by
Shirley Michael, Ph.D.

For many years, so-called nutritional experts advocated a low protein, low fat, high carbohydrate diet as the perfect diet for all of us. They promised that we’d lose weight and lower our cholesterol while simultaneously improving our health and fitness.

Well, they turned out to be wrong, dead wrong for some and seriously wrong for millions of others. Instead of fulfilling its promise, this latest “right diet for all people” produced a rise in obesity like this country has never seen, along with the “bonus” side-effect of an ever-growing epidemic in diabetes.

Recent scientific studies have “discovered” that just maybe the high carb, low protein/fat diet is not so good after all; now many expound that the best “right diet for all people” is a high protein, low carb diet. Unfortunately, the fallout of this unproven theory will also cause just as many people to suffer unnecessarily. Confusing? Yes! Fortunately, there IS an answer…The science of individualized nutrition.

Metabolic Typing®, the science of individualized nutrition, reveals why there is no “right diet” for every person. Through Metabolic Typing, it has been learned that the answer to the question of the right diet lies with your genes — not whim, fancy or philosophical belief, or even in scientific research, at least not in the way it is being performed today.

The basic premises of Metabolic Typing® such as the idea of biochemical individuality, or that the same nutrient can have different effects in different Metabolic Types, or that the same disease can arise in different Metabolic Types for totally opposite biochemical reasons, have far-reaching effects and shatter many current en vogue MYTHS of nutrition.

MYTH: A vegetarian diet or a diet high in fruits and vegetables and low in protein and fat is good for you. REALITY: If it’s wrong for your Metabolic Type, meaning, if it is not in line with your ancestral diet, your genetically-based nutritional requirements, this diet can make you sicker or create new health problems for you. There are no “good” foods and there are no “bad” foods, except in terms of the requirements of your unique Metabolic Type.

MYTH: The Healthy Diet

REALITY: There’s no such thing as a diet that is universally healthy for everyone. This applies to any diet that is purportedly right for all people – whether it’s the Atkins Diet, MacDougall Diet, Ornish Diet, (or pick any diet you can think of!). The only diet that is healthy for you is the diet that is right for your Metabolic Type; the diet meets your inherited needs for nutrients.

MYTH: To lose weight you need to reduce calories and limit fat (or limit protein or limit carbs).

REALITY: Fat doesn’t make you fat. Protein doesn’t make you fat. Carbohydrates don’t make you fat. And even calories per se don’t make you fat. But what does make you fat is the inability to properly metabolize, or convert to energy, carbs, proteins, fats and calories.
If you’re overweight, you’re actually starving — starving for the right balance of nutrients that will increase your metabolic rate and convert to energy the food you’re eating instead of storing it as fat.

Eat the right foods for your Metabolic Type and eat the right ratios of macronutrients (proteins, fats, carbs) and you’ll be giving your body the right kind of fuel for your engines of metabolism. Science is beginning to awaken to the idea that much of what our bodies do with food is in our genes.

MYTH: To lose weight all you need to do is reduce calories and exercise more.

REALITY: Millions of people have done just that, but in most cases have not only failed to lose weight, but gained weight instead. Worse, for most people, reducing calories has led to food cravings, binge or yo-yo dieting, mood swings and energy fluctuations.
Only by giving your body food that it can efficiently convert to energy will you lose weight permanently. Only then can watching calories and exercising regularly make a real and lasting difference.

Best of all, when you eat right for your Metabolic Type, when your body fully converts to energy the food you eat, gone forever will be the gnawing hunger, food cravings, binges, mood swings and energy fluctuations that normally are associated with “dieting.”

MYTH: If you take lots of supplements and “cover all your bases,” your body will take what it needs and discard the rest.

REALITY: This is like saying that if you hold a flame under your outstretched hand, your body will take whatever heat it needs and throw off the rest. Such ideas ignore the REALITY of cause and effect. If you apply a flame to skin, the skin will burn.

Similarly, nutrients have very precise effects on the body — either stimulating or sedating, acidifying or alkalinizing. Every supplement you consume will either stimulate or sedate specific organs, systems and fundamental control mechanisms. Take the wrong nutrients or the wrong formulations for your Metabolic Type and you will worsen your existing imbalances or create new imbalances and all of the problems that go with them. Nutrients indeed have the power to heal, but they also have the power to make you ill if they are wrong for your Metabolic Type.

MYTH: Everyone should take calcium (or vitamin C, or anti-oxidants, etc.).

REALITY: Nothing could be further from the truth. Through Metabolic Typing®, we know that any nutrient can have opposite effects in different Metabolic Types. This is why a nutrient can help correct a condition in one person, have little or no effect on another person, or worsen the same condition in a different Metabolic Type.

Thus the old adage, “one’s food is another’s poison.” This is why you should only take those supplements that are right for your Metabolic Type. Every nutrient raises or lowers up to 9 other nutrients in your body. So taking therapeutic doses of vitamin C can actually, for example, cause cancer (vitamin C lowers copper, so if you are already deficient in copper and take high therapeutic doses of vitamin C, you can seriously compromise your immune system).

Taking too much calcium can actually cause osteoporosis (in order for calcium to be utilized, it needs certain synergistic nutrients and if you are already low in those synergistic nutrients, taking more calcium will only further deplete the existing deficient levels, worsening any problems relating to calcium metabolism).

Eating a low-fat diet can actually raise cholesterol (if it further disturbs the body’s cholesterol metabolism, e.g., certain metabolic types paradoxically need to eat a high-fat diet to promote efficient cholesterol metabolism). Of course, everyone needs all the nutrients in order to be healthy . . . but not in therapeutic doses. So before you start supplementing your diet, it’s best to know your Metabolic Type.

MYTH: Nutrients are nutrients. It doesn’t matter what form they are in.

REALITY: The carriers of nutrients are just as powerful — in some cases even more powerful — in their effects on metabolism as the nutrients themselves. Depending on your Metabolic Type, any nutrient can be acidifying or alkalinizing.

For example, in a Parasympathetic (alkaline) Metabolic Type, calcium is acidifying, but in a Fast Oxidizer, calcium is alkalinizing. So, it is important that an acid form of calcium (e.g., calcium chloride) be used if you’re an alkaline Parasympathetic type metabolizer, but that an alkaline form of calcium (calcium citrate) be used if you’re an acidic Fast Oxidizer.

Otherwise, the nutritional supplement will at best have a neutral effect, and at worst, actually worsen your existing imbalances. You can take the best supplements money can buy, but if they are not right for your Metabolic Type — the right nutrients and the right forms of the nutrients – they won’t produce the result you’re looking for and can end up making you worse than before.

MYTH: Drink lots of orange juice to help get rid of a cold

REALITY: Colds and flus are viruses and viruses thrive in an alkaline biochemical environment. Citrus juice, because it is such a highly alkalinizing food, is one of the worst things you can ingest to prevent and fight off a cold or flu virus. Interestingly, cold weather produces an alkaline shift in the body.
In addition, the most powerful alkalinizing substances in your diet are sugar, alcohol, caffeine, salt (and nicotine), the very substances that tend to increase in our diets during cold weather and the holidays. Beginning with Halloween, and going on through Thanksgiving, Christmas and the New Year’s celebrations, the amounts of these highly alkalinizing substances dramatically increase in our diets.

When you consider the elevation of those alkaline foods in our diets in combination with the alkaline effect of the cold weather, is it any wonder that time of year has come to be known as “the cold & flu season?” At the first sign of a cold or flu, try to acidify your system by increasing protein and decreasing carbohydrates, particularly fruits (especially citrus) and the alkaline substances listed above.

YOUR PERSONAL “FUEL” REQUIREMENTS

When you buy a new car, one of the first things you learn is the kind of fuel it uses. You wouldn’t want to use the wrong kind of fuel for fear of damaging the engine, not to mention the fact that its performance would suffer dramatically.

You would do well to adopt the same attitude towards your own body. Remember that your body is designed to be healthy, but in order to run efficiently, it must be given the right fuel, the kind of fuel it is genetically programmed to utilize.

YOU CAN EAT THE BEST ORGANIC FOODS, take the finest supplements money can buy, drink plenty of pure water, get sufficient rest and exercise regularly, but if you do not meet the needs of your Metabolic Type, you’ll only be wasting your time and money.

GIVE YOUR BODY WHAT IT NEEDS, AND YOU WILL ENJOY A LIFETIME OF GOOD HEALTH, ENERGY AND WELL-BEING!!!

CHECK OUT OUR CERTIFIED METABOLIC TYPING ADVISOR, SEAN SETTLES’S WORKSHOP FEB. 27 AT 6:30 PM AND FEB. 28 AT 10 AM.

Can’t Figure Out What to Get Someone Special in Your Life? 

Give the Gift of Health and Fitness This Holiday Season.  Buy a Package, Get a Gift Certificate Towards a Package, or Get the New Metabolic Typing Test & Consultation.

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$50 OFF 20 PACK OF 60 MIN PT SESSIONS

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DISCOUNT SALE ENDS 12/25/2011

NEW CLIENTS CAN LOCK INTO 2011 RATES!!!

Personal Training is more than just exercise. It is about feeling better, setting a goal and achieving it, and seeing the rewards of living a healthful life.

A Special Thanksgiving Message from NJ Shore Fit.

Click Here

by

Donald Shrump, FDN

When diet, exercise, and lifestyle modifications don’t work, it’s time to dig deeper!

NJ Shore Fit now offers an assortment of functional lab tests to assist you in getting to the root cause(s) of your health and fitness challenges.

Lab tests are processed by BioHealth Diagnostics, Trace Minerals, and Signet Labs.

Each kit may be completed from the privacy of your own home.

What can Functional Lab Testing do for you?

✓ Identify fat loss obstacles like low testosterone and estrogen, as well as fatigued adrenals

✓ Find out whether or not your insomnia may be due to low melatonin and high nighttime cortisol

✓ See on paper the state of your immune and digestive systems

✓ Identify any gut bugs like H Pylori, candida albicans, Giardia, Blastocystis Hominis, and more

✓ Stop treating symptoms and get to the root cause(s) of your health and fitness challenges

✓ Learn once and for all why normal medical test scores are NOT good enough

Functional Laboratory Testing Kits

Test Kit 101: Metabolic Assessment Profile
Sample: Urine

The Metabolic Assessment Profile measures the levels of indican, lipid peroxides, and urinary bile acid sulfates (UBAS). It involves the analysis of two urine samples easily collected by the patient at home. This profile provides an index of general digestive metabolism by assessing protein digestion, oxidative damage caused by free radical activity, and bile acid sulfates, a direct measurement of liver function. Kit includes 2 vials for urine collection.  More Info…

Test Kit 205: Functional Adrenal Stress Profile
Sample: Saliva

This test kit measures the state of the hormonal system, specifically the health of the adrenal glands. Markers include cortisol (morning, noon, afternoon, nighttime), DHEA-S, estradiol, estriol, progesterone, testosterone, and melatonin. Kit includes 4 vials for saliva collection. More info…

Test Kit 304: Intestinal Barrier Screen
Sample: Saliva

My favorite test. Measures the ecology of the digestive system. Great for identifying leaky gut syndrome and gut permeability. Markers include secretory IgA (immunity), anaerobic and aerobic bacteria, antibodies to dietary proteins (cow’s milk, egg, corn, soy, wheat), and yeast. More Info…

Test Kit 401H: GI Pathogens w/H. Pylori
Sample: Stool

This stool analysis determines the presence of ova and parasites such as protozoa, flatworms, or roundworms; immunoglobulin G (IgG) to Cryptosporidium parvum , Entamoeba histolytica , and Giardia lamblia antigens in stool; bacteria, fungi (including yeasts), and occult blood; and Clostridium difficile colitis toxins A and B. Five stool samples and one smear are taken over a four-day period, providing a highly reliable comprehensive analysis of intestinal microflora. More Info…

LEAP MRT 150 Food Sensitivity Screen
Sample: Blood

This kit tests for 150 foods, chemicals, and additives common in our diet. Food sensitivities are very difficult to identify. In most cases, symptoms do not appear until 48-72 hours after consuming the reactive food. Find out which foods are turning on your immune system, causing inflammation in your gut, and taxing your adrenal glands. More Info…

TRACE ELEMENTS Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis

Sample: Hair

Hair tissue mineral analysis offers you a blue print of the biochemistry in your body and its functions. Hair analysis is the most reliable method to measure the mineral and trace element levels and balance in the human body and to test for the presence of the greatest range of toxic materials. It is painless, quick and accurate. Since hair grows slowly, the test results are substantially more meaningful than examinations of blood or urine, that may show merely the conditions of that day that the sample is collected. A hair tissue mineral analysis reveals a unique metabolic world; intracellular activity; which cannot be seen through many other tests.

The causes of many problems as ADHD, insomnia, allergies, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, concentration deficit, pain, anxiety, depression, weight gain, weight loss, arthritis and other illnesses are often not uncovered by common medical tests. Many conditions can be explained only when the presence of toxic materials as mercury, lead, arsenic can be demonstrated. More Info…

Contact NJ Shore Fit today for more information at info@njshorefit.com

1 MEDIUM ORDER OF FRENCH FRIES IMPAIRS YOUR ENDOTHELIAL CELLS

BY DONALD SHRUMP

NJ Shore Fit Personal Training

In 1999, scientists in New Zealand conducted a rather interesting experiment to test how instantaneously harmful used frying oil is the cells of your arteries known as endothelial cells and the results were amazing.

The Set Up

The Scientists pre-screened extremely healthy individuals with healthy arteries, then using some instruments and a blood pressure cuff they measured the amount of dilation the arteries would normally open after circulation is cut off by the blood pressure cuff. Then they fed subjects French Fries, waited 4 hours, and repeated the blood pressure cuff cutting off circulation and measured the dilation after. The results were an average dilation of 7% in the normal reading and get this 0.8% dilation in the post-French Fry meal. This suggests that ONE MEAL with oxidized fats impairs the function of your arterial cells.

Remember most Heart Attack victims report to have had fried food right before or hours before the attack. Now we have definitive scientific evidence of the damage caused by oxidative fats.

What exactly is going on here?

The experiment is deliberately blocking arterial flow with a blood pressure cuff. Since the endothelial cells downstream of the cuff are starved of oxygen our body would normally know to release nitric oxide to dilate the artery allowing more blood flow and more oxygen. When people eat just ONE MEAL rich in oxidized vegetable oil like French Fries, Granola (yes granola 50% calories from vegetable oil), crackers, soy milk, breakfast cereal, breads, etc. the oxidized, burnt, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) form free radicals. The free radicals damage every part of that food and when you eat that food the free radicals damage every part of your body including your endothelial cells that can lead to inflammation, atherosclerosis, and heart disease. So cooking with vegetable oil, margarine, canola, soy, sunflower, cottonseed oil, corn oil, grapeseed oil, safflower oil is literally frying your arteries.

**ATTENTION MEN**

Male sexual function (Mr. Winky) depends on endothelial cells to dilation for obvious tissue expansion. If you have trouble in this department than you likely have endothelial dysfunction, which means change your diet! No more fried anything, no more vegetable oil in anything, and no more Mr. Winky problems.

What can we all do

Stay away from fats and oils that oxidize, go rancid, or burn at low temperatures. Canola, soy, vegetable oil begin to breakdown when exposed to the air at room temperature, let alone cooking.

If you are cooking on your skillet, grill, or in your oven above 350 degrees F you have to use butter, coconut oil, or animal fats because they don’t oxidize until higher temperatures. Here is a helpful comparison, when water becomes steam is like oil becoming rancid. So fats and oils that are solid at room temperature like butter, coconut oil, and animal fats take higher temperatures to liquify and even higher temperatures to burn off as vapor.

References

Deep Nutrition: Why Your Genes Need Traditional Foods, Catherine Shanahan MD and Luke Shanahan 2009

Impaired Endothelial Function Following a Meal Rich in Used Cooking Fat, M. Williams et al. Journal of American College of Cardiology. 1999 33:1050-1055

by Donald D. Shrump Jr.

“It is more important to know what sort of person has a disease than to know what sort of disease a person has,” Hippocrates

If you want to get healthy, stay healthy, lose weight, combat disease, prevent disease, combat early aging, get more energy, live longer, stop getting ‘colds’, stop becoming a statistic, put on muscle, burn off fat, strengthen your body, fix your posture, de-stress, unwind, relax, and much more than that, just feel great all the time, then all you need to do is stick to the 6 foundations of health.

Remember you body is your temple (1 Corinthians 6:19–20), so just like an architect following the rules of physics; you must follow some rules of anatomy and physiology. You can build your temple as strong as you want as strong as it is intended to be by mastering the foundational principles. The stronger the foundation the more resilient your temple will be.  Your foundation is getting your body into homeostasis and keeping it there.  The foundational rules will allow you to know what is pulling you out of homeostasis.

Think of your body as an awesome system of systems, which is easily disrupted by alterations in the foundations of health.  If you are mentally stressed than that thought creates consciousness in the form of a hormone and that hormone affects your body so strongly that it will change or disrupt all the systems of your body. Ultimately, you must educate yourself about your mind and body to understand the consequences of what you are doing to it day in and day out.  Once you are educated you can choose to do something about it, do nothing, or continue to do the wrong thing. When I say the wrong thing I don’t mean right or wrong I mean less than optimal for homeostasis.

Don, what do you mean by Homeostasis?

A majority of people believe that if you don’t have any symptoms of any disease, then you must be healthy. For instance, if you have a Doctor’s health check and you test negative on their small panel of tests, then you must be healthy. However, every day I see ‘healthy people’ coming to the gym feeling tired, not digesting properly, they think it’s normal to fart every 5th step on the treadmill, and they can’t sleep.  Many people think that it is normal to have a ‘beer belly’ or ‘muffin top’ because if they can work out enough then they can get healthier and lose weight.  Meanwhile, they work out, do cardio, walk, run, spin, zumba, and never realize that they can’t out run their lack of homeostasis.  The ‘this for that’ philosophy is the great American way.  People constantly stress out about not being successful, stress out about money, breathe improper, drink a pot of coffee a day, over eat carbs, and think if I run 5 miles on the treadmill I can undo it all because of the ‘this for that.’ They think, ‘I don’t need to change what I am doing to cause my weight gain or stress, but I will exercise it all away.’  Guess what everyone?  You can NEVER out run lack of homeostasis in your body with exercise (or vitamins).

Homeostasis is simply the state where every system in your body is working correctly making you feel amazing all the time. Homeostasis should be normal, but these days it is far more common to be out of homeostasis. Gas after eating meals is common, but NOT normal.  Not being able to sleep at night is common, but not normal.  Being overweight is common, but not normal. Hypothyroidism is common, but not normal. Diseases of all kinds are common, but not normal. Many people don’t realize that the signs or pre-cursors to disease are happening right now.  Simply skipping breakfast changes all the biochemistry of your body’s hormones and metabolism for the rest of the day.  Skip 5 or 6 breakfasts now you entrained your physiology for that pattern even if you make the change and eat the most important meal of the day.  It could take weeks to undo 5 days entrainment.

Your body will give you signs that this is a problem, but so many people can’t hear their body’s cry for homeostasis, so your body will compensate for 2-20 years before it will present itself as a significant symptom of dis-ease.

Homeostasis can be described as:

• Functioning at our best physically, mentally and emotionally. Body at EASE.

• Optimal physical functioning means being energetic, active, full of vitality, free of aches, pains, illness and disease.

• Functioning optimally mentally and emotionally implies that we are cheerful, optimistic, enthusiastic, eager, free of stress, kind and loving, and having peace of mind.

Are you ALL of those things most of the time?

No? Then perhaps you do not have Homeostasis. Would you like to have homeostasis?

Yes? So how do we achieve this?

Thomas Edison once said, “The doctor of the future will give no medicine, but will interest his patient in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease.”

I use the Foundation of Health principles taught to me by Paul Chek of the C.H.E.K Institute’s Holistic Lifestyle Coaching Program in San Diego, California. These 6 Principles are genius because they are so simple and create a balance of such a complex system of systems. Once you put these foundations in place, you will notice an improvement towards optimal health as described above. If any of the Principles are missed it is like having a dam with a hole in it. Therefore, it is important to incorporate all the foundations into your lifestyle.

So let’s get to it.

1.      Positive Thoughts

It is believed that we have between 60,000-72,000 thoughts per day. Everything we do in life begins as a thought. The thought then becomes a word and then an action. Some thoughts however, never become actions. Without a thought, nothing would ever get done.

Our thoughts are integral to everything we do. Many experts believe that many chronic diseases are caused through our chronic negative thoughts or beliefs.

Every cell in our body has an ‘intelligence’ and is listening all the time. The electromagnetic waves or vibrational energy of specific thoughts will resonate to specific organs of the body causing dysfunction, which is the basis of chakras and Chinese Medicine.  So be careful of what you say in your head because they can destroy your organs (i.e. anger-liver, anxiety-adrenals)!

It has been shown that people who believe they will be successful or lucky usually are. Those who believe they will not be successful or lucky are usually unlucky or unsuccessful. So be careful what you wish for in life, because you will probably get it, whether it is positive or negative.

We also know that those who regularly set positive goals are likely to be successful. Visualization of yourself and your lifestyle at your new goal is a must to create a mismatch for your subconscious mind.  Your subconscious mind will always bring you back to where you truly believe and visualize you are at. If you visualize that you are depressed your subconscious will constantly create depressing thoughts.  If you visualize you are a ‘C’ student and you get an ‘A’ your subconscious will push back your performance making you procrastinate, work slower, and mess up to get you back where you truly believe you should be.  If you are overweight, you believe that nothing will work for you because you are so different than the other millions of people that have lost weight.  If you need help in setting goals, a Life Coach can be very helpful.  I constantly help people as a life coach to set goals, dare enough to dream, and dream for big change in their life.

2.      Breathing Right

Breathing is essential to optimal health. We can only go 3 minutes without oxygen before brain cells begin to die. Also, with each breath our body scans itself to see if there is any disease requiring attention.

Breathing rate affects our pH balance. We should breathe between 12 and 16 breaths per minute. I see many people today breathing too rapidly (often due to a stressful lifestyle).

We should also use our diaphragm for breathing. Breathing is the primary function of the diaphragm. Many people however, use what is known as accessory respiratory muscles to breathe which causes those muscles to become over worked. We call these people chest breathers, because they breathe through the chest and not the abdomen. These people often complain of tension in the shoulder/neck area.

Diaphragmatic breathing also massages the intestines, which helps with the flow of food through the body (known as peristalsis).

To re-learn how to breathe correctly, Yoga, Tai Chi and Qi Gong classes can be very effective. Singing lessons or working with a C.H.E.K Practitioner on Zone Exercises can be equally effective too.

I wrote a lengthy article on this topic. For more info on Breathing Click Here

3.      Hydration

In today’s society the majority of people are dehydrated most of the time. Drinking ANYTHING but clean water is throwing your body out of homeostasis.  In nature we could only drink breast milk from our mother and water.  Juices found in fruits should come from eating fruits. In Your Body’s Many Cries for Water, Dr. F. Batmanghelidj found that Unintentional Chronic Dehydration (UCD) contributes to and even produces pain and many degenerative diseases (i.e. asthma, constipation, arthritis, Alzheimer’s, Dementia, etc)  that can be prevented and treated by increasing water intake on a regular basis.

Hydration we know is directly linked to performance. If you can exercise more, your chances of a great physique or optimal health are therefore increased. Your brain needs water to function correctly too, and it was found through medical studies that a 3% decrease in hydration causes a 20% decrease in the brain’s ability to function.  So when you need to concentrate, be creative, or LIVE drink high quality water.

There are only 3 types of water that I recommend. Reverse Osmosis filtered water or Evian or Vittel bottled water.  There are many other high quality waters out there, but these are safe bets.

Why do I recommend these? Unlike most carbon filter systems, reverse osmosis will actually remove from the water the contaminants that most water authorities in this country add, including chlorine and fluoride, especially when combined with a pre- and post-carbon filtration system. Just add a pinch of Celtic Sea Salt to put all the mineral electrolytes back into the water.

Tap water should be avoided because it contains chlorine and may contain fluoride are toxic substances that, with ongoing consumption, can have dire consequences for the body. Distilled water should also be avoided because it has the wrong ionization, pH, polarization and oxidation potentials, and can drain your body of necessary minerals. Distilled water has been connected with hair loss and tooth decay, which are associated with certain mineral deficiencies.

Drink water at room temperature if possible, as ice-cold water can harm the delicate lining of your stomach and reduce the time taken to re-hydrate as the body has to heat up the water before allowing it into the stomach. Don’t believe me try it in your next workout.  Drink ice cold water workout for 10 minutes, and then shake your belly. If you still hear it in your stomach, then it did not go into your blood or muscles to hydrate you.  Drink room temperature water, workout for 10 minutes, shake your belly.  If you don’t hear it in your stomach, then that is because it is in your muscles. Sports drinks and juices need to get diluted in your small intestine with water from your already dehydrated body to process the high concentration of sugar.

Evian and Vittel are recommended as they have a good mineral content and they do not hang around on stores shelves for too long. Bottled waters in plastic containers when left on the shelves for too long begin to leach estrogenic Bisphenol A (BPA) into the water causing disruption to your hormones.

The dry residue mineral content in Evian and Vittel are 309mg/L and 403mg/L respectively. Ideally, you should drink water with a minimum of 300mg/L. If your water contains less than 300mg/L, you can always add a pinch of non-processed organic sea salt.

To ensure you are consuming enough water, drink a minimum of ½ your body weight in pounds (lbs.) in ounces (oz.) per day.  So for me, 200 lbs = 100 oz. of water. Beware that fruit juices, sports drinks, fizzy drinks, alcoholic and caffeinated drinks will use more water to digest them than it is adding to the body. Therefore, these drinks will dehydrate you, not re-hydrate in the long run.

4.      Eating Right

As we are all bio-chemically individuals we all need to eat a diet that is right for us. So how do you know what to eat to optimize your own health?

By taking a Metabolic Typing test you can determine how your specific biochemistry processes food. You can get tests done to tell you what foods to avoid, how much of them to eat, what nutrients you are lacking, what hormones are off, but many people won’t pay to get the results because they are afraid of what they will see.

In simple terms, metabolic typing pertains to your genetics, ability to handle stress, and environment influencing what foods are right to optimize your health, weight, mood, creativity and performance. Metabolic Typing has also been used to help reverse some chronic diseases.

In very simple terms, those whose family originated in colder climates and had game meats in their geographic location, do best on more healthy fat/ more healthy protein and low carbohydrates. These are known as Protein Types.

Those whose families where from warmer climates and had no game meats to hunt do better on a high carbohydrate, low fat/ low protein diet. These are known as Carbo types.

For more information check out William Wolcott’s book “The Metabolic Typing Diet.”

It is also essential to eat whole organic foods as our ancestors would have done thousands of years ago. Avoidance of processed and commercially farmed foods is crucial to optimal health despite what you might hear in the media. SAD = Standard American Diet is plaguing our country with disease and obesity because of CRAP.

Carbohydrates, Refined Foods, Additives and Preservatives.

Organic fruits, vegetables, nuts, free-range eggs, free-range meats don’t have crap in them.

5.      Exercise

There is no doubt that exercise is crucial to optimal health. However, again there is so much contradictory information around exercise. Generally speaking we do not exercise enough. However, exercise has drug like effects on the body. Therefore, it is important to ensure you are doing the right type of exercise.

Exercise is a stress to the body. We have to be careful that we do not over-stress an already stressed body. One way to evaluate how much stress your body is under is to take your heart rate first thing in the morning for 5 days. From the 5 readings, calculate your average heart rate. If your heart rate goes 5 beats over the normal range on any one day you should rest on that day or just do Chi Cultivating exercises.

Chi Cultivation exercise gives the body energy instead of using energy. Examples of Chi Cultivating exercises are Yoga, Tai Chi, Qi Gong or even Meditation.

Practically everyone I see requires a corrective exercise program. This involves lengthening only the muscles in the body which are tight and strengthening the muscles that are weak. Corrective exercise optimizes posture which helps to reduce aches, pain and injuries, improve performance, improve energy and decrease the likelihood of future injury.

Many people believe they must do lots of aerobic exercise to be fit and healthy. This is not necessarily true. A workout with weights in a circuit format has been shown to be at least as beneficial and takes less time to achieve the same benefits. Aerobic exercise does also release stress hormones into the body which are tissue destroying, atrophying your fat burning muscle away and storing fats on your stomach if you are already stressed. If you enjoy aerobic exercise or sports just ensure you get adequate rest and nutrition.

Exercise can only be beneficial if you actually do it. Therefore, be sure you choose types of exercises that you know you will enjoy. Seeking the help of personal trainer to help you put an exercise program together is highly recommended.

6.      Sleep

Everywhere in the universe there are Circadian Rhythms. For example, planet Earth orbiting the sun, the moon orbiting Earth, tidal flows, the four seasons and sleep wakes cycles.

Sleep is something we have control over and is essential to optimal health, yet very few people today understand what good sleep is. For instance in 1910, we slept on average 4,370 hours of sleep per year or 9-10 hours per night (note: cancer rate in 1910 1 in 30). Today, the average is 2,555 hours of sleep per year or <7 hours per night (note: cancer rate in 2010 1 in 1.8). In evolutionary terms we have developed in sync with the seasonal light/dark cycles. Our natural rhythms are still the same as they were 10,000 years ago. We would rise with the sun at dawn and go to sleep soon after dusk because our hormonal system evolved to recover during this time and give our symbiotic bacteria time to be active in our gut.

Whether it is light or dark, the time of day effects our delicate hormonal balance. Therefore, it is essential we sleep during the dark hours and be active during the lighter hours. The tryptophan->serotonin->melatonin pathway is critically important to feeling happy and getting recuperative sleep because cryptochrome cells (electromagnetic receptors – light is part of the electromagnetic spectrum) in our skin and eyes sense light and electromagnetic waves.  Cryptochrome cells tell your body it is dark and to convert serotonin to melatonin, as well as a host of other reactions.  Keeping the lights on, watching television, working on the computer, and playing video games tells your body it is light out and in effect that it is summer time. This decreases your production of serotonin over time leading to depressed thoughts. Our immune system naturally fluctuates with the season and the amount of light present.

The advent of light and TV really messes with our hormonal system. For this reason, studies found increased diabetes, cancer, and a host of other diseases correlating directly to how much sleep you get. Studies found it takes 8 hours for your immune system to keep up with the working load like fighting off mutated cells.

How much light is in our bedroom? How many LED’s are there? Do you dare to have a TV in your room and expect to sleep well? It was found in a study of college students that a pen light shining on their big toe was enough light for the cryptochrome cells to trigger a response to the reticular activating system (RAS) to wake them up. Over activation of the RAS has been found to lead to increased cortisol production, HPA axis entrainment, ADD, chronic fatigue, and Alzheimer’s disease. So lights out in all the bedrooms in your house.

Also if you consistently go to bed too late it entrains the body to do so making it difficult to get to sleep at a reasonable time. I suggest to my clients that they slowly phase in earlier bed times.

So What Should You Do?

• Get to bed by 10-10.30pm and sleep for a minimum of 8 hours
• Minimize exposure to bright lights 2 hours before bed time
• Sleep in a totally dark room.
• Avoid the consumption of stimulants after lunch
• Eat right for your Metabolic Type especially at dinner
• Drink plenty of water.
• Exercise
• Unplug all electrical appliances in your bedroom including clocks

Summary

By putting into practice the 6 Foundational Principles of Health, you will no doubt improve your health and wellbeing:

• Thinking right, visualizing, and setting goals
• Breathing diaphragmatically, through your nose, tongue against the roof of mouth
• Ensuring you are well hydrated with good quality water
• Eating whole non-processed organic foods which are right for your metabolic type
• Exercising right for your body’s level of stress for that day
• Sleeping from 10pm-6am each evening

Once you put the Foundations of Health into practice you will notice:

• Energy increases
• Aches and pains reduce
• Performance improves
• More mental clarity
• Stress reduces and
• Life becomes easier.

Give it a try and if you need some help or want my reference, feel free to contact me info@njshorefit.com.

In health and happiness,

Donald Shrump

Have you heard about Beach Body Boot Camp?

Many people over the last 5 years have felt the difference between this boot camp and other workouts. This boot camp educates you on how to move your body correctly, how to eat right for you, and how to do cardiovascular exercise correctly, so you don’t just sweat but get results.

Members of the class have lost over 60lbs, Dropped over 10% body fat, completed triathlons and marathons, and have learned about proper nutrition. Everyone from 14 to 60+ years old all benefit for the exercise plans in the class.

Check out the sample workout with me, Donald Shrump (NJ Shore Fit Master Trainer and Developer of Beach Body Boot Camp) taking the class to get back in shape after shoulder surgery.

Click here to check out Beach Body Boot Camp’s website

Sean and I are waiting for you the take the first step in transforming your body and get ready for the beach in 2011!

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