Month: March 2022

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Secrets To Living Long

Written by: Tim Irvine

The picture you are looking at is that of Arthur Kennedy Sr. He’s one of my heroes and a shining example of how to live life. You can learn from him, so read on to find out how.

Arthur is 90 years old and took this picture a few weeks before writing this article. His trip to the Grand Canyon was part of his 90th birthday celebration. I’ve only known him for the last ten years, but in that time, he’s travelled to many exotic locales in the world, usually multiple times a year. Herein lies the important message.

Arthur isn’t managing his health to the nth degree; he’s just enjoying life doing things he loves to do.

Sure, he pays attention to what he eats, but not religiously. He loves a great meal and a nice bottle of wine.

He exercises regularly but does so to continue to do the things he loves, with travel being at or near the top of the list. It helps to keep him young.

He has family that he spends a lot of meaningful time with, including some of his travel.

Regardless of a person’s age, there are many lessons to be learned from Arthur. There is, however, one thing that he has just nailed:  He fills his life with experiences and people that he loves, and supports it with behaviours that allow him to do it whenever he wants. That’s the secret sauce that brings him happiness. It is also the same sauce that brings the rest of us happiness.

It’s worth thinking about how you might be able to adapt to this simple overarching approach. On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the highest, give yourself a score on how well you are doing but exclude 7 altogether. If you are 8 or higher, you are already doing a great job. If your score is 6 or lower, you may want to consider adjusting some things to have a bit more joy in your life. Pick just one thing you would like more of and take any size of steps towards it. You will get there one way or another.

To adapt a slogan from Nike, forget about ‘Be like Mike’, be like Arthur instead!

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The Best Brain Foods!

Dr. Tamara Kung, ND

The National Institutes of health define brain health as, “the ability to remember, learn, play, concentrate, and maintain a clear, active mind. It’s being able to draw upon the strengths of your brain – information management, logic, judgment, perspective, and wisdom.” 

Let’s face it, our minds are invaluable. When asking my patients what their health goals look like when they’re in their 80’s and beyond, number one is to have a clear, working mind, and sound mental health.

What often missed is that our brains respond to food! Our brains evolved in the context of a food environment that was nutrient rich, full of antioxidants, omega 3’s, and an abundance of vitamins and minerals for brain development, healing, and growth. It was thought that once we reached adulthood, our brains remain pretty inert. We now know, however, that our brains continue to grow, heal, and form new connections (aka neuroplasticity). Food and exercise have a big role to play in this. 

The best foods for a healthy brain incorporate herbs and spices, fermented foods, green leafy vegetables, vegetables (especially dark purple, red and orange coloured), nuts, beans, and healthy fats. These are what brains need to thrive and remain protected from cognitive decline.

The modern diet typically includes ultra processed foods (more than 5 ingredients listed, and plenty of added sugars), little fiber, and too much unhealthy fat. This diet contributes to many cognitive disorders ranging from ADHD, bipolar, depression, anxiety, dementia (Alzheimer’s is nicknamed type 3 diabetes), and increased stress perception. 

So here is our case for more real foods, and, specifically, these three areas to focus on.

Spice it Up

Let’s start with the heaviest hitter when it comes to the most antioxidant per calorie group – your herbs and spices! High antioxidant density means we protect our brain from getting damaged as antioxidants put out the fires of inflammation. Studies have shown that taking spices daily can help lower anxiety and depression. 

Spices like turmeric are great to incorporate into your cooking (if using turmeric, always add black pepper, as that helps you absorb the antioxidants 2000 x’s better!). For breakfast, adding spices like cinnamon and nutmeg are a great addition. Lunch and dinner can include Italian blends, cumin, paprika, etc. as a great way to bump up the flavour and antioxidant level of your dishes. Also keep spices like basil, oregano, mint, saffron, out on your dining table, so you can top off each meal with even more!

The O.G. of Probiotics

The word probiotic just means healthy bacteria. Fermented foods are the original ways we incorporated healthy bacteria into our gut. While they are not often part of daily Western diets, across the world, this is a necessary staple. The science on how our internal bacteria, the microbiome, impact our health is coming out loud and clear. A healthy microbiome means a healthy you! 90% of our serotonin, 50% of dopamine are produced in our gut, and 70% of our immune system is linked with these friendly microbes as well.

Incorporating more fermented foods on a regular basis has been shown to lower anxiety, depression, and improve stress resilience. Additional bonus are gut healing properties as well. Speak with your neighborhood naturopath or doctor on the pace of introducing fermented foods that work best for you.

Probiotics can decrease anxiety and our perception of stress and increase the level of omega-3 in our body and brain. But probiotics pills are often like a tourist bus that passes through our system and can stimulate the economy here and there, but once it leaves, its effects are gone. 

This is why fermented foods are a win-win. They contain the probiotic (the bacteria), plus the fiber to feed the bacteria so that it can be self-sustaining! Examples of fermented foods include kimchi, sauerkraut, kefir, miso, and tempeh. 

Healthy Fats:  Omega-3

Studies show that including this essential fat in our meals can increase positive outlook on life and reduce depression. Omega 3 fatty acids are what our brains need to maintain its neural connections, and to form and reorganize new connections. Our bodies don’t produce these, which is why countries with diets rich in omega-3 have lower rates of depression.

Treating your brain right isn’t that hard, but if you are finding your habits lacking in the above areas, start small and keep it simple. Slowly but surely, you can feed your brain more of the foods it loves.

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Good Sore vs. Bad Sore: Why Inflammation Matters For Both

Dr. Tamara Kung, ND

If you have been fortunate enough to feel the after-burn following an unexpectedly long adventurous walk, an intense cardio blast class, or from working out with your trainer, you have had the privilege of meeting some friendly inflammation. This physical microdamage triggers your immune cells to activate acute (momentary) inflammation so that your body can heal. This is where you reap the benefits of your actions, making the time spent in recovery key to making progress in your fitness goals. The influx of immune cells and fluid to the damaged area causes pressure on surrounding nerves which lead to familiar soreness. It is also these immune cells that are responsible for muscle regeneration, and repair. 

As you perform a workout, your muscles get fatigued and your strength within that session will decrease as a result. Studies show that after a bout of exercise that decreases in session strength by 20%, it can take up to two days to recover full strength. For those workouts that decrease in session strength by 50%, it can take up to seven days to recover. Having a recovery plan is important to protect ourselves from injury and give yourself sufficient time to get back into it. 

The more we exercise however, the better our muscles can adapt, and recover more quickly as your body learns to better control the inflammation.  So, if you’re just starting, know that you can work up to it slowly. 

And as annoying as it is to be reminded of this process with each tender step you take down the stairs, it is a helpful kind of inflammation which leads to muscle growth, fat loss, insulin sensitivity (because of more muscle tissue to take in glucose), and reduces chronic inflammation for the long run. Which ties into better health and protection from some of our major diseases.

Even if you are not exercising, this process can occur daily unbeknownst to us.

Physical damage that triggers our immune system also comes from added sugars, processed foods, sleep deprivation, and new science is showing, even loneliness.  When we put this kind of exposure on our bodies and minds, nonstop, we are causing sustained, unrelenting damage to our body. This can lead to joint pain, and conditions such as arthritis, and headaches, and more general feeling of fatigue, as your body goes through this extended wear and tear. It also impairs physical performance.

This is the wrong kind of inflammation! 

By tapping into the foundations of health, enjoying real, colourful foods, treating your sleep as precious, and getting yourself out there with friends and family, we can swing the detrimental impacts of inflammation to work in our favour. The key is to keep it acute, momentary, and then recover to allow it to turn off.

So, if you have soreness from good old exercise or movement, let yourself recover and reap the benefits. Speak with an expert on the types of recovery that may suit you and your goals best! Also know that the more you move, the more quickly your muscles can bounce back. Tie in eating real foods, 7-9 hours of sleep, and some social time, and that will take recovery to the next level!

Reference:

Doherty, R. et al. (2019). Sleep & nutrition interactions: implications for athletes. Nutrients 11(4). Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11040822

Peake, M. J. et al. (2017). Muscle damage and inflammation during recovery from exercise. The Journal of Applied Physiology. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1152/japplphysiol.00971.2016


Van Bogart, K. et al. (2022). The association between loneliness and inflammation: Findings from an older adult population. Frontiers in Behavioural Neuroscience. Retrieved from https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2021.801746/full

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Are You Embracing ‘Micro’?

Tim Irvine

I was reading this article on micro vacations and it reminded me how my thoughts on ‘workouts’ have evolved over the years.

Back when I was a part of a national championship university football team (I had to get that in there 😊), my workouts were much, much different than they are today. High performance sports, full control of my own schedule, lots of free time, etc. I could have worked out for 3 hours at a time and it wouldn’t have made much of a difference to the rest of my schedule.

Today, I run a business with five locations, an amazing team,  and have three children who are all involved in sports. Needless to say, my life as an athlete was much different than mine is as a parent and business owner.

That’s where ‘micro’ concept comes in. 

As a whole, I think we spend too much time pursuing the optimal way of doing things. We look at examples on social media, elite athletics, or people that we know who seem to ‘have it right’. A different approach is necessary to take into consideration the rest of us. 

I encourage you to drop the notion of doing things perfectly or optimally, and instead, take a micro approach to all things wellness and do what you can.

Don’t have 10min to put that salad together? Then crunch on a carrot.

Finding the time to get to the gym in short supply? Go through a body weight routine at home.

Can’t get away for that 10-day vacation? Make it a weekend within a couple of hours of where you live.

The point is, a little is better than none. It can be less stressful and sometimes more enjoyable than the full version. Remember, even small steps get you somewhere.

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Do your workouts make you feel this good?

Dr. Stacy Irvine, DC

Why We Care So Much About What We Do……

An important part of working in the Health and Fitness industry, includes staying on top of the latest research along with developing an awareness of what is being presented to your clients and patients through a wide variety of media sources.  The normal scenario is when a completely bonkers fad diet is being promoted by a well-known celebrity, or a risky new type of workout is all over Instagram. We need to be prepared to explain what is happening and why is it probably not the best answer or solution any of us are looking for.

Rarely an article comes along that reflects a GREAT story of why we do what we do, and how our hard work and efforts can pay off. That happened with the article below from 56-year-old Nicole Haggerty.  In this well written, First-Person account, she eloquently explains what weightlifting has done for her, and how it has changed her life….

My favourite quote from this article is as follows:

“The past five months have unfolded as the most empowering journey I have every been on – and that includes getting a PhD. Every other accomplishment has been centered in my head……..But on reflection, I wasn’t paying much attention to my body.”

Please take a moment to read the full article. If you are an avid weightlifter, or just starting out on your weightlifting journey, we are sure you will find some extra motivation in these words.  

In the event the link above does not work, here is the article in full.

Nicole Haggerty

Published in The Globe and Mail, February 27, 2022

Red-faced, sweating and gasping, my brain tries to focus on what my trainer just said. I’ve just set down a 130 lbs hex frame and stepped off the platform to gulp water.

“Describe that to me,” asked Rob. He is looking for an answer that requires me to do something I’m just learning to do – connect my brain to my body.

Yes, I know. My brain is connected to my body – that slowly and inexorably expanding thing, below my neck that has been carrying my head around for the last 56 years. Since completing my undergraduate degree, work life has increasingly immobilized me. Sitting stationary at a desk, staring at a screen – it’s mostly through my fingers that I connect to my brain. I am an academic working at a business school – so they work feverishly to keep up as I pour out my thinking onto the screen, into the memo, e-mail, journal article … whatever the work is.

“It felt great,” I reply. “I could feel the work down my whole posterior chain.” (Who says that? – oh ya, I do!) “But my breathing and bracing weren’t great and I think I let my knees fall inward a couple of times.” Rob is quick to correct, encourage and set up more weight. Then cheerfully he’ll say, “Okay, next set.”

The last five months have unfolded as the most empowering journey I have ever been on – and that includes getting a PhD. Every other accomplishment in my life has been centred in my head – grades, degrees, promotions, published papers, even teaching. I’ve had a few close calls with fitness before – short triathlons, spin class, jogging. But on reflection, I wasn’t paying much attention to my body. These were instead, great opportunities to think my deep thoughts or focus on the world around me while I drowned out my panting breaths with the throbbing 80s music of my youth.

Weightlifting is different. Rob, my guide, has patiently walked me through a whole new world of specific functional movements, made possible by specific muscles moving in particular ways with increasing weights. He is a trainer and manager at my local gym and I was seeking someone who would help me with a single goal – get strong. I was tired of obsessing about steps and macros, and infinitely weary of the “eat less, move more” advice.

Getting strong (“not toned, not thin, not ready for a 5k”) seemed simple if a little embarrassing at my age. But Rob immediately took me seriously. It started with a humbling assessment of my strength and mobility.

Despite my age, size and beginner status, Rob has made me feel safe. Through his knowledge, patient demonstrations and encouragement, he has induced this body to squat, hinge, press and squeeze its way to all kinds of personal bests (which frankly is a low bar when you start from nothing but still – they keep coming). He’s taught me a new language – hypertrophy, eccentric, isometric … and more. He’s there when I falter, ready to ensure I don’t hurt myself even as he grins and asks for three more torturous reps.

The first weeks, I did everything he asked (glad for the mask mandate since it hid my ‘ugly lifting face’ though not my groaning). And always, he was there, clipboard in hand, a watchful gaze and posing questions like “Where did you feel that?” or the more general request, “Describe that for me.”

Early on I took these as rote pleasantries. Over time I realized he wanted more than rote answers. They were part of what needed to be trained. Having shown me how to do an exercise, Rob would explain where I should feel it and he encouraged me to think about the muscle or chain of muscles as they moved, stretched and strained. The questions were a test of that connection. Gradually, I started thinking my way back into my body. Not my body as an undifferentiated whole but as individual, electric connections to newly identified places – my traps, my quads, my delts, my glutes, my triceps and much more. Intentionally. Specifically. Magically. It’s surprisingly difficult and often funny. Like my recent five-second pause, struggling to repeat a lunge move that Rob had demonstrated because my disconnected brain couldn’t fathom what my legs were supposed to be doing. It’s hard work and relentless – every rep, every set, every time. Unnatural and unfamiliar. Yet infinitely natural and amazingly powerful. Rob has led me on a journey of discovery that I didn’t know could be so sacred and so glorious.

I am five months into a new way of living with this 56-year-old body. It talks to me in a totally different way now. A year ago, the simple act of standing up would provoke a cascade of little pains in my knees and hips, and a unique sort of unbending, wobbling walk as I unfolded myself. Today, my body still aches when I stand up – but the pains I feel now don’t scare me with their portending impairments. They are my quads, glutes, pecs and more – I’m still getting to know them all. Now they remind me of their capabilities, they call to me for movement, they demand to be challenged. And I long to continue this dialogue with them and represent their needs and experiences so I’m ready the next time Rob says:

“Describe that to me.”

Nicole Haggerty lives in London, Ont.