sugar from junk food and drinks. I like Shawn Stevenson’s (the author of the book that I recommend to read in this newsletter) opinion who describes this particular situation as: “Your brain is hijacked by a dumber version of yourself”.

Research shows that poor sleepers are more likely to have worse marks during their studies, achieve less in their professional life and of course, much more often develop chronic illnesses. So, what happens during our sleep that makes our success in life so strongly dependent on it? I hope you are intrigued and ready to revaluate your relationships with sleep.

During sleep our body is actively restoring itself and detoxifying. Nowadays we know that our brain undergoes lots of “cleaning” during night. Scientists have discovered that the glymphatic system in the brain, like the lymphatic system in our body, is able to remove and recycle dead cells, toxins and debris from the brain during our sleep. Our brain even gets smaller in size during sleep in order for this process to be more effective. Scientists from the University of Rochester have shown that this mechanism of the brain’s clearance system is linked to the development of different neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntingdon’s diseases. Using powerful imaging technique, scientists have been able to visualise that during natural sleep, the human brain increases the size of the cavities through which cerebrospinal fluid (CFS) can easily drain toxins from the brain tissues. This is simply amazing! SO, THE RESTORATIVE POWER OF SLEEP CANNOT BE UNDERESTIMATED!

Furthermore, our internal circadian timing system, which is built into the body and controls the cyclic pattern of releasing and activating of all our hormones, neurotransmitters, body temperature and level of metabolism, is designed to support our day-night activities. This means, if we work during the night, when by nature our body needs to rest and is not ready to work, we stress our body a lot and accumulate many future health issues. For example, during the morning and day we need to have sufficient exposure to sunlight. Light gives our body a “wake up call” and hormones and other important substances begin to be produced, including the well-known hormone and neurotransmitter serotonin. Serotonin is our “happy” hormone and natural antidepressant. You may have noticed that if we have enough sleep, we are in a better mood. Interestingly, about 90% of serotonin is produced in the human gut and is heavily influenced by our gut flora, the food we eat, by how active we are and the amount of sunlight we receive. Moreover, if we have enough serotonin, we will have a sufficient amount of melatonin which is produced by our body from serotonin. Melatonin sends “sleep” signals to our cells. It is an important sleep regulator. Melatonin is naturally secreted when it gets darker outside and that can very often be ignored by us. When was the last time you went to bed when it was getting dark outside? So, this is a very clear example of how the serotonin-melatonin hormones cycles depend on the amount of sunlight and the natural day-night pattern. It is the same case with other hormones in our body like cortisol, oxytocin, norepinephrine, vasopressin, prolactin. If we do not respect their natural pattern of expression, we can end up with serious health disturbances.

Scientists have established the connection between our sleep and our microbiome. Yes, again microbiome! We know that sleep has a direct effect on the diversity of human bacteria and therefore, as by now we all know, our health. And it also works the other way around, the microbiome has a big influence on the human ability to relax and sleep. Our microbiome also has its’ own daily rhythm that depends on the time we eat and the type and quality of the food we consume. It has been shown that irregular sleep, disruptions of circadian rhythms caused by shift work or jet lag, disrupts microbial rhythms, bacterial diversity and balance. In one study, scientists found that people with prolonged jet-lag demonstrate a significant increase of a certain type of bacteria known to be more prevalent in people with obesity and diabetes.

Therefore, a good quality sleep, that doesn’t actually have to be that long, has an amazingly beneficial effect on many areas of our lives, including weight loss, improving memory and focus, reducing levels of stress and anxiety, boosting productivity and raising our energy level. It is like with anything – quality is more valuable that quantity. Dr Breus, the famous sleep doctor, actually recommends finding out how much sleep each of us personally needs. In fact, everybody has an individual sleep requirement. According to Dr Breus, we need to count sleep cycles that are 90 min each and our night sleep should ideally include 4-5 sleep cycles. The best way to go about this, is to monitor the time when you wake up in the morning and count backwards to find out when you have to go to bed. For example, if you normally get up at 6.30 am, you may need to go to bed at 11 pm (5 cycles of 90 min or in total 7.5 hrs). Some people only need 4 cycles to have a good sleep. I think it is a good starting point to see how much each of us needs to sleep and how we can figure out the best bed time for yourselves.

Once we have found out how long we should sleep and when we should go to bed, next we need to pay attention to the following points in order to have a better quality sleep and invest in our health:

Get the maximum exposure to sunlight you can during the day.
Avoid any electronic screens for 2 hrs before your bedtime. Blue light from any electronic devise stimulates the production of cortisol (daytime hormone) and messes up your natural sleep pattern.
If you absolutely must use a computer before your bedtime, use a blue light blocker. I am going to install a free application called f.lux (https://justgetflux.com) that automatically eliminates the blue light from the device at a certain time each day.
Do not keep any electronic devices in your bedroom. Even it is very hard to part with your smart phone, it is a very good idea to do so and you will get used to it very soon.
Make sure that temperature in your bedroom is cool, about 18- 20⁰ This temperature correlates best with our body temperature during the rest stage. If you feel more comfortable, you can wear warm pajama and socks, but keep the room temperature down.
Make sure that your bedroom is dark enough as any amount of light can disturb the quality of sleep.
Have a certain ritual for going to bed that will help you to unwind and start to relax. For example, read a book, have a bath, meditate, listen to nice music or simply reflect on your achievements ofthe day.
Do not exercise in the evening as our body needs a few hours to calm down after training.
Do not drink coffee after 4 pm as caffeine has a half-life of 5-8 hrs. Caffeine affects our nervous and hormonal systems and prevents us from having a good sleep.
And of course do not eat very late. Dinner should be light and easily digestible. Try to avoid eating combinations of meat and carbohydrates during dinner as they take longer for the body to process. A protein with non-starchy vegetables based dinner is a much smarter choice.

So, now you are ready for your smart sleep! I really hope that you find this article useful and start to implement some changes into your life that will bring you more health and happiness.

Have a good sleep and have a great healthy life!

As usual, I look forward to receiving your ever valuable questions, comments and feedback: irina@liveright.eu

Is GLUTEN Really Everybody’s Bad Guy?

Today I want to talk about Gluten as recently it has become a popular topic for discussion and debate everywhere. Nowadays in every shop and supermarket we can see some variety of gluten-free products. It has become very “trendy” to try a gluten-free diet and, as a result, gluten-free products are a huge business at the moment. It seems to me that the food industry has found a successful replacement for fat-free and low-fat products which are slowly coming out of fashion after creating many health issues and problems. The gluten free food industry is benefiting from $3.4 billion annually and planning to expand up to $24 billion by 2020. Therefore, it is so important to understand properly gluten and to know if you really need to go on a gluten-free diet and what this diet actually means! Otherwise, in a few years’ time, we will face another health crisis such as the one we are facing years of eating fat-free food.

But talking to many people I have realised that the majority of them do not really understand what a gluten-free diet is about and why they may need to follow it. Let’s have a look.

Gluten is a family of proteins that are found mainly in wheat, rye, barley and oats. And, of course, it is present in all baked foods, bread, pasta, many cereals, sauces, salad dressings, soups, beers, food colouring and many others. Due to its ability to glue, gluten has been used in many personal care products as well. But why has gluten become such an issue? And why have people in the past been eating bread and pasta for generations and yet never faced this issue? The reason is that wheat is not the same today as it used to be. Modern wheat is completely different from the wheat people ate back in the past.

First of all, due to mass production, in the 60s wheat with a much greater yield was developed through cross-breeding and genetic manipulations. This changed the nutrient composition and physical properties of the plant.

Additionally, it is processed very differently nowadays as well. After the separation of the nutritious components of the grain (the bran and germ) away from the endosperm (the starchy part), the wheat received by consumers is depleted in nutrients.

Furthermore, the method of food preparation has also been modified dramatically. New technologies allow a huge amount of refined wheat to be created but at a low cost. The process that was used before, which included steps like soaking, sprouting, fermenting and baking with low rise yeasts, are not in use any longer. Now we eat bread that has been bleached and baked with quick rise yeasts.

At the end of the day we are dealing with a completely different protein that is not well recognised by our body and is very difficult to digest. For example, it has been shown that modern wheat contains 19-28% less Zinc, Copper, Iron and Magnesium than the wheat before 1967(Fan MS et al, Evidence of decreasing mineral density in wheat grain over the last 160 years; J Trace Elem Med Biol. 2008).

So, the bottom line is THE WHEAT WE EAT TODAY IS GENETICALLY AND BIOLOGICALLY DIFFERENT AND IS POORLY TOLERATED BY THE HUMAN BODY.

Gluten intolerance used to only be associated with Celiac disease. This autoimmune condition occurs when an immune system doesn’t recognise certain gluten proteins and attack them as viruses or with pathogenic bacteria. At the same time the immune system attacks the gut lining, which causes huge inflammation, leaky gut and many other serious health conditions. About 1% of the population suffers from Celiac disease, but the real number is bigger as many people are misdiagnosed or not diagnosed at all. However, another condition called Non-Celiac Gluten Sensitivity is very much on the rise at the moment with an estimated number of around 8%-10% of the population, and it keeps growing. Interestingly, many people may have certain symptoms of gluten sensitivity and simply do not realise it. So, what are the symptoms of gluten sensitivity that everyone should be aware off. Let’s have a look!

Many different studies have established a profound link between gluten and neurological dysfunctions such as:

Depression and Anxiety
ADHD/ADD
Migraines and headaches
Vertigo
Mood swings

Gluten has also been shown to effect intestinal absorption and also damage other organs that connected to the digestive process. This is causing mineral and vitamin deficiency and causing conditions like:

Leaky gut
Chronic fatigue
Irritable bowel syndrome linked to gas, bloating, constipation, diarrhea
Lactose intolerance and other food intolerances
Acid reflux disease (GERD)

However, there are some symptoms that are less associated with gluten and can easily be missed or misinterpreted. For example:

Fatigue due to malabsorption of essential nutrients.
Joint and muscle pain caused by the inflammation process initiated by gluten.
Hormonal imbalance (irregular menstrual cycles, infertility, weight gain or loss) as gluten effects a neuro-hormonal system.
Frequent colds and viral infections as a result of a low immune system.
Skin rashes and even painful blisters that can appear on the arms, elbows, face and body caused by inflammation under the top layer of skin.
Dental issues due to a low level of Calcium because of a malabsorption issue.

As you can clearly see, GLUTEN SENSITIVITY CAUSES MANY DIFFERENT HEALTH PROBLEMS. The best way to test it is to try a REAL gluten-free diet for at least two weeks. But you need to do it RIGHT! This means stay away from any form or shape of gluten, even in the smallest quantities. Prepare for this experiment, list all the products and foods that may contain gluten including hidden forms like in some sauces and soups. Do your research and have a list of alternative products you can include in your diet like buckwheat and quinoa. Please, be careful when you buy gluten-free products in shops. Gluten-free processed food is not the answer, it is still processed food with many harmful additives and preservatives. Many gluten-free products are made from refined products and do not have many micronutrients that are essential for our body. So, the best solution will be to cook at home from raw gluten-free ingredients. The menu planner can be a very helpful tool during this period of time. If you feel better after two weeks on this diet and perhaps some of your symptoms start to go away, you may want to continue the diet a bit longer to make sure it is a gluten dependent effect.

Many people see some differences in their conditions and try to avoid eating wheat after the experiment or at least reduce the amount of gluten in their diet. But the decision is yours! In any case this experiment will be a very positive experience for you as you will start to listen to your body more carefully, notice some changes and reactions to certain foods or its absence, learn new recipes and upgrade your cooking skills! So, ARE YOU READY FOR AN EXPERIMENT?

I will be very happy to hear the results of your experiment with a gluten-free diet and I would be happy to assist you in any way.

As usual, I look forward to receiving your ever valuable questions, comments and feedback: irina@liveright.eu

Are You a Germ-Paranoid Parent?

Are you the kind of parent who is always trying to protect your children from any possible bugs or germs? Are you always paranoid that your kids will get a bacterial or viral infection from picking something up directly of the soil or from eating with unwashed hands? Do you use anti-microbial wipes and hand sanitisers every few minutes and think that you are doing the best for the health of your loved ones? I have to disappoint you! Actually, you are not helping your children this way at all, rather the other way around!

What we do not often realise is that this DIRT has a certain POWER and that it is actually HEALTHY to be less hygienic! Let me explain why.

With all the astonishing science about microbiome that has emerged in recent years we have learned fascinating facts. We know now that there is a direct correlation between our very clean environment and the increased number of chronic diseases, from autoimmune disorders to autism and dementia. In the last 20 years the number of children with different allergies and food intolerances has increased dramatically. Nowadays every second child has a chronic condition and every fifth has an allergy. It has been demonstrated that the microbiome of young children is established during the first five years of their life and they need to have exposure to different microbes, germs, viruses and parasites in order to get a well-balanced set of bacterial strains in their body. This is the ONLY way to educate and develop their immune system. We are observing a paradox – diseases that are directly related to the immune system, like autoimmune diseases and allergies, thrive in the developing world with our modern economics and life style. It looks like our human microbiome, which has a huge role in supporting our health, is not coping with our modern way of living. For example, when scientists compare the microbiome of children from Africa with that of children from US and Europe, a big difference can be seen. The “Western” microbiome is much less diverse, it has more bacteria of a certain strains, that common in people from urban areas and which are associated with a greater risk of obesity (Ref.1).

Another interesting study has been published very recently (Ref.2) and which looked at the prevalence of Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) as an example of one of many autoimmune diseases in “westernised” Finland and Russian Karelia –region of Russia that is the geographical neighbour of Finland, but in contrast with Finland has a very traditional, agrarian life style. Consistent with the hygiene – microbiome correlation, the prevalence of T1D in Finland is SIX TIMES higher than in Russia!

Another excellent research by Cambridge University (Ref.3) examined the diversity of gut bacteria in people from 192 different countries around the world and reviewed the rate of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The findings were absolutely amazing! Apparently, in less developed countries with lower levels of sanitation, the number of AD is much lower! Scientists conclude that hygiene is positively associated with AD’s risk factor! It is another huge argument for the idea that comfort is a huge problem of our civilised life style.

And we can find many other examples of this link between the modern way of existing and the number of chronic illnesses! It is obvious that a few important factors can play a role here:

Exposure to toxic chemical substances that kill certain good bacteria, adverse the number and composition of our human microbiome. For example, chemicals in different personal care products (hand sanitisers, creams, shampoos), chemicals and certain ingredients in modern food (sugar, additives, preservatives), ecological toxins (pesticides, chlorine in water), drugs and antibiotics.
Deficiency of nutrients in our modern processed food which ordinarily support the diversity of our gut flora.
Lack of exercise, chronic stress, deficit of exposure to the fresh air and natural light have devastating effect on our microflora.

Understand my message correctly! I am not saying that you do not need to follow basic hygiene rules! However, at the same time, try not to create a sterile environment around yourself and your children! I want to share with you a few simple tips that will help you and your family to enrich your microbiome and boost your immune system:

Use natural based cleaning agents in your house, especially in the kitchen, like bicarbonate soda, vinegar and lemon juice.
Eat RAW products that are full of natural beneficial microbes, products like honey and dairy products.
Use prebiotics, fermented food like kefir and sauerkraut that help to maintain the diversity of healthy bacteria in your body.
Use prebiotic food that provides fibre and food for the bacteria in your gut (asparagus, shitake mushrooms, artichokes, leek, garlic).
Let your children be exposed to some natural germs when they touch the soil, help you in the garden, play with pets, visit farms ect.
Be as close to nature as possible, respect your natural circadian rhythm in sleeping and eating.

Let’s be not ANTI-bacterial but rather PRO-bacterial! And remember that ALL HEALTH BEGINS IN THE GUT!

As usual, I look forward to receiving your ever valuable questions, comments and feedback: irina@liveright.eu

References:

Brown et al., “Diet-Induced Dysbiosis of the Intestinal Microbiota and the Effects on Immunity and Disease”, Nutrients 8, no.4, 1095-1119, 2012.
Vatanen, et al. “Variation in Microbiome LPS Immunogenicity Contributes to Autoimmunity in Humans.” Cell. Online April 28, 2016. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2016.04.007
Fox et al., “Hygiene and the World Distribution of Alzheimer’s Disease”, Evol. Med. Publ. Health, 2013, DOI:10.1093/emph/eot015.