Dr. Richard Hagmeyer Helps Curb Your Sweet Tooth

People know that sweets are bad for them, but in spite of this “knowing” of the dangers of eating too many sweets, there is still an undeniable craving that just doesn’t go away. Or can it? If sweets are really bad for you than why are you craving them all of the time? The answer is actually simpler than one would think: we weren’t designed to eat ample sweets. Sweet cravings indicate a blood sugar imbalance. By addressing this imbalance you can significantly curb your sugar cravings.

Consider reactive hypoglycemia

We like sweets—sugar, honey, agave, maple syrup, and fruit—because they give us a burst of energy and even make us feel euphoric. But feeling like you can’t live without them can signal a blood sugar disorder, and a risk for diabetes later in life.

One common reason for sweet cravings is reactive hypoglycemia, which occurs when blood sugar drops too low. Symptoms include feeling spacey, lightheaded, weak, irritable, shaky, or nauseous. Reactive hypoglycemia prompts a sugar craving in an attempt to quickly raise blood sugar again.

The problem is sweets raise blood sugar too high—our bodies weren’t designed to run on caramel lattes, candy bars, fruit smoothies, or pastries. These foods cause blood sugar—and energy levels—to skyrocket and then nosedive. After the crash the sugar cravings kick in again.

Blood sugar roller coaster leads to other health problems

Many people ride this roller coaster of low and high energy swings throughout the day. Reactive hypoglycemia not only leads to sugar cravings but also a list of other metabolic disorders, including PMS, poor immune function, digestive problems, problems falling asleep or staying asleep, migraines, depression, and a raised risk for diabetes.

Changing your diet to get a grip on cravings

The best way to manage reactive hypoglycemia is to focus your diet on protein, healthy fats, and non-starchy vegetables. Eat breakfast and do not go so long without eating that you crash. Minimize your intake of starchy foods such as grains and potatoes to avoid spiking blood sugar. And of course avoid all sweets, even natural ones, or too much fruit.

The adjustment period can be difficult at first but once you stabilize your blood sugar those sugar cravings should calm down. Also, certain botanicals and nutritional compounds have been shown to help balance blood sugar and curb the cravings.

Reactive hypoglycemia is but one issue that can drive sugar cravings.

Sleepy Driving Is As Impairing As Drunk Driving

“One complete night of sleep deprivation is as impairing in simulated driving tests as a legally intoxicating blood-alcohol level.” Are you having trouble sleeping? So are 60 million other Americans.  Any amount of sleep deprivation will diminish mental performance, cautions Mark Mahowald, a professor of neurology at the University of Minnesota Medical School.

That’s scary to think about considering if there are 60 million Americans who are having trouble sleeping and a third of them are driving on our byways and highways at any given time. Research has also shown that chronic sleep deprivation will result in serious health issues. At the American Diabetes Association’s annual meeting in June 2001, Eve Van Cauter, Ph.D., reported that people who regularly do not get enough sleep can become less sensitive to insulin. “This increases their risk for diabetes and high blood pressure – both serious threats to the brain”.For an example, sleep Deprivation can:

• Weaken your immune system
• Cause symptoms of attention deficient disorder (ADD) especially in children
• Impair memory
• Cause hallucinations
• Drastically Impair physical and mental performance
• Increase tumor growth (studies have shown that tumors grow two to three times faster in laboratory animals with sleep deprivation
• Mental disorders and depression
• Augment heart disease
• Aggravate stomach ulcers
• Age a person prematurely
• Increased risk for diabetes and high blood pressure
• Three times greater chance of dying from any cause

The good news is there are many natural products and safe ways to ensure a good night’s sleep once again! Throw away the sleeping pills and do this instead to help you sleep.

Get Your Daily Magnesium

Studies have shown that being deficient in magnesium can cause sleep disturbances throughout the night as well as insomnia. The best way to get your daily dose of magnesium is through whole foods. Eating foods high in magnesium will relax your nerves and muscles, build and strengthen bones, keep your blood circulating, and help you get good nights sleep.

Foods with the highest amounts of magnesium are: raw pumpkin seeds, steamed spinach and swiss chard, raw sunflower seeds, Chinook salmon, raw sesame seeds, baked or broiled halibut, blackstrap molasses, dried figs, artichokes, buckwheat, oat bran, almonds, cooked black beans and navy beans.

Lack of Exercise and Sleepless Nights

Have you ever had restless leg syndrome while you’re trying to go to sleep? You might toss and turn for hours but your fidgety legs are keeping you awake. People who work behind a desk for most of the day are more prone to have a restless night. The body has to get energy out and if that’s not happening through exercise you will lose sleep over it. Studies have shown that people who exercise consistently have less sleepless nights.

For some people exercising at least four times a week will help them combat insomnia. You want a tired body when going to bed at night, not one that is roaring like a lion at 2am.  Researchers at the Stanford University of Medicine studied the effects of exercise on adults aged fifty-five to seventy-five who were sedentary and troubled by insomnia. They were asked to exercise for twenty to thirty minutes every other day in the afternoon by walking, engaging in low-impact aerobics, and riding a stationary bicycle. The conclusion showed positive results. The time required to fall asleep was reduced by half, and sleep time increased by almost one hour.

Do you have a favorite exercise but can’t seem to find the time? If so, it’s time to find the time and start being more active, it will really help with restlessness at bedtime. The hardest part about starting a new exercise regime is the ambition to get started. Once you get into a schedule you’ll feel so good that you will never want to skip a routine again. Exercise, coupled with increasing magnesium in your diet is sure to bring on positive sleep patterns for you. Don’t forget about brisk walking. Get yourself a buddy and begin a brisk walking routine. Walking every day is surely going to help with those restless legs at night.

Self Expression Releases Emotions and Stress

Does this sound familiar? Many times you go to bed with too much on your mind. You have this and that to take care of and nothing is getting done. Your mind is running in overtime. You feel overwhelmed and stressed out and its bed time. No wonder you can’t fall asleep! All the worrying and emotional stress is bogging you down.  Here’s the best remedy for dealing with an overwhelmed brain. Write!

Every night before bed get your journal out by writing everything off your mind. This really works! Make lists of what needs done and then prioritize. Then if you are emotionally stressed get that out too through self expression. Write, write and write some more! If you’re angry with someone or if you feel resentment over something that happened to you write about it—get it off your chest.

Don’t worry no one has to see your journal, its private between you and God. Self expression releases pent up negative emotions as well as anger. Writing out our thoughts helps us to release our emotions and get them out of our brain so we can actually fall asleep. Plus, it helps us to be more productive the next day because it releases those negativities from our mind that were bogging us down.  Don’t worry, be grateful and you will get a good night’s sleep!

Eat Fish and Sleep Better?

Omega 3 fats are the good fats and are essential to a healthy body. Fish oil is the best way to get your omega 3 fatty acids. Doctors worldwide recommend we eat fish oil daily to ensure a healthy body and to get a good night’s rest. Not all fish have abundance of omega 3’s however, so choosing a fatty fish is the first step. Fish with the most omega 3 fatty acids are salmon, tuna, herring, trout, sardines, and halibut. Atlantic, Coho, and Sockeye salmon are more abundant in omega 3’s. Eating fish twice a week will ensure you are getting the proper amount of omega fats in your diet.

Bad Diet Can Cause Restlessness and insomnia

What is a bad diet? A bad diet is one that is deficient in raw foods and whole foods but high in refined foods. The worse culprits are refined sugar and flour products. These two foods are the body’s worse enemies. Between the two they can literally wreck havoc within your physical, emotional and mental state causing all kinds of health ailments, not to mention nightmares and restless sleep.

Eating a diet high in refined sugars and carbohydrates will trigger restlessness throughout the night called the “fight or flight” reaction, which causes wakefulness. Keeping blood sugar levels regulated is important in sleeping well at night. Going to bed after eating a diet high in refined carbohydrates and sugars will negatively influence how you feel the next day. You may toss and turn throughout the night, not really going into a deep sleep, and this is why you may feel tired and groggy the next day.  

Foods that help you sleep at night and can be eaten a few hours before bedtime are oatmeal, whole grains (if you are not gluten intolerant), cottage cheese, turkey, chicken, eggs, and nuts, especially almonds.  These foods encourage sleep because they are high in the amino acid tryptophan. Tryptophan is converted to serotonin and melatonin, which are natural sleep-inducing compounds.

Lower Cortisol Levels for a Good Night’s Sleep

The hormone cortisol can deprive you of sleep. Cortisol is secreted during times of stress, danger, and fear. The good news is this hormone can be completely managed by you. Exercise and omega 3 fatty acids both reduce the levels of cortisol in your brain and help you to be tired at bedtime. Remember do not do any strenuous exercise right before going to bed. Walking on the treadmill or stationary bike is about as taxing as you want to get before bedtime.

The bottom line is if you are stressed out or emotionally distraught before going to bed, it will raise the levels of cortisol in your body and you won’t be able to go to sleep or you will wake up in the middle of the night not able to go back to sleep. De-stress yourself through exercise, diet, and self expression and it will help you to sleep soundly through the night.

Dr. Hagmeyer Debunks The Salt Myth

 

Salt is one of the most basic and ubiquitous food seasonings.  Historically, salt has been an extraordinarily valuable food preservative for most cultures in the world.   Natural salt contains a vast array of essential minerals and continues to be incredibly valuable for our health.  Today, modern refineries have chemically altered most salt making it hazardous for human consumption. 

Typical table salt is composed of 97.5% sodium chloride and 2.5% chemicals such as anti-flow and anti-caking agents. Table salt is bleached and processed with excessive heat that alters the natural chemical structure and destroys essential trace minerals.  Hazardous molecules such as iodine and fluoride are added along with toxic substances like aluminum hydroxide (used as an anti-moisture additive).

This processing takes the “life” out of the salt making the unnatural sodium chloride and chemical fillers more challenging to metabolize.  The body must sacrifice tremendous amounts of energy and up to 23 times the cell water to neutralize the damaging effects of the salt.  The inability of the body to effectively neutralize these toxic substances results in:

Unsightly cellulite

Rheumatoidism, arthritis, & gout

Kidney & Gall Bladder stones 

High Blood Pressure

Many people have turned to sea salts for their regular salt usage.  Unfortunately, many of our lakes and oceans are loaded with toxic poisons like mercury, PCBs and dioxin.  Oil spills can toxify a lake or ocean’s salt stores for decades after the incident.   Over 85% of all sea salt producers are using a refining process for their salt production.  Based on this understanding it is wise to assume that sea salt can no longer be trusted as a pure source of essential salts. 

Pink salts are one of the very few varieties of salts that have remained pure and stable in nature.  Natural pink salts are known for their essential trace minerals and their ability to regulate cellular fluid balance.  These salts take on their color due to the presence of iron oxide and their abundance of essential trace minerals.  These minerals are in a very small colloidal form and inter-connected in structure allowing for easy absorption and a nutrient synergy that exponentially enhances their effect in the body.

Pink salt is often labeled based on its geography.  The most reputable type of pink salt is Himalayan Salt although it is also found in Hawaii, Australia, Peru, Utah, and Poland. 

Contrary to popular belief these salts do not elevate blood pressure.  Their ability to regulate fluid balance allows them to naturally stabilize blood pressure at a healthy and supportive level for the body.  Some of the other benefits of pink salts include:

• Promoting blood sugar health    
• Energy Production (hydro-elec)
• Absorption of food particles       
•  Supports vascular & respiratory health.
• Promoting sinus health.                
• Prevention of muscle cramps.
• Promoting bone strength.            
• Enhances immune function
• Stabilizes heart rate & blood pressure     
• Extracts excess acidity

 

Pink salts provide a great remedy for asthma and allergy symptoms as well.  The salts have a unique ability to unplug the thick mucus secretions in the lungs & stop overflow of nasal secretions when water is plentiful.  As a natural anti-histamine, one can drink 2-3 cups of purified water with a pinch of healthy salts. 

These salts are powerful hygiene and detox agents that can be applied to soaps, body rubs and baths.  The salts help thwart off bacteria, viruses, fungus and other opportunistic organisms.  They also drive toxins out of the cells and tissues. 

Remember to listen to your body when it comes to the use of these powerhouse salts.  Certain body types depend on more salts than others.  If you crave salts, you are typically in need of trace minerals.  Follow your instincts and use a bit more pink salt on your foods.  If you have no craving for salts then only use small amounts of pink salts.