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Score Yourself On These Four Pillars Of Clean Living: Part 1

By Dr. Tamara Kung, ND

Imagine a clean, smoothly functioning city. The roads are cleared, traffic is flowing, and people are getting to where they need to complete their errands and goals, contributing to a healthier society.

When we talk about clean living we mean cultivating health most of the time so that our systems can thrive and we can perform in life with the mental clarity and energy we need.

We’d like to share four tenants for helping to clear the debris and chaos in our bodies and minds. Too often the mess results from a society and food system that inflames us and distracts us from lifestyle routines that are integral for building good health. 

Before diving into the four steps, we first must understand one of the major root causes for this chronic mess in our bodies. For most of us this comes down to chronic inflammation. We’ve explored this topic in detail in a previous article. We often picture inflammation as an external, visible symptom like when we sprain an ankle or scrape our knee. There is swelling, pain, redness, and loss of function. This kind of momentary inflammation is helpful as it’s a sign that your body is healing and getting extra support. 

There is another kind of inflammation, however, that is not visible from the outside. This is a hidden inflammation which affects a much larger percentage of the population who may look totally fine and healthy on the outside. It’s this hidden inflammation that triggers the messy fires and damaged cities within our bodies.

Now that we know what causes so many of our problems, let’s see how we are doing to prevent it from happening to us.

Pillar  #1: Enjoy more real food more often! 

Real foods are the ones that won’t trigger inflammation and in fact offer an abundance of healing, anti-inflammatory properties. These are foods that don’t come in a package. No package, no problem, enjoy as much as you want. These foods are literally the best products in grocery stores, and they are humble about it to boot. No bragging necessary, no fancy packages or flashy marketing taglines. When you’re the best, it’s up to the informed ones to find them and reap the benefits. Carrots, bananas, celery, oranges, star fruit, asparagus, and many, many more.

Score yourself out of 10 (1 low, 10 high) on how well you eat an abundance of fruit and vegetables. ______________

Pillar # 2: Antioxidant boosters daily

Antioxidant rich foods can be found by following the richest, deepest, most vibrant colours. Berries, green leafy vegetables and your herbs and spices are amongst the heaviest hitters when it comes to putting out the fires 

Berries are second only to herbs & spices as the most powerful antioxidant food category. They offer ten times more firefighting power than other fruits & vegetables (and 50x’s more than animal-based foods). They taste great and may help you live longer?! Therefore we want to move your sweet tooth to fruit where it should be more often. 

  • Greens = most anti-inflammatory vegetables
  • Berries = most anti-inflammatory fruits (amla is the highest berry, blackberry is the highest common berry) 
  • Red vs. white onion? Red has more antioxidants than white, yellow is inbetween
  • Purple cabbage or green? Purple 8 x’s more antioxidants

Pink grapefruit vs. regular , granny smith or red delicious, iceberg vs. romaine, red grapes or green, yellow corn vs. white?  White eggplant vs. purple? Same if you peel off the skin, but if you keep the skin then it’s purple! Never peel the skin off apples, eggplants, etc. Just make sure you scrub them well.  

You can make the best choices all on your own now that you know to follow the colours. If you want more ideas, check out the different options in this ranking.

Score yourself out of 10 (1 low, 10 high) on how well you boost antioxidants. ______________

Total the two scores to give you an idea of how you are doing at the halfway point of our clean living pillars. We’ll cover the other two pillars in the next article.

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Holy Shiitake: Can Mushrooms Actually Be Medicinal?

Dr. Tamara Kung, ND

Mushrooms are currently one of the most sought-after functional foods. We see them in every form, from teas, tinctures, chunks, and capsules, in some protein and greens powders. 

Over 270 different mushroom species have been identified to show anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial (think penicillin), and immune support. These benefits are attributed to some of their vitamin and mineral content, but most of their benefit is derived from their fibre content! 

One such fibre found in high quantities in mushrooms is 𝛽-glucan (beta-glucan) which is known for lowering blood pressure and blood sugar and for its anti-tumoral and antioxidant properties. 

On top of all that, as we’ve discussed in our previous articles on the benefits of a healthy microbiome, the fibres in mushrooms help take care of our gut bacteria too! And to learn about all the good health our microbiome generates for us, read our article here. 

No wonder the interest in studying these functional foods has taken off. Studies done in humans are growing, but most have been done on mice. However, the human studies we have so far show some promising outcomes. Here are a few to date:

Shiitake Mushrooms:

  • Daily intake of about 5-10 shiitake mushrooms over four weeks 
  • Increased number of white blood cells (gamma delta = first-line defence, NK = kill cancer cells)
  • Lowered markers of chronic inflammation (C-Reactive Protein)
  • Can indicate improved immune function and anti-cancer potential

Reishi Mushrooms

  • Reishi supplementation and chemo & radiation showed a positive response in improving the quality of life but not on survival rates.
  • Improved tumour response rates when used with chemo & radiation therapy
  • No decrease in tumour size when used alone
  • Can indicate reishi as a safe and effective adjunct to conventional cancer therapy

White Button Mushrooms 

  • Done for recurrent prostate cancer at about 1 cup of mushrooms daily
  • Decreased PSA (an indicator of prostate cancer progression) levels and kept in remission 1 in 18 participants 
  • Of 36 participants, four saw a drop of over 50% in their PSA levels
  • Two had a complete reduction in PSA levels,  measuring at 0 (undetectable levels) even after 40 months
  • Can indicate a one in nine chance you can reduce PSA levels by at least 50%
  • Can indicate a one in 18 chance that someone can achieve sustained remission without any side effects or toxicity

Due to all the antioxidant healing properties that start in the gut when we eat mushrooms, or a diet rich in fibre, studies are also finding a correlation between mushrooms and colon cancer prevention. 

So, our takeaway, mushrooms can be a medicinal food – not to mention they are delicious. Whether you enjoy mushrooms in soups, chilis, sautéed or puréed, go ahead and incorporate them into your regular rotation. 

It’s best to cook your mushrooms for two reasons. One to break down their tough cell walls and access the valuable nutrients inside. Two, some raw mushrooms can be toxic, but the heat will destroy these toxins, making them safe to eat. 

For those strapped for time in the kitchen or who don’t like the taste of mushrooms, creative products like powders & capsules come in handy, so you don’t miss out on all their healing, health-promoting benefits!

References:

Dai X, Stanilka JM, Rowe CA, et al. Consuming Lentinula edodes (Shiitake) Mushrooms Daily Improves Human Immunity: A Randomized Dietary Intervention in Healthy Young Adults. J Am Coll Nutr. 2015;34(6):478-87.

Jin X, Ruiz Beguerie J, Sze DM, Chan GC. Ganoderma lucidum (Reishi mushroom) for cancer treatment. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2012;(6):CD007731.

Popović V, Živković J, Davidović S, Stevanović M, Stojković D. Mycotherapy of cancer: An update on cytotoxic and antitumor activities of mushrooms, bioactive principles and molecular mechanisms of their action. Curr Top Med Chem. 2013;13(21):2791-806.

Roupas P, Keogh J, Noakes M, Margetts C, Taylor P. Mushrooms and agaritine: a mini-review. J Funct Foods 2010;2:91-8.

Tanaka A, Nishimura M, Sato Y, Sato H, Nishihira J. Enhancement of the Th1-phenotype immune system by the intake of oyster mushroom (Tamogitake) extract in a double-blind, placebo-controlled study. J Tradit Complement Med. 2015;6(4):424-30.

Twardowski P, Kanaya N, Frankel P, et al. A phase I trial of mushroom powder in patients with biochemically recurrent prostate cancer: Roles of cytokines and myeloid-derived suppressor cells for Agaricus bisporus-induced prostate-specific antigen responses. Cancer. 2015;121(17):2942-50.

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Eating Locally: Embracing Seasonal Foods

By Dr. Tamara Kung, ND

Eating locally is considered to mean food that has come within a 150 mile or 240 km radius. In contrast, the average produce can travel as far as 1,500 miles (2,415 km) which costs a larger carbon footprint. 

For sustainability reasons, many people are opting for locally grown produce. But what may keep local foods on the radar, and part of a regular practice are some of the deliciously big benefits. 

Nutrition Content:

Most foods that you find at a farmer’s market would have been picked within 24 hours of you purchasing it. This is important regarding the nutrient density of foods as once food is separated from its source of nourishment; the quality of nutrition begins to degrade. So, when we are eating blueberries for their antioxidant properties, they are at their most powerful anti-inflammatory abilities shortly after being picked.. 

Satisfaction Factor:

Foods are way more delicious when picked at their peak ripeness. The flavours and the aroma of freshly picked foods have much more depth and intensity than a food that’s been withering away for weeks. This is the experience when you pick herbs fresh from the garden and its smells delightfully fill the room as you prepare it.  

Diversity: 

Eating locally opens up your repertoire to seasonal produce andadds variety to what you’d normally put into your basket. You may see colour variations like purple cauliflower or realize that squashes are piling up at the front of the produce sections. This helps prompt you to diversify your diet which is half of the equation of what it means to eat healthily.

Community:

When you eat locally, you have more opportunities to meet and connect with the growers or distributors of your food. You get to see the actual supply chain from which your food is being delivered to you and that can build a sense of trust and pride in the quality of your foods. Sparking up conversations on variety, flavour, location are all great topics to dive into with your fellow shoppers, growers and sellers. 

Seasonal Spotlight: 

Beets reach their peak sweetness during the cooler months of fall and spring, and provide a visual pop to any dish. It can be as simple as raw and grated with your meals, roasted with salads, made into curries, or for the cooks out there, into a beautiful lasagna. 

Three types of beets

1. Red = rich and earthy great for roasting, grating raw, pickling

2. Candy Cane = crunch & sweet great raw

3. Golden = mild and starchy great for roasting, grilling, steaming

Pro Beet Tips:

• Selection: Choose smooth, firm medium-sized beets (giant ones can be more bitter)

• Storage: in a cool dry cellar for months, or the fridge for weeks. Trim off beet greens (see next tip) because the greens quicken the root rot

• Beet Greens: part of the spinach and swiss chard family, trim them 1 inch from the root and enjoy in any way you would spinach or chard. Examples include tossed in salads, stir fried with garlic, olive oil & lemon, folded into pasta dishes, simmered with stews, soups and curries. 

• Lock in the colour: cook unpeeled (use a vegetable brush to scrub the edible skin), peel and slice just before serving

Beet Recipe Inspirations: 

• Sliced in arugula salads, with roasted pecans, pear, goat cheese, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. 

• Sri Lankan Beetroot curry

• Rainbow lasagna 

Cappelli, Lucio, Ascenzo, Fabrizio D, Ruggieri, Roberto & Gorelova, Irina (2022). “Is Buying Local Food a Sustainable Practice? A Scoping Review of Consumers’ Preference for Local Food.” Sustainability, 14(2).10.3390/su14020772

Frieler, B. (2017, May 1). 10 benefits of eating local food. Bastyr University. Retrieved March 7, 2022, from https://bastyr.edu/news/health-tips/2017/05/10-benefits-eating-local-fo…

Honeycutt, E. (2017, December 21). Why buy local food? it’s healthier for you and better for the environment. Food Revolution Network. Retrieved March 7, 2022, from https://foodrevolution.org/blog/why-buy-local-food/

Rather, I. A., Koh, W. Y., Paek, W. K., & Lim, J. (2017, November 17). The sources of chemical contaminants in food and their health implications. Frontiers in pharmacology. Retrieved March 7, 2022, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5699236/

Wunderlich, S. M., Feldman, C., Kane, S., & Hazhin, T. (2008, February). Nutritional quality of organic, conventional, and seasonally grown broccoli using vitamin C as a marker. International journal of food sciences and nutrition. Retrieved March 7, 2022, from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17852499/

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All Disease Begins in the Gut: Top 3 Foods For Gut Health

Dr. Tamara Kung, ND

The title of this article is in part a direct quote of Socrates, that the root cause of human disease may in fact stem from our gut health. Today’s scientific literature is revealing the “how” and “why” of something that was accurately observed over 2000 years ago. 

We see studies showing that chronic constipation may be linked with Parkinson’s, and that anxiety and depression go hand in hand with gas, bloating and other digestive symptoms. Those with multiple sclerosis, depression, and schizophrenia, show changes in the composition of gut bacteria. 

The microbes that live in our gut outnumber our human cells in a 10:1 ratio. So technically speaking we have more microbe DNA than we do human DNA. That’s worth some perspective. Think about it, we have evolved millions of years that cultivated this symbiotic relationship between human and bacteria. We house these bacteria in our warm, damp gut, where food magically comes down to feed them on a regular basis. They’ve got it so good inside of us! In return, they produce the most potent anti-inflammatory short chain fatty acids which help our body heal, serotonin for our happiness, and they make up 70% of our immune system. (Refer to our article on the importance of reducing inflammation)

Throughout human history we’ve eaten foods that were raw or minimally processed which allowed this relationship to flourish and become an integral foundation for human health. In no time at all, our food made a 180° turn. Most foods now are ultra processed, meaning they lack what previously supported our gut bacteria.

What exactly changed?

  1. Processing removes fiber
  2. Emulsifiers and gums added – understand how they impact our gut here
  3. Fewer ingredients and a lack of diversity

When we think about eating for our gut health, we need to first consider what the healthy bacteria need to grow. Their favourite foods are fiber. Fortunately, fiber comes from every food that grows from the ground! Unfortunately, conversations on nutrition focus in on carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. That’s because these are functional fuel sources for the human cell, but we’ve forgotten that we are also eating for our friendly bacteria as well. When we forget to feed them, they starve off and begin to die leading to reduced abundance and diversity which is associated with many diseases. 

When the population and diversity are re-established, we see positive impacts on health outcomes. For instance, an interesting study done on dark chocolate highlights the therapeutic ability of building a healthy gut. The researchers of this study wanted to differentiate why dark chocolate seemed to help improve people’s mood and lowered anxiety. They also helped define specifically, what type of dark chocolate (70% or 85%), and how much (30g daily for 3 weeks). Their results were illuminating in that dark chocolate had the ability to increase the amount of healthy bacteria DNA found in stool samples, and the diversity of species. 

Thankfully, the most nourishing foods for your gut don’t have to be bran buds and Metamucil. Here are three excellent, gut building sources to start adding or increasing in your diet.

  1. Fermented Foods like kimchi, sauerkraut, miso, tempeh, and kefir
  2. Fibrous foods like every single plant on this planet. Specific superstars are beans/ legumes, seeds, raspberries, broccoli, and oats just to name a few!
  3. Last, but not least, there’s the case for dark chocolate 85% or higher!

So, diversify your meals. It can be just one new type of seed added to your breakfast, sauerkraut with your salads, and dark chocolate as an occasional treat alongside berries and nuts. 

The most important component to eating healthy sustainably is that you enjoy it. Choose flavours and textures that interest you but also support gut health Be open to discovering some new go-to’s, and your gut will thank you for it!

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Are you Carb-phobic? Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Be

By. Dr. Tamara Kung, ND

In my practice, I see carbs as a reason so many of us struggle with eating, feeling guilt, shame, and fear around food. Nutritional fads and diets that call for low carb, or severe carb restriction has made us weary of carbs. The long-term consequences, unfortunately, are that we are unknowingly limiting a crucial element of our nutrition. 

Blanket statements that come with low carb diets are unsustainable, but also to generalized and can cause more harm (mentally and physically) than good. When we are told to avoid carbs, we think, wow, that’s all my chips, crackers, cakes, cookies, bread, pasta… OK. well fine… I can do that… (when does it end again??) It also means reducing sweet potatoes, chickpeas, lentils, farro, black beans, oats, and delicious fruit. Now that’s just torture!

In our modern diet, the lack of fiber may be the most influential reason for poor gut health, chronic disease, and stubborn weight.  In a previous article, we discussed why insufficient fiber means we are starving all our good bacteria, putting them at risk for extinction, and severely hampering our ability to build a strong, healthy barrier to the outside world. That’s why your gut is so important and intimately tied with our immune system. We’re basically an elaborate tube with an outer and inner layer that faces non-stop external threats.

People are told to focus on cutting out carbs, but they may not realize that carbs can be good for you – if you know the distinction between healthful (real foods like lentils, legumes, vegetables and fruits and whole grains) vs. harmful (processed/ fake foods). 

  • Example 1: a cup of cooked steel cut oats is 10g of fiber, and 1 cup of raspberries give you 7g. A raspberry oatmeal = 17 g of fiber!
  • Example 2: A Hamburger can have 1 gram of fiber, and soda 0g. Total = 1 g of ifber.

We in the West have a fixation with proteins, fat, and carbohydrates. They are the main talking point when it comes to nutrition and are what diet trends fixate on, along with what the marketing on packages focus on. Yet with all this attention, we still have incredible issues with weight, bloating and other symptoms. Why is this? What’s missing?

The science is showing it’s because we are consistently forgetting about fiber. Fiber is a macronutrient too! Did you know that? Because our human cells don’t actually break it down or absorb it, the nutritional realm has passed fiber off as something that just… well you know, makes you poop.

We are all learning that we need fiber just as much as any other macronutrient to thrive. Just because our cells don’t use it doesn’t mean it’s not necessary. 

When you think of how many microbes live within us, you quickly realize how outnumbered our human cells are. There are 39 trillion microbes in and on us – making the ratio of microbes to human cells 10:1. That’s right. We contain more microbes than we do human cells.

Over millions of years, a symbiotic relationship evolved with these amazing microbes that produced anti-inflammatory chemicals for us, neurotransmitters like 90% of our serotonin and 50% of our dopamine, vitamins, and a plethora of other life-dependent functions that we are just starting to uncover and understand. Not to mention the most anti-inflammatory molecule short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) which get absorbed into our bloodstream, lowering inflammation throughout our entire body, including our brains!

SCFAs are also the main energy source for the cells that make up your colon. When these cells are flooded with energy, they can then heal, regenerate, and proliferate, leading to a healthy, robust and happy gut. What is called “leaky gut” can be sealed once again when we have a strong defense of healthy cells that protect our inside selves from foreign molecules that are meant to stay out of our blood stream. 

On plant-rich diets, the gut produces more short-chain fatty acids. On animal rich diets, the gut produced more inflammation, carcinogens, and hydrogen sulfide which is a chemical that damages our DNA and produces gas. 

There is no fiber in eggs, dairy, or meat! This is not to say never eat animal products. Most cultures worldwide do consume them, but in much smaller quantities and frequency than we do in North America. Their diets are more balanced.

The Yanomami tribe of the Amazon jungle have the richest microbiome recorded, meaning they have an incredibly diverse ecosystem of gut flora. The key is thought to be from their high fiber intakes, which average 120 grams daily, that’s eight times more than the average North American. 

The average North American gets less than 3% of the daily recommendation of 30g. That is SAD (aka Standard American Diet)  in action. 

The point of learning to eat for your health is to trust in Real Food – avoiding or limiting processed foods with their labels and packages that sound like they are trying to convince you. A simple strawberry does not have to tout anything, it already knows it is the best. Each step of processing causes a food to lose its fiber. Fake Foods have to do a lot more work to do in order to convince us why we should eat these fiber depleted, shades of beige, bags of chemical concoctions. 

Yes, that means eating for good health may require a change in food choices, and what you put in your cart. It can also mean a reset on your thoughts about carbs. They are good for you, and the right ones are incredibly important for overall health, including fat loss. A change in what you choose to put in your mouth may include adding some roasted cauliflower to your taco bowls, trying out a thai chickpea peanut butter burger, putting lentils in with your oatmeal, and all the fresh peaches, berries, and mangoes you desire instead of luncheon meat sandwiches, chips, and cookies. 

If we give ourselves some time, our body has the ability to learn to enjoy food that gives you something positive in return. This is something that continues to surprise me in practice – how quickly patients’ palettes can change. Often finding processed fake foods to be too sweet or salty, and associating their feelings of better energy, skin, digestive health and weight loss when they are eating real foods more often.

Fun fact – our taste buds renew in just 10 days, so give yourself some time, because YOU DO have the ability to evolve!

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This little-known way we can help our overall health – Gut Health Series Part 1, Partners in Slime

Dr. Tamara Kung, ND

Did you know that we produce 10 litres of mucus a day?

That gooey, slimy stuff we cough up, is a lubricant for our food as it makes its way through our digestive tract. As icky as it seems, it has a crucial role. Imagine swallowing a bite of an apple in a mucus-free esophagus, food would stay lodged in there for days! We need mucus.

It’s like living in a house with a sturdy roof that keeps you sheltered, warm, and protected. Now imagine life without a roof, leaving you vulnerable and exposed to harsh elements and triggering pain and suffering.

Why is mucus so important?

Mucus is our protective shield from the caustic elements of digestion (think stomach acid and digestive enzymes), and is our front-line barrier, preventing food particles and the trillions of microbes that live in your gut from passing through into your blood. The health and strength of our mucus layer mean the difference between resilient health and conditions like ulcerative colitis. 

How do we produce mucus?

Our intestinal cells secrete some, but a significant amount comes from healthy bacteria (aka your microbiome) as well!  The bacteria that produce our protective mucus layer thrive and feed off prebiotic fibers. But less than 3% of us get enough prebiotic fibers daily, finding it a struggle to pack in such fibrous plant foods like lentils, beans, vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds. Add onto that, when we consider the near-sighted benefits of high fat and low carb diets, paving the way to long-term digestive problems and symptoms related to chronic inflammation.

What destroys mucus?

When there isn’t enough food for our healthy bacteria, they turn to munch on our mucus instead! This leads to the destruction or loss of our mucosal layer inviting digestive dysfunction and body-wide inflammation that can take many forms such as constipation, chronic fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome and disease, as well as other autoimmune conditions.


Even worse, processed foods use emulsifying agents. This is how food chemists prevent the separation of ingredients, so things stay creamy and uniform. Think ice cream, salad dressings, and nut butter which are some of the most common culprits for their emulsifying effects. Emulsifiers like polysorbate 80 and carboxymethylcellulose disrupt mucus-like dishwashing liquid and disperse oily film. It thins and breaks apart the mucus layer, opening holes for bacteria, and harmful proteins to get direct access to our intestinal lining. The best way to avoid emulsifying our protective and precious mucus is to eat Real Food and avoid foods that have more than 5 ingredients, or ingredients you can’t picture in your mind.

A 3 Course Meal for Mucus Building

  1. Enjoy lentils and beans ¼-½ cup daily, you may need to slowly ramp up the amount as your body regrows bacteria to help you break this down.
  2. There’s a species of mucus-producing bacteria that thrive off olive oil. So, while there is no fiber in this product, some of the anti-inflammatory benefits of olive oil can be due to this mechanism.
  3. Matcha green tea contains compounds that provide extra scaffolding for our mucosal layer. It makes mucus thicker, stronger, and more resilient to damage.

We are just scratching the surface of what our incredible microbiome can offer us, so stay tuned as the science continues to unfold better ways to understand the components of health and longevity!

Reference:

Charlotte, A. et al., (2020). Impact of diet and the bacterial microbiome on the mucous barrier and immune disorders. European Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 76(3), pg 714-734. Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/all.14548

Paone P, Cani PDMucus barrier, mucins and gut microbiota: the expected slimy partners?Gut 2020;69:2232-2243. Retrieved from https://gut.bmj.com/content/69/12/2232

Annika Braun, MD, et al. (2009). Alterations of phospholipid concentration and species composition of the intestinal mucus barrier in ulcerative colitis: A clue to pathogenesis, Inflammatory Bowel Diseases, Volume 15, Issue 11, 1. Pg 1705–1720. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1002/ibd.20993

Davis, W. (2022). Super Gut: reprogram your microbiome to restore health, lose weight, and turn back the clock. Harper Collins, Toronto CA.

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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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How Inflammation Makes You Sick

Dr. Tamara Kung, ND

Inflammation is a protective signalling process from our immune system. It becomes amplified when we need to deal with an infection or injury and then quiets down so our body can regenerate, heal, and free up resources for other important bodily functions. The problem comes when the signal to ‘fire’ is left on for no good reason.

The image of acute inflammation after an injury is hot, red, painful, and swollen. But chronic inflammation can easily fly by the radar in our day-to-day life. Chronic inflammation is something that’s happening in all of us, but the level of intensity and amount of internal buffer we build determines how quickly our tissues get broken down. 

Chronic inflammation can be measured through a blood test called c-reactive protein (CRP), and those who are at the top third range are twice as likely to have a heart attack than those at the bottom third. A similar trend can be found for diabetes, cancer, and Alzheimer’s, as risks for these diseases rise with the level of CRP measured. Cancer for instance was described in the 1870s as “a wound that doesn’t heal” by the father of modern pathology. He observed, and rightly so, that tumours often formed in sites of chronic inflammation. It is a generic fertilizer for every disease, and accounts for more than 50% of all causes of mortality. 

In addition, when the immune system is already revved up, a small insult like a cold or flu virus can trigger our system to overreact. This is when we see people who may meet the same virus but have drastically different responses. Those who have more chronic inflammation tend to have exacerbated symptoms and feel way more ill. Compare those who seem to never get sick. Those people are likely dealing with the same viruses, but their systems are strong enough that they don’t need the ‘big’ reaction which shows in the form of symptoms.

Physical activity is one way we can consistently lower inflammation. Did you know muscles also secrete some hormones? Specifically, when they contract, they release hormones that help reduce inflammation throughout the body. A large meta-analysis was done on over 1 million participants across Europe and the United States and found those who achieved 150 minutes of movement per week saw a reduction in risk for cardiovascular deaths by 23%, and type 2 diabetes by 26%. Another study found that hitting this number for physical activity reduced the risk for Alzheimer’s by 40%.

Staying active can mean anything that gets your body to move. Walking with a group of friends to your favourite spot in the city, gardening, taking a group class, rock climbing with co-workers, doing some neck rolls, stretches during work breaks, or air squats while you brush your teeth. Getting your muscles engaged, contracting to release anti-inflammatory hormones, and pumping your lymphatic system (immune system’s superhighway) are both ways to protect you from getting sick now and into the future. 

The bottom line is, keep inflammation down and you will be sick less, and when you do get sick, it won’t be as bad.

Reference:

https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/inflammation-a-unifying-theory-of-disease

Furman, D., Campisi, J., Verdin, E. et al. Chronic inflammation in the etiology of disease across the life span. Nat Med 25, 1822–1832 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-019-0675-0

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-019-0675-0

Santos-Lozano A, Pareja-Galeano H, Sanchis-Gomar F, Quindós-Rubial M, Fiuza-Luces C, Cristi-Montero C, Emanuele E, Garatachea N, Lucia A. Physical Activity and Alzheimer Disease: A Protective Association. Mayo Clin Proc. 2016 Aug;91(8):999-1020. doi: 10.1016/j.mayocp.2016.04.024. PMID: 27492909.

https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1161/jaha.115.002495


Santos-Lozano, A. et al. Physical activity and Alzheimer disease: a protective association. Mayo. Clin. Proc. 91, 999–1020 (2016). Retrieved from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27492909/

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Why Inflammation Makes You Old

Dr. Tamara Kung, ND

The definition of aging is a progressive change that leads to increased debility, disease, and death. Wow! That sounds depressing. Don’t despair, there are things you can do to make it a much more pleasant picture.

As we age, there is a reduction in our cells capability to read the right genes at the right time. Genes are locked in our DNA and are highly specific instruction sets that govern everything that happens in our body. The loss of specific steps, or the inability to read instructions properly, leads to cells messing up their functional roles and tissues and organs falling apart. 

The question is what causes the loss in information? 

This is where chronic inflammation comes into play. I often describe this process as the Marvel character the Hulk racing around in our body, smashing up cells, and tripping over DNA. This causes damage and a loss of stored information. 

But the Hulk is, for the most part, his harmless alter ego, Bruce Banner, a nerdy scientist who doesn’t cause harm. He stays calm until he gets triggered, and this is analogous to oxygen in our body. We need oxygen to live, it’s a functional part of our metabolism. But it can get amplified and become a superoxide, free radical. Another way to think of it is wildfires burning within us. The more inflammation, the bigger the fire.

What are the major triggers of our internal Hulk?

  1. Refined sugar / processed foods. Essentially the Standard American Diet (SAD)
  2. Alcohol/ Drugs
  3. Sleep deprivation
  4. Stress

Strategies to reduce inflammation:

  1. Reducing inflammatory triggers (refined sugars, processed foods, alcohol, toxic substances).
  2. Protect your body with high levels of antioxidants found in colourful fruits and vegetables.
  3. Intermittent fasting – recent studies are confirming that it’s not just what we eat that’s important, but when we eat as well. Fasting (different from starvation), has been shown to activate genes for longevity and is a whole other lever we can pull to increase our lifespan and health span. A future article will delve more deeply into this topic. 
  4. Increasing the number of healthy bacteria – aka the Microbiome we discussed in our previous article here. 

These strategies help protect your cells from damage. Less Hulk, less damage. Avoiding processed foods and added sugars, getting on top of our sleep are powerful ways to reduce the triggers. Loading up on antioxidant rich foods give you an added buffer of protection as these calm down any signs that could trigger the Hulk, or they will get him to change back into Bruce sooner rather than later. 

How would you react if someone told you that you could live into your 100’s remaining healthy and mentally sharp? This may sound like science fiction, but scientists like leading aging expert David Sinclair, a professor in genetics at Harvard Medical School, says this is more fact than fiction. In his book, Lifespan: Why We Age, and Why We Don’t Have To, he spells out why we should reframe the way we think of ourselves across time, sharing evidence to the theme that aging as we know it doesn’t have to be so. His quote “A painful descent into old age isn’t something you have to accept” resonates so well.

In short, inflammation is an accelerator of aging. The more we inflame ourselves, the quicker we break down. If we incorporate small practices that protect us from inflammation, we can keep ourselves running better…and for longer. 

References

Sinclair, D. (2019). Lifespan: The revolutionary science of why we age – and why we don’t have to. Atria Books.

Chung, H. Y., Kim, D. H., Lee, E. K., Chung, K. W., Chung, S., Lee, B., Seo, A. Y., Chung, J. H., Jung, Y. S., Im, E., Lee, J., Kim, N. D., Choi, Y. J., Im, D. S., & Yu, B. P. (2019). Redefining Chronic Inflammation in Aging and Age-Related Diseases: Proposal of the Senoinflammation Concept. Aging and disease, 10(2), 367–382. https://doi.org/10.14336/AD.2018.0324

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6457053/
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Three Things I Never Knew About Inflammation

Tim Irvine

This article falls into the category of ‘you don’t know what you don’t know’.

Presenting to companies over the last two years has provided me the opportunity to have a passenger seat to some incredibly bright people form Totum who have presented their expertise to thousands. It has been like being in a university class you just can’t fall asleep in. Although I consider myself an expert, I also consider myself a realist and the older I get the less I think I know. Through all of this, one area that I have had my eyes opened is nutrition. 

I’ve become fascinated by inflammation, to the point I’ve sat our kids down for ‘the talk’, but instead of it being about the birds and the bees, it was about inflammation. Even with decades of experience, the knowledge has influenced me so much that I’ve changed my eating, my sleep, I’m moving more, and I’m more focused on avoiding things that contribute to inflammation. I’m not quite ready to start The C.A.I, (Church of Anti-Inflammation), but I’m close.

Using my somewhat ‘expert’ background, combined with this important new information the layman in me has learned, I’d like to try and convert you to my new religion.

Here are three key things I think you need to know about inflammation

  1. Inflammation makes you old
  2. Inflammation makes you sore
  3. Inflammation makes you sick

With the help of some of those incredibly bright people, I will dive a bit deeper into each of these topics, but for now, I’ll highlight some of the reasons we get inflamed.

Acute inflammation is generally good. You scrape your knee and an inflammatory response to heal the cut is triggered.

Chronic inflammation is the one you need to avoid. It damages cells and is the road to many chronic diseases. It can be caused by auto immune disorders, exposure to certain chemicals, or acute inflammation that never heals properly. Besides these, the body of evidence around lifestyle factors is growing and it’s clear, certain things we do on a day-to-day basis pre-dispose us to more inflammation.

In an article from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the following are identified as lifestyle factors that have been shown to contribute to inflammation:

  • Being overweight
  • Consuming too many bad fats (think trans fat) and not enough good fats (think omega 3)
  • Eating too many refined carbohydrates (most packaged foods in the grocery store)

We also know being chronically stressed, under slept, or consuming sugary foods and beverages (yes, alcohol is included here) will also contribute to an inflamed body.

The bottom line is inflammation is bad and anti-inflammation is good.

It’s time to start putting out the fires.

And check out the additional articles on inflammation making you old, sore and sick to find out how this is happening and what you can do about it.