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Slowly the evidence is mounting that there is absolutely no need to be afraid of eating eggs, despite the fact that they are high in cholesterol. Hopefully soon the mainstream medical establishment will go that one step further and acknowledge that there is no association between cholesterol levels and heart disease, as is blatantly obvious in the graph at the end of this entertaining article by Dr. Malcolm Kendrick comparing percent-population with high cholesterol and death rates from CHD in various countries.  That said, eating cholesterol does not seem to increase cholesterol levels in the body, and eggs are an extremely nutritious food, so there is no harm in eating them every day if you want to.  Hard-boiled eggs can be packed along as a healthy protein snack – much healthier than those processed protein bars that contain a list of chemicals a mile long, and just as convenient, and also much healthier than protein shakes made from protein-isolate. So, enjoy your eggs!

The other interesting study that was publicized this week noted an association between soda pop, both diet and regular, and metabolic syndrome and heart disease. The association for regular pop is a no-brainer, but that diet pop is also problematic is surprising, as diet pop contains no sugar nor high fructose corn syrup, so why would such an association exist?  Perhaps part of the reason for the association is that when the body detects a sweet taste it expects carbohydrate nutrition, and when the gut finds none from the diet drink, the brain sends a message to make you hungry so that you will eat more food in the hopes of getting some nutrition. Consequently, eating "diet foods" may result in consuming more calories. The second possibility which has been pointed out by others that have tried to explain the surprising results, is that frequently those that drink diet pop also eat fast or processed food, and it is the fast or processed food that is creating the association with heart disease and metabolic syndrome. A third potential reason that I have not seen suggested anywhere but comes to my mind, is that aspartame is a toxin and the products it degrades into are also toxins, which may cause systemic inflammation in the body.  Inflammation of the arteries is an integral part of the cardiovascular disease process, so consuming foods that cause an inflammatory response would probably be associated with heart disease.  The toxin theory does not explain the association with metabolic syndrome however.

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Interesting how we learn in layers. In my pursuit of understanding as completely as I can how the body works, first I learned how we can develop health complaints by eating the wrong foods, exercising too little or too much, and not getting enough sleep. But the reason our lifestyle is so fundamental to our health is because everything we do – every mouthful of food, every bout of exercise or lack thereof, every thought and emotion we have, as well as how much light or darkness we expose ourselves to has a hormonal consequence in the body.

Because an imbalance in one hormone affects the others, poor lifestyle choices have far-reaching impacts on our systems, and cause widespread, seemingly unrelated symptoms.  For example, we may get insomnia or feel lethargic a lot, we may put on weight and be unable to lose it no matter how much exercise we do, we may become depressed, we may feel too hot or too cold a lot, if female, we may have difficult periods and the worse our hormone balance is the worse our symptoms at menopause.

AND it works the other way! If our hormones are off, we crave particular foods (usually the ones that will make us worse), we are not tired at night so we don’t want to go to bed, we feel down so we start thinking thoughts that bring us further down. If we don’t improve our lifestyle in order to bring our hormones back into balance, over time we may get a disease. So, because of how vital hormone balance is to our health, I have become fascinated by the endocrine system, a topic I found hopelessly boring in physiology class way back when.  I am no expert in this, so any endocrinologists or biochemists out there reading my tips, if you see a mistake please let me know so I can correct it.

We have four endocrine glands that spit out hormones as needed – the thyroid, the pancreas, the ovaries/testes, and the adrenals. The thyroid puts out T4, the pancreas is responsible for insulin, the ovaries and testes give us our sex hormones, and the adrenals put out adrenaline otherwise known as epinephrine, aldesterone and cortisol. After a woman has gone through menopause and the ovaries are out of commission, the adrenals also make estrogen and progesterone although in lesser amounts.

All of these hormones interact with each other, so if one hormone is out of whack it affects the amounts and functions of all the others. The endocrine glands not only communicate amongst themselves, but they also talk to the nervous system and the immune system as was scientifically proven by Dr. Candace Pert and discussed in her book Molecules Of Emotion: The Science Behind Mind-Body Medicine.

Because in my estimation, problems with cortisol are the most common and underlie so many health complaints, I figure it is the best place to start. As I have said in many other tips, cortisol is the hormone that gets secreted when we are under physical, emotional and spiritual stress.

Physical stress includes acute stressors like a car accident or medical emergency, and chronic stressors like constant pain, poor nutrition or food sensitivities, dehydration, too much or too little exercise, too little sleep. Emotional stress is usually chronic and includes stuff like financial stress, relationship stress, work stress, time stress, and spiritual stress may include things like conflicts between one’s religion and one’s sexuality, one’s choice of life-partner (different religion possibly), or one’s occupation.

No matter what the source of stress, cortisol is released into the blood stream to help us cope by increasing sympathetic tone (fight and flight response), and to put sugar into the blood stream so our muscles and brain have the fuel needed to react.

When we look at that list, it becomes pretty obvious why so many of us may have problems with cortisol! Cortisol should be high in the morning, but should subside by evening when our rest and repair system (parasympathetic system) is supposed to take over.

Cholesterol is the base material  from which many of our hormones are made.  Cholesterol gets converted into pregnenalone, which then manufactures cortisol, estrogen, progesterone, DHEA and testosterone.  So, when cortisol is needed to help us cope with stress, cortisol gets prioritized at the expense of the other hormones. Your body figures that if you are under stress, reproduction is not important, so progesterone and DHEA (which builds testosterone) are sacrificed to make cortisol, for example. This causes major PMS symptoms in females, as progesterone is needed to balance estrogen.

Adrenal fatigue eventually occurs if one is under prolonged stress. In Stage 1, cortisol and DHEA levels increase, but if the stressors don’t go away and one moves into Stage 2 adrenal fatigue, cortisol levels remain high, but DHEA becomes depleted. Finally in Stage 3, the adrenals give up. They simply cannot sustain the prolonged need for cortisol, so both cortisol and DHEA levels drop. At this point, one can’t handle much. These people often can’t work, and after one short activity or appointment they are done for the day and have to go home and rest. Frequently the diagnosis of chronic fatigue or fibromyalgia is given.

So can you see that taking sleeping pills to help one sleep, taking Midol to relieve PMS symptoms, taking stimulants like caffeine and sugar to get through the day, Synthroid for low thyroid, or anti-depressants to boost mood may really only be addressing symptoms of problems with cortisol, but not the cause?  By removing various stressors through improving the lifestyle factors described in these tips, one can help the body return to hormonal balance.  Using functional medicine to measure circadian cortisol, DHEA, and sex hormones, interventions can be made to help the body return to homeostasis.

Much of the info in this tip came from Bev Maya, a medical herbalist in the Vancouver area that practices functional medicine.

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In last week’s tip I began a mini-series on the endocrine system by trying to explain the role of cortisol in our bodies, and trying to get across the fact that problems with cortisol, either lack of, too much of, or an inappropriate circadian rhythm, can cause a very wide variety of symptoms because of its interaction and effect on our other hormones.

Because cortisol is the hormone that is released when we are stressed, and considering we have not evolved very much from the time of primitive man when stressful events were almost always life-threatening, our brains prioritize the role of cortisol over the other hormones.

Like I said last week, if you are running from a lion, reproduction, digestion and sleep are not high on the priority list, so why waste the body’s resources on those hormones! Same thing in today’s modern world, except our “acute lion stress” is now chronic work stress, time stress, relationship stress, chronic pain etc.

The body only sees the stress, and figures you don’t need much of the other hormones because cortisol is needed now in order to save your life.

But to be healthy and to function well, we DO need those other hormones. For example, the thyroid hormones are in charge of our metabolism or our energy production, which in turn helps regulate our body temperature. Our body chemistry works best at 37 degrees Celsius or 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, and if the temperature isn’t right, enzyme and catalyst activity is compromised. Pretty important stuff! 

We hear of people say they have "sluggish thyroids", and frequently they have difficulty controlling their bodyweight.  Or we say "that person has a high metabolism – they can eat absolutely anything and they won’t gain a pound." 

People that know me know that I am always cold. I wear long underwear until about May, and really struggle to stay warm in the winter no matter how many layers of clothes I’m wearing.  I like it hot – 25 to 28 degrees Celsius and I’m happy.  It only occurred to me very recently that maybe I have a thyroid issue.

I have a few of the other symptoms – very dry, scaly skin generally, and "chicken skin" on the upper arms and legs (yuck)!  Other symptoms of thyroid problems include  fatigue, depression, osteoporosis, infertility, muscle weakness, too hot, hair loss, memory problems, constipation, inability to sweat, heart-rate disturbances, increased homocysteine and C-reactive protein levels which are both risk factors for heart disease.

The thyroid gland sits on the front of the neck and secretes calcitonin which is needed for calcium absorption into the bones, which is why impaired thyroid function can lead to osteoporosis.

The thyroid also secretes thyroxine (T4) at the urging of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) which comes from the pituitary gland.  T4, the inactive form, is made up of four iodine molecules. It goes to the liver, which through liver enzyme activity, converts it into T3 by dropping an iodine molecule. 

T3 is the active form of thyroid hormone which regulates metabolism and body temperature.  If for some reason the liver does not have enough of the enzymes needed, Reverse T3, another inactive form of T3 is made.

If too little T3 is made, one has hypothyroidism, and if too much is made, one has hyperthyroidism.  Thyroid problems can stem from prioritizing cortisol so T3 does not get made, from inadequate iodine in the diet, or from a liver that is struggling in its detoxification role and can’t make the enzymes necessary to convert T4 to T3. 

The other halogens like chlorine and fluorine have a higher affinity for the iodine receptors than iodine does, so drinking chlorinated and fluoridated water may be responsible for an inability to absorb iodine, and thereby affect thyroid function. Another important reason to filter our water! 

Goitrogens like processed soy and peanuts also block the absorption of iodine.  Omega 6 vegetable oils are usually already rancid when consumed, and the oxidative processes seem to damage enzyme activity, increase inflammation, and block production of thyroid hormone. 

Coconut oil, a medium-chain fatty acid seems to aid thyroid function.  Mercury in the body displaces selenium, which is needed to convert T4 to T3.

To diagnose thyroid issues, the doctor must do more than simply measure Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH), as even if TSH is below 2, thyroid problems may exist.

Request that your doctor also measure free T3 and free T4 levels, as then it is easier to figure out where in the chain the problem is occurring.  It is quite possible that T3 is low and T4 is normal. In this case, the body is unable to convert T4 into T3, so the problem may be due to a liver or an adrenal/cortisol issue. 

Treating with a drug like Synthroid is completely useless in this scenario, as it only provides T4 and does nothing to aid the conversion into T3. Taking one’s temperature 3, 6 and 9 hours after rising for a few days can also be helpful to your physician in determining thyroid problems.

If you are getting your thyroid checked, to me it makes sense to also run a circadian cortisol test, because treating the thyroid if the cause is poor adrenal function is an exercise in futility.

Much of the info in this tip came from Bev Maya, a medical herbalist in the Vancouver area that practices functional medicine.

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Those of you that have been reading my tips for a while may have gotten the idea that I am not a huge fan of western conventional medicine.

I became disillusioned when allopathic medicine was never able to explain why I had stomach aches every day of my life for about 35 years, despite going to doctor after doctor searching for an answer, and having every diagnostic procedure in the book come back clean.

I didn’t think it was normal to get stomach aches every day, occasionally so bad that I had to lie down. Food-sensitivity testing just wasn’t on the radar of the physicians I saw, despite the fact that I told them that most of the time my stomach aches came on during or shortly after a meal.

Conventional medicine is absolutely fantastic at acute care and life-saving emergency care. If one has a heart attack, breaks bones, suffers from wounds or infections, or urgently needs a cancerous tumour removed for example, allopathic medicine is best, because it is excellent at diagnosis of the big stuff.

Imaging and diagnostic technology is amazing these days, and once the diagnosis is made, a life can be saved by quick, appropriate care.

Where conventional medicine falls down in my opinion, is dealing with sub-acute and chronic health problems.

People regularly see their doctor for help with fatigue, aches and pains, depression etc., and usually they leave with a prescription that treats the symptoms complained about, (pain killers, anti-inflammatories, anti-depressants etc.), which is a band-aid solution, but rarely is the actual cause of the problem addressed (what is causing the inflammation?).

People are given a diagnosis of heart disease or arthritis which then dictates a particular treatment protocol, but looking for the underlying causes of why the person developed heart disease or arthritis in the first place does not always happen.

I don’t think that allopathic medicine asks the question "why" enough. You go to the doctor for heartburn, you are given an antacid. But why did you develop heartburn? Is an antacid going to cure the cause of the problem? No.

There are many causes of heart burn, each requiring a different treatment. For some, the stomach is pulled up too high up against the diaphragm and is holding open the valve between the food pipe and the stomach itself, allowing acid to go into the food pipe. (There should be at least 2cm of esophagus (food pipe) below the diaphragm.)

For others, particular foods are a problem. Still others actually have too little stomach acid, and the acid they do have is floating on top of the other stomach juices, splashing up into the food pipe when the valve opens.

Each case above needs a different solution to resolve the heart burn. The first needs to see a visceral therapist that can draw the stomach down so the valve is no longer being held open. The second needs to avoid offending foods, and the third actually needs to supplement meals with betaine, to increase HCL. Antacids and GERD medications do not address the cause of the problem in any of these three cases.

You have toe fungus, you are usually given a topical fungus treatment. But clearly toe fungus is a manifestation of an internal fungal infection that needs to be treated also. The band-aid does not fix the problem, but merely controls the outer manifestations.

And pretty much all drugs have side effects that disrupt other physiological pathways in the body not related to the area being treated, leading to the body further away from homeostasis and to further potential problems.

Treating symptoms rather than causes is not always the fault of the doctors – many patients want quick symptom relief and are looking for a drug to solve their problems rather than exploring further for underlying causes.

There are some physicians however, that are becoming disillusioned with the “treat the symptom/disease rather than the cause” allopathic approach, and they are now practicing Functional Medicine, which is a whole new paradigm for medicine.

Functional Medicine is not considered "alternative" or "complementary", but is a different approach based on sound science to addressing sub-acute and chronic health conditions.  Functional medicine tests for and treats the imbalances in the autonomic control systems of the individual, so the treatment is personalized for the individual rather than based on a treatment protocol for a particular symptom or disease.

Functional Medicine believes that the root cause of all disease can be traced to problems in the digestive, hormone,  immune and/or detoxification systems, which causes chronic stress to our bodies.

Once there is an imbalance or problem in one of the physiological pathways, compensations occur in other physiological pathways in order to try and resolve the problem.

These compensations cause further adjustments in other pathways creating a cascading effect, and eventually over many years if balance is not restored, small aggravating symptoms turn into full blown diseases. Catching the imbalances in homeostasis early enough would therefore likely prevent disease.

For example, if an individual is highly stressed, adrenal fatigue and problems with cortisol may result. Cortisol affects the function of insulin, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA, and thyroid among others, so if there is a problem with cortisol, widespread seemingly unrelated symptoms due to dysfunctions in all those other hormone pathways may result.

A simple example of how this can lead to disease is: high cortisol increases blood sugar, which increases insulin levels, which clogs arteries. So a root cause of atherosclerosis may be due to a problem with cortisol.

Another example would be someone that continues to eat a food that he/she is allergic to would cause a destruction of the microvilli in the gut, leading to an inability to absorb nutrition, which would weaken the individual.

Over time due to gut irritation, gaps would open up in the walls of the intestine allowing food particles and pretty much anything else full access to the blood supply and the entire body. This could cause a full-blown immune response and inflammation in the body, and also make the already weakened person very susceptible to illness.

Depending on the symptom presentation of the individual, circadian rhythm hormone tests, mucosal barrier or other GI tests, food-sensitivity tests, immune tests, metabolic tests, heavy metal, chemical toxicity, fungus or parasite tests are ordered, and treatment is based on the results of those tests with the aim of finding homeostasis in the basic physiological pathways that underlie the body’s autonomic control systems.

I am certain that over time once this style of medicine becomes known, more and more doctors will make the switch.  Functional Medicine is great at coaxing the body back to homeostasis, but it requires active participation of the patient in improving lifestyle factors so that homeostasis can be maintained.

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Copyright 2007 Vreni Gurd

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I just love learning. If I could figure out a way to make money taking courses all the time, I think I would be in heaven. I’ve taken this course before so the info was not new, but you know, somehow I needed to be bonked over the head with a sledgehammer again on how we will pretty much sacrifice any other body-part to be able to breathe.

We can only survive minutes without oxygen, so if holding that spine in that twisted way is going to help you breathe, even if the result is a sore back, so be it. So no matter where the pain or discomfort, it is worth making sure one is breathing properly. If not, one must figure out what is driving the improper breathing pattern.

There are a variety of reasons why breathing may be compromised, and sorting out the cause is the only way to fully resolve the breathing pattern. Mouth breathing will cause the head to move forward in order to open the airway, and a forward head posture will pull the lower jaw (mandible) pull back in relation to the top teeth (maxilla). This pulls the tongue down from its resting position up on the hard palate and the top gum line reducing neck stability.

For proper diaphragmatic breathing, the top face of the tongue must be up against the roof of the mouth. Frequently along with a forward head posture is an overly rounded upper back and depressed chest, which can prevent the diaphragm from descending properly. In this way, a poor breathing may cause a cervical disk issue, osteoporosis).

Allergies, whether airborne or from food can cause problems with respiration. Head, jaw, facial or cervical injuries may be at the root of a breathing problem. Craniofacial growth disorders caused by poor nutrition of one’s parents or poor nutrition in childhood may result in a structurally narrow face, crowding of teeth, small sinuses and a small airway. Mouth breathers sometimes fall into this category if the nasal passages simply are not large enough.

Parasites, drugs and too much sugar can also affect breathing rates. Anxiety, stress, grief or other emotional issues that increase sympathetic load will put pressure on the respiratory system and increase breathing rates. Avoidance issues may stiffen the ribs reducing the bucket-handle motion that is supposed to happen with diaphragmatic breathing.

Poor breathing patterns are frequently responsible for neck pain, because if the diaphragm is not adequately used, the thin muscles of the neck are working hard to pull up the ribcage with every breath. Ouch! And if transversus abdominis, one of the local stabilizers of the spine, is helping to force the air out with each breath in order to be able to take another breath in again quickly, it is too busy to do its main job of stabilizing the low back and pelvis.

So poor breathing can result in a sore back and pelvic pain. And if the trunk is unstable, it is pretty tough to stabilize the limbs! We were given an example in class of someone who was sent to an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist to fix a nose problem that was impeding breathing in order to successfully resolve a chronic achilles tendonitis.

Faster breathing rates (more than say, 16 breaths per minute) may cause a blowing off of CO2, the result being a higher blood pH, which has all kinds of consequences to the body from a chemical perspective. Reducing whatever chronic stress may be resulting in the faster breathing rate, whether emotional, nutritional, toxicological or physical would be helpful, in addition to actively learning to breathe correctly and at a slower pace.

If you are a mouth breather and wake up with a wet pillow, or if you find one or both nostrils chronically clogged, you may find an Ear Nose and Throat specialist helpful, particularly if the problem is structural. Nose mucous may also be due to allergies or food intolerances, so learning what you may be allergic or sensitive to may also be helpful.

Sometimes Rolfers or other Structural Integrators can open nasal passages too. Then seek the help of a physiotherapist or Chek practitioner to help you correct your posture and breathing pattern, or in a pinch, read Breathe your way to a more mobile back.

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