Stressed, gaining weight and feeling slugish then get some belly BUSTING probiotics.
Once you’ve read this article, click this link to purchase the best, clinically proven PROBIOTICS on the market.
Do you want to lose belly fat? Belly fat is one of the worst kinds of fats because it is a biologically active fat that releases chemicals called adipokines, which lead to more fat gain and muscle loss. Belly fat is very difficult to lose because along with producing those bad chemicals, it slows your metabolism.
Men typically have more belly fat than women—think of the big “beer belly”—putting them at greater risk for diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and the metabolic syndrome. Although beer may lead to greater belly fat gain, it is certainly not the biggest belly fat builder. 
Rather, high cortisol, poor insulin health, and gastrointestinal problems are greater influences on belly fat gain. Take control of these three factors and you’ll lose belly fat and be much healthier—and you’ll probably feel less stress!
Many people don’t realize that belly fat is not the fat that is right below the skin, which you can grab with your fingers. Rather, belly fat is the common term for visceral intra-abdominal fat—the fat that is deep inside the body behind your abdominal muscles and surrounding your organs. It can even get into your organs, such as your liver and heart, causing a host of bad things to happen.
Emerging research shows that one strategy for losing belly fat is to control insulin health and manage cortisol by taking a probiotic. There is a direct connection between belly fat gain, poor insulin health, and cortisol production, and probiotics have been shown to have rather amazing affects on all three. Indeed, there’s ample evidence that taking a probiotic will directly lead to belly fat loss without going on a diet. We also know that probiotics improve insulin sensitivity in diabetic and healthy individuals, and that probiotics decrease stress, lowering cortisol.
What Are Probiotics?
Probiotics are tiny live bacteria that naturally occur in the gastrointestinal tract. Appropriate levels of these bacteria, commonly called microflora because it sounds nicer, do more than just make sure food passes through you efficiently. Probiotics directly affect nutrient absorption and they lower chronic inflammation, while supporting your body’s ability to produce neurotransmitters for the brain.
In fact, about two-thirds of your neurotransmitters are made in the gut lining, meaning that the major chemicals that are responsible for mood and brain function are produced in the gastrointestinal tract. No kidding, there’s ample evidence that cognitive function and mood will be poor if you have problems with your gut.
How Will Probiotics Help Me Lose Belly Fat?
The fascinating thing about belly fat loss with probiotics is that it starts with the brain. Here’s how it works: if you have an unhealthy gut, you will likely have more stress and anxiety, which leads to the release of stress hormones, such as cortisol. Several studies have shown that stressful events trigger cortisol and lead to the onset of chronic gastrointestinal disturbances. Stomach problems and elevated cortisol directly affect insulin health and leads to belly fat gain.
Take note that simply eating yogurt with active cultures does not provide enough of the most effective microflora probiotics to induce weight loss and visceral fat reduction. In the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition study, a fermented milk product was used that contained regular active yogurt cultures to which a specific high-powered lactobacillus strain was added. The probiotic group took this version, while a control group took the fermented milk product without any added probiotic. Despite the “naturally” occurring yogurt cultures, the control group lost no fat. Researchers also stress that although the control group’s supplement did contain calcium, conjugated linoleic acid, and amino acids—all of which are thought to be beneficial effects of dairy—they were not effective for inducing weight loss.
It’s supposed that the fat loss occurred because the probiotics inhibit lipid absorption so that fatty acids pass through the body without being metabolized. Plus, probiotics appear to speed overall metabolism, resulting in greater energy utilization. There’s also evidence that taking probiotics leads subjects to eat fewer calories, but this has only been proven in animals and still needs to be tested in humans. In the study described above, energy intake didn’t differ between the probiotic group and the control group, indicating that the weight loss wasn’t from less calorie intake.
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Is There More Proof Probiotics Lower Cortisol?
There is! A new study published in the British Journal of Nutrition showed that taking a probiotic will directly lower cortisol levels because it improves gut flora that affects the brain. Remember, neurotransmitters are produced in the gut—I know you’ve heard the term “I have a gut feeling”—and there’s a well-established link between stress, mood disorders, brain function and gastrointestinal disease.
In this new study researchers compared giving a probiotic or a placebo to a group of volunteers who reported having mild anxiety or depression. The group that received the probiotic treatment reported elevated mood, had less stress and anxiety, and showed less depression and feelings of anger. The probiotics group also significantly decreased cortisol levels, while a placebo group had no changes in cortisol or in ratings of mood, stress, or depression.
Additionally, the probiotic group reported being more focused on problem solving tasks. According to researchers, the probiotics decreased unhealthy pathogens in the gut, helping to get rid of inflammation, while improving central nervous system communication between the brain and the gut. Biomarkers of inflammation, called C-reactive proteins, were diminished, leading to less depression and better emotional response.
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE
Is There Evidence of A Link Between Poor Gut Health and Greater Stress?
Naturally, there is. Bad gut bacteria such as Clostridium and Bacteriodes have proven to increase anxiety and aggressive behaviors in animals. These “deleterious” bacteria led to increased social isolation, and less play in animal studies, which indicates stress that triggers an elevated cortisol response. There’s a host of evidence that elevated stress levels, both psychological and physical, lead to an increase in cortisol and the inability of the body to regulate cortisol production effectively. This results in chronically high cortisol levels that then impair the body’s ability to respond appropriately to insulin. And of course poor insulin health or insulin “insensitivity” leads to visceral belly fat gain.
We also know that giving probiotics to humans and animals can lower cortisol in normal and high stress situations. One study showed that after inducing stress from heat and giving a probiotic supplement to poultry animals, cortisol, cholesterol, and C-reactive protein markers were significantly decreased in comparison to a control group. It’s the relationship between C-reactive proteins and cholesterol, which is a product of chronic inflammation, that explains how probiotics decrease cortisol and result in belly fat loss.
How are Insulin, Cortisol, and Neurotransmitters Related?
Cortisol is released due to both psychological stresses and physiological stresses. Endurance exercise is a physiological stress that leads to increased cortisol, as is heat stress that I mentioned above. So, your body releases stress hormones after physical stress, and when you are anxious, or under mental duress as well. This is why poor gut health affects the neurotransmitters that are produced in the gut, leading to mental strain and cortisol release. But, at the same time poor gut health triggers chronic inflammation in the intestine, bumping up cortisol, hindering insulin sensitivity.
These processes are all interrelated, but as demonstrated above, we know probiotics can moderate cortisol, improve gut health, lower chronic inflammation, improve insulin sensitivity, and allow you to shed the belly fat. Humans and animals on probiotic treatment have shown greater insulin sensitivity in both healthy subjects and the overweight. For example, a study done on rats compared the effect of four diets on visceral fat loss: a standard control diet, a standard control diet with probiotics, a high-fat diet, and a high-fat diet with probiotics.
The rats on the high-fat diet gained the most visceral fat, while the rats on the standard diet with probiotic actually lost visceral fat. The rats on the high-fat diet with probiotics did gain visceral fat, but it was significantly less than those that ate a high-fat diet without probiotics. More important is that the high-fat diet group showed decreased insulin sensitivity. The probiotic helped support insulin health in the high-fat diet group, and they maintained insulin sensitivity at the same level as the two standard diet groups.
I’m Convinced! What Else Can I Do To Shed the Fat?
The most effective workout for getting rid of belly fat is to do high-intensity intervals and strength training. Authors of a research review on fat loss from exercise noted that “the effect of regular aerobic exercise on body fat is negligible” whereas research into high-intensity exercise (HIT) “indicates that it may be more effective at reducing subcutaneous and abdominal (visceral) body fat than other types of exercise.”
One study that compared the effect of high-intensity exercise (60 sprints of 8 seconds each, 12 seconds rest) with aerobic exercise (60 percent of maximal oxygen uptake for 40 minutes) found that HIT resulted in significant decreases in overall fat mass, while the aerobic exercise group had a fat gain of 0.44 kg on average. The HIT group also had a significant 9.5 percent decrease in visceral fat, whereas the aerobic group had a non-significant increase of 0.2 kg or 10.5 percent. Of related interest is that the HIT group decreased fasting insulin significantly more than the aerobic group (31 versus 9 percent).
A second study found that in men with type 2 diabetes, an eight-week program that mixed aerobic and anaerobic exercise (twice a week of 45 minutes of aerobic exercise at 75 percent of max, and once a week of 5 sprints for 2 minutes at 85 percent) had a significant 44 percent decrease in visceral fat, with a 58 percent improvement in insulin sensitivity. This is great news because it indicates that the cortisol response from the aerobic exercise didn’t mitigate the improvement in insulin health.
Best results are achieved by doing what you enjoy most—or what you dislike least—because there’s more chance you’ll stick with it. Luckily, the evidence shows that a mix of high-intensity training in the form of sprints or weight lifting and adding a probiotic to your diet will allow you to lose the belly fat.
References:
Article taking from Charles Poliquin’s outstanding research into health, fitness and body composition.
Messaoudi, M., Lalonde, R., et al. Assessment of Psychotropic-Like Properties of a Probiotic Formulation (Lactobacillus Helveticus R0052 and Bifidobacterium longum R0175 in Rats and Human Subjects. British Journal of Nutrition. 2011. 105, 755-764.
Andreasen, A., Larsen, N., et al. Effects of Lactobacillus Acidophilus NCFM on Insulin Sensitivity and the Systemic Inflammatory Response in Human Subjects. British Journal of Nutrition. December 2010. 104(12), 1831-1838.
Sohail, M., Liaz, A., et al. Alleviation of Cyclic Heat Stress in Broilers by Dietary Supplementation of Mannan-Oligossaccharide and Lactobacillus-Based Probiotic: Dynamics of Cortisol, Thyroid hormones, Cholesterol, C-Reactive Protein, and Humoral Immunity. Poultry Science. September 2010. 89(9), 1934-1938.
Phillips, D., Barker, D., et al. Elevated Plasma Cortisol Concentrations: A Link Between Low Birth Weight and the Insulin Resistance Syndrome? Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. March 1998. 83(3), 757-780.
Trapp, E., Chisholm, D., et al. The Effects of High-Intensity Intermittent Exercise Training and Fat Loss and Fasting Insulin Levels of Young Women. International Journal of Obesity. 2008. 32(4), 684-691.
Christmas training advent calender: 3rd Dec 2011, Day 2
Brrr…..its cold but its great to run in, so….
Get outside and enjoy!!
OK everyone its day two (of many).
Today its simple running, yes RUNNING, don’t be jogging on me now….jogging is so 1980′s.
All you need is some running shoes (barefoot style please Vibram fivefingers would be best), shorts, a hoody, a bottle of water, an iPod and a true belief that you can run and you can run fast.
Today’s workout:
Warm up: 5 – 10 minutes, taking it easy (run, skip, stair climb come on you know what to do to get warm!!)
Pre-stretch: give your quads, hamstring and calves a good old going over.
Main session :
4 x 400m (as fast as you possibly can……)
Rest for 1 minute between each 400m.
RUN Forest RUN!!!
Post workout deep stretch: Hold the following stretches for 90 seconds each.
Hamstrings, Glutes, Quads, Hip flexors, and calves.
……and now breath deeply and head home,
giving yourself a massive pat on the back for training hard today. oh yeah, good time now to grab a recovery drink.
Please post your time below in comments.
Boring disclaimer part.
Here at RE:Born we advise everyone before entering a new exercise programme to get a full health assessment and sign off by the GP, reborn also accept no responsibility of anyone suffering from injury, illness or shear stupidity to hurt themselves with these basic exercises)
Alkaline or Acid, what PH is your body and does it really matter?
Well i guess many of you reading this, answer the above with a “Don’t know” answer, and I’m not surprised by this as many of us have know idea what is going on in our bodies, let alone know whether our body is Alkaline or Acid.
And frankly, do you know whether it matters or not to be Alkaline or Acid.
This is why i have put together this post to hopefully get across why it is essential for us to check out bodies PH levels.
Why acid – alkaline balance?
Please watch this video first:
Your body must stay alkaline for optimal health, energy and mental clarity. In order to do this your body has to eliminate the by-products of the normal processes of respiration, digestion and energy production, which are all acid. Your body has to work to ensure that it remains in this state of alkalinity.
Therefore in turn we will be able to automatically increase our energy levels, and as a by-product of this your body will become more energized and burn more Kcals!!
If you can detoxify and alkalize effectively, your body will also be able to absorb more oxygen!!
“An alkaline body can absorb up to 20 times more oxygen than an acidic body.” says Dr Otto Warburg, Nobel Prize Winner. He also found that diseased bodies are acidic bodies, which repel oxygen and attract the overgrowth of microorganisms.
As your body becomes acidic, your body’s oxygen levels begin to drop, leaving you too acidic and then you will begin to see the results that this stress causes in health-related symptoms including:
- Fatigue
- Poor digestion
- Weight gain
- Aches and pains in muscles and joints
- Excess mucous production causing nasal and sinus congestion
- Lowered immunity resulting in more frequent colds and flu
- Increased anxiety and irritability
If you already have certain health conditions this acidity can increase inflammation and the degeneration of soft tissues and bone, which in turn causes further damage. Particularly affected is your body’s ability to build bone. Bone is sacrificed to keep your body alkaline (generally at a pH of higher than 7.2) and this means that you lose vital minerals, not just calcium but other minerals, which make up the structure of bone. If this is happening to your bones what effect might it be having on all your vital organs?
What causes your system to become acid?
Here are some of the most acid-forming foods:
- A diet rich in processed foods, high in sugar and salt
- Red meat
- Chocolate
- Coffee
- Wheat, white flour
- Biscuits and cakes
- Pasta
- Cheese
- Homogenised Milk
- Ice Cream
- Soft Drinks
- Beer
Which foods will encourage your system to become alkaline?
Here are some of the most alkaline-forming foods:
- Lemons (these are acid on the tongue but become alkaline)
- Watermelon
- Limes
- Grapefruit
- Mangoes
- Papayas
- Asparagus
- Onions
- Vegetable juices
- Parsley
- Raw spinach
- Broccoli
- Garlic
- Olive oil
- Herb teas
- Lemon water
These are at the extremes of the acid-forming and alkaline-forming scales, so between the two there are degrees of each.
If you can include in your diet 250 gms of raw green leafy vegetables per day – say a generous salad with both lunch and dinner – then you will be changing your diet to be much more alkaline. You can, of course, do much more by eating more fruit and vegetables in general, and possibly including a green supplement like Green life, at great tasting GREEN drink.
What else can I do to help balance my body?
Drink good quality water
“Water, water everywhere nor any drop to drink” says the Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner. He was talking about seawater but in our world the quality of the water you drink and the quantity are vital to maintaining alkalinity through correct hydration, efficient elimination and mineral uptake.
Our advice at RE:Born Wellness is to certainly not drink tap water if you can avoid it. Drink at least two litres from a Mini Ioniser water filter to which you can add alkaline salts to is a good recommendation for daily consumption.
Organic food
Your body will become acidic if it is lacking in minerals. Most of us are mineral deficient as, in our modern world, fresh food is grown using chemical fertilizers which produce large glossy looking fruit and vegetables but which are mineral deficient – as the plants have taken up those fertilizers and not the minerals in the soil. So if you can, buy organic, or at least fruit and vegetables which have not been grown with those artificial fertilizers. Growing your own is, of course, an even better option. Not only do you know what you put into the soil, and hence your mouth, but you can pick and eat it immediately.
What to do next….
Our fully qualified trainers at RE:Born all have an in-depth knowledge of nutrition and how food can be your best medicine, so do come down to the RE:Born studio and they will be able to help you decide on your best strategies to develop a more Alkaline and healthier lifestyle.
The essential 6 steps to a better looking, feeling and performing body.
If you want to change the way you look, feel and perform then health is your first priority.
Following these detailed but simple steps will change you for the rest of your life. Don’t leave it to late!
“This is not just living better…This is a “Power Living” regime that will both transform your health, looks AND make your life so much more exciting and energizing.”
Andy: RE:Born client, Bournemouth
6 steps to success!!
1) Detoxify and Alkalize
2) Get your nutrition right
3) Supplement to combat the toxic environment
4) Get a training plan from a Personal trainer, who you trust and has the knowledge to help you achieve, then start to FEEL results.
5) Change the program constantly with your trainer and KEEP training so that you start to SEE results.
6) MAINTAIN all that hard work and live a much healthy, energized and exciting life!!!
Step 1
Detoxify and alkalize:
First please let us understand that the ENERGY which is creating by the body is dependent upon the complex system of cellular respiration that is dependent on oxygen availability. If we understand this then it makes perfect sense to increase the body’s cellular oxygenation?
Therefore in turn we will be able to automatically increase our energy levels, and as a by-product of this your body will become more energized and burn more Kcals!!
If you can detoxify and alkalize effectively, your body will be able to absorb more oxygen!!
“An alkaline body can absorb up to 20 times more oxygen than an acidic body.” says Dr Otto Warburg, Nobel Prize Winner. He also found that diseased bodies are acidic bodies, which repel oxygen and attract the overgrowth of microorganisms.
As your body becomes acidic, your body’s oxygen levels begin to drop, leaving you tired and fatigued. This is what allows fungus, mould, parasites, bad bacteria and viral infections to flourish and gain a hold throughout the body.
The biggest causes of acidity in the human organism are as follows:
•
Negative thinking
• Relationship and financial stress
• Tap water, tea, coffee and alcohol
• High animal protein diet
• Dairy foods (including those rubbish whey and casein drinks!)
• Processed sugar (especially carbonated drinks)
• Processed foods
• Cooked food
• Pharmaceutical drugs
• anaerobic exercise
This pretty much covers 99 % of people’s diets. To increase alkalinity in the body, you need the following:
• Positive thinking
• Happy relationship
• Drink alkalized water
• Adopt a 80% raw food diet
• Adopt a 80% alkaline diet e.g. vegetables, fruits
• Get the right dose of sunshine
• Aerobic exercise
At a pH slightly above 7.4 cancer cells become dormant and at pH 8.5 cancer cells will die while healthy cells will live.
Oxygen cannot stick to blood cells if the pH of the blood is too acidic. You can breathe pure oxygen, but if the blood pH is acidic, the oxygen will not be able to be picked up by the blood cells. It is chemically impossible.
Therefore in summary if we understand this then doesn’t it make perfect sense to detoxify and become more alkaline??
Step 2
Balance your Nutritional intake: start building better blood and cells.
“It all starts with what goes in your mouth!
Nutrition is the foundation in changing the way your body moves, feels, performs and looks. With bad nutrition you will create poor biological cells and poor performing hormones therefore giving you little chance of achieving your goals. Keep your intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat.” James Rufus
Eat like our ancestors taught us to, not as the supermarkets direct us to. Try to eat a variety of foods, keeping as close to nature as possible. Stay away from anything packaged, canned, starchy (potatoes, pasta, rice etc unless you want your blood sugar levels going through the roof, making you produce more insulin and store fat) or freezed dried…etc
Making the change is a conscious effort, and only you can make for yourself.
Follow a diet that is balanced and based around a 40% carbohydrate, 30% protein and 30% fat. (but make sure you get your carbohydrates from vegetables and fruit).
or make it simple to the eye, 1/3 of your plate protein, 2/3 of your plate carbs and a dash of good fats (see below). this will allow you to control your insulin (storage hormone) from your carbs and the Glucagon (release hormone) from your proteins which stimulates the liver to release stored carbohydrates from its glycogen stores.
Barbara Cox, CEO and Nutritionalist for NUTRICHEF gives us these amazing top 10 tips!
1: Variety is the Spice of Life
Eating a wide variety of healthy food is essential for good health, so it’s no coincidence that the Japanese (who have the longest life expectancy) eat as many as 100 different foods per week compared to only around 30 for people in the UK. Why is variety so important? The answer is simple: we are complex creatures that have count-less processes going on inside us each and every day, and each of these processes requires a variety of different raw materials, which has to come from our food. Hence the saying, ‘You are what you eat’.
2: Love Your Fruit & Veg.
Fruit and vegetables are not only a great weight loss food and provider of fibre, they are easily the most important kind of food because they provide us with the greatest variety of nutrients.
3: Fish for Nutrients
They’re a great low-fat alternative to red meat and they’re a great source of essential fatty acids (EFA’s), especially omega-3, which are necessary for good brain health, for your cardiovascular system and for fighting illness. Oily fish such as mackerel, salmon, tuna and sardines are particularly good for providing EFA’s and also as a source of vitamin D, a very important disease-fighting antioxidant. Fish is also a good source of calcium.
4: Lose the Wheat and Starch
The problem with wheat is that its constituent protein – gluten – is difficult to digest, which can cause people considerable digestive problems and is also linked to depression.
5: Lose the Dairy
Did you grow up with the marketing slogan ‘Drink a pint of milk a day’? It really worked because millions of us took it as gospel that we couldn’t live a healthy life without dairy. What about calcium? Where do we get it if we don’t consume dairy products? By eating green vegetables such as spinach, broccoli, asparagus and peas. Also by eating fish, nuts and seeds. Try dairy-free ‘milk’ made with oats, quinoa or rice.
6: Take Pride in Your Protein
Good quality protein is essential for growth and repair of cells. So we steer clear of fatty protein, choosing to use fish, lean cuts of lamb and chicken, nuts, seeds and beans.
7: Avoid Artificial Additives & Preservatives!
We believe strongly that 
manufacturers who use artificial colours or sweeteners such as aspartame are risking the health of their customers by expecting their bodies to process chemicals that are not naturally found in food. By and large if you don’t recognize it by name then don’t eat it!
8: Not All Fats are Bad
Good fats like omega-3 and omega-6. These are known as essential fatty acids (EFA’s) because we need them in our diet due to the fact that our bodies can’t actually make them. Omega-3 fatty acids in the oils from cold water fish such as mackerel, tuna, salmon, herring and sardines. Omega-6 fatty acids are found in cooking oils such as olive oil, sunflower oil and rapeseed oil.
9: Mind Your Salt & Sugar
The problem with salt is that it raises blood pressure, increasing the likelihood of stroke and heart disease. Sugar acts differently because it is loaded with calories, which, if they aren’t burned off during the day, have to be stored away into fat cells, resulting in weight gain.
10: Seasonal, Local, Organic
Although not always possible in practice, strive to use locally produced, organic ingredients that are in season. Seasonal ingredients are considered best because they are bound to be fresher and, therefore, their nutrient content will be at their maximum levels.
Step 3
Supplement your life to combat the toxic environment we live in.
We live in a toxic world, where our food, water and environment are all polluted by toxic chemicals such as: PCBs, Parabens, Fertilisers, heavy metals (such as lead and arsenic), Pesticides, Nitrates/Nitrites, Fluoride, Oestrogen / Hormones, Cryptosporidium, Chlorine,, Sulphates, Aspartame / Neotame in most diet drinks, Other Artificial Sweeteners Olestra / Olean, Monosodium Glutamate (MSG, hydrolyzed proteins) found in take away chinese etc, Preservatives / Additives, Genetically-Engineered Foods (Many Non-Organic Foods), Non-Organic Foods (Pesticides, Contaminated Sewage Sludge, Hormones), Dairy Foods / rBGH, Alcoholic Beverages (beer, wine), Allergy-Producing Foods, Microwave Oven Cooking, mercury, palladium, Cigarette Smoking / Second-Hand Smoke, household cleaners, personal care products etc, the list goes on and we can’t get away from it all.
Ideally we need to move anyway from the products in the list above, go organic and drink water from a reverse osmosis, mineralising water filter. However for some of us this is not going to happen.
Therefore we must consider supplementing our diets to make sure we combat these toxins. There are a few essential supplements we suggest you look at very seriously:
(Before starting on a supplement plan, we suggest that you book in for a full health appraisal prior to ascertain what areas your body is lacking)
(More detailed blogs will come soon regarding the profound positive effects of the list below)
Alkalizing Salts: Disease thrives in acidity. Health thrives in alkalinity. Neutralise the toxic acidity in your body and re-oxygenate the body up to 20% more.
Vitamin C: Gives your heart and arteries the essential nutrients they need to support repair and regeneration and to fight degenerative disease.
Omega 3s and especially: Heart / Brain Oil: (see omega 3, blog)
Iodine and selenium and Tyrosine; these are powerful thyroid boosters that help maintain a healthy thyroid, boost the metabolism and raising energy levels.
A Probiotic: helping to support healthy digestive and immune systems particularly those affected by their hectic lifestyle.
A Green drink: Get one now!! Choose wisely, you want a powerhouse of natural greens: watercress, spinach, broccoli and kale. This is a phenomenal blend of health-promoting green vegetables for long-term health, energy and vitality.
An Antioxidant drink: A super fruit blend of juicy acai berries, blueberries and blackberries, would be great so its bursting with essential antioxidants to give your body a great defence against damaging free radicals.
A Mix of L – Arginine, L – Glutamine, L – Glycine, Potassium Ascorbate, B6, B12 & Folic acid and Niacin.
Why you ask? Well the good news is that your body must always product some minimal level of HGH or you would not be able to function. The bad news is that as you get past about 20 years old, your body produces less and less HGH each year. By age 60 you will probably have lost 75% of the HGH that your body produced.
If you are a numbers person, here are some average HGH secretion levels:
- At 20 years old we average 500 micrograms/day
- At 40 years old we average 200 micrograms/day
- At 80 years old we average 25 micrograms/day
Human growth hormone and IGF-1 have been shown to play a significant role in:
- Conversion of body fat to muscle mass
- Growth of all tissues
- Energy level
- Tissue repair
- Whole body healing
- Cell replacement
- Bone strength
- Brain function
- Sexual function
- Organ health and integrity
- Enzyme production
- Integrity of hair, nails, skin and vital organs
Basically, anything that goes on in your body is in some way tied to HGH. This is why HGH is often called the “fountain of youth”. Elevated HGH levels are what make you feel young again.
You may see this list as overkill, and state that you can get these essential nutrient from your diet, which I would agree with, IF and it’s a big IF you were eating organic, fresh and varied nutrients everyday, without using household cleaners, personal care products and drinking tap water etc. Unfortunately very few of us can actually achieve this!!
So supplementing should be seriously considered.
Steps 4,5 and 6:
Exercising and de-stressing:
Although the next 3 stages are all similar I hope you’ll read through and understand why I have broken them down into 3 separate stages.
A quick note beforehand we start to talk about the stages is that we must try to rid ourselves of stresses before we take on any exercise.
When you are mentally stressed and you keep trying to push your body physically during workouts (which is therefore applying more stress to your body), the straw that can break the camel’s back will eventually happen (please read drop a dress size re. Cortisol levels).
“Don’t train unless you can gain.”
This means that unless you can give 100% to your training session, you are wasting your time.
Remember this: you either get better or worse, you never stay the same. If this session is not going to make you better, then you need more rest and you should go for a massage, swim or walk along the beach, get fresh air and sunlight. I do anything to de-stress. Then when you arrive at your next session, you can then truly give it 100% and stimulate a result.
If you are going to be able to give 100% to the training session and get the results you deserve for your efforts, you must make sure you work at reducing stress in your life and improve your health.
In regards to the exercising, your plan should consist of the following elements:
(please make sure you book in with a qualified trainer and get signed off by your GP before entering any exercise regime)
Cardiovascular: Bike, run, swim, row, etc,
Make sure it’s done at a high intensity and do it for short periods of time, but do that multiple times. This will cause your body to adapt and change, making you fitter and leaner. NO more running for hours on that treadmill. Hooray I hear you say.
Resistance work: yes weights!!
Adding weights to your session will increase your metabolism, burn more calories, tone or build your muscles and make you look great. Make sure your weights work includes big lifts, such as squats, deadlifts, clean & jerks and bench presses to name just a few. Make sure you have a trainer to help you here.
Gymnastics: no not running round in a leotard,
But using your bodyweight as resistance, like press-ups, pulls ups, sit ups and maybe even a handstand. Making sure your body can move, lift and hold its own weight will make your daily life much easier.
To sum it up, get a personalized exercise programme from a personal trainer, it should be done 3 – 4 days per week, it needs to be constantly varied, and done at a high intensity including some functional exercises (exercises that mimic what you do in your daily life), cardiovascular work and gymnastic elements in as many combinations and patterns as creativity will allow.
This variety of exercise will not only sculpt the body that you desire, but make you ready for anything that life throws at you.
Remember routine is the enemy. Keep workouts short and intense.
Step 4
Getting through the first few days of pain, with little change in body shape.
The first 1-30 Days, starting to FEEL different!
During the first 30 days you will notice your cardiovascular endurance, muscular endurance & strength rapidly increase as your body adapts from an untrained state. This is especially the case if you haven’t exercised regularly in a while.
If improving flexibility was one of your primary goals and you have been working on it, expect it to slowly improve. While you will feel like you have more energy and are getting in shape, your body composition is likely not to significantly change in the first month of training because your body adapts neurologically first.
Step 5
Staying focused and motivated, with the help of others and a great plan.
The next 30-60 Days, starting to SEE change!
During the second month of training you will continue to make improvements in your cardiovascular endurance as well as muscular strength and endurance gains. Although the gains won’t be as rapid as the first month, your personal trainer should be adjusting your program to avoid plateau and keep making progress.
During the second month of training you can expect your body composition to slowly begin to improve provided you have been eating correctly and doing the prescribed exercise during the training sessions and on your own time. Your flexibility will slowly improve as long as you keep working on it by stretching the specific muscles you want to become more flexible.
Step 6
Maintaining the workload and achieving your desired result.
90+ Days onwards, change is here, now to MAINTAIN!
If you maintain your regular exercise with a personal trainer and exercise on your own time you can expect your body composition to continually improve.
From 90 days and beyond improving your fitness assessment results for muscular strength & endurance as well as cardiovascular endurance will gradually become more difficult as you are in a trained state.
If you have been working on flexibility you will start making noticeable progress. Your muscles will feel less tense and you will increase your range of motion about your joints.
The Most Important Thing to Consider: Persistence Pays Off
Achieving results in a fitness program will never be an overnight process. If you are exercising with a personal trainer, putting in exercise on your own time and attempting to eat right, results will come in time.
Basic Results Timeline
- In the first 30 days of training you will FEEL the difference.
- In the 2nd 30 Days of training you will be able to SEE the difference.
- For 60 days and beyond of training your colleagues, family & friends will see the difference. A good time to call up a friend who you haven’t seen in a while!! See what they say about you!
So there we are people, 6 steps to achieving the body, life and performance you desire.
1) Detoxify and Alkalize
2) Get your nutrition right
3) Supplement to combat the toxic environment
4) Get a training plan from a Personal trainer and start to FEEL results.
5) Change your program with your trainer and KEEP training and start to SEE results.
6) MAINTAIN all that hard work and live a much healthy, energized and exciting life!!!
Please feel free to contact RE:Born Wellness on info@rebornpt.co.uk or call 01202 671783 for more information or to book in for our full health appraisal and programming.
Mercury vs your thyroid…
In this Blog, we are going to look at just two damaging effect Mercury has on the thyroid and blood oxygenation, however there are many more negative effects this toxic metal has on our bodies, such as including damage to the brain, kidney, and lungs which i will cover in future articles.
Mercury, considered to be both the most toxic non-radioactive element and the most volatile heavy metal and SHOULD not be handled by people.
So why are we told, and how can it be that is it is safe to keep mercury in our mouths?
Eight million mercury fillings are put in people’s mouths in Britain every year. This includes children. This is insanity in its highest order and the British Dental Association is an absolute disgrace. They continually deny that mercury fillings cause any health concerns.
Dr. Boyd Halley, Professor and Chair of the Department of Chemistry, Professor in the College of Pharmacy and in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Kentucky and an NIH Postdoctoral Scholar in the Department of Physiology, at Yale University Medical School has conducted some of the most important research on the biochemical effects of inorganic mercury, specifically from dental amalgams.
His results have never been refuted.
Dr. Halley has proven, beyond any challenge, that mercury vapour is released from dental amalgam fillings in large concentrations Even in fillings more than 20 years old.
Each amalgam filling has as much mercury as a thermometer, and its poisonous vapors are constantly emitted from the teeth to the brain. This is a particular risk, according to the U.S. government, to the developing brain of the child. The foetus is at the greatest risk of all if the pregnant woman has dental fillings drilled out or implanted, because of the proven transport of mercury through the placenta. So too is the nursing infant of a woman with amalgam dental fillings, because of the transport of mercury into the breast milk.
Mercury and the Thyroid Gland
So why and how does this toxic metal effect our thyroid?
First lets understand what the thyroid does?
The role of the thyroid is to stimulate metabolism (Helping the body make energy), keeping the body temperature regulated and assist other organs in their function and along with the parathyroid glands (beside or near thyroid), controls the body’s circulating calcium levels.
The thyroid has four iodine binding sites or receptors on the thyroid gland. These receptors bind with the iodine we get from our diet. The iodine enters the thyroid and activates it. If the thyroid is not absorbing enough iodine it will not be fully activated and the body’s temperature will be abnormally low.
Enter dental mercury. I discovered that mercury from dental fillings can migrate to the thyroid gland and can sit on one or more of the thyroid’s four iodine receptors, blocking iodine from reaching the receptors, thereby preventing full activation of the thyroid. Not a good situation!!
Blocked by dental mercury, iodine cannot be absorbed in normal amounts by the thyroid gland. The result is low body temperature or hypothyroidism.
“An underactive thyroid gland can contribute to heart disease and the propensity to sustain a heart attack.” states Broda O Barnes, M.D. a Connecticut physician who specialized in identifying and treating the many unsuspected connections between low thyroid activity and health problems. “I am convinced that we are seeing today many more people with low thyroid function than ever before” explained Dr. Barnes “and that the rising incidence of heart attacks is related to the rising incidence of hypothyroidism.”
Mercury is a toxic metal with significant effects on the thyroid. There is ample evidence that mercury leaches from dental amalgam fillings and contributes to thyroid disease and anaemia. While large doses of mercury can induce hyperthyroidism, smaller amounts can induce hypothyroidism by interfering with both the production of thyroxin (T4) and the conversion of T4 to T3.
Mercury inhibits the conversion of thyroid hormones T4 (thyroxine) to T3 (triiodothyronine)—a process called monodeiodination. Decreased T3 levels are often associated with fatigue, depression, erratic heat regulation, high cholesterol, and numerous other thyroid-related ailments.
Regarding the thyroid, selenium is a component of the enzyme that helps convert T4 to T3 peripherally, so deficiencies of selenium may impair thyroid function and promote hypothyroidism. Taking selenium with Lugols Iodine is a great way to kick-start the thyroid and help the body detoxify mercury.
Mercury and oxygen starvation:
In short, mercury interferes with a whole host of vital body functions and destroys body chemistry. For instance, chronic fatigue can be related to oxygen insufficiency. Mercury prevents oxygen from binding with the haemoglobin in red blood cells.
Hemoglobin has passenger seats for oxygen that are called binding sites. Each binding site is capable of binding to one oxygen molecule and transporting it to tissues that are low in oxygen. Oxygen jumps off the passenger seat and leaps to help deprived tissue with little effort.
SHOULD MERCURY COME ALONG, UNLIKE OXYGEN, IT JUMPS INTO THE PASSENGER SEAT, BUCKLES UP, AND PLANS TO STAY THERE UNTIL THE RED BLOOD CELL IS RECYCLED. WHEN ENOUGH MERCURY COMBINES WITH THESE PASSENGER SEATS ON THE HEMOGLOBIN, THE BODY EXPERIENCES CHRONIC FATIGUE DUE TO LACK OF OXYGEN TRANSPORT.
I have simply scratched the surface on the dangers of having mercury fillings in your mouth, but i hope this enlightens you into what the dangers are of this MAD method of dentistry.
So what to do?
If you have amalgam fillings in your mouth, I urge you to get them removed after placing yourself on Heavy Metal Detox for 1 month before and at least 3 months after. Consult with a mercury free dentist who understands the dangers of silver (mercury) fillings about getting them removed.
Research also show that you should be using a high dose vitamin C alongside the heavy metal detox protocol.
Call and book in now for the RE:Born total health appraisal and programme.
Low testosterone vs the BEER belly!!!
OK an article for you guys, or girls read it for your guy.
Are you struggling to lose weight, is your belly growing or have you developed moobs? well then please read on.
You’re a middle-aged man with an expanding waistline and cholesterol levels just edging into the danger zone. Your muscles are a little flabby and so is your sex drive. You’re probably blaming it all on lack of exercise and a little too much wine.
But the problem could be something more insidious – you could have too much of the female hormone oestrogen.
As Professor Richard Sharpe, a senior scientist with the Medial Research Council Human Reproductive Science Unit, explains: ‘Both sexes need to keep their levels of oestrogen and testosterone in balance for good health. There is no absolute level of either for men and women – it is the relative levels that are important.’
The problem is that the balance between our male and female hormones can change. And it seems that men are particularly affected – indeed, over his lifetime a man will have more oestrogen circulating in his body than a woman.
And too much oestrogen is not good – it raises men’s risk of blood clots, encourages middle-aged spread (bad for heart health and diabetes) and possibly even affects their prostate.
The balance between oestrogen and testosterone doesn’t usually cause problems in men until middle age. That’s when their testosterone levels go into a downward spiral.
‘First, you produce less because of general ageing, but to make things worse, more of what you do make is turned into oestrogen,’ explains Professor Ashley Grossman, an endocrinologist at Bart’s Hospital, London.
Too much oestrogen in the body is known to increase body fat. This body fat then pumps out more oestrogen!!! AGGHHH, not good news….plus it’s not just age-related changes in the testosteroneoestrogen balance that affect men – you will also be getting more oestrogen from the environment:
Oestrogen is found in parts per billion in UK waters, we become receptive to these hormones in parts per trillion!!! These hormones are also found along with every other chemical you could imagine, inc.
- Chlorine
- Fluorine compounds
- Trihalomethanes (THMs)
- arsenic
- radium
- aluminium
- copper
- lead
- mercury
- cadmium
- barium
- Hormones
- Nitrates
- Pesticides
‘We know that pesticides and other chemicals have oestrogen-like effects,’ says Professor Banks. ‘When you add it all up, it’s clear that men are being increasingly feminised.’
Below we look at a couple of adverse effects high levels of oestrogen have on men.
WEIGHT GAIN: Rising levels of oestrogen encourage the development of male beer bellies.‘Oestrogen encourages fat to accumulate around the central part of the body,’ explains Professor Grossman. ‘The problem is that the fat cells, in turn, produce an enzyme that encourages testosterone to be converted into oestrogen.’
So you end up with even more oestrogen and lower testosterone levels than normal – as well as weight gain, this can lead to tiredness, flabby muscles and reduced libido.
ENLARGED PROSTATE: It’s thought too much oestrogen might contribute to an enlarged prostate, an age related condition where the gland surrounding the man’s urethra grows, affecting urine flow and causing the need to use the lavatory more often at night.
MALE BREASTS: Male breasts are common in puberty, explains Professor Stafford Lightman, an endocrinologist and professor of medicine at Bristol University.
‘At this time, young boys start to produce sex hormones in large quantities for the first time.
‘Normally, the body recovers from this and the breasts vanish without the need for treatment.’ However, in older men the change in hormone balance causes fatty deposits to settle in the breast area, creating ‘man boobs’ or ‘moobs’.
So what is the answer?
Get a personal trainer FAST, one that will prescribe you the correct exercises, not the ones you see the guys in the local gym doing, you know the ones doing the mirror muscle workouts, biceps curls and tricep kickbacks!!! starting training like a coached athlete.
Your programme needs to include:
- Compound weight-lifting exercises that train several large muscle groups, and not just one or two smaller muscles. For example squats, deadlifts, cleans and bench presses.
- Get the weight right, throwing around 2 kg dumbbells won’t help you effect a rise in testosterone. Start off by using a heavy weight that you can lift only five times. That weight is about 85 percent of your one-repetition maximum.
- Do more sets and less reps. Researchers at Penn State determined that this fosters greater increases in testosterone than just one or two sets. Rest a full minute between sets, so you can regain enough strength to continue lifting at least 70 percent of your one-rep maximum during the second, third and forth sets.
- Rest, going everyday to the gym, will break your body down. If you overtrain — meaning you don’t allow your body to recuperate adequately between training sessions — your circulating testosterone levels can plunge by as much as 40 percent, according to a study at the University of North Carolina.
Don’t starve yourself.
When you want to trim down quickly, you probably starve yourself. One of the many reasons this stops working in your 30s, when your natural testosterone levels start dropping, is pretty simple: Cutting your calorie intake by more than 15 percent makes your brain think you’re starving, so it shuts down testosterone production to wait out the famine. “There’s no need to reproduce if you’re starving,” explains Thomas Incledon of Human Performance Specialists in Plantation, Fla.
Skip the Atkins Fad
Research suggests that eating a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet can cramp your testosterone levels. High amounts of dietary protein in your blood can eventually lower the amount of testosterone produced in your testes, says Incledon, who observed this relationship in a Penn State study of 12 healthy, athletic men.
Your protein intake should be about 16 percent of your daily calories, Incledon says. So, if you’re the average 170-pound man who eats 2,900 calories a day, you should eat about 140 grams of protein daily, which is about the amount in two chicken breasts and a 6-ounce can of tuna.
Have Morning Sex
German scientists found that simply having an erection causes your circulating testosterone to rise significantly — and having one in the morning can goose your natural post-dawn testosterone surge. It’s a sure bet you’ll burn a little fat, too.
Make Nuts Your Midnight Snack
Nuts are good for your nuts. Research has found that men who ate diets rich in monounsaturated fat — the kind found in peanuts — had the highest testosterone levels. “It’s not known why this occurs, but some scientists believe that monounsaturated fats have a direct effect on the testes,” says Incledon. Nuts, olive oil, canola oil and peanut butter are good sources of monounsaturated fat.
Drive Home Sober
To maintain a healthy testosterone count — and titanium erections — cut yourself off after three drinks. “Binge drinking will kill your testosterone levels,” warns Incledon. getting drunk can reduce your testosterone by up to 25% for 48hrs!!
Have a Sandwich at 3 p.m.
As any sensible woman knows, the way to put hair on a man’s chest is to fill his stomach. Your body needs a ready supply of calories to make testosterone, so regularly skipping meals or going for long stretches without eating can cause your levels of the hormone to plummet.
Buy the Fried Tortilla Chips, no really you need some FAT!!
If you want to raise your testosterone score, eat a diet that includes about 30 percent fat, and not much less. Your body needs dietary fat to produce testosterone, so eating like a vegetarian aerobics instructor will cause your testosterone levels to sink drastically. This is bad, unless you actually are a vegetarian aerobics instructor.
Stop Surfing the internet at 2 a.m.
Sleeping less than seven to eight hours a night can screw up your circadian rhythm. That’s why it’s no wonder your testosterone levels are higher in the morning after a good night’s sleep.
For more info, or to book your anabolic drive consultation call 01202 671783 or email us on info@rebornpt.co.uk.
Alternatively click on this link and fill out the online form www.rebornpt.co.uk
Drop a dress size in 8 weeks, hard work made easy at RE:Born.
Drop a dress size in 8 weeks.
Such a simple statement, but probably the one that most of our clients and most women around the world will battle with their whole lives.
Dropping a dress size, be it for an event, a special occasion, work, their partner or just maybe actually for themselves, and why not?
Being able to slip into a size smaller (or more) dress can be the most rewarding experience chased by our clients. Who cares what size they were, its all about how they LOOK and FEEL now!
Its this emotional reward that our clients love that has driven us to develop the most detailed, effective and guaranteed to work package that has seen over 100 women hit the dress size of their dreams.
So what do we know that you may not?
Well first we know that 93 – 97% of anyone following a fad diet will fail, sorry its true. There are several reason for this, firstly its so hard to make that behavioral modification in the face of the easy to buy incorrect food choices, secondly in this day and age we also inherently lead sedentary lives and of course the intense media programming telling us to take a magic pill or follow some celebrity and their baby food diet?
In fact there something much more powerful than these environmental stimuli stopping us from losing weight, its our hormones. Especially a powerful one called Cortisol.
Cortisol is a regulator of your blood sugar, energy production, inflammation and immune system. If this is not working in unity with you…GOOD LUCK chasing the fat loss dream.
You’re probably asking yourself a question right now, are my cortisol levels high? Yes is a good guess without meeting you, especially if any of the below applies to you:
- You are under any form of stress (did you shout at someone when driving today?)
- You have taken or are on any type up drug, be in medicinal or recreational.
- You are subject to intense heat, cold or noise daily.
- You are training too hard and overexerting yourself.
- Suffering from or had a recent trauma.
- Currently or have had recently been ill or had an infection.
- Worried about something.
- Fearful.
- Not eating a balanced diet.
- Eat fatty foods, eat processed out of a packet meals, eat canned goods.
- Drinking coffee, tea, red bull and any other stimulants.
- Eat a refined sugary foods.
- Using beauty products
- etc etc etc
As you can see the list is extensive, all of the above with cause your cortisol levels to rise through the cumulative effect on your stress levels. Continual living in this state will cause your cortisol to contribute to the accumulation of abdominal, hip and thigh FAT, and make it very hard to get rid of.
Believe me when I say that 80% of our clients before they start are following a diet and lifestyle that is putting their cortisol levels through the roof, and its not their fault is how we live to day, our diets are full of toxins, the lifestyles we choose give us undue stresses and we don’t exercise (If we do exercise we do incorrectly, not relative to our goals, ability or at the intensity required to make a difference).
Oh no, I hear you cry, what can I do?
Well look no further, we have an all encompassing, non gimmick, proven package including nutritional coaching, personal training, lifestyle management, supplementation and well being acupressure massage therapy, that will, and please let me stress that again WILL change the way you LOOK and FEEL.
Call us today on 01202 671783 or email info@rebornpt.co.uk for your FREE consultation.
We are here to help you look great.
RE:Born Wellness