Sleep! You can’t live without it.

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Circadian rhythm refers to the cycling of hormones according to the time of day. Every hormone cycles with daylight and darkness, each in it’s own way. Our brain has a master clock, called the circadian clock, controlled by specialized cells deep in the brain. There is a direct connection from our retina (in the back of the eyes) to the circadian clock in the brain. Blue light (part of the normal outdoor spectrum of light) stimulates very specific receptor cells in the retina which in turn communicates directly with the circadian clock telling the brain whether it is day or night. To synchronize our hormones and achieve restorative sleep, we must get outdoor light exposure to our eyes (without sunglasses, early in the day) and limit light exposure in the evening.

Artificial light, especially from cell phones and other devices that emit intense blue light, shift work, late night social activity, poor eating habits, sedentary lifestyle and at the opposite extreme, late evening workouts,  can all disrupt our circadian rhythm preventing adequate restorative sleep. A rare genetic illness called fatal insomnia that strikes adults at middle age prevents sleep and results in death within a few months, highlighting the importance of sleep. Sleep deprivation can kill a human quicker than starvation! Adequate amounts of deep non-REM sleep are required for tissue regeneration, healing, DNA repair and immune function. REM sleep with dreaming provides great benefit by organizing our memory, discharging the emotional content of traumatic events, and facilitating creative brain activity. One night of short-sleep produces a state of inattention and slow reflexes as dangerous as driving under the influence of alcohol intoxication. Chronic  short sleep and disrupted circadian rhythm results in increased risk of depression, cancer, hypertension, diabetes, dementia, obesity, metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, heart attack and stroke, to name a few. Sleep interruption immediately halts weight loss during a calorie restricted diet (likely the result of hormonal disruption). So getting an adequate amount of restorative sleep every night is essential to good health. Here a few tips to help achieve a good night’s sleep each and every night.

  1. GET OUTDOOR LIGHT EXPOSURE ON YOUR EYES WITHOUT SUNGLASSES EVERY DAY, EARLY IN THE DAY. This helps set your biologic/circadian clock. Even on a cloudy day, outdoor light is much stronger and natural than indoor light. It is essential for setting your biologic/circadian clock. If you cannot get outside, stand or sit in front of a large window for 20-30 minutes in the morning, looking outside. Take a lunch break outside without sunglasses. Wear a shade hat instead of sunglasses. Your brain needs to experience natural outdoor light during the day.
  2. Avoid bright light in the evening, especially the light from TV, computer screens, cell phones, which all emit intense blue light and trick your brain into thinking it is daytime. Wear blue light blocking glasses/goggles for 2-3 hours before bed. (Amber tinted glasses which block blue light can be purchased on-line and can be worn over reading glasses) There is also software available that will decrease the blue light intensity of computer screens and cell phones in the evening.
  3. Practice time restricted eating. Limit all eating to an eight hour period, thus providing for an over-night fast of 16 hours. If that does not seem possible try to limit eating to a 10-hour period which provides a 14-hour overnight fast. This improves sleep, circadian rhythm, blood pressure, blood sugar and reduces stress hormones. NO SNACKS BETWEEN MEALS. NO FOOD FOR 2 HOURS BEFORE BED. For every hour decrease in eating time period from 12 hours to 8 hours you get health benefit.
  4. Eat an anti-inflammatory diet.
  5. If you snore, are overweight/obese, fall asleep during the day, or do not feel refreshed in the morning ask your doctor to order a sleep study. Obstructive Sleep Apnea makes restorative sleep impossible and increases risk of heart attack, stroke and most chronic diseases.
  6. Avoid alcohol altogether and avoid caffeine after late morning.  Alcohol in the evening may help you fall asleep but it results in a withdrawal from alcohol during the night. This disrupts normal sleep patterns.
  7. Sleep in a cold, dark, quiet room. Use black-out curtains, no night lights, no phone charger lights, no lights of any kind should be on in the room. Any amount of light in the room impairs the production of melatonin which facilitates sleep onset.
  8. Have a wind–down time every evening. Develop habits of non-stressful activities, soft music, dim light, casual conversation, enjoyable reading. Do not spend evening time dealing with finances, conflict, or emotional activity.
  9. Try a magnesium supplement before bedtime. Magnesium glycinate, magnesium citrate, magnesium gluconate, are absorbed much better than cheaper supplements such as magnesium oxide. Magnesium L-Threonate is expensive, but it crosses the blood brain barrier into the brain with the greatest brain penetration of all magnesium supplements.
  10. Manage stress with yoga, meditation, regular exercise (but no intense exercise in the evening.) Perform most of your exercise outdoors in a green space. This provides much more health benefit than the equivalent exercise indoors.
  11. Regular contact with supportive family and friends is essential to health and reduces stress. The greatest predictor of health vs disease is the amount of social connectedness an individual experiences.
  12. Establish regular wake-up times and go-to-bed times. Regular sleep habits are essential. If you must rely on alarm clocks you do not have good sleep habits.

A few words about alcohol, caffeine and sleeping pills.

A drink or two in the evening may help you relax but it disrupts your sleep by causing a mild episode of alcohol withdrawal as your liver metabolizes the alcohol and your blood levels drop. Even this slight degree of alcohol withdrawal will impair a good night’s sleep.

Caffeine impairs sleep by blocking adenosine receptors in the brain. Adenosine is the neurotransmitter that increases gradually during the day creating a sate referred to as sleep pressure. Some people metabolize caffeine quickly, others slowly. The slower you metabolize caffeine the longer it takes to clear it from your adenosine receptors. Without adequate sleep pressure (adenosine receptors filled with adenosine in the brain) you cannot fall asleep. Many sleep experts recommend complete abstinence from caffeine and suggest that if you need caffeine to get started in the morning you are regularly sleep deprived.

Sleeping pills of all kinds interfere with normal sleep architecture. While they facilitate falling asleep, they impair your ability to achieve deep restorative stages of sleep and can produce many undesirable side effects including addiction, withdrawal symptoms, sleep walking, sleep driving, worsening of asthma and COPD, constipation, diarrhea, daytime drowsiness, burning and tingling sensations, unusual dreams, weakness, heartburn, etc…. Most importantly they all interfere with cycling through the various stages of sleep in a normal, restorative pattern!

If you want to explore these concepts in depth here are two excellent books that discuss sleep and circadian rhythm.

Why We Sleep, by Matthew Walker Ph.D.

The Circadian Code, by Satchin Panda Ph.D.

Eat clean, sleep well, spend time exercising out of doors, love one another.

Bob Hansen MD

Roundup (Glyphosate) Cancer and Monsanto

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I just received this notification from EWG.org.

“Hundreds of cancer victims and their families have filed lawsuits alleging that Monsanto’s signature pesticide Roundup causes cancer.

Now a U.S. judge has denied Monsanto’s attempts to throw out these claims and will allow the case to move forward including expert testimony that links glyphosate, the key ingredient in Roundup, to cancer. These suits allege that Monsanto knew about glyphosate’s cancer risk and failed to warn consumers.

Now hundreds of Americans are seeking to hold Monsanto responsible.

Monsanto has been waging a war on science for years. Just last year, Monsanto colluded with the Environmental Protection Agency to cover up glyphosate’s cancer risk and attacked EWG’s pesticide work, calling it “propaganda.””

I have discussed the risks of glyphosate before. You can read about it here

Glyphosate is a dangerous toxic substance. Most Americans will test positive for glyphosate in the urine. No levels in your body are safe.

It can cause cancer, disrupt your endocrine system, and interfere with brain development in children. There are many other problems with glyphosate. I encourage your to read about the hazards of glyphosate and protect your family. Support the efforts of the environmental working group. (EWG.org.)

Be safe, live clean, shower love on those you love.

Dr. Bob

Agent Orange AND glyphosate in our food? Scott Pruitt Strikes again

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Scott Pruitt and the EPA has approved wider use of Dow Chemical’s new pesticide “Enlist Duo”.

The following is taken from the Center for Food Safety’s recent notification.

“Enlist Duo is a combination of glyphosate (the main ingredient in Roundup) and 2,4-D (one of the active ingredients in “Agent Orange”). This is the first time this novel pesticide cocktail will be sprayed directly over-the-top of corn, cotton, and soybeans that are genetically engineered (GE) by Dow specifically to be sprayed with both.

National Cancer Institute scientists highlighted 2,4-D specifically as associated with two- to eight-fold increases in non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The International Agency for Research on Cancer of the World Health Organization classified 2,4-D as a possible carcinogen to humans and glyphosate as a probable carcinogen to humans.

Despite these harms, EPA dramatically expanded its approval of Enlist Duo for use on more crops and over more acres in 2017. In fact the U.S. Department of Agriculture conservatively estimates that use of Enlist Duo on just corn and soybeans will increase 2,4-D use by 200 to 600%.”

I have discussed the dangers of glyphosate many times before.

Now the toxicity of glyphosate has been combined with an active ingredient from agent orange which was used during the VietNam war. Many VietNam veterans attribute various chronic illnesses to agent orange exposure. I have frequently heard complaints about nerve damage, chronic pain, memory problems, cognitive impairment, etc., during my consultation visits with Vietnam veterans exposed to agent orange.

“The government of Vietnam says as many as 3 million people have suffered illnesses because of Agent Orange.[3]”

“The aftermath of the use of Agent Orange in Vietnam resulted in massive legal consequences. The United Nations ratified United Nations General Assembly Resolution 31/72 and the Environmental Modification Convention. Lawsuits filed on behalf of both US and Vietnamese veterans sought compensation for damages.”

Scott Pruitt has been busy turning the EPA upside down and reversing the recommendations made by the EPA’s own scientists.

EPA scientists recently re-evaluated the harmful effects of organophosphate pesticides on children’s brain health and behavior. They concluded that  Chlorpyrifos (an organophosphate pesticide) is unsafe and the EPA scheduled a ban on the use of this toxic agent. Scott Pruitt stepped in and canceled the ban! The EPA then announced that it would not finish it’s safety analysis for chlorpyrifos until 2022. Even Dr. Oz and his journalistic partner Dr. Mike Rosen  (Director of the Health and Wellness Center at Cleveland Clinic) have commented on the danger of that decision in their “Health and Spirit” newspaper column.

From Wikipedia:

“Chlorpyrifos is considered moderately hazardous to humans by the World Health Organization.[7] Exposure surpassing recommended levels has been linked to neurological effects, persistent developmental disorders and autoimmune disorders. Exposure during pregnancy may harm the mental development of children, and most home use was banned in 2001 in the U.S.[8] In agriculture, it is “one of the most widely used organophosphate insecticides” in the United States, and before being phased out for residential use was one of the most used residential insecticides”

“Chlorpyrifos exposure may lead to acute toxicity at higher doses. Persistent health effects follow acute poisoning or from long-term exposure to low doses, and developmental effects appear in fetuses and children even at very small doses. [16]”

Organophosphates are used as pesticides and in chemical warfare. Organophosphate pesticide use in agriculture causes an estimated 3 million poisonings per year resulting in 200,000 deaths per year.

Be  careful out there. Make wise choices. Eat organic vegetables and fruits whenever possible and pay attention to the EWG’s list of the Dirty Dozen.

Doctor Bob

Western Diet (high sugar, refined carbs, unhealthy fats) alters genes and causes inflammation

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New study (in mice) shows fast food makes the immune system more aggressive in a detrimental way.

Major points:

  1. The immune system reacts similarly to a high sugar, high (unhealthy) fat and high calorie diet as to a bacterial infection.
  2. Unhealthy food seems to make the body’s defenses (innate immune system) more aggressive in the long term. Even long after switching to a healthy diet, inflammation towards innate immune stimulation is more pronounced.
  3. These changes may be involved in the development of arteriosclerosis and diabetes.
  4. These changes are due to alterations in gene transcription (up-regulation of genes associated with inflammation)
  5. This up regulation of pro-inflammatory genes persists even after converting to a healthier diet.

Read more at News from IRT

Here: Fast food makes the immune system more aggressive in the long term: Study shows that even after a change to a healthy diet, the body’s defenses remain hyperactive — ScienceDaily

And here Western Diet Triggers NLRP3-Dependent Innate Immune Reprogramming: Cell

This study is an example of epigenetics, where an environmental factor (diet) alters the expression of genes. We know that regular consumption of a variety of colorful vegetables mediates many beneficial effects and part of that process involves altering the transcription of many genes related to health and our ability to defend against Oxidative Stress .

The epigenetic effect of nutrition can be transmitted to the next generation.

The epigenetic effects of diet include many aspects of health including  cancer risk.

And epigenetic changes in humans can begin  before birth in response to maternal nutrition and maternal exposure to environmental toxins .

Diet also effects the gut microbiome, which in turn affects health .

So avoid fast food and other forms of processed-refined foods. Eat a whole foods-ancestral diet that includes a variety of organic colorful vegetables and fruits, grass fed/finished meats and wild seafood. This will not only provide important micro and macro nutrients but will also turn up and turn on genes that prevent disease.

Live clean, sleep well, laugh and love.

Doctor Bob

Anti-inflammatory diet, are 9 servings of vegetables per day possible?

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I often recommend a specific diet to decrease inflammation, decrease pain, and improve healing of tissue. I have been asked by patients to post this nutritional plan on my website so here it is (see below). In addition to this post, I will place the diet on a separate page along with recipes for vegetable soup and bone broth.

The recipes (vegetable soup and bone broth) meet the anti-inflammatory diet guidelines and also follow the more restrictive “Autoimmune Protocol”. This nutritional approach provides an array of micro nutrients that fight inflammation, support tissue repair, decrease the risk of chronic disease, and help maintain  a healthy gut flora (good bacteria in the intestines).

When I recommend 9 servings per day of vegetables patients often tell me it is impossible to achieve.  But it is not impossible, nor is it impractical. Every Sunday afternoon I make a large pot of vegetable soup that will keep all week in the refrigerator. I bring  generous servings to work every day for breakfast, brunch, and/or lunch and add some meat or seafood prepared the evening before (left-overs) on the side. The key to eating 9 servings per day is to have a variety of vegetables at every meal. The vegetable soup makes that goal not just achievable but convenient.

The anti-inflammatory diet described below provides ample fiber to feed your healthy gut bacteria and avoids the sugar and refined starches that can produce gut dysbiosis (unhealthy balance of bacteria in the intestines). Vegetables provide five times the amount of fiber per calorie compared to grains. You do not need to eat bread or cereal to get fiber.

So here is the anti-inflammatory diet. it is consistent with the Mediterranean diet as well as an Ancestral-Paleo diet.

Caution: if you have diabetes and are taking medications, this diet reduces carbohydrates and eliminates added sugar so adjustments in diabetes medications are necessary to avoid potentially dangerous low blood sugars. So consult your physician or primary care practitioner.

9 SERVINGS  OF NON-STARCHY VEGETABLES PER DAY, 3 SERVINGS FROM EACH OF THREE CATEGORIES. Organic as much as possible. (Read about the Dirty Dozen here: Dirty Dozen | EWG’s 2017 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce )

  1. DARK GREEN LEAFY VEGETABLES, 3 SERVINGS PER DAY EQUALS 3 CUPS MEASURED COOKED OR 6 CUPS MEASURED RAW
  • Arugula, Beet Greens, Bok Choy, Chard all colors, Chicory, Cilantro
  •  Dandelion Greens, Endive, Escarole, Kale-all kinds, Parsley, Radicchio
  • Radish leaves, Spinach, Turnip Greens, Watercress
  1. Colored vegetables, 3 cups daily:
  • GREEN: Artichoke, Asparagus, Avocado (FRUIT), Cabbage (red and green) Celery, Cucumber with skin, Okra, Olives, Peppers, Zucchini with skin
  • RED: Beets, red cabbage, red peppers, cooked tomatoes (fruit)
  • YELLOW: Carrots, Pumpkin, Squash-summer and winter, Sweet potato,
  1. SULFUR RICH VEGETABLES, 3 CUPS DAILY: Some leafy greens are also sulfur rich so there is overlap in these categories
  • Arugula, Asparagus, Bok Choy, Broccoli, Brussel sprouts, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Collard Greens, Garlic, Kale, Kohlrabi, Leeks, Mushrooms, Onions red-yellow-white, Radishes, Scallions, Shallots, Turnip Greens, Watercress.

Berries (any kind) ½ cup per day. This can be substituted for one serving of vegetables.

OMEGA-3 rich fish-seafood (at least 16 ounces per week)

  • Anchovies, clams, herring, mackerel, mussels, oysters, salmon, sardines, trout, calamari (squid), saltwater fish should be wild, shellfish farmed OK, farmed trout OK.

Meat ideally grass fed and grass finished, hormone and antibiotic free.

Poultry and eggs free range, any wild game meat or poultry.

Drink only filtered water, coffee, tea, bone broth (homemade is best) and kombucha.

No grains, cereal, bread, pasta, no food made from flour, no oats, wheat, barley, corn etc.

No legumes (beans), no peanuts

No dairy except Ghee for cooking (optional)

No processed food made with added sugar or hydrogenated oils (which contain trans-fats)

No “vegetable oils” (soy oil, corn oil, etc.)

Use only extra-virgin olive oil, coconut oil, avocado oil and ghee. Limit EVOO to low heat cooking or add after food is cooked. The other oils on this list have higher smoke points.

Do not use store-bought salad dressing which usually has added sugar and inflammatory vegetable oils. Make your own salad dressing with EVOO and vinegar or lemon juice.

For more information about the AIP (Autoimmune protocol)  I suggest you visit these websites:

Autoimmune gut-repair diet – Autoimmune protocol | Dr. K. News

The Autoimmune Protocol – The Paleo Mom

The Autoimmune protocol is more restrictive than the anti-inflammatory diet and is beneficial for individuals with autoimmune disease.

Live clean, sleep well, exercise outside in the sunshine, love and laugh.

Dr. Bob

Don’t eat plastic foam in your food, another reason to avoid bread, bakery and flour foods

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I recently came across an article at EWG.org, Nearly 500 ways to make a yoga mat sandwich | EWG

“If you’ve planked on a yoga mat, slipped on flip-flops, extracted a cell phone from protective padding or lined an attic with foam insulation, chances are you’ve had a brush with an industrial chemical called azodicarbonamide, nicknamed ADA. In the plastics industry, ADA is the “chemical foaming agent” of choice. It is mixed into polymer plastic gel to generate tiny gas bubbles, something like champagne for plastics. The results are materials that are strong, light, spongy and malleable. “

Turns out, ADA is in nearly five hundred foods including breads, tortillas, bagels, pizza, hamburger buns, various pastries, hot dog rolls, sandwich buns, Italian bread, bread sticks, dinner rolls, croutons, english muffins, focaccia, wheat bread. Not all food producers include ADA in their products but many do, including fast food chains.

“Over the years, health activists concerned about synthetic chemicals in food have attacked the widespread use of ADA, but it did not attract nationwide headlines until Hari of Food Babe circulated a petition demanding that Subway, among the nation’s biggest fast-food outlets, stop using the chemical in its loaves. Subway responded [http://www.subway.com/subwayroot/about_us/PR_Docs/QualityBread.pdf] that ADA was safe, but even so, it had quietly been seeking a substitute over the past year. The company pointed out that ADA is “found in the breads of most chains such as Starbuck’s, Wendy’s, McDonald’s, Arby’s, Burger King, and Dunkin Donuts.” Those other fast food giants joined Subway on the defensive.”

So head on over to the environmental working group website by clicking the link above and educate yourself. The reasons to avoid flour foods continue to mount, glyphosate (roundup), ADA, obesity, auto-immune disease, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, heart attack, stroke, endotoxemia…..

Live clean, sleep well, love and laugh.

Dr. Bob

 

Glyphosate update from Responsible Technology.org

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The Following comes directly from an e-mail newsletter discussing the increasingly alarming Glyphosate data.

Glyphosate poisoning is the emerging issue from decades of GMO Roundup Ready crops. Earlier this year, the UC San Diego released results from a long-term study that showed a 13x increase in the amount of glyphosate in urine tests of participants over a 20-year period. The State of California listed glyphosate as a known carcinogen effective July, 2017.

Glyphosate is in food, in the air, and in the water.

Glyphosate use in the agricultural sector rose 300-fold from 1974 to 2014. See Table. Glyphosate is also used liberally in landscaping, along roadways, railroad, and power company rights-of-way.

Review of facts.

The existing approval of glyphosate and Roundup is out of date. New research and the conclusions of an international team of reviewers have established ample reason to immediately discontinue use of Roundup and other herbicide formulations that contain glyphosate. Learn more about the documented health risks of glyphosate at RoundupRisks.com.

Be safe, eat only organic, non-GMO foods. Eat meat from animals that have not been exposed to GMOs, herbicides, pesticides, antibiotics or fed foods that are contaminated with these toxins.

Live clean, sleep well, laugh and love.

Dr. Bob