Your Key to Fat Health posted by Dr. Carol Ann Fischer, DC

Are Your Eating Fat?

There are good fats and bad fats. A major irritant to the digestive tract is Trans fat. These bad trans fats are used in all commercially processed food products. Trans fats take 120 days to break down. Because they take 3 months, they cause an inflammatory reaction in the GI tract and throughout the entire body.  Good dietary fats are used by the body within 18 days to make cell membranes, brain cells and hormones.  

If you want to be healthy you must eat good fat, not Trans fat. Your body needs good fat to function properly. Nearly half of the dry weight of the brain is fat, and a quarter of this is cholesterol. Besides the brain, every cell membrane in the body contains fat, and some of those fats cannot by synthesized -- making it essential to obtain these fats from diet. 

There are two fatty acids which cannot be manufactured in the body, and which must be obtained from dietary sources. These are the essential fatty acids, which are needed by the brain and all cell membranes. The essential fatty acids are found in the diet in only a few food sources: flaxseed, cold water fish, and fish oils.

These highly beneficial fats are called the Omega-3 and Omega-6 oils. The correct dietary ratio for optimal health between these two oils is 2 Omega-6 to 1 Omega-3. Yet, the average American diet has a ratio of 25 Omega-6 to 1 Omega-3.

The liver and gall bladder are responsible for fat metabolism. The liver makes bile, the ingredient necessary for the breakdown of fat. The gall bladder is a storage sac for the bile, and releases the bile as needed into the digestive tract. When fats and oils are not digested properly the body cannot correctly make or use cholesterol, make hormones or bile. 

Poor fat digestion affects the balance of hormones, the formation of vitamins, creates pain and inflammation in the body, alters skin color and texture, and causes digestive difficulties. The body must be able to digest all fats, including the essential fats to achieve optimal health. The answer is not a low fat diet, but to restore the digestive tract to normal function, so that it can digest fat properly. 

Not sure what about your overall digestive function or what fats your might need in your diet? There is a simple way to find out. Get checked by Dr. Sherry Yale, DC at TLC Holistic Wellness in Livonia, MI if you are not sure what fats are best for you to eat. Dr Yale uses a simple, non-invasive method called NRT or Nutrition Response Testing to evaluate what your individual body needs are, and what fats your body wants. 

If you live in any of the surrounding cities of Detroit including Farmington, Farmington Hills, Bloomfield Hills, Novi Redford etc. contact Dr. Yale today at (734) 664 - 0339 to schedule your no charge initial consultation and screening evaluation to determine what your Key to Fat Health is. 

Running on Empty posted on 8 March 2015 by Dr. Carol Ann Fischer, BS, DC, ND

                                                Running on Empty                               

This phrase conjures up images of your car running out of fuel while you are driving, with no available gas station to fill up your tank. Running on empty also refers to a condition where you keep pushing your body to go, and it has no more available fuel to use. This is not a reference to making sure that you have eaten a sufficient quantity of food.  Running on empty refers to the reduced function of the hormonal system.

The job of the hormonal system is to activate your entire body and keep it going all day. A normally functioning hormonal system would enable you to easily jump out of bed in the morning. How many of you have to drag your body out of bed and get something like a cup of coffee in order to function? If you are tired in the morning and/or need caffeine to get going, your hormones are not doing what they should.

If you experience fatigue after lunch or midday, or reach for something sweet to eat to get some energy, again your hormones are not functioning well. Your hormonal system should be providing your body with energy to function throughout the day, and allowing you to relax and sleep at night. If you are having any difficulty getting to sleep, staying asleep or waking up frequently during the night, your hormonal system is out of balance.

In addition to fatigue, the other indicators of a hormonal system that needs help include, sugar and/or salt cravings, weight gain, pain, hair thinning or loss, cold hands and feet and feeling stressed or overwhelmed. Stress is one of the major reasons that the hormonal system fails to do its job.

Too much stress can play havoc with the hormonal system. Ongoing or chronic long term stress adversely affects the ability of your body to continue to make the hormones needed for daily function. The stress response of the body burns out over time causing fatigue, insomnia, altered mood, lack of motivation, poor digestion, decreased sex drive, irritability, depression, sugar cravings, chronic pain, inability to stay asleep, osteoporosis, weight gain, and more symptoms.

There is a natural solution to help repair hormonal imbalance regardless of the stage of hormonal function your body is in. Various alternative approaches to repairing hormonal imbalances range from dietary and lifestyle changes to natural hormone replacement therapy. 

Dr. Linda Solomon at TLC Holistic Wellness in Livonia is one of the few holistic wellness physicians who understands how to evaluate your hormones, and can help you rejuvenate your them. Remember, it is better to check your fuel levels now, so that your body doesn’t have to be running on empty in the near future. Call TLC Holistic Wellness at (734) 664 -0339 now to schedule a no charge consultation to see if your hormones need help.