Category: Health tips

The warm, sunny weather is driving Collingwood and area athletes outdoors to re-engage in their activities of choice. The runners are running, the cyclists are cycling, and the swimmers…well they still have a little wait for the ice to get out of the bay. Brrrrrrr.

While it’s easy to get caught up in the granular details of sports performance, it’s important to make sure the things that make the most impact are in place first. Here are four critical elements that make a difference you can feel.

Water

Water is critical for almost every biochemical reaction in the body. While we tend to just call it “dehydration”, what we’re really talking about is an inability to make proper use of the energy stored in your body, to control your temperature, to keep on top of your mental game, and to properly recover and grow. You endurance athletes know how critical those things are. Drink more. If you struggle to consume enough fluids, consider an energy/water combo, as opposed to eating sports bars or gels and then trying to drink enough separately.

Energy

Without energy from food, you can’t do the work. That’s an easy one. But more importantly, you can’t work to your potential and you can’t respond as quickly to training demands without the right food.

Finding a dietary balance of proteins, carbs and fat is critical–in Racing Weight, author and coach Matt Fitzgerald reveals that, for endurance athletes, body composition is more highly correlated with finish times than training variables–but no one is exactly sure what that balance should be, and everyone is different.

The answer? Focus on dietary quality. Yes, you need to eat enough. But you don’t need to weigh everything you eat—focus on improving the quality of everything you eat, and listen to your body. Whole foods, with as little processing as possible, will take you a long way.

Inflammation

Intense exercise creates inflammation. You’ve felt it.

Inflammation isn’t bad, though. It’s one of the things that is required for your body to initiate the process of getting stronger. What athletes should look for are ways to decrease their overall inflammatory set point from other sources. Your body has enough inflammation to deal with from your training—adding to it in the rest of your life won’t help.

One easy way to reduce the inflammation you don’t want is to ensure that you are not eating inflammatory foods. Food intolerance testing can reveal what foods your body may not be as happy with—carefully replacing those with other sources can allow you train harder and recover more quickly.

Recovery

Exercise is meant to cause damage to your muscles, bones and tendons—that’s what actually starts the process of getting them stronger. To do that, though, your body needs the right tools, and the time to work.

Make sure you give your body the building blocks it needs, like proteins and single amino acids like glutamine to rebuild muscles, as well as antioxidants like vitamin A, E C, and zinc for connective tissue repair.

Then, rest. Get away from the nighttime screens and go to bed. Listen closely to your body and watch for signs of overtraining, which can be sneaky. Overtraining, for example, can make it harder to fall asleep. You might get colds more easily, or take longer to get over them. Irritability, the “blues” or other mood shifts can also happen. These are all things that you might not connect with overtraining the way you would with fatigue or tired muscles.

Now get out there and enjoy the spring!

If you want to learn more about how naturopathic medicine can improve your athletic performance, contact the clinic at 705-444-5331.

We have found through the years that the idea of detoxification and cleansing is one that people are inherently attracted to.

After a winter full of being cooped up in the house, breathing stale air, not exercising enough, holiday drinking, and eating “comfort foods” there is just something compelling about the idea of cleaning out your body.

It is true that your body has a beautiful ability to get rid of toxins you are exposed to, but the system is only finite in nature and it can get bogged down. Symptoms like fatigue, aches, and congestion can be good signs that you should clean house.

First, give your body a break.

The first step in detoxification, or cleansing, is to decrease your exposure to chemicals that your body needs to detoxify. The lower the toxic burden your body has to process, the better.

• For at least 10 days (but ideally up to 30) take a break from caffeine, alcohol, sugar and processed foods.
• Eat as much organic food as possible to avoid pesticide residues.
• Use all natural cleaning supplies and personal hygiene products to further decrease your exposure.
• Rest. Burning the candle at both ends is very hard on your body’s ability to detox. Get lots of sleep and allow it to recharge.

Then, actively support your body’s ability to detoxify.

Once you’ve reduced the toxic burden on your body, you can help it do the work its naturally good at with the following:

• Move your blood around. Winter is often a very inactive season, as people stay inside to avoid the cold. Get outside and move your body, preferably everyday and preferably in a way that works up a sweat.
• Eat LOTS of veggies from the entire colour spectrum. Colourful veggies are full of bioflavonoids and other phytochemicals, all of which support the liver and its ability to detox.
• Drink lots of water. Our kidneys are responsible for removing all the toxins that the liver prepares to leave the body. How much is enough? A good rule of thumb is half your body weight in pounds, in ounces. So if you are 160lbs, you’d be aiming for 80 ounces per day (or 10 cups)–more in hot weather, or with exercise.

There are also many products on the market that support detoxification–colon cleanses, liver cleanses, kidney flushes and the like. Many of these are safe to use, but if you are taking any medications, have any issues with your liver or kidney function, it is best to talk to a qualified health care provider before you start using them.

We’ve written about detoxing several times over the years, including many newspaper articles, which you can find archived here, as well as these blog posts:

• Detoxification: Why it Works and How to Do It
• Spring Cleaning on the Inside

– The StoneTree Team

We all know Aesop’s fable of the Tortoise and the Hare. The turtle, tired of the rabbit’s boasting, challenges him to a race. The rabbit is so confident in his ability to win that he stops halfway through and naps. The turtle plods along slowly and consistently, passes the sleeping rabbit, and wins the race.

This fable can be seen as a cautionary tale to the rabbit—don’t be so over-confident and lazy—but the message from the tortoise’s perspective has a lot to offer us when it comes to health.

Health is About Consistent Efforts, Multiplied

I recently read the book The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy, and I loved the message that it is the sum of our daily decisions mutliplied over time that shape our destiny. It’s not about the epic push or the monumental project, but the small, everyday choices that either take you towards your goal or away from it. Like the tortoise, the small, consistent decisions and actions are what win the race.

I say to my patients all the time, “The tortoise is going to win this race, not the hare.” It’s not just a nod to the fact that tortoises are some of the longest-living creatures on the planet. In our “microwave culture” of wanting things instantly, we are often looking for that magic pill, or the easy way out. Regaining health just doesn’t work that way. Chronic health problems are frequently the result of an accumulation of small actions over time, and good health is no different.

Hare vs Tortoise Health

If you want lasting health, you need to focus on being the tortoise, not the hare.

• The hare diets. The turtle slowly shifts to eating habits that can last a lifetime.
• The hare is a weekend warrior. The turtle is active every day in some way.
• The hare binge sleeps on the weekend. The turtle builds good sleep habits.
• The hare makes time for others on rare holidays. The turtle tries to connect every day.

The end result? A happier, healthier tortoise who wins the race.

Trips to the sunny south are what makes a Canadian winter bearable–at least to a cold-hating, sun-loving person like me. 🙂

As result, we’ve traveled to many different countries under many different circumstances ranging from 5-star resorts to 0-star bunks. In some of these situations, it can be challenging to stay well.

Here’s what I do to stay healthy while I travel, and get back to work full-swing upon my return without an unwanted bodily invasion.

My travel-day ritual:

• If I feel a little under the weather before I leave I get hooked up to an IV Vitamin C.
• I buy 2 bottles of water when I get through security, and put an Emergen-C packet in each of them. I drink one while waiting for the plane and one during the flight. (I do this for the trip home, too.)
• I’m chemically sensitive and find the jet fumes very irritating, so I take CoQ10 and other solvent detoxifiers before and during the flight.
• If there is lots of coughing and hacking on the flight, I’ll take Echinacea/Goldenseal capsules–2 during the flight, 2 when I get off, and 2 before bed that night. (Some of our patients use oil of oregano instead, which also works great.)

To stay healthy, and avoid GI complaints:

• I’m 100% strict with water. I only drink bottled water, and even brush my teeth with bottled water.
• I LOVE eating the local food and street vendors are my favourite. To deal with the risk for picking up a critter I do the following:
  • Take a high potency probiotic before bed every night.
  • Take a high potency digestive enzyme with HCl before eating, and if what I ate seems suspect, take another one after.
• If I have been somewhere very exotic, upon my return I do a parasite cleanse and hydro colonics to clean the bugs out.
• If I feel like I am fighting something when I get home, I go back to the IV Vitamin C as soon as humanly possible once I get off the flight.

This combination of prevention and treatment when necessary has worked wonders for me. Safe travels!