Tag: metabolism

Don’t Forget Your Back

Most of us spend a large portion of the day hunched forward.  Think about when you are working on the computer, cooking, driving or even relaxing.  Your typical posture during these activities is head and neck forward, shoulders rounded forward, back curved and hips flexed.    When you remain in this position for an extended period of time, the muscles in the front of the body tend to shorten or contract, while the muscles in the back of the body tend to weaken.    This can be a set up for back, neck and shoulder problems and in addition, tends to make you look shorter, heavier and less confident.

Stretching before and after exercise as well as during the day is often overlooked in the rush to “get your workout in”.   Stretching however, has numerous benefits.   According to a study published in the Annals of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Medicine in September 2016, by I Fekhfekh, et al, dynamic muscle stretching of the knee musculature actually resulted in an increase strength gain in those muscles.  Interestingly, this study also found a decrease in the postural stability of the knee after stretching.    In English, it appears that stretching helps your to build strength, but may decrease the stability of the muscles you stretch at least temporarily.

In general, stretching helps to improve flexibility, joint range of motion, and usually is helpful for injury prevention.    Stretching helps by increasing blood flow to the muscles stretched.  This increased blood flow carries important nutrients to your muscles to allow for muscle growth and repair.  In addition, the increased blood flow helps to wash away muscle “waste” which leads to decreased soreness and inflammation of the muscle.

If allowed to remain in a contracted position for a prolonged period of time, our muscles will shorten.  For example if you spend a large portion of your day sitting in a chair or driving, the muscles in the front of the hips, your hip flexors will shorten.  These muscles have a direct effect on both your posture and your back health.

 

So what should you do?

It is important to stretch the muscles in the front of the body at least daily.

Exercises that focus on the hip flexors:

-Kneeling hip flexor stretch  – in the position of a lunge, allow your back knee to touch the floor and drive the hip of your front leg forward.  This will stretch the hip flexor of the knee on the floor

–Pigeon stretch – extend your right leg straight back and bring the heel of your left leg underneath your right hip.  Then drive your hips forward towards the ground.  Stretch and repeat on the other side.

– Yoga poses such as: low lunge, crescent lunge, upward facing dog, and revolving side angle pose

 

Stretches that focus on the chest muscles and prevent rounded shoulders:

– Door Frame stretch- stand in a doorway or at the corner of a room with your arms up like you were going to stop traffic.  Line your arms up from the elbow to the hand with the doorframe or in the corners of the wall.   Step towards the door and you should feel a stretch in your chest (pectoralis “pec” muscles) and hold for 20-30 seconds.

– Wall slides – stand with your back to the wall and keep your shoulders against the wall.  Walk forward 1-2 steps and slide your arms up and down the wall and squeeze your shoulder blades together.  You should feel a stretch in your upper chest muscles.

–Shoulder squeeze stretch –  clasp your hands together behind your back and slowly try to lift your hands.  Squeeze your shoulder blades together to stretch out the chest wall.

– Yoga poses include : bridge pose, camel pose, cobra pose and cow face pose

 

Stretches for your neck:

– Chin Tucks (Neck Retraction) – keep your shoulders back and your head in a neutral position (eyes facing forwards, chin level) slowly move your head backwards until you feel a slight stretch in the back of your neck.  Hold for 10-20 seconds and repeat.  If needed you can apply a gentle pressure on your chin with your fingertips to press your chin backwards and deepen the stretch.

Incorporating these exercises into your daily routine will help to prevent shortening of the muscles in the front of the body which leads to poor posture and often pain of the neck and back.  As always, if you are having pain which persists you should be evaluated by a certified health care professional to ensure that these exercises are safe for you.

This week we primarily discussed stretching exercises to prevent muscle contraction, and next week we will discuss the importance of strengthening the back muscles to further combat the issues of a hunched posture.

Carb Cycling

Our bodies primarily run on two sources of fuel, carbohydrates and fats.

Carbohydrates provide us with readily available energy and are used as our default fuel.  Carbohydrates fuel our workouts and allow for muscle growth.  In addition, carbohydrates cause a spike in insulin levels which in turn promotes fat storage.   Carbohydrates are stored as glycogen by the liver and in the muscles.  When your carbohydrate intake is high, these stores fill up.  In this case, carbohydrates are converted to fat and stored by the body as potential energy.

The ability for the body to store excess energy is endless.  Your body will simply continue to store fats in the fat cells if there is an excess of energy intake.   Fat cells release leptin.  As was stated in a previous article, leptin is a hormone that regulates energy expenditure and appetite.  When circulating levels of leptin are high, your appetite will decrease and your energy expenditure will go up.   Conversely, when leptin levels are low (as with a high carb, low fat diet), your body increase your appetite and decrease your resting metabolic rate to store energy.

The caveat to the above statement is that in people with significant obesity, their leptin sensitivity decreases.  Because circulating leptin levels are directly proportional to the amount of fat or adipose tissue present, obese individuals have consistently high circulating leptin levels.  The constant elevation of leptin results in decreased sensitivity to leptin, or leptin resistance.  The result is that despite high levels of fat, these individuals are still hungry and continue to store fat.

Fat metabolism is turned on by the body when glycogen stores get low or circulating levels of leptin decrease.  Compared to carbohydrates, fat provides the body with a more sustainable form of energy.  About 100 grams of glycogen is stored in the liver and the rest is stored in the muscles.  These glycogen stores in the liver can be depleted in just one day of fasting.  When glycogen levels drop, it takes different individuals varying amounts of time before their body can efficiently metabolize fat to makes ketone bodies.  Ketone bodies can then be used as a form of energy.

The theory behind carb cycling is to provide the body with the beneficial effects of carbohydrate intake (i.e. muscle growth, fuel workouts, gut health) without the drawback of increased fat storage due to elevated levels of circulating insulin.

By eating a low carb diet, insulin sensitivity is increased and glucagon (a hormone which increases the synthesis of glucose from glycogen) production is increased as well. The ultimate result is more efficient fat burning for energy.  In theory, a prolonged low carb diet can lead to decrease in thyroid hormone production, elevated cortisol levels (a stress hormone), loss of periods (amenorrhea), bowel dysfunction and immune dysfunction.   According to Paul Jaminet, PhD, low carb diets can also cause the body to decreases production of certain proteins and molecules resulting in symptoms of dry eyes, dry mouth, and decreased healing times in superficial wounds.  Persistent low carb diets also can stress the liver.  When needed, the liver synthesizes glycogen from proteins (or fats) in a process called gluconeogenesis.

Carb cycling is used to allow the beneficial effects of low carb dieting, but to offset or prevent the above mentioned potential side effects.  In individuals consuming a consistently low carb diet, the body becomes very efficient at burning ketone bodies(fat).   Often these individuals reach a plateau or stall with their weight loss attempts.  By adding in a higher carb meal or “cheat meal” this essentially jump starts your metabolism and up-regulates the fat burning process through the effect of leptins.

It is important to note that using complex carbs such as sweet potatoes, brown rice, slow cooked oatmeal, yams, etc. is more beneficial than using simple carbs such as breads, sugary foods, candies etc during your high carbohydrate days.  This is because complex carbohydrates are digested more slowly and do not cause as much of an insulin spike.  Complex carbohydrates that are not processed also contain vital vitamins, minerals and nutrients your body requires. In addition, it is felt that the undigestible (resistant) starches found in certain plant-based complex carbohydrates may have a beneficial effect on gut flora and increase mucin (one of the main parts of mucous, which helps to lubricate/ moisten body surfaces) production to offset symptoms of dry eyes or dry mouth.

The timing of carb cycling is very important.  For example, eating a meal high in carbohydrates before bedtime will promote fat storage due in increased insulin levels and decreased energy demand.   At this time, research indicates that the best time to increase carbohydrate intake is after a heavy training, lifting or sprinting day when the glycogen stores are depleted.   The carbohydrate influx will be used by the body to refuel the glycogen stores instead of stored as fat.   This increase of carbohydrate intake will also raise the leptin levels transiently.  The rise in leptin levels will result in a decrease in hunger cravings and prevent down-regulation of hormones which would otherwise decrease the overall metabolism.

The reason for fat cycling or decreasing fat intake on the high carb days is to allow an individual to maintain a fairly consistent calorie intake.  On the lower carb days, high quality fats can be eaten to increase calorie intake and stimulate satiety.  On higher carb days, fats should be limited so that overall calorie intake for the day remains constant.  In addition, the combination of high carb and high fat intake can result in an unfavorable changes in the type of fats found in the blood stream.

In summary, carb cycling is a way to allow an individual the benefits of eating a low carb diet, without the potential drawbacks of a persistently low carb diet.  Intermittent carbohydrate “refeeding” helps to prevent “stalls” in weight loss, refuel glycogen stores in the liver and muscles, regulate leptin levels and prevent possible thyroid or immune consequences of continuous low carb diets.   If one suffers from symptoms of worsening hypothyroidism or adrenal fatigue, it may indicate that more complex carbs should be added into the diet.  In those individuals with significant obesity, carb cycling is often not as effective in “jump starting” the metabolism due to persistently high levels of leptin, or leptin/insulin resistance.   To help decrease insulin resistance and increase leptin sensitivity, a low carb diet coupled with adequate sleep, routine exercising and stress relief is recommended.

Vitamin D

Unfortunately, the days of summer are coming to and end. Ever wonder why your mood is so much better in the summer time?   Many of us have significantly less stress because our rigid routines are often more lax over the summertime.   In addition to this decreased stress, the increased length of daylight plays an important role in contributing to our well-being.

When the summer days are long, we are exposed to more UVB light. While an excess of UVB rays can lead to sunburns and may ultimately contribute to certain types of cancers, a small amount of daily sun exposure can improve our health, mood and wellbeing.

This is because when our skin is exposed to UVB rays our skin produces Vitamin D. Vitamin D plays a crucial role in bone metabolism and numerous other bodily functions that will be further described below. Vitamin D can be obtained from foods such as fatty fish, beef liver, egg yolks, and fortified foods such as dairy products, orange juice and cereals. However, it is difficult to consume an adequate amount of Vitamin D just from diet alone.

The Vitamin D that is produced by plants is called Vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol). While the Vitamin D that is produced in human skin and is found in meats and animals sources is called Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol).   Vitamin D3 is a more suitable source of Vitamin D supplementation because it is easier for the body to convert into the active hormone form than Vitamin D2.   In addition, too much Vitamin D2 intake can be toxic.   It is much more difficult to become toxic from Vitamin D3 because the body has a mechanism to prevent too much Vitamin D3 from being overproduced in the skin.

The active hormone form of Vitamin D, calcitriol, is very important because it controls the calcium and phosphorus metabolism in your body and helps to build strong bones.   Some other important roles of the activated Vitamin D hormone include:

  • Modulates the immune system
  • Improves muscle function
  • Decreases fall risk in the elderly
  • Improves cardiovascular function
  • Has potential anti-cancer effects
  • Improves mood, wards off depression

According to the Mayo Clinic there is strong scientific evident for the use of Vitamin D to treat:

  • Osteomalacia (softening of the bones in adults)
  • Bone pain
  • Psoriasis
  • Some parathyroid and thyroid issues (requires physician oversight)

In addition, there is good scientific evidence for use of Vitamin D to treat:

  • Dental cavities
  • Muscle pain and weakness
  • Fall prevention

Currently the scientific evidence is inconclusive for the use of Vitamin D to treat:

  • Osteoporosis
  • Asthma
  • Auto-immune diseases
  • Bone Density in children
  • Cancer prevention
  • Cognition
  • Infertility
  • Fibromyalgia
  • Inflammatory bowel Disease
  • Cancer prevention in certain types of cancer

According to the National Institutes of Health, it is important to obtain Vitamin D either from the sun or from supplementation, as it appears that we are unable to take in an adequate amount from diet alone. The amount of Vitamin D produced in our bodies is dependent on several factors. The length of time in the sun, the angle of the suns rays, the amount of your body directly exposed to the sun, your proximity to the equator, and the amount of melanin in your skin.

When the sun is directly overhead (you will have a very small shadow) you are absorbing the highest amount of UVB rays. These rays are needed to produce Vitamin D3 in the skin.   Those individuals with darker skin tone, actually produce less Vitamin D3 because the melanin in your skin blocks production, as does the application of sunscreen. At this time, the recommendation is for about 10-15 minutes of direct sun, with a large amount of skin exposure (i.e. chest or back) for optimal Vitamin D production. This should be about ½ the time it takes for your skin to turn pink in the sun. It should not be enough time for you to sustain a sunburn.

At this time, guidelines for vitamin D3 intake differ.   The best way to determine your nutritional needs is to have your 25-hydroxy Vitamin D level checked by your health care provider. In general levels between 30-100 nmol/L are considered normal. However, levels >60 nmol/L appear to be more optimal for promoting health and wellness.   Depending on your level you can determine your need for supplementation or increased sun exposure. If you notice that you are a person who is cheerful during the bright summer days and more depressed during the darker winter days, this might be one indication that vitamin D supplementation may help!!!