Heal inflammation and drop your belly fat.

In my last blog post, Inflammation – the key driver to unsightly belly fat

I cleared up the #1 fat loss myth….

Excess belly fat IS NOT a condition of excess calories.

Fit and healthy bodies know exactly what to do with these calories. It’s efficient and systematic.

The truth is, fit and healthy bodies use calories from food and drinks for energy production, hormone regulation, regeneration and repair.

Bodies that are fit and healthy have ‘all day energy’ and can perform at their best…..without a lot of extra jiggle when they wiggle.

Where things go wrong has more to do with chronic inflammation than it has to do with simply looking at ‘calories’.

If you are someone with excess belly fat, look to inflammation as the driver.

Heal inflammation. Know the triggers.

Follow these simple solutions and finally drop your belly fat

Inflammatory trigger #1) ENVIRONMENTAL TOXINS –

Let’s face it. You live in an industrialized world. Toxicity is now everywhere. From the electromagnetic fields (EMFs), to the water and foods you consume. They are in the surfaces you touch and the products that you place on your skin.

It’s no longer a question of IF you are toxic, but a question of HOW much.

Avoidance of toxicity is the first simple solution to heal inflammation and drop the belly fat.

Simple Solutions to Reducing Environmental Toxins

Identify and eliminate as many sources of toxicity as you can.

Electromagnetic Fields (EMFs): According to EMF expert, Dr Ross Anderson, “Research shows that EMFs may cause a variety of very specific biological changes in the body, even at exposure levels that are many times lower than allowed under safety limits in most countries”.

His research links chronic EMF exposure to chronic inflammation in the body. Not only that, EMFs can raise your stress hormones, elevate blood sugar levels, and can even damage your genetic material. All of which are culprits in weight gain.

Check out these trusted websites for ways to reduce your exposure: www.SafeZoneEMF.com and www.electrosense.com

Water: In the past, drinking water simply contained hydrogen and oxygen with a collection of minerals. Now, our waters contain pharmaceuticals, heavy metals, chlorine, pesticides, herbicides and a host of other toxic chemicals.

To keep your body free from toxins, drinking clean water is KEY!

Drink purified water preferably from a reverse osmosis (RO) system. Look for water systems that come with an additional carbon block to lower chemical residues. The water system I personally recommend can be found here: www.santevia.com

Food: Now more than ever, we need to be concerned with our current food supply. Chemicals found in conventional (non-organic) foods are of greatest concern.

When it comes to belly fat, there are a class of chemicals called, persistent organic pollutants (POPs) that are particularly associated with diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and obesity.

Tom Malterre MS, CN, author of Whole Life Nutrition, reports that “Dioxins, common POPs, are some of the most toxic substances known to man with clear evidence that they can alter learning in children, cause cancer, change blood sugar metabolism, suppress immune system and alter hormone function, such as thyroid and testosterone”.

To keep your body fit and healthy for life – eat clean.

A good start would be to familiarize yourself with the foods most highly sprayed (with chemicals) and the ones that are least sprayed.

To make it easy, The Environmental Working Group, a non-profit organization, created, “The Shoppers Guide to Pesticides in Produce”. Checkout their handy downloadable list called The Dirty Dozen Plus and the Clean Fifteen by going here: www.EWG.org

Go organic where possible. Organic foods are not sprayed with harmful chemicals and are found to be more nutrient rich than conventional.

Above and beyond eating organic foods, go to www.LifeWithoutPlastic.com for options on how to reduce your exposure to POPs.

Best way to eat clean is to grow your own food. Having your own garden is the ultimate in eating clean and fresh. Start with herbs on your deck and go from there!

Detox: Optimize your body’s physiology. Detoxing is another way to rid yourself of these chemicals. In fact, detoxing is essential for anyone who wants to be healthy.

Are you Susceptible to Toxicity?

Life is always about balance. Simply put, health and weight problems occur when more toxins stay IN and less toxins go OUT.

Enhancing your primary detoxification systems (liver, kidney and gut) is KEY to accelerating belly fat loss. In fact, weight loss programs, when done right, really do need to include a detoxification protocol.

Here’s why:

When you break down fat cells, inflammatory markers are released. If you do not safely remove these inflammatory agents, you actually feel ‘crappy’ while you lose weight. You may even be harming your health (not what you want).

On the other hand, performing a proper detoxification protocol will safely remove these inflammatory agents so you feel well while you lose weight!

UNDA Numbered Compounds – a unique and safe way to detoxify.

As a certified BTD specialist, I have personally helped hundreds of individuals improve their health using UNDAS as a safe and effective method of detoxification.

For more information on UNDAS and detoxification, please visit www.biotherapeuticdrainage.com.

That’s the first way to Heal inflammation and drop your belly fat, let’s look at the next.

Inflammatory trigger #2) INFECTIONS–

Both toxicity and infections all lead to chronic inflammation and excess belly fat.

Infections are there due to an overgrowth of pathogenic organisms that attack the body. In response, the immune system ramps up with gut inflammation to fight the infection and heal infected tissue.

Pathogenic organisms take the form of yeasts, funguses, viruses, bacterium or parasites. Usually the culprits are a collection of many forms (ie. not just Candida).

Guess what these infectious organisms use as fuel? Sugar and starches. So if you find yourself with insatiable cravings, it may indicate a low grade infection.

Simple Solutions to Healing Infections

Diet: Consume a diet that increases the ‘beneficial organisms’ or good bacteria while decreasing the ‘pathogenic ones’ or bad bacteria. This would include foods like garlic, artichokes, and onions (prebiotics), and coconut kefir, kimchi, and sauerkraut (probiotics), along with colorful fruits, veggies, herbs and spices (polyphenols). These food categories avert metabolic danger in the gut, by starving the pathogenic organisms while feeding your good ones. It is literally a recipe for belly fat loss.

The Fit n Healthy Diet addresses all of the above with the 4 Building Blocks of Healthy Eating. Information. Find it here: Fit n Healthy Diet

Supplements: Supplements can also help. Look for these natural compounds: Goldenseal, berberine, black walnut, burdock, olive leaf, grapefruit seed extract, and garlic. I personally use either Ultra MFP from Douglas Labs. Ultra MFP

Or Berberis Formula from Genestra: Berberis Formula

Many of my clients use these and get good results. That’s the second way to Heal inflammation and drop your belly fat, let’s look at the next.

Inflammatory trigger #3) NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCIES

Overwhelming evidence reveals that micronutrient deficiencies are associated with inflammation, chronic disease, and stubborn weight gain. Nutritional deficiencies of amino acids, fat soluble vitamins, or minerals deprive the body of the actual ‘building blocks’ to help with proper function.

For example, zinc deficiency reduces leptin, a beneficial hormone that regulates appetite. Carnitine is an important nutrient that helps muscle cells burn fat calories for fuel. I was actually found to be deficient in Carnitine through Micronutrient testing. Go here to see my report 264914_Q55060_HARTTE_MNT (Michale). Evidence shows that supplementation with carnitine when combined with exercise may induce positive changes in body composition by reducing (belly fat) more efficiently than without supplementation.

One recent study demonstrated CoQ10 decreased obesity-induced inflammation of the liver.

Low vitamin B6 and amino acid taurine are linked to low GABA. GABA deficiency has been linked to anxiety disorders, panic attacks, addiction, insomnia, headaches, and seizure disorders like epilepsy. GABA is our natural ‘off’ button to life. Without the building blocks, we feel ‘stressed out’.

Simple Solutions to Detecting and Correcting Nutritional Deficiencies

Test – Don’t guess! Spectracell Micronutrient Test vs Your Routine Blood Test

SpectraCell’s Micronutrient Test (MNT) measures the function of 35 nutritional components including vitamins, antioxidants, minerals and amino acids within your white blood cells.

Your Routine Blood Test, typically done through the physicians’ office, is a serum test often limited to iron, vitamin D, vitamin E, calcium and magnesium.

MNT gives the past 6 month average of your nutritional history vs routine blood testing, which gives a snapshot (average 1 month history).

Scientific evidence shows us that analyzing the white blood cells (through MNT), gives us the most accurate analysis of a body’s deficiencies.

Also, something to consider with routine blood testing, is that the results can vary depending on how much inflammation the body is experiencing. This is because the levels of several vitamins and minerals have been found to be decreased by up to 40 percent when inflammation is present! (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2012).

The bottom line is, at least in these circumstances, routine blood testing can fall short.

However, it a good first start as long as you see its shortcoming and don’t rely on it alone.

I personally use both routine blood testing and micronutrient testing to get a full picture (for the stubborn or severe cases).

Info on Micronutrient testing, through Spectra Cell labs can be found here: www.SpectraCell.com

That’s the third way to Heal inflammation and drop your belly fat, let’s look at the next.

 Inflammatory trigger #4) FOOD SENSITIVITIES –

Eating foods that are not compatible with your body, leads to leaky gut.

Leaky gut is another way your body creates inflammation. This inflammation causes a grave disruption to your metabolism and promotes weight gain.

A healthy gut has tight junctions to allow the process of digestion, assimilation and elimination to work perfectly. However, when these tight junctions come apart, leaky gut is the result.

The problem starts with partially digested food particles that enter into the blood stream (where they aren’t supposed to go) and activate your immune system. Thinking these food particles are invaders, your immune system mobilizes for the attack.

There is more: Your immune system also develops antibodies so it can recognize each intruder next time. Smart eh?

We now have a big problem; your immune system reacts negatively next time, to a food which would otherwise be healthy. If you keep eating the foods the body reacts to often enough, your immune system ends up in permanent alert. Chronic, low grade inflammation is the result.

Not only that, leptin signaling is turned down, leading to insulin resistance and you stay fat with a potential threat of diabetes.

Simple Solutions to Healing Food Sensitivities

Begin by avoiding the most common food sensitivities while you heal your gut. Then slowly reintroduce, one by one, after the gut is healthy.

The most common food sensitivities that are implicated in inflammation include:

All gluten grains, dairy, corn, peanuts, soy, sugar and artificial sweeteners, yeast, and the nightshade family of foods. Strictly avoid these foods for the 1^st month, then follow the ‘elimination diet’ for guidance on how to reintroduce them back in.

Simply google ‘elimination diet’ to help you with this or contact me at michale@fitnhealthynutrition.com for a quick and easy solution.

I personally believe drawing blood to test for food sensitivities is only beneficial for those that are not getting results with the easier program outlined. For others that are getting results, once the gut is healed and the micronutrients are restored, the body can get back to eating a wide, diverse diet in most cases.

That’s the forthway to Heal inflammation and drop your belly fat, let’s look at the next.

Inflammatory trigger #5) EMOTIONAL TRAUMA –

Where the mind goes, the body flows. It’s undeniable that mental stress can affect human physiology. When under stress, cortisol and adrenaline both rise lending to hormone imbalances, unresolved inflammation and unsightly belly fat.

Simple Solutions to Healing Emotional Trauma

There are many health practitioners who can help. Reiki, color therapy, and Emotional Freedom Technique EFT are found to help some. Best to search out what fits your needs and begin your own path to emotional freedom.

That’s the fifth and final way to Heal inflammation and drop your belly fat, let’s look at the next.

I hope from this blog post you can see how chronic inflammation can lead to unsightly belly fat. But, more importantly, simple solutions to fix it!

Heal inflammation and drop your belly fat!

To summarize, I want to give an excerpt from a book I’m reading by Catherine Shanahan, MD, ‘Deep Nutrition, Why your genes need traditional food’,

‘Fat making may seem like the body’s default reaction, but it’s really just the default reaction in periods of stress and nutrient deprivation. When the body gets all the real food, exercise, and rest that it needs, the default reaction is to convert unwanted belly fat into something better. Which physiologic directive your body follows is ultimately up to you”.

Need a personalized plan? Go here to learn more or book your appointment with me now Personalize your plan

Please be sure to share this with at least 1 of not 2 people you love who can be helped with this information.