Time of Your Life

Dr Michael Colgan

It’s vital to guard your health, not because of the pain and suffering of illness. You just can’t afford the time.

Time is what life’s made of. An average American lifetime is 78 years, a mere 936 months. According to the World Health Organization, we spend one-third of that time sleeping and getting up. (We are slow at getting up.) That leaves 640 months. Wow! One-third of our life gone and we’re not having fun yet.

On average, we spend 15 years at school. It’s called the best time of your life. I would have given most of it a miss, but we spend all our youth at it. That’s 180 months. That leaves 460 months. Life’s half over. Where is all the fun?

We spend an average of 35 years working for a living, plus 2 weeks per year for vacations and another 10 days for public holidays which we will not count. Just the working is 420 months, and surveys say overwhelmingly that, given the choice, most folk wouldn’t. Wow! Most of us spend the biggest chunk of our lives doing stuff we would not do if given the choice.

That leaves only 40 months in a 78-year life, which includes all the vacations and days off you are ever going to get. When does the real fun start?

On average we spend 25 hours per month at ablutions, that is, bathing and toileting, which many folk would miss if they didn’t start to look funny and smell odd. Bathing and toileting are fairly recent phenomena. (I am not counting the time spent preening because most people do consider that fun. That’s part of the 40 months we had left above, and some folk seem to spend the whole time preening.) Basic toilette takes just over I day per month, every month for life. That totals 32 months. Now we are down to 8 months.

Do everything possible to guard your health as your most precious possession. You don’t have the time to be ill. In a whole healthy lifetime, most of us get only 8 months for the real fun, including love, vacations, hanging out, hobbies, sport, travel, yakking, and shopping. No wonder we never have time to catch the monster trout, not to mention the Jimmy Choo sales.

The best way is to do a job (average 420 months of life) that’s real fun to do. If you don’t do that now, look in the mirror for the person to tell that it’s time for a change. Maybe you should join us -  it’s time for Isagenix.

Melatonin and Fertility

Melatonin for Healthy Eggs

Dr Michael Colgan

One in every 10 women in couples of reproductive-age in the United States has difficulty getting pregnant. About 30 percent of cases are due to problems in the woman, 30 percent to problems in the man, and the rest to unexplained causes or multiple factors involving both partners

Despite the numerous fertility drugs and in vitro fertilization techniques, poor egg (oocyte) quality is a large and increasing part of the problem. Egg quality also declines more sharply with age over 30 than in previous generations. The reason for the increasing problems is unknown, but is thought to be linked with the decline in quality, and increasing toxins, in the American food, water, and air supply.

Research presented at the World Congress of Fertility in Munich on 11 September 2010, and published in the Journal of Pineal Research, shows that women with poor egg quality may double their chance of becoming pregnant if given melatonin.

High levels of oxidising chemicals in the follicular fluids surrounding the egg indicate if a woman has low quality oocytes. These chemicals create oxidative stress and damage the oocyte. One prominent toxin used to measure the oxidative stress is called 8-OHdG. The researchers found that, as melatonin concentration increased in follicular fluids, the level of 8-OHdG decreased, indicating that melatonin was likely reducing oxidative stress. They confirmed this finding in mice, and discovered that adding melatonin reduced damage to the egg.

Next, they set up a trial with women coming for fertility treatments to see if melatonin would help those who had failed to become pregnant because of poor oocyte quality. 56 women were given their fertility treatment plus three milligrams of melatonin per night before the next fertility cycle, and 59 received the fertility treatment without melatonin.

Melatonin treatment significantly increased melatonin concentration in the women’s follicles and significantly reduced concentrations of the damaging 8-OhdG. Results showed that 50 per cent of the eggs from women who took melatonin could be successfully fertilised, as opposed to 23 per cent in the control group. 11 of the women given melatonin became pregnant, as opposed to 6 in the control group.

The eggs of all US women are now subjected to oxidative stress from our environment. From the above and related research, It seems likely that melatonin could protect egg quality in all women bearing children after age 30 even if they have no difficulty conceiving.

The importance of melatonin for women, and its multiple roles in the body, are examined in Michael and Lesley Colgan’s book, The Perimenopause Solution (2009). Melatonin is not simply a sleep aid as many people think, but has multiple physiological functions One of these functions is to act as an important antioxidant inside the cells of the brain and organs where most nutrient antioxidants cannot reach.

Melatonin is released by the pineal gland in the night phase of the circadian cycle. But production of melatonin declines rapidly with age, as shown in the graph, so that the amount made by the body is no longer sufficient after about age 35. The Colgan Institute has utilized melatonin to combat oxidative stress in people over age 35 since 1983.

Click here to see the melatonin we use.

Lecithin Does Not Cause Allergic Reactions

Dr Michael Colgan

The old myth that soy lecithin causes allergic reactions in soy-sensitive people keeps resurfacing, as the internet keeps re-playing, but usually not dating, obsolete information from the 1950s. 

Basic science; soy lecithin consists of three phospholipids. Specialists in allergies know well that the allergens in soybeans are not in the phospholipids but are all in the protein of the bean.

The ingredient soy lecithin is used in many thousands of food and supplements, including deli meats, cocoa, chocolate, candy, and the majority of baked goods.  It is extracted from soybean oil that has been processed using hot-solvent extraction techniques.  This process eliminates effectively all, (99.99%) of the protein in soy.

Numerous controlled studies since the 1980s have tested soybean-sensitive individuals for immunoglobulin reactions (the accurate measure of allergy) to soybean oil and soy lecithin.  This research shows almost zero allergic reactions.^1-3  A representative allergy expert, Dr Steve Taylor, head of the Department of Food Science and Technology at the University of Nebraska and co-director of the Food Allergy Research Resources Program, states that avoiding soy bean oil and lecithin is unnecessary for soy-sensitive individuals⁷.”

People who avoid lecithin, may in fact be harming their health.  Since the 1970s, the Colgan Institute has included choline as an essential nutrient in all its recommendations, because it is an essential component of cell membranes. In 1998, the US National Academy of Sciences finally agreed, and pronounced choline as essential and awarded it a Dietary Reference Intake.  A potent source of choline in the average diet is lecithin.

1. Bush, Taylor, Nordlee, Busse. Soybean oil is not allergenic to soybean-sensitive individuals. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 1985; 76: 242-245.

2. Awazuhara H, Kawai H, Baba M., Matsui T , Kamiyama A. Antigenicity of the proteins in soy lecithin and soy oil in soybean allergy. Clin Exp Allergy. 1998; Vol. 28, Issue 12: 1559-1564.

3. Taylor, SL, Kabourek, JL. Soyfoods and allergies: separating fact from fiction. The Soy Connection. 2003; Vol. 11, No. 2.

4.Institute of Medicine and National Academy of Sciences USA: ‘Dietary Reference Intakes for Folate, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B12, Panthothenic Acid, Biotin, and Choline.’ Washington DC: National Academy Press, 1998.

5. University of Illinois Functional Foods for Health Program, Regulatory Update: “Best Food Sources for Choline – FDA Authorizes New Content Claim for This Essential Nutrient.” Http://www.ag.uiuc.edu/~ffh/Best_Food_Sources_of_Choline.html

Co Q10 and Exercise Recovery

Runners on CoQ10 Suffer Less Muscle Damage and Recover Faster

Study finds coQ10 minimizes oxidative stress and muscle damage during strenuous exercise

Despite the physical and mental benefits associated with ultra-endurance exercises, such as marathons or triathlons, these exercises do promote inflammation and oxidative stress in the body. There are, however, ways to protect yourself. Supplements of coenzyme Q10 (coQ10) may offset the oxidative stress related to strenuous exercise and reduce later muscle damage, according to a new study.

Researchers from the University of Granada of Spain wrote, “The present findings provide evidence that oral supplementation of coQ10 during high-intensity exercise is efficient reducing the degree of oxidative stress… [and] muscle damage during physical performance.”

The researchers, who published their results in the European Journal of Nutrition, supplemented 20 highly trained male athletes with either a placebo or coQ10 prior to a 50-kilometer run across one of the most difficult terrains in Europe.

To test the effects of coQ10 on exercise-induced inflammation and oxidative stress, the researchers supplied 150 mg coQ10 in divided doses prior to race time. Post-race analysis included measures of oxidative stress, antioxidant levels and expression of pro-inflammatory genes, such as TNFa and ILs (interleukins).

The results of the study found a significantly greater increase in oxidative stress in the placebo group compared to the coQ10 group. Similarly, the athletes consuming the coQ10 supplement also had evidence of increased antioxidant defenses and reduction in overexpression of pro-inflammatory genes.  Finally, coQ10 reduced levels of creatinine, an indicator of muscle breakdown, compared to the placebo group.

Although a degree of muscle breakdown during exercise stimulates muscle remodeling and growth, the damage must be repaired before remodeling and growth is able to occur. Minimizing muscle damage during exercise can allow athletes to recover faster and train more often.

While most of us are likely little more than “weekend warriors” it is good to know that a high quality supplement containing bioavailable coQ10, such as Ageless Actives™ included in the Ageless Essentials Daily Pack, may be just the ticket for those aspiring to push more or run farther.

Reference: Diaz-Castro J, Guisado R, Kajarabille N et al. Coenzyme Q10 supplementation ameliorates inflammatory signaling and oxidative stress associated with strenuous exercise. Eur J Nutr 2011. doi: 10.1007/s00394-011-0257-5

Belly Fat, Telomeres & Stress

Less Belly Fat and Healthier Telomeres by Reducing Stress and Eating Mindfully

Stress reduction techniques and mindful eating reduce belly fat, according to new study

If getting in shape and losing that belly are New Year’s resolutions—as they should be—then why not add reducing stress to the list? Unfortunately, eating sweet and fatty foods appears to be one of the preferred choices of Americans for managing chronic stress.

Aside from the mental strain caused by chronic stress, it results in higher concentrations of stress hormones such as cortisol and poor eating habits that are associated with increases in belly (visceral) fat. Belly fat is not just unsightly, but is also linked to oxidative stress, inflammation, shorter telomeres, and greater risk of chronic disease.

Take heed: new findings published in the Journal of Obesity (1) suggest that combining an easy technique called mindful eating with stress management can help reduce cortisol levels and the resulting belly fat. Interestingly, a substudy (2) also found that the reduction in cortisol was associated with increased activity of the enzyme telomerase needed to restore telomere length.

In the parent study, researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, randomized 47 women categorized as chronically stressed, overweight, and obese to either a mindful eating training group or a control group. They found that the women who received the training had greater body awareness and reduced cortisol secretion, chronic stress, and abdominal fat. The researchers also found that the women with the greatest reductions in cortisol or stress had the greatest decreases in abdominal fat.

The mindful eating training group also showed significant drops in cortisol after wakening, generally when the hormone reaches peak levels in people suffering from chronic stress. The group’s subjects maintained their body weight while those in the control group did not have a drop in cortisol and continued gaining weight.

Mindful Eating

Instead of prescribing any diet, all of the women attended one session on the basics of a healthy diet and exercise. The training group consisted of teaching the women mindful eating practices such as paying attention to the physical feelings of hunger, cravings, fullness, and taste satisfaction as well as stress-reduction techniques.

The women in the training group attended classes once a week for nine weeks and a seven-hour intensive silent meditation retreat during the sixth week. Throughout the trial, the women were asked to do daily meditation exercises for 30 minutes and to apply mindful eating at meals.

The researchers gauged psychological stress before and after the study by using established survey methods combined with cortisol and fat measurements. What the researchers were looking for was a change in the amount of overall weight and deep abdominal fat as well as a change in cortisol secretion shortly after wakening.

Cortisol Causes Belly Fat, Shortens Telomeres

For the substudy, published in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology, some of the same researchers took the same women and trial, but just measured their telomerase activity before and after the mindfulness training treatment. Women who received the training and who decreased their stress and belly fat also showed a greater increase in telomerase activity. A link between improved telomere function and reduced fasting blood glucose was also found.

“Improvements in stress, eating, and metabolic regulation may increase telomerase activity over time,” the study authors concluded.

The culprit in the deleterious effects that chronic stress has on the body looks to be the hormone cortisol, which increases as levels of stress increase. Though shorter bouts of cortisol secretion are normal and can have a stimulating effect on the body—as when the ability to run from danger is needed—the opposite is true of having continuously elevated levels of cortisol. This results in a chain reaction where fatty acids from outlying areas move into the abdominal regions and build up belly fat. Chronically elevated levels of cortisol also suppress telomerase, which can lead to shortened telomeres and accelerated cellular aging.

Isagenix and Stress

An Isagenix system is demonstrated as an effective way of reducing harmful belly fat through its application of Cleanse Days and Shake Days. The few calories eaten on Cleanse Days along with Cleanse for Life helps to stimulate fat burning and detoxification while Shake Days combine high-protein meal replacement shakes with healthy eating to maximize nutrition and muscle maintenance.

Additionally, Ionix Supreme, a unique tonic with adaptogens, increases the body’s ability to deal with stress and come out on top. Adaptogens are botanicals that mitigate the stress response, lessening the harmful effects of stress hormones like cortisol on several body systems like the nervous and immune systems.

Lastly, Isagenix products including SlimCakes and FiberSnacks! assist people with healthy snacking—helping them avoid high-calorie junk foods when stressed—and obtaining soluble fiber, which is strongly associated with reduced belly fat. 

This year, don’t let stress take over and unleash its havoc on the body. Instead, learn about mindful eating techniques and other stress-beaters—exercise, plenty of sleep, and a diet rich in nutrient-dense foods such as fruits and vegetables, as well as Isagenix products—to help stay calm and cool.

References:

1) Daubenmier J, Kristeller J, Hecht FM et al. Mindfulness Intervention for Stress Eating to Reduce Cortisol and Abdominal Fat among Overweight and Obese Women: An Exploratory Randomized Controlled Study. J Obes 2011;2011:651936. doi: 10.1155/2011/651936

2) Daubenmier J, Lin J, Blackburn E et al. Changes in stress, eating, and metabolic factors are related to changes in telomerase activity in a randomized mindfulness intervention pilot study. Psychoneuroendocrinology 2011. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2011.10.008

Weight Loss & Protein Need

During Weight Loss, More Dairy Protein and Calcium Helps Strengthen Women’s Bones

Study shows exercise combined with more dairy protein and calcium strengthens women’s bones during weight loss

Young women hoping to lose weight with typical dieting may unknowingly wreak havoc on their bones in a way that could affect them for a lifetime. But new research shows eating more dairy foods rich in protein, calcium, and vitamin D can keep bones stronger while shedding pounds and inches.

Researchers from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario found that young women on a weight-loss plan who ate higher amounts of dairy-based protein (whey and casein), calcium, and vitamin D improved markers of bone turnover.

“Our data provide a good rationale to recommend consumption of dairy foods to aid in high quality weight loss, which we define as loss of fat as opposed to muscle, and the promotion of bone health in young women who are at the age when achieving and maintaining peak bone mass is of great importance,” said Stuart Phillips, PhD, of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario and senior author of the study, in a press release.

The controlled trial, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, randomized 90 women (ages 19 to 45) considered overweight or obese to one of three groups: high-protein and high-dairy, adequate protein and medium dairy, and adequate protein and low dairy. For 16 weeks, the women consumed a diet restricted in calories (about 500 calories less than needed to maintain their weight) and took part in daily exercise either in the form of aerobic or resistance training.

At the end of the trial, the women consuming higher amounts of dairy foods had greater increases in markers of bone formation (including adiponectin), greater reduction markers of bone degradation (including leptin), greater increases in levels of circulating vitamin D, and greater decreases levels of circulating parathyroid hormone (associated with bone degradation when present in greater concentrations).

“To avoid deleterious consequences to their bone health, women who are attempting weight loss through dieting should practice consumption of more protein from dairy sources,” Phillips said.

IsaLean Shake

How can women make the most of the findings in this study? Isagenix IsaLean Shake is available as a handy, nutritious meal replacement containing high amounts of protein from dairy, as whey and casein, along with calcium and vitamin D. The shake is also low in lactose (milk sugar) and contains the digestive enzyme lactase for its easy digestion.

Enjoying one or two servings of IsaLean Shake daily, in combination with daily exercise, can promote healthy weight loss while strengthening muscles and bones.

Reference: Josse AR, Atkinson SA, Tarnopolsky MA, Phillips SM. Diets Higher in Dairy Foods and Dietary Protein Support Bone Health during Diet- and Exercise-Induced Weight Loss in Overweight and Obese Premenopausal Women. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 2011. doi: 10.1210/jc.2011-2165