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Coconuts are Driving Me Nuts!

How does this headline sound to you?

“Newsbreak! We have no new information about Coconut Oil, but we have a news alert that we still think all saturated fat is bad for everyone.”

That is the real story behind the headline “Coconut oil isn’t healthy. It’s never been healthy” that has grabbed the attention of millions.

The American Heart Association released a statement that, to summarize, says:

  1. Coconut Oil is a saturated fat.
  2. Saturated fat can raise LDL.
  3. High LDL has been associated with increased risk of heart disease.
  4. Therefore, coconut oil will increase your risk for heart disease

Is there any direct proof that coconut oil is dangerous to our health?

No.

Is there any new evidence directly linking saturated fat to heart disease?

No.

Can we say that because “A” is true above that “D” has to be true?

No way.

But that sure is an attention-grabbing headline to try to connect the dots.

What Evidence?

Don’t get me wrong. It’s not like the AHA is making this up out of thin air. They are basing their opinion on decades of science. Decades of poor quality science. But since that was all the science we had for years, you can see why they came to the conclusion.

LDL cholesterol is an important part of the puzzle when it comes to your health. But it is exactly that. One piece of a very complicated puzzle.

What else does saturated fat do? It raises of HDL. For many, the total cholesterol-to-HDL ratio remains the same.  Does that increase the risk of heart disease? There is no good data to support that claim, but likely not.

Let’s look at it another way.

Is an LDL of 150 dangerous? That depends. Are you overweight, sedentary, have a diagnosis of metabolic syndrome, eating a high inflammatory diet, and have a strong family history of heart disease? Then an LDL of 150 likely is dangerous. And you likely also have a low HDL, high triglyceride level (TG), high blood sugar etc.

On the other hand, do you eat real food, mostly vegetables with appropriate portions of animal fats? Do you exercise, manage your stress, and have few if any other cardiovascular risk factors? Are your HDL, TG and glucose levels near ideal? Then that same LDL of 150 is likely not as dangerous for you.

It is misleading to suggest one size fits all.

(For more details on the saturated fat debate, and why the data is not as clear as most seem to think, see our prior article on the topic here.

Unfortunately, the American Heart Association discounts the evidence that shows no association between saturated fat intake and cardiovascular disease.  They continue to promote industrial, processed oils over natural fats. Again, rooted in decades of science. Poor quality science.

Both Sides Fail

In essence, the attention-grabbing news flash is simply restating the AHA’s longstanding position. There is nothing new.

To be fair, however, do we have good evidence saying coconut oil is healthy?

No, we do not.

Can we prove saturated fat reduces our heart disease risk?

No.

Can we believe Dr. Axe when he claims that coconut oil has 20 proven health benefits (including curing UTIs, protecting the liver and preventing osteoporosis)?

No way. That’s crazy talk.

If we are going to question the poor-quality evidence against saturated fat, we certainly have to question the horribly inadequate evidence supporting views like Dr. Axe’s.

So, what can we conclude?

We can conclude that nothing new was found for or against coconut oil.

Nothing new was found for or against vegetable oils.

Saturated fats (and by extension coconut oil) are not inherently bad, especially if they are a component of a real-foods, vegetable-based, Mediterranean style of eating.

Vegetable oils are highly processed, pro-inflammatory, fake foods that have evidence both for and against their use.

It’s all so confusing! I know. Trust me, I know.

What Can We Do?

What is someone to do in this sea of contradictory news?

Don’t believe the hype.

Focus on real, minimally processed foods.

When it comes to cooking fats:

  1. Olive oil is the best for low heat.
  2. Avocado oil is the best for medium heat.
  3. Higher heat gets tricky due to concern over smoke points.

    1. First, ask yourself, why are you cooking or frying in high heat to begin with? Can you get the same result with lower heat?
    2. If it’s something you have to do, you can choose from coconut oil, butter, ghee, and vegetable oil. Make you decision based on taste, or even better, mix it up.

Action Item: Do you want to know how cooking oils affect you, as an individual? Get your labs done (at a minimum check LDL, HDL, TG, TC, hsCRP, glucose. For more advanced testing try WellnessFX or other ways to get advanced lipid testing). Then switch to 100% coconut oil as your cooking oil for a month and recheck your labs. Review your labs with someone who has an open mind and looks at more than just your LDL number. LDL does not exist in isolation, but is part of the whole picture.  Now you know how it affects you. Individualized medicine beats general guidelines any day.

 

Thanks for reading.

 

Bret Scher, MD FACC

Cardiologist, author, founder of Boundless Health

www.DrBretScher.com 

The Three Most Important Things You Need to know About Statins!

Can you find a more polarizing topic than statins? One article says they are miracle drugs that should be given to everyone. Then you turn the page, and you read how they are poison and you should stay away from them no matter what.  How can one drug cause such differing views? And which should you believe?

 

The statin debate has intensified ever since the 2013 ACC/AHA cholesterol treatment guidelines increased the number of people without heart disease who “should” take a statin to 43 million Americans. That is for primary prevention, meaning the individual has never had a diagnosis of cardiovascular disease, never had a heart attack, and never had any type of a heart problem.

 

As you can imagine, this has been a windfall for the drug companies. But are we healthier and better off as a result? That is unknown.

 

The problem is understanding the bias of whoever is writing the story.

 

Subtleties of Science

 

But wait, you say. Won’t the science tell us if statins are good or not? Isn’t it an objective fact if they are good for us?

 

Not so fast. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and so is the application of science.

 

Are you getting advice from someone who believes prescribing more medicine is better? Or someone who believes a more natural lifestyle is better? 

 

Are you reading a report sponsored by the pharmaceutical company that paid for the research?

 

Or are you getting advice from a scientist who is more focused on statistical benefits, or someone who is more concerned with the potential benefit for the one individual they are taking care of at the moment?

 

It is a confusing sea of conflicting information, and you have to find which approach resonates more with your beliefs and your life.

 

The Three Keys

 

Regardless of who you are and your beliefs, I promised you the three most important things you need to know about statins. Here they are:

  1. All statin studies are worthless! That’s right. All statin studies that have been done to date are worthless and don’t apply to anyone who follows healthy lifestyle principles.
  2. Statins will not prolong your life. Not at all. Not for a single day.
  3. Statins DO reduce your heart attack risk, by about 0.7% over 5 years.

All of a sudden, statins don’t seem so powerful, do they? Let’s go deeper into these points to learn why.

 

1-All Statin Trials Are Worthless

When designing a trial, you have to decide what your control group is going to be. You have to show that the drug is better than something. The key is defining what that something is.

 

Therein lies the problem. In order to show beneficial effects, primary prevention statin trials need thousands of subjects, studied over years. That is very expensive to do. The vast majority of trials, therefore, rely on drug company funding.

 

Do you think they are going to fund a trial that makes it easier or harder to show a benefit? Of course, that was a rhetorical question.

 

Pharma companies don’t have an interest in your health and wellbeing. Their priority is to their stock holders and their bottom line. They are going to sponsor trials that are most likely going to benefit them.

 

How does this make the trials worthless? They compare statins to “usual care.” That means a brief, and ineffective attempt to educate people about healthy nutrition and physical activity.

 

In addition, the specific nutritional guidance that was used has always been a low-fat diet. As we now know, what does a low-fat diet usually include? Lots of sugars and simple carbohydrates. What does that diet do? Increase your risk of obesity, diabetes, inflammation, and eventually heart disease.

 

That’s setting the bar pretty low to show a benefit from statins. And that is exactly what the drug companies want.

 

What we need is a control group that is involved in a comprehensive lifestyle intervention program. A program that helps participants get regular physical activity. Helps them eat vegetable based, real food, low in added sugars and simple carbs, and high in natural healthy fats.

 

Since that is the way we should all be living, THAT is what the control group should be. I guarantee you, the results would be far different compared to the standard control groups used to date.

 

That is the trial the drug companies never want to see and will never fund. And that is why all statin trials to date are worthless.

 

If you can focus on proper lifestyle interventions, using healthy foods, physical activity and stress management as medicine, then we have no idea what effect, if any, statins would have. But I assure you it will be minimal if any benefit.

 

2-Statins Will Not Prolong Your life

 

You read that right. For people who have never had heart disease before, the multi-billion dollar drug won’t help you live longer. The overwhelming majority of primary prevention trials involving statins show no difference in overall mortality between those who took the drug and those who did not.

 

That surprises a lot of people. Statins are promoted as if they are wonder drugs that save lives left and right. That’s good marketing and good PR. Reality is far different.

 

If they don’t help you live longer, they must increase the quality of your life, right? Nope. In fact, 30-40% of people on statins will experience muscle aches and weakness causing them to exercise less and decreasing the overall quality of their lives.

 

So, if they don’t help us live longer, and they don’t increase the quality of our lives, why do we take them????

 

3-Statins DO Reduce Your Heart Attack Risk

 

If the news was all bad there wouldn’t be any debate about their use. But the truth is that statins do reduce the risk of heart attacks, and that is why in some cases it may be beneficial for you to take one.

 

But the big question is: How much do statins reduce your heart attack risk? The answer is not as much as you would think. Considering the recommendations keep getting more and more aggressive for statin therapy, you would think statins would be immensely powerful at reducing heart disease risk.

 

In reality, they reduce the risk of a heart attack by 0.7-1.5% over 5 years. That means you need to treat 66-140 people for 5 years to prevent one heart attack.  (as an aside, for people with pre-existing heart disease, so called secondary prevention, you need to treat approximately 40 people for 5 years to prevent 1 heart attack and 85 people to prevent 1 death)

 

When presented like that, it should certainly temper the enthusiasm for statin therapy. Again, it may still be the right choice for some people, but given the potential risks and side effects, I would hope for a much greater benefit.

 

Better Than Statins

 

A common response is that statins are “the best we have to offer” to reduce one’s risk of cardiovascular disease.  If you are talking about a drug manufactured in a laboratory, then that would be correct. But what else are options?

 

It turns out following a Mediterranean eating pattern with vegetables, fruit, fish, legumes, and lots of nuts, olive oil and avocados reduces the risk of cardiovascular events as well. For something as simple as nutritional choices the benefit must be much less than a statin, right?

 

That is what the drug companies would want you to believe. In reality, you need to “treat” 61 people with the Mediterranean diet for 5 years to reduce 1 cardiovascular event (a “combined endpoint” of stroke, heart attack or death).

 

To be fair, you cannot compare one trial to another as they have very different populations studied, and the outcome measures are different. So, it is not scientifically fair to say, “The Mediterranean diet has been proven to be more beneficial that statins.”  That would require a head-to-head trial. Unfortunately, that trial is unlikely to ever happen.

 

But it makes for an obvious answer when asked “If statins aren’t all that helpful, what else can I do to reduce my risk of cardiovascular disease?

 

  • Follow a real food, vegetable-based, Mediterranean style diet, low in sugar and high in healthy fats.

 

  • Maintain a physically active lifestyle.

 

  • Exercise with some form of moderate cardio exercise, resistance training and higher intensity interval exercises.

 

  • Practice stress reduction techniques.

 

  • Don’t smoke.

 

  • Manage your other risk factors such as diabetes and high blood pressure.

 

If you can follow these healthy lifestyle principles, you will be doing far more for your health than any pill you could take. And the best part? The only side effects are having more energy, feeling more empowered, and reducing your risk for chronic diseases.  Sounds like a good trade off to me!

 

 

Thanks for reading.

 

Bret Scher, MD FACC

Cardiologist, author, founder of Boundless Health

www.DrBretScher.com

Herb-Crusted Roasted Salmon with Roasted Broccoli Steaks

Here is another great recipe from our friends at Whole30. Give it a try for a delicious twist on salmon. But don't stop with just broccoli for the veggie. Add cauliflower, zucchini, and sweet potato for an even greater array of colors and flavors!

Ingredients
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/4 cup almond flour
2 salmon fillets (6 ounces each)
3 small heads broccoli with the stems attached (consider adding cauliflower, sweet potato and other veggies here!)
1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Combine the basil, parsley, 4 tablespoons of the oil, lemon juice, ½ teaspoon of the salt, ½ teaspoon of the pepper, and the lemon zest in a blender or food processor. Cover and pulse until smooth. Pour the herb mixture into a bowl and stir in the almond flour.

Place the salmon fillets in a large roasting pan or on a rimmed baking sheet. Pack the herb mixture on the top of each fillet.

Trim the broccoli stems to about 3 inches below the florets. Slice the broccoli heads lengthwise into 1-inch-thick slabs (two or three slabs per head), cutting from the bottom of the stems through the crown to preserve the shape of the broccoli. Brush both sides of each broccoli slice with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and sprinkle with the remaining ½ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Arrange the broccoli in a single layer in the pan around the salmon.

Roast the broccoli and salmon for 25 minutes, until the salmon just barely starts to flake when pulled apart with a fork and the broccoli is lightly browned, turning the broccoli once halfway through roasting. Sprinkle the broccoli with the toasted almonds before serving.

Text excerpted from The Whole30 Cookbook © 2016 by Melissa Hartwig. 

Breakfast Smoothies

I have posted a few times about my quick, easy and delicious veggie eggs that I eat at least three days per week. As a response, many of you who aren’t big fans of eggs have reached out and asked for other options. First, I encourage you all to explore intermittent fasting at least two days per week. Another option is to turn to smoothies. Smoothies are a great way to get your greens and veggies, plus you can easily add healthy fats and proteins to start your day with balanced nutrition. Just don’t fall into the trap of the “easy” bagel, muffin or cereal! You can do better. Here is a link to a delicious Strawberry & Kale smoothie from Amy Krasner at Nourished Balance. It’s easy and very tasty. Give it a try!

http://www.nourishedbalance.com/recipes/breakfast/strawberry-kale-smoothie/

Are Gluten-Free Diets Killing Us?

Gluten has come full circle in the eyes of popular media. It was initially portrayed as the cause of all our health concerns. Eliminating it was the quickest path to feeling better and living healthier. After all, how else can we explain Tom Brady’s Super Bowl prowess????

 

Now, however, avoiding gluten has been implicated in increasing our risk of heart disease and causing a harmful disruption of our gut microbiome (the bacteria in our digestive tracts and plays an integral role in our health).

 

So, which should we believe?

 

As with most health topics in popular media, the key is in the details. But first, a quick primer on gluten and gluten sensitivity.

 

Gluten 101

 

Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley and rye, and in foods made with those grains, like bread, cereal, cookies, crackers and pasta.

 

In people with the medical condition of celiac disease the body sees gluten as a foreign invader and is unable to properly absorb it. Gluten causes an autoimmune response against the lining of the intestines causing intestinal damage and decreased absorption of necessary nutrients.

 

Symptoms of celiac disease include abdominal pain, bloating, and rashes. It can also cause anemia, bone problems, and malnutrition. Your doctor can diagnose celiac disease with a blood test and a biopsy of your small intestine.

 

Without question, those with proven celiac disease must avoid gluten. Fortunately, it is a rare medical condition.

 

More commonly, people may be sensitive to gluten even though they don’t have celiac disease. They simply find that they feel much better when they avoid gluten-containing foods. They have more energy, less bloating, clearer skin, and have improved concentration and mental clarity.

 

This is not a medical diagnosis. There is no way to objectively prove if this is the case or not. This is a subjective feeling. Do you feel better while avoiding gluten or not? It’s that simple.

 

This is similar to numerous other food intolerances that abound. Some people feel better avoiding dairy. Some feel better avoiding meat. Some feel better avoiding legumes. Gluten is no different. It just gets more attention lately given its popularity among celebrities and weight loss pundits.

 

If you feel better avoiding gluten, then you should avoid it. After all, our bodies do not require gluten for good health.

 

Our bodies need proteins and fats, vitamins and minerals. There is no physiological need for gluten. If it makes you feel poorly, there is no need to eat it.

 

Gluten Coming Full Circle

 

Now, however, people are starting to question the safety of gluten-free diets based on recent research.

 

An article published in May in BMJ (British Medical Journal) suggested that avoiding gluten increased our risk of heart disease.  What followed was a social media and popular media storm of gluten-free backlash with the end result being confusion and frustration.

 

Who do we believe and what do we do now?

 

Take A Breath, Then Dive Deeper

 

First, take a breath. Remember that health claims, good or bad, are rarely as extreme as portrayed by the media.

 

Next, dive deeper. Understanding the implications of the study depends on understanding the details of the study. I know that not everyone has the time/desire/resources to dig deeper into the studies, so we did it for you.

 

This study was an observational study that followed healthcare workers without heart disease (at the time of enrollment) for 26 years. There was no specific intervention, the researchers simply collected data over time on who had heart attacks and who did not, and also collected data on what they ate. By going back and statistically crunching the data, they tried to find an association between the amount of gluten eaten and the risk of heart attacks.

 

Here is the main conclusion to the study. There was no significant difference in heart disease risk between those who ate the most gluten compared to those who ate the least. No significant difference.

 

Why all the news reports that it increased the risk of heart disease?

 

Statistical massaging of the data showed that those who ate the least amount of gluten and the least amount of whole grains did have a small increased risk of heart disease.

 

So, what was the problem? Was it the missing gluten? Or the missing whole grains? This study does not prove cause and effect. It does, however, suggest it was the lack of whole grains, not just the gluten, that was associated with a very small increased risk of heart disease.

 

How small?  There was a 15% relative risk increase. The absolute increase was not reported, but looking at the numbers it was around 0.1%. The difference was 1 person out of 1000. Hardly earth shattering.

 

Said another way, if the subjects avoided gluten containing cookies, crackers and processed bread and substituted gluten-free cookies, crackers and processed bread, they were not any healthier, and may have increased their heart disease risk by 0.1%.

 

Yawn. That type of analysis wouldn’t sell many papers or get many clicks. Thus, the media did not report it as such. Yet that is what the paper found.

 

Gut Bugs

 

What about gut microbiota? Can gluten-free diet hurt our gut bugs?

 

A 2010 study suggested eating a gluten-free diet harmed our gut microbiome. This one should be an easy one to explain.

 

What helps healthy gut microbes flourish? Fiber. Specifically, fermentable fiber.

 

The most common gluten substitute is rice flour. Rice flour has very little fiber, thus very little ability to feed the healthy gut bacteria.

 

The result? A relative overgrowth of the unhealthy gut bacteria. The bacteria that like high-sugar and low fiber foods flourish while the fiber-eating bacteria die off.

 

Wheat on the other hand, tends to have more fiber. Especially whole grain foods. So once again, it is likely that limiting whole grains in favor of low-fiber, processed foods is not helping our health, whether we are talking about our guts or our hearts (and by extension, likely our brains as well).

 

Gluten- Guilty or Not?

 

Is there anything inherently dangerous about eating gluten free?

 

No.

 

The key is what are you eating instead. If you are eating low fiber, processed gluten-free foods, then you are not doing yourself any favors.

 

But if you feel better avoiding gluten, and you are replacing it with real food, fresh veggies (both starchy and non-starchy), fruit, seeds and nuts, then chances are you will feel better and be healthier.

 

What if gluten doesn’t bother you? Then there is no real need to avoid it as long as you are eating whole grains, minimally processed versions of gluten, and avoiding the processed and refined junk.

 

It’s that simple Let’s not over complicate it.

 

Action Item: Take two weeks to see how you feel without eating gluten. Do you feel any better? More or less energy? Can you think or focus better? Do you have fewer aches and pains? Did your weight change? If not, then eat what you want (as long as you continue to follow a real food, vegetable first, low sugar and low processed food way of eating). If you do feel better without gluten, then stock up on the foods listed below. Avoid gluten, but also be careful not to add processed, low-fiber, gluten-free alternatives. Just because it is gluten free doesn’t mean it is good for you!

 

Whole grain gluten-free foods:

Amaranth, buckwheat, brown rice, millet, quinoa, oats. 

 

Other fiber containing foods:

Legumes such as beans, lentils and peas

Green leafy vegetables

Starchy vegetables such as yams, sweet potatoes, carrots and other root vegetables

Apples, pears and berries

Nuts and seeds

 

Thanks for reading.

 

Bret Scher, MD FACC

Cardiologist, author, founder of Boundless Health

www.DrBretScher.com

 

A Healthier Grilled Cheese For The Whole Family

I know what you are thinking. Grilled cheese, healthy? What? I admit it may not be the healthiest choice, but sometimes you want to mix it up and your crave some comfort food. It helps to have a healthier go-to version of the old facorite. Plus, my kids love this. They love it so much that my 7-year old insisted that he film us making it for all of you. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCg6pXO7gfB2GapwRjMKEIbQ/videos

Why I Ate My Wife’s Chocolate Chips. All of Them.

I didn’t sleep at all Saturday night.

 

 In college, that may have been an exciting statement full of fun and intrigue.

 

In medical school and residency, it was a badge of honor and usually involved clinical challenges and valuable experiences.

 

This past Saturday, it involved consoling my son as he kept throwing up. Changing his sheets, wiping his head with a damp towel, and most importantly, just letting him know I was there and that he would be OK. It is a rite of passage all parents go through, more than once.

 

On Sunday, he was much better and slowly getting back to his usual self. Me? I was hungry and craving carbs.

 

I also almost never crave carbs. I practice intermittent fasting, I eat a “veggie first diet” with healthy fats, appropriate portions of animal sources, some fruit and almost no refined carbs. Through years of this practice, I have been able to drastically diminish my sweet tooth and control my hunger and cravings

 

A Different Story

 

Sunday was a different story. I had the carb cravings and munchies all day. Instead of eggs, veggies, and avocado, I had fruit and granola for breakfast. But didn’t stop there. I still had this crazy craving so I added toast and a banana.

 

Later in the day the cravings really hit. Chocolate.

 

I was craving chocolate like you wouldn’t believe. Fortunately, my wife had some chocolate chips in the freezer. Let’s just say I need to make a run to replenish the supply before she sees what I have done. Without thinking, I polished off what was left in the bag.

 

How could this be? This was all so unlike me. What could have happened?

 

Sleep.

 

Or more importantly, lack of sleep.

 

Sleep and Our Hormones

 

Sleep is intimately involved with our hunger and our cravings. As a result, sleep is intimately involved with our weight gain, weight loss and our health. It effects not only our ability to make decisions, but also alters our hormones, our cravings and our feelings.

 

That’s powerful stuff!

 

It turns out that inadequate sleep affects our hormones ghrelin and leptin. They sound like comic book villains, but they are hormones that control our feelings of being hungry or feeling full. Ghrelin, the “hunger hormone,” signals to your body that you’re hungry and need to eat. Leptin has the opposite effect, and signals that you’re full and don’t need to eat. Research consistently shows that poor sleep spikes ghrelin and suppresses leptin levels.

 

The result? Poor sleep leaves you feeling hungrier than usual regardless of what you eat or how much you eat. You eat more and expend less energy. Bad combination.

 

Leptin and ghrelin load the gun, our lack of mental clarity pulls the trigger (it’s a terribly violent analogy, but it makes the point none the less).

 

When we are sleep deprived we don’t think with the same level of clarity and with the same emotional control. We tend to react impulsively when we feel hungry. Impulse decisions rarely end in a well-balanced meal of veggies with healthy fats and proteins. More often, the result is standing in front of the freezer, door open, eating your wife’s stash of chocolate chips.

 

Guilty as charged.

 

Ripple Effect

 

Guess what else I did (or more importantly, didn’t do) in my sleep-deprived state on Sunday.

 

I didn’t go to the gym as I had planned.

 

I didn’t get out for a hike or nature walk.

 

I drove to the grocery store instead of riding my bike.

 

I sat and watched a movie with my son rationalizing that he wanted me there so it was OK to plant myself on the couch for an hour and a half.

 

Sound familiar? When we are tired and run down from poor sleep, the rest of our healthy lifestyle decisions suffer. It is the classic ripple effect.

 

And poor sleep can cause it all.

 

The solution?

 

Sleep better.

 

“No kidding. We already knew that. Thanks for nothing doc!”

 

Ok. We all know we need more sleep. And there is a laundry list of sleep hygiene techniques that I review in more detail in my book and elsewhere.

 

But life happens. We can’t always prepare for the night of consoling our children. Or the night before a big presentation when we are too excited/nervous/scared (take your pick) to get to sleep. What do we do then?

 

Be mindful and be aware.

 

Mindful Power

 

In this case, knowledge truly is power. Simply being aware that our hormones will be off kilter and our decision making will be impaired gives us the power to control our day.

 

You may need an extra reminder, or you may have to try harder than usual, but staying in the present and being mindful of your decisions is the skill you need to counteract the effects of poor sleep.

 

Instead of acting rashly, take a breath. Step back, breathe and realize you did not sleep well. Remind yourself that poor sleep alters your hormones and your perceived needs. And realize that you can still control these feelings and cravings. When you are mindful, you are in control.

 

It turns out, studies show mindfulness also helps you sleep better. When compared to a group of individuals given sleep hygiene education, individuals who practiced regular mindful meditation slept more and felt more refreshed. So not only does being mindful help you get through your day with minimal damage, it also helps you get back on track.

 

Once again, that’s a pretty powerful effect. If that were a pill you better believe there would be a multi-million-dollar marketing campaign behind it.

 

But it isn’t a pill. It’s free for anyone to do. It’s a skill anyone can try and everyone can improve. Being mindful is like exercising a muscle. The more you practice it, the stronger it becomes. The stronger it becomes, the easier it is to use.

 

You won’t be perfect and it may not always be easy. But I promise you this. Practice being mindful, practice your breathing, and you will be better.

 

Action Item:

Start recording your sleep. Activity monitors like FitBit Alta HR, FitBit Charge, Garmin Vivosport, Mio Slice, the Apple watch and many others all record sleep duration. Or simply record it yourself with a pen and paper (old school). When you get less sleep than usual, make a concerted effort to control your surroundings more. Make a concerted effort to practice your mindfulness techniques more. Treat yourself with more compassion and more love.  And make sure you get to bed a little earlier that night to help break the cycle. You can do this. You just need to be aware.

 

 

Thanks for reading.

 

Bret Scher, MD FACC

Cardiologist, author, founder of Boundless Health

www.DrBretScher.com

 

 

 

 

Whole30 Mexican Salmon Cakes with Mango Relish

I am a big fan of Melissa Hartwig and her Whole30 program. First there is the general concept that how and why we eat are just as important as what we eat. Then there are her recipes. Some people feel it can get boring eating real foods, no added sugars or grains or processed food. Melissa's recipes show us that it is anything but boring. Try these Mexican Salmon Cakes with Mango Relish and you will drop the word boring from your vocabulary. I'm a spice wimp so I did it without the cayenne pepper and jalopenos, and I served it with sauted spinach and some leftover broccoli/carrots/cauliflower I had in the fridge. Deliscious!

What Does Your Utopia Look Like?

What does your Utopia look like? Have you ever stopped to think about it? How does health fit in to your utopia?

I bet in your ideal world, you feel light, fit, and move freely with no aches or pains. You have a positive frame of mind, you're happy and energetic.

When you see yourself in this utopia, what does the rest of your life look like? What kind of exercise do you do? What kind of work do you do and what does your commute look like? What kind of food you eat and where is the food come from? What do your relationships look like with those you love? 

Hopefully it feels good to allow yourself this moment of exploration and daydreaming. Hopefully this simple exercise can inspire you to change certain aspects in your life to help bring your utopia closer to reality.

My Utopia

Take a minute to come explore my utopia where health is first and foremost. 

In my utopia, we all live close enough to a farmer’s market or a hydroponic garden to get fresh fruits and vegetables year around. We walk or ride our bikes to the market and the fresh veggies and fruits make up over 50% of our meals.

 In my utopia packaged and processed foods and sweets don’t exist. Processed white flour does not exist. Concentrated fruit juice doesn’t exist. Sodas, energy drinks, and sports drinks won’t exist.

We will hydrate our bodies naturally with water, tea or freshly ground coffee beans. We won’t have refined and processed sugar to pour into our drinks.

 The sweetest foods and most concentrated sugars are berries, oranges and apples.

And we love it.

 

You Can’t Crave What Doesn’t Exist

Some may stop and think, what about my sweet cravings? Well, if it doesn’t exist, you can’t crave it. It won’t even be an option so you’ll quickly learn not to even think about it. The longer you go without it, eventually your body will stop craving it.

It’s amazing how quickly our taste buds can get used to less sugar, less sweet in our food and drinks.

Think about how people would eat differently, and as a result how the spectrum of disease in this country would change.

Think about how the generations of kids growing up in this culture will see food and health differently.

Looks pretty good, doesn’t it?

 

Don’t Stop With Food

I’m not about to end my utopia there.  Let’s keep going. 

In my utopia, we all live within biking distance to our place of work. We live in communities with close social interactions and connections.

We move our bodies regularly during the day. Even if we sit behind a computer for work (after all I want my utopia to be somewhat realistic), it is EXPECTED of us to get up and walk every 30 minutes. We aren’t looked at strangely for constantly getting up and moving, and we don’t need to apologize for taking “movement breaks.”

Our work culture is such that we all glare at the one or two workers who continually grind away without getting up. We remind them, “Hey, it’s been 45 minutes already. Get up and start moving.”

In my utopia, when we walk into a building, the first thing we see is the stairwell. If we want to take the elevator, we need walk around to find it.

In my utopia, parking lots are empty. At least empty of cars. The bike racks are full.

In my utopia, it is perfectly acceptable to place a sign on your office door, “Please do not disturb. Meditating for ten minues. Namaste”

Fantasy or Reality?

Is this all fantasy? Could you see any of this being based in a reality we may one day achieve?

One by one, my goal is to convince people that we shouldn’t just dream of a life like this. We should take action and recreate our lives like this. One by one, we can affect the change we want.

This is my utopia for health. Health is my priority, for myself, my family and us all.

A utopia with different goals would look much different. What would one look like for working your way up the corporate ladder? For making as much money as possible so you can vacation first class in the Bahamas?

Those would obviously look much different.

Unfortunately, I have seen too many people create their perfect world at the expense of their health. The result? They may achieve their perceived goal, but when they end up too sick or too stressed to enjoy it, they realize their goal was misguided from the beginning.

My utopia reflects my priorities: Health and happiness. What are your priorities?

Action Item:

Visualize your utopia. Take ten minutes, sit in a quiet place where you will not be interrupted. Close your eyes and visualize your perfect work. Connect as many sense as you can, sight, sound, feel. Connect as many aspects of your life that you can, your nutrition, your exercise, your work environment, your friends and family, and as many as you can imagine. Shoot for the moon and come up with as many examples as you can. Let the feeling sink in and enjoy. Then open your eyes and pick one item to implement today to get you closer to that life.

 

Thanks for reading.

Bret Scher, MD FACC

Cardiologist, author, founder of Boundless Health

www.DrBretScher.com

 

 

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