Benefits of Intermittent Fasting

Have you heard about Intermittent fasting or tried it yourself? I discuss this with many of my patients as it is an effective tool for preventing and reversing disease, as well as help with weight loss and digestion. To implement should be considered carefully however. 

What is Intermittent Fasting:

Simply put intermittent fasting is a pattern of eating and not eating, lasting from short term fasts to longer daily fasts. When you are in a fasted state your body is focused on recovery instead of digesting food, however we have been taught over the years to eat frequent small meals, never allowing our bodies to get into the fasted (and recovery) state, except for overnight. There are a variety of approaches to fasting but I usually suggest starting with the 16:8 method as I find this to be easiest to implement for beginner “fasters.” You can still have your coffee in the morning, try it with a little collagen and/or MCT oil, and lots of water. 

• 16:8 Method - aka time-restricted feeding. Eating for 8 hours and fasting for 16 hours. Just skip your breakfast and ensure you break your fast with a whole foods, nutritious lunch. You can implement the 16:8 method up to 7 days a week. It helps to create a habit of not-snacking too late in the evening since the later you eat, the later you have to wait for food in the morning. 🙂 

• 24 Hour Fast - This is a daily fast where you only eat 500-600 calories. This may be necessary for more advanced conditions to reset the body or those that need to jump start weight loss. You would do this 1-2x/week or 1-2x/months. 

• Fasting Mimicking Diet - This is a 4-5 day fasting period with very low calories mimicking fasting in your body, allowing the body to enter a full ketogenic state. You would implement this method 1x/month for more deteriorating health, and only 1-2x/year when you are fairly healthy. This method is more about longevity and cellular repair. 

Reasons To Implement IF:

• Decreases body fat and weight while maintaining muscle. It allows a favourable shift in metabolism to preserve muscle. During a fast (usually 18-24 hours) cells shift from using glucose to fat as fuel. 

• Improves cardiovascular disease risk profile. A decrease in cholesterol up to 20% can occur. A decrease in LDL by about 25% after 8 weeks on alternate daily fast have been shown. A decrease in triglycerides by 32% has been shown, all with no change in HDL levels. 

• Decreases overall inflammation. As I have mentioned you body focuses on recovery during the fasting time. 

• Improves brain health by decreasing oxidative stress in the body.

• Improves blood glucose levels and therefore improves insulin sensitivity. This is important for those with metabolism syndrome, pre-diabetes or diabetes. 

• Improves digestion by helping promote a normal migrating motility complex (most active overnight). It also favourably influences the balance of beneficial bacteria in the gut. 

When To Avoid:

• Best to avoid during pregnancy and breastfeeding when you are supporting both you and baby. 

• Avoid during times of increased stress. Your brain uses many calories so when you are overwhelmed intermittent fasting may negatively impact you. Please talk to your ND about this. 

• Caution for those with low blood sugar issues. 

• Caution for those with a history of an eating disorder. 

• Caution for those on certain medications. Please speak to and ND. 

Think about fasting like rebooting your computer. Sometimes you just have to turn it off and reboot for it to work properly again. Our body is very similar! 

Come talk to me if you have any questions.

In health & happiness,

Dr. Karen

Indigestion - To Test or Not To Test

I often see new patients with undiagnosed digestive issues, that they have been struggling with for months, sometimes years. They have seen their GP and given either no solutions, a medication they have to stay on to feel better, or referred to a GI specialist and are waiting for many more months to then be told their scope was clear and you just have IBS! I know this can very frustrating! 

This is where Naturopathic Medicine can come in and be very helpful. We have been trained in the ins and outs of the digestive tract and possible conditions and have had many hours of nutrition training to cater a food plan specific for you. I love treating digestive concerns for a few reasons:

• Time to explain how the digestive tract works 

• Access to GI lab tests that are specific to the patient

• Tools such as nutrition, herbs, and neutraceuticals that can be specific for the patient 

• Most conditions I have found stem from gut health so I can treat skin issues, hormone issues etc by addressing the gut! 

Testing can be an invaluable tool at times and can speed up the treatment process.  I go through the 4Rs in gut health (see post here) with all my patients and usually start with the basics in gut health and/or work with where they are at or how severe their digestive symptoms are, but testing can be very helpful. For example, a recent patient of mine opted to do both the SIBO breath test and the IgG food sensitivity panel during his initial visit so we could gather all necessary information as soon as possible then treat accordingly. On his second visit, we could jump right into the test results, in this case positive for hydrogen SIBO and a sensitivity to a few specific foods, and start antimicrobial herbs specific for his SIBO results. He then saw quick results! I believe we would still have gotten moderate results without testing but with it results happened much sooner and were much better. 

Some GI tests have been criticized in the news as of late but considering the results I see when these tests are included in our clinical diagnoses and ultimately the treatment, I have to disagree with some of their conclusions. A few of the digestive system tests I use are:

• IgG food sensitivity - This is a comprehensive test including 160 foods that you could have an IgG sensitivity to. I always make sure patients are aware that if several foods come back as a sensitivity then we are dealing with a “leaky gut” generally and eliminating the bigger culprits is important as well as a lot of gut healing support. 

• SIBO Breath Test - Many cases of “IBS” are associated with an imbalance in bacteria that cause bloating, gas or bowel movement issues. In the case of SIBO it is an imbalance in the upper GI bacteria and the digestive wave is not functioning correctly. Testing reveals if this is the case, how severe the imbalance is and what type of dysbiotic bacteria is highest. We can then treat more effectively. 

• GI Mapping or Stool Analysis - In more complex cases or if there is a history of parasites and negative scopes, stool analysis is valuable. Among other things his reveals what bacteria, parasite or virus is running rampant in the gut as well as how much inflammation is present. This test is very comprehensive and informative, but it is also more expensive. 

If you have been dealing with digestive issues for awhile with no diagnosis or direction, testing may be of benefit to you. There are many Naturopathic approaches to healing the digestive system and it is one area I love treating. Come visit me! 

In heath & happiness,

Dr. Karen

(Photo credits: 1 - https://www.everydayhealth.com/digestive-health-pictures/lets-hope-its-just-gas.aspx; 3 - www.sibodoctors.com)

3 Natural Ways to Improve Digestion

Oh those dreaded days when you want to look your best, whether it be for a special occasion or a work presentation, but you just can't imagine putting on that tight dress or pants due to uncomfortable bloating...Too many of us have been there, myself included. 

Digestive issues, including bloating, gas, constipation or heartburn are such common complaints and so often something I see in my practice. No doubt you have heard the term IBS, or irritable bowel syndrome, or even been diagnosed with it. The problem is, usually when given this diagnosis there is no clear direction on how to improve your symptoms. The reason being is that IBS is very much an umbrella term for a number of different things that could be going on. When it comes down to it, the most likely root cause for indigestion of any kind is that your body is using resources to support the "fight or flight" part of your nervous system, and therefore taking focus away from our "rest and digest" component of our nervous system. We need our nervous system to turn on those lovely digestive juices to properly digest and breakdown our food, absorb necessary nutrients and eliminate toxins and inflammation. When we are too busy being just that, too busy, causing stress, insomnia and avoiding that (necessary) breakdown we can ultimately wreck havoc on our digestive systems. Some people may end up with too little stomach acid, causing heartburn, or SIBO causing constipation, and others an overgrowth of Candida causing more bloating, as well as skin issues and mental fog. We are all individuals therefore our bodies respond differently. 

Luckily there are a few things you can do today to start improving your digestive symptoms:

1. Take a deep breath! I know it sounds simple, but a couple deep breaths can go a long way to decrease cortisol levels and shift your body back into “rest and digest.” This is especially important before eating any meal. If you tend to work through your lunch break or run out the door with your breakfast, you are not giving your body the much needed time and support to properly digest that meal. I love meals with loved ones as we tend to slow down and be present while we eat (with the exception of holidays where there seems to always be too much food! :)). So whether it is simply taking a few deep breaths before your next meal or a plan to eat with a friend at work, you are taking a step towards better digestion. 

2. Drink chai tea. Herbal medicine can work wonders to decrease bloating! Carminative herbs, such as fennel, ginger and cardamom work to calm the digestive track by decreasing muscle spasm, eliminating gas and soothing the gut lining. They are best used after eating. A carminative tea you can make at home that tastes great is this caffeine free chai tea. Boil 4 cups of water with 2 cinnamon sticks, 1 tsp cloves, 1 tsp crushed cardamom pods (5-6 pods), 1 tsp black peppercorn and 2 tbsp sliced ginger for 10-15 minutes. Strain this and drink after a meal on its own or mixed with nut milk and a little honey. Yum!
3. Get your twist on. These days we are quite sedentary working at a desk or computer all day. Our digestive track is ultimately one big muscle that benefits from being massaged once and awhile with abdominal twists. It is like ringing out a towel to relieve any excess gunk we don’t want. Try a few twists at home such as the one shown above or find a yoga class near you that will most likely incorporate a few twists in a class. 

Additional testing, food elimination and more detective work may be helpful to uncover the root cause of your digestive concerns, in order to create a more individualized treatment plan. Looking for more support? I'd be happy to help. I offer free 15 minute consults to see if Naturopathic Medicine is the right fit for you!

In health & happiness, 

Dr. Karen

(Photo credits: divalikes.com; corepoweryoga.com)