Tag: digestive disorders

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Juice Fasting: Benefits, Myths & Dangers

If you are considering doing a juice fast because you have heard rave reviews from friends or been recommended this as a solution to get more energy, there are 5 key questions to ask yourself to make sure that doing a juice fast won’t make you feel worse!  It’s all about understanding what actually happens in your brain when you stop eating solid foods for a number of days and only drink green juices, and/or ‘fasters smoothies’ which consists often of a bentonite clay, fibre like psilium and water.  
 
Most people get told that they feel better after a cleanse because a number of hidden toxins that you can’t see or test for, have been excreted from the body.  While there is no evidence that this is true, what we do know is that fasting can lead to you increased mental alertness and actually enhance your mood but it’s because of what fasting does to your brain! http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11916-010-0104-z
 
 
 
At a recent review of all the fasting studies done so far in humans has found is that fasting does actually change your levels of many neurotransmitters in the brain, including your brain’s happy hormone, serotonin.  It has actually been used successfully to help treat patients with chronic pain syndromes, mood issues and fibromyalagia.  There is also some evidence that doing a juice fast followed by eating a vegetarian diet long term may help rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune inflammatory joint condition.  The mechanism is again thought to be related to anti-inflammatory effects that start in the brain! http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.1080/030097401750065256
 
We also have compounds that our brain produces naturally called endogenous opioids and endocannabinoids, meaning that they work the same way as drugs like morphine and cannibis.  And cannibis is a really common substance to self medicate with for issues like chronic pain, mood issues and fibromyalagia, and it’s because it affects the brain’s reward and pleasure centres.  So it’s pretty cool to know that your brain is actually capable of making these substances all on it’s own too given the right conditions!
 
Recent findings suggest that some of the beneficial effects of IF on the brain and the heart.  IF is a typo of fasting where you eat less frequently, and there are 5 different types of IF, one typo is eating one meal only per day, and one type is where you pick one or two days each week where you do not eat, only drinking water or other zero calorie drinks.  
 
A lot of this research has been done in rats though, and we need more human studies but the information so far is showing that in aminal models, both the cardiovascular system and the brain seem to get more resistant to stress and have less cellular damage after a period of IF and both these effects are mediated by brain-derived neurotrophic factor signaling in the brain, meaning changes is the brain which send different messages to yur cells and your heart.  These  in the brain and heart and blood vessel cells from IF are similar to the benefits from regular physical exercise.  http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S095528630400261X
 
So, that all sounds pretty awesome right!?   The only issue is that going on a  7 day or even 3 day juice fast when you are alreadychronically stressed and putting your body and adrenals under constant demands can backfire, because your body is not in a state to be able to take advantage of these fasting benefits.  So if you are not able to take time away from work and fast while you are doing notghing but R and R, you may end up feeling more fatigued and brain foggy from fasting, and often adding in a 10 minute meditation to decrease limbic system hyper arousal and cutting our refined carbs and caffeine is a better bet for those situations when you can’t take a break from work.  
 
If you are underweight……
 
The other key juice fasting mistake that I see people make and then feel awful is doing hard physical exercise or difficult hard yoga asana during a juice fast to ‘cleanse the toxins’  Not only is this not necessary but it puts your body under unnecessary stress as it is trying to conserve energy due to the reduced calories you are taking in.  This can lead to getting sick during a fast, feeling lighthreaded and even passing out and negate any benefits.
 
So, if you loved this video, please share the love and like and share it using the sharing links here (top left) or down here (point down). 
 
AND If you want to know how to use mind body medicine to deepen your yoga practice, beat stress and live a happier life, click here to get my free course.
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Dr Dani’s Top 4 Home Remedies for an Upset Stomach

In this video I’m going to tell you my top 4 Home Remedies for an Upset Stomach.

  1. My personal favourites are Slippery Elm and enteric coated peppermint oil, which you can find at most health stores, and can really help with an upset stomach, tummy pain and cramping. I like to get it as a liquid tincture and mix it in a bit of water.
  2. Next is to do a 5 minute belly meditation, focusing on relaxing your abdomen, relaxing your intestines, and imagining coating your insides with a soothing cooling liquid.
  3. My Next tip is to avoid taking anti-inflammatories, NSAIDS, Ibuprofen or Advil because this irritates the gut further and can cause constipation.
  4. Finally, stick to ‘gut soothing foods’ for the next few meals, such as warming pumpkin soup with ginger and avoiding raw foods and spicy foods for the next few days.

If you want a step by step system to help you heal your digestion for good, then click here  to TRY my Digestion Relief program for free.

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Stomach Problems and Stomach Disorders

In this video, I’ll tell you what can cause stomach problems and disorders when all the tests come back normal. Stomach acid problems and heartburn have become an epidemic in the west. Sometimes heartburn is related to a bug in the stomach called h pylori, that can be tested for and treated, but often times this is not the culprit, it’s an acid dysregulation issue instead.

Stomach Acid and Heartburn

If we have too much stomach acid or too little stomach acid, problems like heartburn or feeling a ‘lump’ in the upper stomach after eating can result. Did you know that acid balance in the stomach is actually related to the brain and control of the branch of your nervous system called the ANS, or autonomic nervous system?

Chew More!

Because we often eat quickly in our fast paced modern lives, when we eat quickly not enough salivary amylase is produced by not chewing enough, eating too much and too often. Eating before fully waking up in the morning can also result in not enough acid to break down our food, and result in insufficient digestive enzyme action.

Stress and Stomach Acid

On the other end of the scale, chronic stress can activate parts of the brain in the limbic system that send messages to the stomach to make more acid, and too much acid results in burning pain and heartburn and can even lead to ulcers in the stomach.

Practical Solutions

The solution to both too much and too little acid and enzymes is in rebalancing the ANS that controls this element of digestion. There a number of ways of doing this through gut-focused relaxation training, cognitive behavioural hypnotherapy and digestive yoga and breathing techniques such as Nadi Shodhana

So as you can see, if you suffer from too much or too little stomach acid, the key is working with your nervous system to restore balance to the gut and to your overall body and brain so you can reclaim health and happiness naturally!

If you want a step by step system to help you heal your digestion for good, then click here to try my Digestion Relief program for free!

 

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3 Common Causes of Stomach Pain

In this video I will tell you about the most common causes of stomach pain resulting from eating when your nervous system is in fight or flight mode, and what you can do to stop it.

  1. Eating before you are fully awake, or after sitting all day with no exercise causes your digestive system to become sluggish and not ready to handle a large amount of food.The solution is to start the day with 5-10 minutes of activity such as invigorating yoga before you eat, and at lunch take a 10 minute brisk walk before eating.
  2. Eating too quickly with not enough chewing. If you eat in the car or on the run and don’t chew each bite, your salivary amylase won’t kick in and your digestive process will not start ‘on time’ so your food ends up sitting undigested in your stomach without sufficient enzymes and acid to start breaking it down before it moves into your small intestine.The solution is to chew every bite of food 30 times before swallowing, appreciate the taste and texture of each bite, and before you even start eating, take 5 deep belly breaths with long exhales to put your body in a receptive mode to eat.
  3. Mixing more than 2 food groups, along with rich foods must be avoided if you have an already sensitized stomach. Avoid huge meals that mix more than 2 food groups and eat fruit on its own. Combining meat with grains and lots of fat can lead to massive indigestion, so it’s best to have more frequent smaller meals that combine only 2 food groups: eg. grains and veggies, meat and veggies, veggie omelet, or fruit salad on it’s own.

Click here  to Try my Digestion Relief program for free!

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Common Digestive Problems and How to End Them

 

In this video, I’ll tell you why digestive problems don’t just affect your belly but your overall health including your mental and emotional health and what to do to get back on track feeling happy and healthy. In every major traditional medicine system, such as taoism, Chinese medicine and Ayurveda, digestion is the most important body process to regulate and keep healthy to avoid major health problems of the physical body as well as the brain and emotional problems.

 

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Gut Inflammation Symptoms

The reason for this is that when your gut lining is damaged and inflamed from stress, foods and environmental influences, the immune system of the gut becomes dysfunctional, and adverse reactions to many substances can develop, as well as pain, bloating and fatigue.

Mood and Energy Levels

The other major thing that is affected by an injured gut is the production of substances that affect mood and energy levels, such as serotonin, which is your happy peptide in the brain, but actually 95% of it is made in your gut!

So as you can see, if your gut lining is damaged and inflamed, it can be the cause for many symptoms including low mood, fatigue and belly symptoms and repairing your gut lining is the most important step towards reclaiming your health and happiness

Make Small Changes

So the first step to start healing your digestion is making small changes to your daily diet. There are often some top dietary culprits that keep inflammation going in the gut and in the entire body. So you should cut out caffeine, bread, sugar and milk for a period of time.

The second change to your routine has to do with changing your habits about HOW you eat, when you eat and working on the state of your brain and nervous system at meal time.

Now, If you want a step by step system to help you heal your digestion for good, then click the link below this video NOW to head over to askdrdani.com where you can TRY my Digestion Relief program for free .

You can overcome the health issues that are holding you back from the freedom of feeling amazing every day.