Health News
What Your Doctor Won’t Tell You About How To Prevent The Flu
I remember when I was in the gas station business I used to get excited around the holidays because there would be a rush of people traveling to see family, and my sales would go way up. I have a feeling doctors get excited this time of year, because their business booms from all the people coming in with colds and flus. Don’t get me wrong – I’m sure they’re concerned for your wellbeing and give you the best care they know how. But I also know the beginning of the year means a new deductible to meet for most patients, and they avoid going to the doctor unless they have a chronic condition that needs monitoring or they have an urgent issue – like the flu. So I’m just not sure if prevention, or even education on how to prevent the flu, is ever really going to be their focus. The good news is you can prevent yourself from getting the flu – and even the common cold, with natural therapies that promote good health at the cellular level. A virus like the common cold or influenza needs a weak cell as its host. Viruses can’t replicate unless a vulnerable cell allows them to attach and inject their genetic material inside. Here are 3 ways you can make your cells strong enough to fight off viruses and stay healthy through the flu season. Shore Up Your Microbiome Your body is home to trillions of microorganisms known as your microbiome. This collection of mostly bacteria cells is there to help you create good health inside your body. When your microbiome is out of balance from stress, too much sugar, a strong course of antibiotics or other medications, or environmental assault, it can get overrun with Candida yeast, mold from environmental exposure, and even parasites, and this weakens your immune system as a whole. Your microbiome is primarily housed in your digestive system, and 90% of your immune system is also located in your digestive system. This makes sense because most of your contact with the outside world comes in through your digestive system; even your respiratory system “dumps” into your stomach. To strengthen the protective mechanisms of the digestive system, we need to shore up the microbiome with a good quality probiotic. Supplementing more of the “good guys” allows them to take up residence and restore the balance back to health. When you take a probiotic, it’s important to take enough. Think about it, there are trillions of cells in the microbiome, so supplementing with millions of probiotic bacteria won’t even make a dent. You need billions, and often it takes much more than the label on the bottle recommends to see a change in your health. A good probiotic has a pleasant flavor, and can be sprinkled on foods or added to smoothies to get enough in during the day. It’s important to not heat or freeze probiotics; you’ll lose a significant number of good bacteria if they’re exposed to temperature extremes. Support Your Glands Learning to support your immune system is a key factor in also learning how to prevent the flu. And when it comes to supporting the immune system, the major player is the digestive system, but the master immune gland is the thymus. You don’t hear much about the thymus gland; it sits right behind the breastbone at the level of the heart and makes T-lymphocyte cells, a type of white blood cell important to fight off pathogens, like colds and flu. This gland is highly active in childhood but is infiltrated with fat cells as you age and weakens in its functioning. While this is thought to be normal, as you age this process can actually weaken your immune system and your thymus may need support to function optimally. I recommend taking both thymus and spleen extracts to boost the function of the immune system during flu season and prevent these bugs from taking hold and making you sick. Build Collagen with 2 Key Nutrients Collagen is the most abundant protein in the body. It’s found in muscles, bones, ligaments, tendons and cartilage. It strengthens hair, skin, nails and connective tissue. Basically it’s the “glue” that keeps us all held together, and it declines naturally as we age, making us more prone to achy joints, wrinkled skin, sore muscles, and something called leaky gut syndrome. Leaky gut syndrome occurs when an inflamed intestinal lining allows whole proteins and pathogens like bacteria and viruses to pass into the blood stream, causing more inflammation and infections. The microbiome support of a good probiotic plays a large part in its healing, but strengthening collagen is really the key to restoring the integrity of the lining and bringing health to the immune system again. The 2 key nutrients used to support collagen production are Lysine, an amino acid, and vitamin C in high dose. Studies done by Dr. Matthias Rath show this combination to be effective against influenza before, during and after infection. I recommend at least 2,000 to 5,000 mg of Vitamin C daily, especially during flu season, and supplement 1,000 to 2,000 mg of Lysine with the vitamin C. I’ve written more about Dr. Rath and how Vitamin C saved my life here. I often say “Don’t be a doctor’s Christmas present.” Well, don’t be his Spring Break either. With a fundamental education on how to prevent yourself from getting the flu, and a few basic supplements like vitamin C, lysine, thymus and spleen extracts, and a good probiotic, I believe you can support your health at the cellular level, and avoid colds and the flu altogether.
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Is Colon Cleansing Your Missing Link to Weight Loss?
You may have 20 pounds of waste sitting in your colon right now. Unless you’re among the small percentage of people who get regular colonics, that’s how much waste the average American adult has piling up in their intestines, and it can seriously affect your digestive health, as well as your weight loss. According to a 2016 study, the average American is getting more than 50% of their calories from ultra-processed foods, like sugary drinks from Starbucks, pizza, sodas like Coke and Pepsi, microwaveable meals, cookies, candy, fried chicken, greasy burgers and fries. These “Frankenfoods” are loaded with artificial ingredients that have names you can’t even pronounce. And they’re missing one key ingredient – fiber. So they sit in your gut for days or even weeks, fermenting and rotting instead of digesting and providing nutrients. Constipation, inflammation, nutrient deficiencies, bloating and weight gain are just some of the results. Your body can’t digest these foods, so they sit in your colon as old, rotten feces and mucus and impair the digestion of the healthier foods you eat. Pretty soon you’re bloated, tired all the time, depressed, and catching every bug you come in contact with. It comes as no surprise then, according to the National Institutes of Health, up to 70 million Americans are dealing with digestive problems like Constipation or Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Constipation is No Joke Constipation is no laughing matter. If you aren’t moving your bowels after every meal you eat, then you are, by definition, constipated. Your body has a reflex, known as the gastrocolic reflex, which stimulates movement in the colon when you start eating. The amount of food you eat and the temperature of your food and drinks affect the strength of this reflex. With high fat meals and cold drinks the reflex is stronger, producing a bowel movement more quickly. Caffeine and fructose may also speed up this reflex to the point of being uncomfortable. This is where Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) starts for many people. For every foot of colon, your body can store up to 10 pounds of poop. The average adult’s colon is 5 feet long, so if you are constipated, you could be storing up to 50 pounds of poop! In fact, in autopsies, there have been reports of colons weighing up to 40 pounds with retained stool in them. Constipation Causes Weight Gain Let’s think about what this means. You have several pounds of retained waste in your colon if you aren’t eliminating properly. Normally poop is made up of 75 percent water and 25 percent solid waste. The solid waste consists of dead bacteria, indigestible food matter, cholesterol and other fats, cell debris, and inorganic material. It gets its color from bile pigments and broken down blood cells. Bacterial action is responsible for the smell. When you are constipated, your body recycles everything it can. Bile is a precious commodity, so that toxic bile gets circulated back to the liver to be re-used, and congests the liver in the process. Fluids are extracted from the waste and processed through the kidneys, putting strain on the kidneys to filter all that wastewater. In the process of extracting the fluid, the waste sitting in your colon becomes hard, dry, and compacted, making it harder to move through. This means toxins are accumulating, which are then shuttled to fat cells to be stored since they can’t be eliminated, and this causes not just water weight and bloating, but also fat gain. If constipation is a cause of your weight gain, then Bile Builder is a must-have to cleanse that toxic bile and get toxins flowing out through your colon again so you can lose the weight. Fat cells that are loaded with toxins won’t leave until the toxins have a way to be eliminated; these fat cells are a protective mechanism of your body so you don’t get sick from all the toxins circulating. Gut Feelings If you are experiencing “brain fog,” depression, anxiety, or mood swings, it could be all in your gut. Up to 95 percent of your body’s neurotransmitters like serotonin are made – and used – in your gut. When you eat processed foods, your body has to use its own nutrient stores just to break that food down, so it causes a net loss in nutrients, with no gain. This process uses up magnesium and potassium, 2 very important nutrients that help your food move through your digestive system. The end results are constipation and nutrient deficiencies. It also uses more neurotransmitters to digest and process this junk food, leading to an imbalance in your “feel good” hormones, if not a deficiency. When you are under stress, these hormones are signaled by the brain to “speed up” and this chemical surge causes everything from anxiety, insomnia, trouble swallowing, and the “butterflies” in your stomach, to diarrhea, cramping, and neurotransmitter deficiencies. The real solution to this lies in your microbiome – the colonies of healthy bacteria that protect your health. These good bacteria in your intestines produce neurotransmitters you can use to optimize your digestion and your moods. There are trillions of bacterial cells in your microbiome, but only billions of cells that make up your body. You are outnumbered by the bacteria and other microorganisms that live inside you. When you take a probiotic to try to restore the balance and feed your microbiome, a dose much larger than what’s recommended on the bottle is needed to be effective. This is one of the reasons why Flora-Key Probiotic Powder comes as a powder and not in capsules, to make it easier to reach the doses you need to promote healthy digestion and good moods. Once your microbiome is restored to health, moods are stable, digestion moves smoothly, and because toxins are being eliminated, weight loss becomes much easier. Your Gut is a Big Part of Your Immune System Your digestive system is the main entry point of outside toxins, and as such is an important barrier between you and environmental toxins and invaders. It makes sense then that 80 percent of your immune system is in your gut. Your gut-associated lymphatic tissue (GALT) and microbiome are components of your immune system that are attached to the mucosal lining of your intestines. When that lining is covered with old, rotting feces, it makes it difficult for your immune system to do its job, and as a result, you catch colds and flus more easily, and the gut is virtually defenseless against invading parasites and Candida fungal overgrowth. People are often shocked to hear parasites are a common issue here in the US. If you have pets in your home or eat raw foods, then you have come in contact with parasites. If you have constipation then you have a weakened immunity to parasites and may be harboring them in your colon right now. Here at UNI KEY Health, we have received many stories over the years of parasite cleanses causing dramatic weight loss. Here is just one story of how our colon cleansing kit helps you lose weight and feel better: “I DID IT TO FEEL BETTER & IT WORKED! Before using UNI KEY’s Colon Cleanse…I felt horrible all the time. I knew I was eating all the wrong foods and I continued to do so. I had horrible migraines all the time. 3 weeks into the program I feel amazing! Absolutely amazing! I lost 10 lbs the first full week. I went from a size 22 to a 16 and I continue to lose weight…I wanted to do the cleanse not for weight loss, but to feel better. Now I feel fantastic!” – Bonita O. Eliminate Daily to Lose Weight and Feel Great There are amazing benefits to being regular. When you do a natural colon cleanse then repopulate your microbiome with a good probiotic, you will flush all that old waste out and your digestive health will improve. You’ll fight off common illnesses, have a lot more energy, and best of all, boost your metabolism to burn fat and shed more pounds. Your vitamin, mineral and nutrient absorption will skyrocket and you’ll feel the difference – you won’t feel run down all the time. Your moods will be better and your memory sharper. Isn’t it time to purge all that old waste from your body and get started feeling better and burning fat?
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Lose the Fruit to Lose Weight
Snacking on fresh fruit may not be your best option when trying to lose weight. Lose the fruit for weight loss! The saying used to be “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” The truth may more likely be “An apple a day keeps the weight loss away.” The argument for fruit in our diets used to be for their nutrient and fiber content, but lower nutrient values have shot holes in that theory. Thanks to poor soil quality, studies show steady declines in the amount of protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron, riboflavin (vitamin B2) and vitamin C over the past half century, with the magnesium content of an apple about 82% lower than it was just 100 years ago. Fruits today are mainly sugar, water, and fiber, and this change in composition has changed their value in our diets. Why Fruit Might Stop Your Weight Loss Progress The main sugar found in fruit is fructose, which is a simple sugar that is only processed by your liver. If your liver already has enough energy, fructose is rapidly stored as fat in your body. For this reason, fructose is considered the most harmful sugar for your metabolism. Compare this to glucose, the most common simple sugar, which is sent to your muscles, brain and other organs to be used immediately for fuel and energy. Fruit does have both fructose and glucose in it, so the glucose slows down the time it takes your liver to break down the fructose, but the ratio these sugars are in is about the same as the ratio in table sugar, and that’s not what we’re going for when we’re trying to lose weight. The other reason fruit can halt weight loss progress is sugar cravings. Some people find the sweetness of even one piece of fruit causes them to crave sugar and indulge in sugary treats or more carbohydrate-rich foods. High carb foods cause weight gain in a similar way to fructose; they break down into sugars that are stored as fat if they aren’t burned for energy. Eliminating fruit entirely from the diet helps kills the sugar cravings more quickly in this case, and makes it easier and more enjoyable to stick with a healthy weight loss plan. The best all-around triple whammy to control fruit cravings, help fat absorption and support the liver’s ability to metabolize sugars is our Weight Loss Formula. “Fruit Belly” One of the hallmarks of eating too much fruit is what I call “fruit belly.” As the founder of UNI KEY Health, I’ve had a fair amount of customers contact me over the years, concerned the nutritional supplements they started at the same time they began their new weight loss diet are causing them digestive issues. “James, my belly is bloated all the time, I’ve got a lot of gas and am having bouts of diarrhea. What am I taking that’s causing this?” At this point, I usually ask about which diet they’re on and how much fruit they are eating or juicing. Most of the time, they’ve increased their fruit or even started juicing quite a bit of it, and that’s the real source of their issues. Everyone thinks juicing fruits is one of the healthiest things you can do, but it’s really not. When you eat a whole piece of fruit, the fiber in it slows your digestion so the sugars in it are absorbed more slowly. When you juice that same piece of fruit, the fiber is removed and it’s like taking a shot glass full of sugar; all that sugar creates the perfect conditions for Candida yeast overgrowth in the intestines. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), fruit is considered yin and full of dampness, which means it’s more contracting, less energetic, and contributes to a sluggish metabolism. Shifting the balance of a person to being more yin sets you up for Candida yeast overgrowth, with bloating, skin rashes, acne, hair loss, excessive gas, and diarrhea. Candida yeast upsets your microbiome and creates an unfavorable imbalance that leads to weight gain, not weight loss. You can stop the yeast overgrowth by cutting out the fruit and all sources of sugars, and repopulating the microbiome with healthy bacteria using a good probiotic like our Flora-Key Probiotic Powder for adults and kids. If symptoms have been ongoing or are more severe, a cleanse with our Y-C Cleanse may be needed to get your digestive system balanced again. Fructose Malabsorption Occasionally, symptoms are more severe, and in this case it’s likely to be Fructose Malabsorption, formerly known as Fructose Intolerance. In some people, the small intestine cannot completely absorb fructose, so it passes through undigested into the colon. Once in the colon, the bacteria that are part of the microbiome rapidly digest it and produce gases, which cause the colon to swell. This swelling leads to bloating, distention, gas, cramping, and occasional diarrhea when a larger amount of fructose is ingested. Fatigue, headaches, mood swings, and constipation can also be present. Fructose Malabsorption can be hard to distinguish from Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO), and Candida overgrowth. Testing from a doctor’s office may show nutrient deficiencies and elevated pancreatic enzymes. They may do a Hydrogen Breath Test or prescribe a fructose elimination diet. While these tests are important, once they are done I believe a comprehensive gastrointestinal analysis is important. This is a more detailed test we offer through UNI KEY Health, which will tell you if there is Candida, harmful bacteria, or other pathogens present in your digestive system. It also measures markers of inflammation, pancreatic enzymes, and tests for common food reactions. Getting to the root causes of your weight gain and eliminating them will lead you far down the road to health and success. Impaired digestion from intestinal overgrowth and lack of nutrients in our food may lead to nutrient deficiencies. This is why good supplements are a must to maintain a healthy body and achieve your goal weight. The bottom line is even if you’re eating what you think are healthy foods, they may not be the health superstars they used to be. I encourage you to replace the high fructose fruits in your diet with leafy green vegetables and just a few berries in your protein-rich smoothies. Unsweetened cran-water is a good choice to replace high fructose drinks.
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How To Lose Weight Fast: The Real Trick to Weight Loss
Did you know that there are hundreds of thousands of people, right this minute, who desperately want to know how to quickly lose weight? So often we feel completely alone in our weight loss journeys, but no. We’re not. Have you also noticed that when you’re looking to lose weight, people come out of the woodwork to give you advice? Your coworker says the secret is to only eat one meal per day. Your best friend claims she knows exactly how to lose weight fast, and that the cabbage soup diet will have you looking great in time for swimsuit season. Your mother says you don’t need to shed a single pound and offers you cake instead. Your doctor has told you for years that all you need to do to lose weight is eat less and move more. But it just isn’t that simple… We’ve learned a lot since the days of counting calories and restricting ourselves to one meal or only one food. We know now that everything from toxins in our environment to food sensitivities, hormones, emotions, stress levels and more can change the size and number of our fat cells – and the size of our clothes. To help you fit into those pants you’ve been eying and keep the weight off, here is the research-based trick to lose weight that you can live with – without starving yourself, eating only at odd times of the day, or impacting your social life. The Real Trick to Lose Weight Fast: Get Off the Blood Sugar Rollercoaster It’s the first day of your new, healthy lifestyle and instead of going for your usual microwave breakfast sandwich, you grab a piece of fruit and a granola bar with your morning coffee and head out the door. But, halfway through your morning, you feel a crash coming on and snack on crackers you found stashed in your desk. Noon comes and you’re starving. You make your way through that salad in record time, feeling hungry with a sense of accomplishment. Mid-afternoon comes and you’re so tired you can barely keep your head off your desk. You fight the sugar cravings and instead eat another piece of fruit. Dinner can’t come soon enough. Weeks go by like this and you feel tired, irritable, and haven’t lost a pound. What’s the deal? You’re on the blood sugar rollercoaster! When you eat a meal or snack high in sugar and carbs and low in fats and protein, your blood sugar goes up quickly. This stimulates the release of insulin, which is good, because it takes the sugar from the fruit, granola bar and crackers you ate out of the blood and into the cells where it can be burned for fuel. But, high insulin causes the sugar to be taken into the cells more rapidly, which causes a reactive low blood sugar, or hypoglycemia. Low blood sugar causes you to crave sugar; it’s a protective mechanism so your sugar doesn’t go dangerously low. It comes from the time in our ancestry when food was scarce and the body couldn’t be sure of its next real meal. When you restrict your calories in an effort to lose weight, then you eat low fat, low calorie, carb-rich foods, your blood sugar spikes, insulin rises, then blood sugar drops again, and this is the roller coaster ruling your cravings and slowing your weight loss efforts. This same cycle occurs when you skip a meal. As blood sugar goes up and down, insulin gradually rises to a new, higher baseline. As insulin rises, inflammation and weight gain are triggered. Other hormones also come into play here, including leptin, which controls your hunger, and cortisol, which is a stress hormone. The caffeine in that coffee you drank also increases cortisol, which has an indirect effect on this cycle, worsening the blood sugar highs and lows. The longer you eat a low fat, carb-rich diet, the closer you get to developing insulin resistance, diabetes and adrenal fatigue. It isn’t long before you’re feeling sick, fat, and tired. Focus on the Balance of Nutrients Instead of Counting Calories The key to getting off this dangerous ride is found in protein, healthy fats and fiber. Each of these slows gastric emptying, which slows the speed of sugars in the foods you eat turning into sugar (glucose) in the blood. If you start your day with something high in sugar and refined carbs like donuts, or even the natural sugars found in fruits, you set yourself up for a quick rise in blood sugar, followed by a sharp drop, which brings on a craving for more sugar to fix the problem. Instead, start your day with a healthy meal including protein, healthy fats and fiber, and you get a slow, steady release of sugar over time instead of a spike, so the highs and lows never come. Include this power trio in several small meals and snacks throughout your day and watch your insulin and inflammation levels go down while cravings disappear and weight starts to come off. It’s not healthy to entirely eliminate any food group, including carbs, which seems to be a popular diet choice today. We all need to enjoy healthy carbs in our diets. If you don’t, you can’t make enough of the hormones your body needs for metabolism and your core body temperature will drop, which causes a whole host of problems. We need to wisely choose the carbs that will cause the least amount of increase in blood sugar. Instead of eliminating carbs, choose healthy carbs that take longer for your body to break down into sugars. The best guide for this is the Glycemic Index of Foods. The Glycemic Index of Foods measures how much and how quickly a carbohydrate food raises your blood sugar. The higher the glycemic index of a food is, the faster and higher that food increases your blood sugar. The truth is, we all want an occasional treat, even when we are on the healthiest diet. The glycemic index can guide you to the best choice to keep blood sugars healthy when you do indulge. When trying to lose weight, stick to leafy greens and other low glycemic vegetables as your main source of carbs and avoid grains whenever possible, including oatmeal. Grains are mostly carbs and sugars, with only a little protein and fat. Unless you are active enough to burn these calories right away, your body will store these sugars as fat in just a few hours after eating them, plus they’ll send you back on the blood sugar rollercoaster all over again. Best Ways to Beat Sugar Cravings Bitter foods beat sugar cravings, according to Ayurvedic medicine. Start your day with lemon water, and drink it before meals to stimulate gastric juices and proper digestion. Ann Louise Gittleman’s famous Fat Flush Cran-Water is another bitter that not only cuts cravings but helps melt cellulite away and balances cellular pH. If you eat breakfast on-the-go, a power-packed smoothie made with a good quality protein powder will get your day off to a good start. Add in full fat coconut milk for the healthy fats, which help boost energy, curb cravings, balance blood sugars, and make you feel full faster. If you enjoy smoothies, consider our 2-Week Smoothie Shakedown Bundle program to jumpstart your weight loss. Eat Fat to Lose Weight The truth is out and sugars, not fats, are the villains when it comes to weight gain. Eating protein and good fats are very important for weight loss and overall health. Healthy fats and oils curb cravings and increase feelings of satiety after a meal, so the desire for dessert disappears. Healthy fats and oils are found in foods like avocadoes, coconut, macadamia nuts, flaxseeds, chia seeds, hemp hearts, grassfed meats, and extra virgin olive oil. If you really want to know how to quickly lose weight, look into supplementation. Consider supplementing with these two healthy fats: Gamma Linolenic Acid (GLA). This essential fat is often the most deficient fat in our diets. GLA stimulates metabolism by activating brown fat, which in turn boosts your fat-burning metabolism. GLA also increases serotonin levels, which can suppress appetite. Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA). This essential fat used to be abundant in our diets in beef and dairy, when cattle were grass-fed, Now that most cattle are grain fed, our CLA intake has dropped by 80%, on average. This essential fat sends the message to your body to burn stored fat as energy while preserving your precious lean muscle mass. When taken in doses of 3000mg, this fat can also help tighten up loose skin, especially useful after weight loss when sagging skin would normally be present. Visualize Your Weight Loss A bonus trick to help you feel better and look better – as part of your daily exercise routine, practice walking meditation. Go for a walk and practice deep breathing as you move, imagine oxygen going in to the areas where you want to lose weight, holding the air there as long as you can before exhaling and releasing. As oxygen floods your fat tissues, toxins are more easily released, resulting in an easier, long lasting weight loss.
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James Talks: Stick to Your New Year’s Resolution
Healthy living is far better than any medicine – and it’s completely without the bad side effects. We intuitively know this, because according to a poll conducted by YouGov in December, eating healthier and getting more exercise were neck-and-neck as the most popular New Year’s resolutions for 2018. But as we all know, the problem isn’t in making the resolutions or setting goals – it’s in sticking with them. Unfortunately, according to the statistics, more than 40 percent of us fail our New Year's resolution goals after only 1 month. The key to lasting success is staying motivated and persevering. I didn’t get to be a 30-year cancer survivor by chance. Perseverance and persistence have been the keys to my lasting success. Once you set personal goals, you simply can’t give up until you reach them. Sometimes I get tunnel vision, and that goal I’ve set is all I can see until I reach it. There was a point in my healing journey when I had just gotten out of the hospital and I was so weak and tired that I could barely get out of bed; that I was starting to feel a little discouraged by the way I felt in my body. Instead of succumbing to my emotion, I didn’t let it get me down; I used it to turn things around. I started setting goals – that day – and I believed that if I could run 18 miles, that would be a sign to me that I was gonna beat that cancer and live a long, healthy life. And still sore from surgery, I ran that 18 miles. I felt dead tired after, and my leg swelled terribly, but I did it. And if I can run my race despite challenges that felt as big as mountains, I believe you can, too. True Health Means More Than What You See in the Mirror There are benefits to a healthy lifestyle beyond just how you look – those lifestyle changes could save your life like they saved mine. One thing I like to say is don’t be a doctor’s Christmas present. A new study shows if you stick to your resolutions to eat healthily and exercise, you can cut your cancer risk by 16 percent. Also, if you lower your alcohol intake, maintain a healthy weight and don’t smoke, then your total cancer risk is cut by one third. That’s a big deal! Let me put this another way, because it’s important. It’s your lifestyle, not your genes, that determines your cancer risk. Your genes may load the gun, but it’s your cellular environment that pulls the trigger. I take my Daily Greens Formula faithfully every day, because I believe it’s the key to a healthy environment at the cellular level. You may have been dealt a bad hand when it comes to genes, but if you live a healthy lifestyle, there’s nothing to pull the trigger to activate those gene mutations. This principle holds true for most major diseases that have a genetic component, including the genetic heart disease that led to my father and my grandfather’s early passing. (My last screening showed 0% plaque in my arteries.) It’s Not Too Late – Plan for Success I know we’re already a little way into the new year, and maybe you didn’t make a resolution or set personal goals for a healthier lifestyle, or you’re having trouble following through on what you promised yourself. I understand how hard it is to get motivated to exercise when it’s cold outside. I understand how challenging it is to have your food and drink choices restricted while everyone around you seems to be eating, drinking and celebrating. This is when the rubber meets the road and persistence pays off. This is the time when goal setting becomes taking action to reach them. Plan ahead for your best success and have a nutrient dense smoothie or protein-rich snack before you head to that gathering or party, because when you feel satisfied, you are much less likely to make unhealthy food choices. It’s time to get creative and think outside the box to build your arsenal of weapons to combat social situations that would otherwise throw you off your goals. You Don’t Have to Go it Alone Maybe you’re someone who does better with a plan, in a group, or maybe even with an accountability partner. I invite you to pick up a copy of Ann Louise Gittleman’s New Fat Flush Plan and join her amazingly supportive community of 6,000+ people on Facebook following the Fat Flush lifestyle. I’m in it, and it’s the most supportive, helpful and fun group I’ve ever been part of. I’ve done it both ways – I’ve been the only one I knew eating healthy, and I’ve surrounded myself with a community who followed the same lifestyle I was living. Let me tell you, being part of a group is more fun, more accountability, and less work than trying to do it all on your own. Ann Louise Gittleman is also just a few days into her 2-week Fat Flush QuickStart Challenge, and she has pulled out all the stops on this one to make sure you have your best success with weight loss. For example, our Weight Loss Formula combined with her QuickStart Coffee Energy Blaster has a synergistic effect together and jump-starts your fat-burning metabolism for a dramatically faster weight loss. You can jump in on the QuickStart right now if you don’t mind being a few days behind, or you can stay tuned for the next one. Either way, don’t let goal setting be the beginning and end of your journey. Success is in action – and you can do it.
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Is Adrenal Fatigue Causing Your Weight Gain?
If you wake up tired, desperately want a nap mid-afternoon, or feel “wired but tired” in the evenings, and at the same time you can’t lose a single pound no matter what you’ve tried, you may be suffering like millions of others are – with adrenal fatigue. Our modern, busy lives are saturated with stress, and stress is the root of adrenal fatigue. Whether it’s weight gain, toxins, technology, illness, relationships, school, work, money, or whatever else is on your list, all that stress can add up and lead to worn out adrenals. Today, people of all ages and stages are affected – students, pregnant women, athletes, men and women with high-pressure jobs, women going through menopause, busy parents with demanding schedules – no one is immune. Read on to find out if adrenal fatigue causes weight gain. What is Adrenal Fatigue? Adrenal fatigue is caused by chronic, unrelenting stress. It’s one of those conditions where you feel bad, but look good on most medical tests, so it tends to get written off by mainstream medicine as “all in your head.” In reality, it is in your head – as brain fog, forgetfulness, impatience and anxiety; and it’s in your body – as weight gain, exhaustion, exercise intolerance, lowered immunity, high blood pressure, high heart rate, shallow breathing, and an inability to get a good night’s sleep. Your constant exposure to stress is exhausting your adrenals, and it’s because your body can’t tell the difference between emotional, physical, mental, social, or toxic stress. In other words, it doesn’t matter if you’ve had a bad day at work or have been chased by a hungry bear – your body reacts to it all the same. So every time you sleep through your alarm clock, rush around getting everyone ready, run out the door, and slide into work just under the wire, your body reacts the same as it would if you were in DANGER. How Stress –and Adrenals – Cause Weight Gain Your adrenals are small, walnut-sized glands sitting on top of your kidneys, and their main function is to produce stress hormones, including cortisol. Once your adrenals are tired, you pump out cortisol, your energy drops through the floor, and your weight starts to creep up – especially in your belly. The hard truth is, your body is more concerning with staying alive than it is with how it looks. Your body creates a fat cushion around your abdominal organs to protect them during times of stress and attack. This fat pad also acts as fuel storage your body can live off of in case your current stress leads to famine. This is why diet and exercise don’t work when you have adrenal fatigue. Your body is fighting you every step of the way to keep its belly fat stores for survival. And you’re already tired; your body doesn’t want vigorous exercise – it wants restorative sleep. Find Out If You Have Adrenal Fatigue – Take Our At-Home Test Your adrenals are part of the HPA Axis, and that’s the mastermind behind it all – it controls your stress response, your thyroid health, and even your estrogen/sex hormone balance. A problem in the HPA Axis is like a string of Christmas lights – when one part is stressed out, they all get stressed out, and it can take some detective work to find the solution that gets your metabolism fired up and energy production turned backed on. This is where functional testing shines. UNI KEY Health offers a Salivary Hormone Test, which measures cortisol in your saliva at targeted points throughout the day and night. This Adrenal Stress Panel gives a clear picture of the health of your adrenals, and which supplements are helpful for your specific situation. The goal here is to normalize cortisol levels and change your relationship with stress. Because let’s face it – stress will always be a part of our busy lifestyles, we simply need to change our response to it – on all levels. Jump Start Your Weight Loss and Create Your Own Health One of the best supplements for triggering fat burning instead of fat storage is GLA, gamma linolenic acid. Our Gamma Linolenic Acid Supplement gets your abdominal fat – known as brown fat – to wake up and become more metabolically active. This fat loss triggers your body to burn more calories for increased energy and even generate body heat. GLA also helps suppress appetite by raising your body’s serotonin levels and increasing feelings of fullness and satiety. When you are feeling overwhelmed by stress, you need to support your adrenals with a good Adrenal Formula with nutrients including Vitamin C, pantothenic acid, Vitamin B6, zinc, and glandular extracts or time-released buffered Vitamin C formula like our Time-C Release Vitamin C Dietary Supplement. That low energy you are experiencing is a warning sign that your adrenals need nourishment and rest, and a good quality supplement is a must-have for creating optimal health. If you are looking for the right diet plan, Ann Louise Gittleman just released her Fat Flush QuickStart, a revolutionary new plan that includes healing foods and supplements for your adrenals, which rev up your metabolism and increase your fat-burning metabolism. Her 2-week challenge starts on January 8, 2018, and is only available for this limited time. For long-term health maintenance, her New Fat Flush Plan contains tried-and-true wisdom for weight loss with detox, and maintaining for life.
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Use These 5 Supplements to Boost Your Weight Loss
This time of year we all make New Year’s resolutions like losing weight, exercising regularly, and spending more time with the people we love. But let’s face it – with our busy lifestyles, taking on a time-intensive diet and exercise program seems like too much to do. This is where nutritional supplements come in. Nutritional Supplements can: Serve as a meal replacement Make you feel full faster Fire-up your fat-burning metabolism Melt away cellulite Help rid the body of excess fat Here are 5 supplements to boost weight loss that do the heavy lifting for you, so simple tweaks to your diet and exercise routine yield better, faster results. 1. Protein Powder Whether you choose a whey protein powder or a dairy-free protein powder, this is a must-have addition to any busy dieter’s meal planning. Protein powders come in many flavors, and can be used as a meal replacement added to water, mixed into a smoothie, or even used in recipes to help you feel full faster. Protein powders have many health benefits. Whey protein has been shown in studies to boost glutathione levels – a potent antioxidant, enhance immune function, modulate iron levels, relieve fatigue, and facilitate muscle recovery. And it contains natural appetite suppressants when it’s denatured, like our Whey Protein Powder. Every cell in your body has protein, making it the most abundant macronutrient in the body. However, not all protein powders are created equal. A good protein powder is a complete source of amino acids. Ingredients like pea and rice protein complement each other to provide all the amino acids. This is what we use in our Body Protein Powder, which is gluten-free and dairy-free. A good protein powder should also be free of contaminants and heavy metals, use only non-GMO sources, and be free of gluten, egg, soy and artificial sweeteners. Temptation Tip: Before you head out the door to that party where desserts and other carb-rich forbidden foods and drinks abound – threatening to add inches to your waistline – drink a smoothie made with your favorite protein powder. You’ll arrive feeling full and already satisfied, making temptation much easier to resist. 2. L-Carnitine This amino acid should be in every dieter’s weight loss arsenal. Comprised of lysine and methionine, your body uses this antioxidant to turn the fat you eat into energy. L-Carnitine has been clinically shown to reduce hunger and fatigue, improve weight loss, and boost metabolism in people who are dieting. Our stimulant-free Weight Loss Formula contains L-Carnitine Tartrate for its fat burning and energy boosting properties. 3. GLA (gamma linolenic acid) This essential fat helps you lose weight by signaling your body to burn fat instead of storing it. It boosts your fat-burning metabolism 2 ways: first, it wakes up your body’s burning of brown fat, which is typically inactive in people who are overweight. The second way it revs up metabolism is by activating the sodium-potassium ATPase pump, which not only burns a significant amount of calories and boosts metabolism, but also raises serotonin levels, causing you to feel full faster. Our GLA-90 is made from black currant seed oil, which is non-estrogenic and contains a healthy balance of omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids. 4. CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) Numerous studies have been done on the weight loss effects of CLA. It not only helps you burn stored fat for energy, it reduces your body’s ability to store more fat, and helps you gain lean muscle at the same time – all without changes to diet or lifestyle. CLA targets belly fat and helps to lower leptin levels, a hormone responsible for weight gain. And if all that isn’t enough, it also helps reduce your appetite, especially when you’re sleep-deprived. Our CLA-1000 is the perfect supplement to fast track your weight loss, even before you make healthy changes to your diet and lifestyle. 5. Choline Even though choline is an essential nutrient, most people have not heard of this hidden cellulite-melting gem. It has been clinically shown to lower your cholesterol while it simultaneously helps your body burn fat. Choline is essential to liver health and deficiency leads to fatty liver disease, a common problem. Choline is necessary for our methylation cycle, our brain health, and is involved in numerous cell-level enzyme reactions. Choline also boosts your energy while it helps you lose weight. Our Weight Loss Formula contains the powerful combination of Choline and L-Carnitine because it works synergistically – not only does it break down and burn body fat, but this combination flushes the fat completely out of the body through your elimination pathways. Fat Flush QuickStart Ann Louise Gittleman has just introduced a revolutionary new 2-week program which includes these supplements to fuel your body’s built-in fat-burning furnace and give you a radical metabolism! It’s all the convenience of the Smoothie Shakedown with the tried-and-true principles you love from the New Fat Flush Plan, plus cutting-edge metabolism boosters – including Intermittent Fasting – to break through weight loss plateaus and help you achieve your weight loss goals. It’s time to Be Lean in 2018! Buy your copy of Fat Flush QuickStart here >> Shop for QuickStart Supplements here >>
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Is Your Green Drink Healthy?
Let’s face it – getting enough leafy greens in your diet every day is a challenge. Greens powders are a great solution to boost your vegetable intake, easy to add to water or smoothies, and the health benefits are amazing: purify the blood, oxygenate cells, increase energy, balance pH, help with cell repair, protect from free radical damage, reduce inflammation, support the immune system, help with memory, and so much more. But is your greens powder really good for you? Some have added sugars or are contaminated with bacteria and heavy metals. Let’s break down the 5 most common questions about the healthiest green powders and help you find the best quality for your health goals. 1. Is wheat grass really gluten free? You work hard to maintain your gluten free diet, and it’s helping your health issues. But you read the label on your favorite greens formula and find wheat and barley grasses, raising concerns there may be gluten. Rest easy. According to both the US Department of Agriculture and the American Association of Cereal Chemists, gluten is found only in the seed kernel, which is what we make flour from, and not in the stem and leaves, also known as the “grass.” So a properly processed greens formula contains only the young grasses before the seed kernel even forms, and not the gluten. These grasses are potent antioxidants, rich in a wide variety of vitamins and minerals. Their anti-inflammatory enzymes support the immune system, while the chlorophyll cleanses and oxygenates the blood. They support adrenals, help remove heavy metals and even protect against radiation exposure. 2. I don’t like the taste of greens, can I use a flavored greens powder? There are many varieties of greens on the market, and many are flavored to mask the taste of the greens for non-vegetable lovers. But a close inspection of the flavorings usually reveals hidden sources of fructose, like concentrated fruit juices. These fruit juices contribute to blood sugar issues, the inability to lose weight, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and high LDL cholesterol. The best formulas are unsweetened and contain just greens. For a great tasting smoothie, try our recipe inspired by Ann Louise Gittleman’s Fat Flush Smoothie from her Fat Flush Plan book: 8 ounces filtered water or cran water (1 oz. unsweetened cranberry juice + 7 oz. water) 1 scoop UNI KEY Daily Greens Formula 1 scoop UNI KEY Fat Flush Whey Protein or Body Protein (pea and rice formula) 1 scoop UNI KEY Flora-Key 1 Tablespoon flax oil, melted coconut oil, or coconut manna 1 Tablespoon ground flax seeds, chia seeds or hemp seeds 1 Tablespoon sunflower lecithin 1 cup frozen berries (optional: 1 teaspoon Ceylon cinnamon) Ice cubes (optional) Blend the water, powders and fruit until smooth, then add the rest of the ingredients and blend again. 3. How can I avoid heavy metal contamination in my greens? Most greens available on the shelf today contain kelp or spirulina. These sea vegetables are not only high in minerals, they are also contaminated with radioactive residues, bacteria and heavy metals like lead, cadmium, mercury, arsenic and aluminum. Kelp is one of the cheapest greens available, sold in bulk for cattle feed, and often the very same kelp is bottled and sold to you in supplement form. Avoid greens with sea vegetables that are wild harvested if you want to avoid heavy metal exposure. A Note about Chlorella: this sea vegetable is now available hydroponically grown, in controlled pools with clean water. Chlorella is a good choice in your greens formula when hydroponically grown and its cell wall is cracked for better absorption. 4. How do I know if my greens are good quality? Label reading is your best tool to find good quality greens. First, make sure there are no fillers and no additives in the ingredients – just the greens. Look at the Total Carbohydrate section on the label, and more specifically the Sugars listed. If it’s more than 1 or 2 grams of sugar per serving, there are added sugars hiding in there and should be avoided. Second, make sure your greens are organic and non-GMO. Greens powders are more concentrated than the whole vegetables, which means any pesticides like RoundUp or other chemicals are also more concentrated. Organic and non-GMO are the cleanest greens available and the best choice for quality. Just a reminder, hydroponically grown chlorella is the only sea vegetable that should be in the ingredients. Avoid kelp and spirulina and the other sea vegetables to avoid heavy metal contamination. 5. What are the best greens to have in a greens formula? The best-known super foods in greens powders are wheat grass, barley grass, kale, and spinach. Other good additions include sulfur-rich cancer-fighting broccoli sprouts, parsley for fluid balance and healthy homocysteine levels, chlorella for mold and heavy metal detox, celery for gout and digestive health, grasses like oat and alfalfa for wound healing and healthy blood sugar, and collard greens for powerful immune support. These are the 11 organic, non-GMO greens in UNI KEY’s Daily Greens Formula, which we believe is the best greens formula on the market.
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This “Healthy” Oil Makes You Fat and Worsens Memory
By James Templeton Forget the health claims made about this vegetable oil – which actually isn’t even a vegetable. Today, we're talking about the truth about canola oil. Research has already shown an increased risk in cardiovascular disease from vegetable oils, but a new study from Temple University just came out, showing mice fed the human equivalent of just 2 teaspoons of canola oil daily for 6 months experienced weight gain and significantly worse memory. When the researchers dug deeper into this canola oil controversy, they found an increase in harmful beta amyloid plaque in the brain, which resulted in considerable damage to neurons and indicators of synapse injury, which lead to damage in memory formation and retrieval. On top of that, the mice fed canola oil gained a significant amount of weight, as compared to the control group, which didn’t gain any weight. When you add these issues to the increased risk of cardiovascular disease, this makes canola oil the new villain of the fats. The Cover-Up Can you imagine how hard this lucrative industry is working to keep you buying their products despite this damaging information? I can’t help but use cowboy logic here –they’re leading you to the slaughter chute but are distracting you from it with labeling tricks and trying to make their unhealthy GMO products look healthy. Personally, I’ll be reading labels and double-checking all the packaged food items in my home to make sure I completely eliminate all sources of canola oil. The reason I ask so many questions when I go out to eat is because of issues like this one with canola oil. I’ve had the waitress assure me they use only olive oil, and I’ll ask to see the bottle. They usually bring out a big plastic jug that says “Olive Oil” but when I read the ingredients it says it’s made with a blend of olive and canola oils. When it only takes the human equivalent of 2 teaspoons of canola oil each day to give a mouse impaired brain and memory function and weight gain, it’s vitally important we find every source of canola oil in our diets and remove it. From Bad to Worse There are other issues with these polyunsaturated GMO fats like canola oil. Canola oil comes from the rapeseed, a member of the cabbage family nobody had heard of until they started making oil from it. Virtually all rapeseed is now genetically engineered (GMO) to be tolerant to RoundUp herbicide (glyphosate). This isn’t good news because of the increase in allergies from these GMOs and the issues of toxicity with the RoundUp itself, which is a known carcinogen. A common question at this point is “what about organic?” This oil is still inflammatory, partially because of the way it’s processed. The processing of canola oil involves pressing, heating, using industrial chemicals and highly toxic solvents. Even when it’s cold pressed, the processing is less toxic but the fatty acids in canola oil will still sit in the cell membranes and increase harmful oxidative chain reactions. The body sees it as toxic and stores it in your fat cells. Are you asking questions about what’s in your food? Do you care enough about your health and your family’s health to step out of your comfort zone and ask questions in a restaurant? I’ve personally overcome terminal cancer and genetic heart disease naturally and I’ll do whatever it takes to stay healthy for the rest of my life. What To Do When You Can’t Avoid It If you travel and have to eat in restaurants frequently for your work, exposure to some canola oil may be unavoidable. Here are a few things I recommend in situations like this to minimize the effects of canola oil: Keep your diet full of healthy fats like extra virgin olive oil, full fat coconut milk, nuts, ghee and grassfed meats. If you have to fry, use avocado oil or macadamia nut oil. When you eat an anti-inflammatory diet rich in these healthy fats, it should protect your health with small, occasional exposures to harmful oils. Take extra digestive enzymes when you eat foods with canola oil to break it down more quickly and move it through your system. Take antioxidants and eat antioxidant-rich foods to quickly heal any inflammatory damage done by canola oil. Take GLA-90 (gamma linolenic acid) from cold pressed black currant seed oil to fortify your cell membranes and protect from inflammation. GLA will also activate your body’s fat burning and help you shed those extra pounds faster.
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