Root Canals Are Silently Ruining Your Health—Get Them Out!

Editor's Note: I want to clarify that each person should consider his or her unique situation and health to decide if removing or keeping root canals—or avoiding them all together—is the right decision for YOU. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and you may believe root canals are perfectly safe with data to back up your opinion—I respect that. The blog below presents a case for avoiding and/or removing root canals. I'll admit when I wrote this post I was angry and even the title of this post is very definitive without leaving room for multiple points of views. I was angry because no one ever informed me of the risks associated with root canals, and my doctors believe my root canals played a role in my autoimmune disease. (Of course I could have taken better care of my teeth back in high school to avoid them in the first place but hindsight is 20/20.) Below is my case and the research I did that led me to the decisions and action I took. I have explored multiple POV's on the root canal debate as well. Research, learn from my situation or ignore it, and at the end of the day make an informed decision and do what you think is best for you. 

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 I Last Monday, March 21, I had two root canal extractions and cavitations cleaned up. This was a long time coming, and I only wish I had done it sooner. I'm on the verge of anger that these root canals were not only allowed in the first place, but have lasted this long now understanding how harmful they are:

"Research has demonstrated that 100 percent of all root canals result in residual infection due to the imperfect seal that allows bacteria to penetrate. The toxins given off by these bacteria are more toxic than mercury. These toxins can cause systemic diseases of the heart, kidney, uterus, and nervous and endocrine systems." ~Dr. Edward Arana, D.D.S. 

I had one root canal when I was 18, and the other I got in my mid-20s I believe. Additionally, I've had wisdom teeth removed and this procedure wasn't done properly so there were unhealed holes in the jawbone, known as cavitations, and these can become (and did become) rampant with infection.

"Dentists are taught in dental school that once they pull a tooth, the patient's body heals the resulting hole in the jawbone. However, approximately 95 percent of all tooth extractions result in a pathologic defect called a cavitation... Cavitations occur when bone is deprived of its blood supply and dies. When the bone dies a hole in the bone develops, literally a cavity and into this hole migrate anaerobic bacteria"~Photos and more here.

This is a descriptive definition and explanation of cavitations; the concept of cavitations was confusing to me at first but now I get it.

In fact, all of this was confusing—you mean conventional dentists remove wisdom teeth and don't clean up properly, AND they allow dead organs in the form of a root canal to remain in the mouth knowing full well that over time these could harm our health and cause disease!? WTF! This seems ludicrous and unethical.

Put it this way—if you get an organ transplant you generally wouldn't leave the old, dead organ that failed in the body, would you? (Although, I guess a failed kidney is usually left behind after a transplant due to complications of removing it.) Teeth seem to be an exception—we kill them off, and leave the debris. Teeth are organs with "pulp" in their center made of living connective tissue and cells, with blood supply, nerves, and all. During a root canal all this living pulp is removed and what's left is a dead organ in the form of bone. Then a crown is put on the tooth, but the seal between tooth and gum is imperfect so junk seeps in over time, meanwhile the dead tooth becomes chronically infected no matter what. You can see how over time this can be a problem!

~~~

In addition to the localized infection in the mouth, our teeth also have strong connections with other parts of the body. Each tooth is associated with which one of more organs, body parts, joints, endocrine glands, sinuses and more. Look at the Meridian Tooth Chart, and you can see the relationships:

If you can't figure out which number is which tooth in your mouth, this is a cool interactive chart with even more depth on the tooth-organ relationships.

~~~

Little did I know my root canals and cavitations have been putting me in a deficit of health for 10+ years—and no matter how hard I work to live healthfully, eat clean, mitigate stress, avoid overtraining, avoid environmental toxins, perform better, recover faster, or whatever it is, these infections have not only been holding me back from full health, they've also cause my health to deteriorate. The lurking infections don't hurt and you can't feel them—they're a silent attacker—but years and years of this compromises the immune system and affects certain organs, functions and systems a la the Meridian Tooth Chart.

My root canals were teeth numbers 2 and 31—associated with pancreas, stomach, breast, bladder (2); and lung, large intestine, illeocecal (31). If you count the wisdom teeth cavitations, numbers 1 and 32, these are associated with small intestine, duodenum and heart.

You can buy into the Meridian Chart or not, but here's the thing: Gut issues have plagued me for years and no matter how disciplined I am with diet, supplementing and healing protocols, things just won't totally heal. I make incredible progress followed by an incredible setback, and/or we make discovery of "new" bugs or old ones that never fully healed (bacteria and fungal infections). Multiple practitioners have told me, "You're just a really tough, stubborn case." Then I look at the organs associated with my infected teeth, and I'm no expert on this matter, but and there's an undeniable connection.

Back in 2013, Dr. David Minkoff was the first to tell me that old dental work and the state of my mouth could be at the root of my problems. He even helped me find a holistic biological dentist in my area. I did an initial appointment and $300+ later was told it was probably a good idea to get the teeth removed, but that it was going to cost more than $3,000—money I couldn't really cough up at that point. I also wasn't fully convinced then that the dental issues could be so incredibly destructive, so I let it go.

Fast forward to now. Recently, I had some health stuff going on that was odd and made zero sense based on how I am living my life these days, so I reopened the case on the old dental work, going back to the same dentist. This time I worked directly with Dr. Marvin at the Center For Natural Dentistry (before it was one of his assistant dentists), and he highly advised that I clean up this "mess," and that yes indeed it could be at the root of most if not all my issues, and/or only get worse with time.

Time to dig into the savings. I didn't want to go another day with this crap in my mouth.

I scheduled the procedure a couple weeks after my initial appointment, trying to fit it in best I could knowing we have a lot scheduled, i.e. we had plans to get SCUBA certified—so it had to be after that—and coming up is Ragnar SoCal and Boston Marathon, followed by some travel and our wedding—so I decided it would be best not to wait and do it before the races and travel. Granted, doing this procedure prior to Ragnar/Boston puts a huge damper on my training, but I don't give a shit. My health is a million gagillion times more important. There will be more years ahead to train and race, but knowing this issue was going on was something I couldn't live with ignoring any longer.

~~~

The procedure wasn't enjoyable, but Dr. Marvin is brilliant. He spent a long time with me describing the process and the meticulous attention to careful cleaning of the infected areas and making sure nothing infected was left behind. This entails a combo of tooth removal, drilling/scraping (or whatever they do, it sounds horrible), sanitizing with Ozone, and the coolest thing: injecting my own platelet-rich fibrin into the holes for accelerated healing and tissue regeneration. This meant I had a blood draw prior to the procedure, in which they took seven vials, spun those, handed the batch of tubes over to me, and I transported them to Dr. Marvin's office to be used during the procedure.

During the procedure, Dr. Marvin was practically cursing as he extracted the infected teeth, bone and tissue, discovering how bad it really way—he's pretty passionate about what he does. Then he said, "Your body is going to love not having these in your mouth!" I have pictures of the teeth and infected tissue/bone that was removed, and you don't need to be a rocket scientist to see the deterioration and infection. It's pretty gross though so I won't post it on this blog (if you want to see LMK in comments, and I'll email you).

~~~

The procedure was on a Monday, so for a couple days I was on the mush/liquid diet, and even had to cancel a podcast and client calls because I honestly couldn't talk well at all, the gauze didn't help... The first 12 hours or so, or until the bleeding stops, you have to keep a wad of gauze over the holes to help a clot form. Besides being uncomfortable, I wasn't in a lot of pain from this and I've always been impressed at how fast I heal. I only woke up in pain the first night, after that slept like a baby and never had an issue. I also do NOT take pain killers, but I did use arnica and ice.

Eating was fun at first ;) The first night for dinner (the day of the procedure) I cooked up a bunch of broccoli, mushrooms and veggies in bone broth, then put that in the vitamix for a broccoli-mushroom soup, adding collagen powder. It was delicious, and something I'd cook anyway. I also made some mean breakfast bowls of kabocha squash-avocado-coconut milk-collagen-cinnamon-nutmeg-vanilla, which came out tasting like pumpkin pie filling. Plus green juices, more bone broth, soups, etc.... I was just fine with the diet. That said, within a day I was able to upgrade to more soft-solid foods like chicken, fish, roasted carrots, avocado mash and sweet potatoes. By mid-week I was feeling like I could eat nearly anything.

Meanwhile, NO running for a week or two. Shoot. Over the weekend I did make it out walking and tested a slow jog--no go, I could tell it was not a wise idea and made the healing areas feel too throbby. I've had to accept that this is just my situation right now and not get too down that I haven't had better training. And in all actuality, I'm totally ok with it. Health first!

Did I feel better right away? Hard to tell. Dr. Marvin said healing time varies. Some people feel better instantly, some people it takes several weeks. I can't say I feel like a new person, but my gut has been incredibly strong and normal feeling since, and I've had a few other positive signs. I had a couple instants of testing some foods that normally upset my system and they were fine.

Maybe this was the final piece of the puzzle that was missing?

 ~~~

Your turn.

If you have one or more root canals, metal/amalgam fillings, or have had wisdom teeth removed by a "conventional" dentist, I'd highly suggest finding a holistic biological dentist who can do an exam to see if you're at risk, or a functional practitioner to take a look at your health from a holistic standpoint, i.e. test for immune function, infections, mercury toxicity, etc. If you have root canals I'd say without a doubt find a way to get them out asap! But only by a qualified holistic biological dentist who will do this procedure safely (some conventional dentists may remove the old tooth but not sanitize and clean up the infected area, then they seal it back up and the infection remains. Ugh.)

If you're in SoCal, check out Dr. Marvin at the Center For Natural Dentistry in Encinitas. I can get referrals for the LA area too if anyone inquires.

Bottom line is if you want to get closer to optimal living you have to look at all aspects, especially the condition of your mouth and past dental work you've had done.

~~~

More resources:

Why You Should Avoid Root Canals Like the Plague 

Root Canals and Jawbone Cavitations

Dr. Westin Price: Holistic Healthcare & Dental Cavitation Surgery 

Dr. Westin Price: Root Canal Dangers




If you want more info on the evils of root canals read this:

In-Depth Hormone Testing and The Value of Monitoring BBT Every Day

Health updates and why I want you to start monitoring your BBT!

Honing in on Hormones! 
It's one thing to get back to a normal period, it's another to get a deeper look inside to see assess hormone levels and the progression of a menstrual cycle. In January I decided it was time to some deeper hormonal investigation to see where I’m at, especially with pregnancy goals in the horizon (but don't hold your breath on that). I’ve had my period again for a while now—it came back January 2014 and was spotty for a while until August 2014 when it returned for good on a monthly basis, minus that few-month hiccup last fall from which I quickly recovered and learned my lesson that I’m still very sensitive to my type of “extreme” living and stress. 

So anyways, the month-long hormonal panel is called the BioHealth 208, that gives 17 readings of progesterone and estradiol levels throughout an entire menstrual cycle (basically a month-long test), as well as two measures of testosterone levels. I highly recommend getting this test from your practitioner if you’re on a similar path as me in regaining and/or balancing out hormones. If you haven't regained a period yet, however, wait off on this test and there are others that are more helpful (inquire in comments).

It starts on Day 2 of a new cycle every other day first thing in the morning before food or drink you spit saliva into a tube. This process continues until the start of the next period. I’m so used to the saliva tests by now, having done my first back in 2013. They’re awkward, but saliva is a much better way to monitor hormones than blood, and obviously the saliva is very DIY efficient. Some new tests like the DUTCH Test to measure hormones might even be a better way to gauge production and metabolism of hormones—and more bang for your buck—but that’s another topic for another day. 

Basal Body Temperature (BBT) 
As part of the test’s requirements and also for my own data collection, in conjunction to the saliva collections I measured basal body temperature (BBT) daily. BBT is your core temperature at complete rest, and it can tell you a lot about your fertility, hormones, health status, or any underlying issues like thyroid problems. Like HRV, our BBT is a direct window into our body, and it is a super easy and low-cost mechanism to assess your current state, health and overall well-being—and also figure when to make changes if needed. Also like HRV, measuring BBT in itself will do nothing to affect health, it's on you to go the next step to support what you need if indeed additional support is needed. It’s important to take BBT immediately upon rising before going pee, before hanging out in bed having a chat, before anything, for accuracy. Eyes open = thermometer in. 

You can use apps to record BBT instead of old-fashioned pen and paper. I use Kindara and love it.

It’s surprising to me how many women aren’t really familiar with BBT, what the numbers mean, why it’s important to measure it, or even ovulation and the menstrual cycle for that matter. So I’ll explain a bit and why I think it’s so valuable to understand these things if you want to own your health—as you should. And even if you think nothing is wrong right now, it's also good to measure BBT anyway so in case you have an issue in the future you have data from when things were "normal" with you.

BBT: Normal vs. Abnormal Readings 
 Waking temperature should be pretty static, ideally not below 97 degrees nor too high, i.e. not over over 98.9 degrees. A temp of roughly 97.2 to 98.5 degrees upon waking—depending where you’re at in a cycle, which we’ll get to—is considered normal. I don't like to see girls below 97.2. A low BBT in the 96s, 95s is not normal and associated with some problematic issues like hypothyroidism, a state of chronic caloric deficit, eating disorders, increased risk of fungal infection, etc. If your BBT is chronically low, i.e. below 97 degrees for 5-10 days or more then it’s definitely worth looking into to find out why. 

BBT and the Menstrual Cycle 
Basal body temp and the menstrual cycle are directly related so you can learn a lot about your female situation simply by taking your temperature upon waking. In the follicular phase, the first half of the cycle, BBT ranges from 97.0 to 97.7 degrees. Upon ovulation and into the luteal phase, the second half of the cycle, BBT increases to roughly 97.8 to 98.3 degrees or more. At the end of a cycle your BBT on a chart should look something like this: 

This is my BBT chart from the Kindara app. You see the overall trend in BBT readings, which pretty much line up with what you want to see in normal functioning. You may take note that my cycle is a tad long still, we're hoping it will normalize over time as cycles of 32 days or less are ideal for conception.

Notice lower temps in the first half, a very clear spike in temp (ovulation) and higher temps in the second half before the start of another period in which temperature drops back down and the cycle continues. 

For a woman, there’s really no excuse to not get in the habit of monitoring BBT as much as possible, ideally every day. I know it’s hard to form new habits, but set yourself up for success by having your thermometer and phone app to record BBT right next to your bed, and just get into the routine—as mentioned, you must measure BBT before you sit up or get up and especially measure before your first morning pee, even laying in bed and chatting or rolling around will increase temperature and it’s crucial to get that core resting temp for accurate information. It took me a few days to remember to measure BBT, but once I got in the habit it was an automatic response as soon as my eyes opened. Even since the month-long hormone test, I’m still measuring BBT daily. 

BioHealth Test Results
So my BioHealth 208 panel showed amazingly rad results that seriously had me fist-pumping and feeling very proud like hard work is paying off. I have normal and near-perfect levels of progesterone and estradiol—and the progression of each throughout my cycle look spot-on for a healthy female who has a healthy normal menstrual cycle. In fact my functional doc said my hormone levels and the curves they form when charted out (i.e. the spikes and drops over the course of a month) look better than 90 percent of patients she sees! No longer is low/no progesterone a problem of mine, oh ya!

In terms of the progression of my cycle, my chart showed a clear spike in estrogen, a very clear and strong ovulation midway, and a clear spike in progesterone—each hormone forming a "beautiful curve" as my doc put it. See the graphic below for a visual of this. Of course, ovulation is also key to getting pregnant. 

The menstrual cycle. Note how the BBT readings line up.

Comparing Present and Past
These results are a far stretch from where I was at in 2013. A saliva test I did in June 2013 showed no signs of a menstrual cycle (no surprise) and pretty much no signs of sex hormones either. My progesterone levels were literally measured at 1 (the range on this test was 80-270 pg/ml)—and that might as well have been none. Estradiol, DHEA, testosterone were also scarily low for female norms, as was my PG/E2 ratio (i.e. progesterone to estradiol ratio), which was reflective of what you’d see in perimenopause and postmenopausal women—at age 28. 

Everything was bottomed out, except for cortisol—not surprising at all actually. My cortisol wasn’t off the charts, but it was on the high end in the morning and afternoon, and I’m sure I was in some phase of adrenal fatigue. As this relates to sex hormones, it’s very likely that I was deep into the pregnenalone steal—more cortisol production was taking priority over production of all other hormones to support my high-stress go-go-go lifestyle, and my body saw no need to push for sex hormone production given the environment I created… and as the story goes this can only go on for so long before you tank, which I did later that fall in ’13. 

Since then, as I’ve shared openly, I’ve worked incredibly hard to adopt a lifestyle that supports a healthy period and healthy hormones—and doing so while not having to totally give up my love for endurance sports and an active lifestyle. It hasn’t been easy, and there have been slip-ups, but I think I’m getting used to what I need for steady rockin' hormones. Supplements have certainly been involved along the way, but really it's more about lifestyle and your mental state that fosters the best results.

Finding A Normal BBT Over Time, and Tie-In With Thyroid
Going back to the BBT, interestingly, in 2013 I tracked BBT for a while in July and August of that year (after the hormone test showing I was bottomed out), and my numbers were consistently 96.5 to 97.1 degrees, never over that. A red flag for sure, and this lined up with the other health issues I was exhibiting and lifestyle choices I was making—training for 70.3 worlds and a tough-ass Ironman.

BBT got back to being more normal in 2014 and 2015, but I’ll be honest I rarely measured it—just hadn’t adopted the habit. 

Then, when I was going through a bit of a hiccup lat fall I started measuring my BBT again and saw it dropping into the 96’s several times. Uh oh. At that point, we also saw that my thyroid was acting up—or should I say down—I was definitely exhibiting some hypothyroid issues. (I now have a clue as to why thyroid function decreased; more on that to come.)

I got back on track quickly in December '15 by taking a few simple steps to re-balance out my life, rest, etc, and put a halt to being in that chronic high-stress state. My BBT, hormones and period followed suite. As of this year my BBT is solidly in the 97’s to 98’s every day and never once below 97 degrees. Most days in the first phase of my cycle it’s high 97’s, and into the second phase it stays in the 98 range. 

Interestingly, in January/February my thyroid was still wonky, including symptoms of fatigue and quick weight gain, which I didn't freak out about but I was still a bit shocked since I hadn't changed anything in my diet or exercising habits. We tested with a full thyroid panel and got answers, at which point I started thyroid support including lifestyle and nutrition “hacks” and taking an all-natural non-synthetic supplement for thyroid—just one!—called GTA Forte II. By late February a third blood test showed my thyroid numbers—TSH, T3, T4—were all back to normal. And my weight also returned to normal, in the 133-135lb range.

Pretty cool what you can do to by taking charge of your health and understanding what’s really going, then implementing the right lifestyle and nutrition/supplemental support for healthy living. 

Take Action
Go buy a thermometer now if you don't have one. And get Kindara too. And if you really are curious to know more or figure out that reason why you're not functioning optimally right now (i.e. can't lose weight, tired, amenorrhea, etc) it might be time for not only new blood labs but some more detailed hormone testing too. Don't put it off, invest in YOU!

Part 2: Risks of Keto and Very Low Carb

Read Part 1 first in clearing up the difference between keto and moderate low carb diets, and my experience with each.

Next. If you are an Endurance planet podcast fan, you know we've discussed the benefits of very low carb (VLC) and ketogenic diets. There is not doubt that these diets can do a lot of good for certain folks and improve health--the research supports this--and it can even aid in athletic performance for those dedicated to the stringent protocol, but these diet extremes are not for everyone.

Thus on EP, it's our duty to share the pros and cons of certain diets to allow you, the listener, to make an informed decision hopefully along side your doctor/coach/health practitioner. The last thing I want is for "the wrong person" to start a keto or VLC diet because they heard it was sooo great, but not have all the facts and tools, and end up worsening their situation or health. Who is the "wrong person?" Generally: someone who's not in the right state of health, not metabolically fit, and/or a lot of women; you have to listen to the podcast with Tamsin for the full lowdown.

I did this podcast with Dr. Tamsin Lewis is to give the female POV without male bias. There are a lot of great guys out there who are able to look at the science and not just talk from a male-biased perspective (Peter Defty and Dr. Jeff Volek come to mind). But usually those who promote keto are male. And let's face it, us ladies shouldn't always have to take advice from the dudes ;) I personally am getting more emails and/or reading stories from female athletes who've messed up their health by poor dietary practices including keto. Women who heard advice about low-carb being awesome, so they tried it, had initial success (toned up, better energy, some performance gains, etc) then it backfired. Weight loss plateaued and/or they gained weight, energy crashed, performance crashed, hormones crashed, periods disappeared. And that's why I wanted to do this show.....

Furthermore, if you listen to other podcasts who praise keto (Tim Ferris, Jimmy Moore, etc) it's important to note many of these folks aren't endurance athletes either. That matters because they can probably handle keto extremes that endurance athletes can't, thus they give advice that doesn't apply to the triathlete and runner folk.

Hence, it was time to get 1) a female voice on the show to balance it out and 2) to talk straight to endurance athletes female or male, to show that keto is not always what it's cracked up to be.

So far with the outpouring of emails and comments I've gotten since releasing the show, it seems like we did what we set out to achieve in creating more awareness and depth to this topic. Women (and men) have mostly been stoked and appreciative of the show.


Why Bother Discussing VLC and Keto?
This actually brings me to an important point. If keto is risky why the hell even bother? You also may already assume or have heard that low-carb is "dumb" for athletes. Mainstream sports, especially the triathlon and running worlds, still largely promote the traditional high-carb diets, sugar-based fueling and carb-loading. Pizza and pasta parties are still a big thing. Sigh. However, the content you get on Endurance Planet in regards to diet and nutrition won't be what you've traditionally learned about sports nutrition nor what the USDA food pyramid recommends.

Why? Because we take sports performance to the next level and integrate concepts for better health, metabolic efficiency, and optimal living.

Most people will not optimize their health and performance as a high-carb sugar burner. It may work for a while, but eventually catches up in some way, shape or form.

So moderate low carb, high fat (LCHF) is usually a safe, healthy route, which I talked about in Part 1. However, a lot of people don't settle for "safe" and they want extremes! Those risk-takers lead us to new discoveries. Thus, we're seeing that lowering the carbs to a state of nutritional ketosis is effective, depending on the goal, and it's catching on. Keto is intriguing and "sexy" right now, and also easier to sell vs. the moderate safe approach. Keto has its pros: It can create a ripped lean body without training your ass off, control appetite, maximize metabolism, boost brain power and function, increase energy, increase clarity and productivity, prevent disease, balance health, and the list goes on.... In a clinical application, keto can also be life-saving and is shown to be effective in treating certain cancers, epilepsy, obesity, Type-2 diabetes, reversing insulin resistance and so on.

But what about for an endurance athlete? For the athlete who's healthy and fit enough to begin with, he or she may thrive off getting into nutritional ketosis (with appropriate carb cycling). It gets nitty gritty, but the evidence is there. Look to the low-carb guys in the FASTER study, for example, including Ben Greenfield and Zach Bitter. These guys are finding a level of fat-burning capabilities that we never thought possible. The more we can efficiently burn fat during endurance events, the more we can sustain and achieve--and not wreck our bodies with chronic sugar dosing. Seems like a win-win for the athlete who also deeply cares about health and longevity.

Zach, for example, just broke the American 100-mile record going 11:40, a 7:00/mile average. Ben trained for and raced Kona well on a keto diet in 2013. And even female athletes like pro ultrarunner Nikki Kimball are thriving off keto not only for endurance performance but mental and cognitive benefits (it's alleviated her depression). Dr. Maffetone has been promoting low-carb high-fat for decades and even has his current athletes like Dr. Amanda Stevens able to cycle in and out of ketosis--interestingly Amanda in 2015 had one of her best seasons to date after going this route, which we discuss on this EP episode. Vinnie Tortorich is a good example of someone for whom keot makes sense; he's a cancer survivor and endurance athlete who's seen real benefits of no-sugar, no-grain, keto-style diets.... how can you argue with how good he's doing vs. what could have been?

Keto can be healthy, beneficial, and a smart approach....


But YOU Matter
That said, for as many people for whom keto works or could work, there are plenty of people for whom it doesn't work or won't at all--to the point of risking a harmful backfire. That's why careful consideration is needed when approaching any diet extremes and we must take into account the individual.

Perfect example: In this article, Chris Kresser writes on prescribing individual diets for two different females with two different stories. One woman had Metabolic Syndrome, insulin resistance, and obesity; the other had Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome and Hypothyroid (interestingly, the latter woman's conditions were partially caused by a very low carb diet!). For the obese woman, Chris prescribed a keto-ish diet (15% carbs) and an intermittent fasting (IF) protocol. The woman with adrenal fatigue and hypothyroid received diet prescription that included moderate carbs (20-25%) and more frequent eating, no IF. That makes absolute perfect sense, and in the article Chris explains why.

What's right for you may not be right for me, and vice versa. What's right for a 40-year-old sturdy male athlete may not be right for a 20-something female runner with body-image issues. Hence the podcast with Tam...

The Podcast
Tamsin brings a lot of experience and expertise to the topic of diet and health for athletes as an Ironman champion, practicing medical doctor and psychiatrist, someone who's dabbled with LC diets, and also someone who's overcome an eating disorder. Her patients include female athletes who've suffered from dietary extremes like keto. So does she have the experience and authority? You bet.

We set up this show to be more geared toward women because they have the most "to lose" with keto. While males are not void of potential issues, they do tend to be more robust and suffer less hormonal disruptions when they do diet extremes. That said, it's certainly not impossible for a guy's health to tank with keto extremes.

The podcast highlighted potential risks of keto diets, especially risks for athletes. Furthermore, we wanted to help educate people on whether they are the right candidate for a keto diet or not, as some are more susceptible to the risks than others. It wasn't a keto-bashing podcast nor fear-mongering; although, I'm sure some will take it that way.

You can listen to the full episode here.

That link will also take you to the show notes, which has a full outline of keto's risks, which we discuss in detail; thus, no need to be repetitive on this post.

Did we discuss risks and side-effects that aren't necessarily backed by research, but rather anecdotal evidence? Yes. Not everything can be answered by "what the research says" and just because it isn't in the research doesn't mean it can't be true. Keto for endurance athletes (especially females, and even non-athletes) the way it's being done in modern times is relatively new and the research just hasn't caught up yet and/or it can't be done due to IRB issues. And even the research that has been done has had its hurdles....

"I remember all the flak we got for the Western States Study by the UCONN IRB...they were against athletes trying to run 100 miles on Low Carb and did not realize the athletes were running anyway and in this state....we finally got it through, but took a few months...." says Peter Defty, of Vespa.

If research is lacking, especially on females, then we can look at what's going on in the real world. There is a growing amount of anecdotal evidence on females--athletes or not--who've suffered poor consequences of keto diets. In my professional network, I talk about this with my colleagues quite often. It's real. It's not just opinions that were conjured up out of nowhere. And even digging around online you can find tons of stories of keto gone bad. Tamsin and I even shared some of our personal experiences from an educated POV. I hope it was clear that we were not trying to generalize the situation and diet-bash, but rather "bring life" to the topic.

Meanwhile, there is plenty of research showing the very real issues associated with female-athlete triad cases, and I can make an educated guess that there are plenty of triad cases that involve diets that are too low carb... this even gets into the psychology of the matter. Very important.

Tamsin said near the end that she would never recommend keto for any female athletes. A bold statement, and her opinion. Do I agree? No. But I respect her opinion, just like I respect the opinion of other guests who've been on EP whose opinions don't always align with mine. And besides that statement of Tamsin's, I pretty much agreed with everything else she suggested and learned more from her.

Even Defty, who's a nutrition genius and advocate of keto-style optimized-fat-metabolism diets, says that keto won't work unless health is there:

"Many females in today's modern world probably should not be in straight up NK [nutritional ketosis] .....they just are not metabolically fit enough to make it work. If you have an underlying condition its tough to get into ketosis and you will struggle to maintain it....as you mention and know there are a lot of really badly broken people out there including a lot of females....people who through trying to be healthy actually got very sick and compromised.....so until the underlying issues are solved NK is not going to work well and even backfire.....if you are pregnant doubly so. I see a lot of people who are wrecked by Low Carb because either they or the person who is coaching them thinks they get it but really don't. There cannot be underlying conditions," he says.

We have to understand everyone is an individual and brings a unique situation to the table. As such, let's work with individual needs not try to broadly recommend diets as being right or wrong.

We will have more podcasts on the diet matter. It doesn't end here...


For More Resources on Keto Risks

Ben's top-10 mistakes of keto and his article on keto dangers.

Is low-carb ruining your health by Kresser, and more on VLC.

Adverse reactions to keto by the Paleo Mom.

Healthy Female Athletes and Babies

A few posts back I went into a rather deep analysis on a MAF Test I did, what the results "really meant" and how I was planning to get faster. But ya know what? My heart's just not in that right now. I'm still running, hiking and "training" regularly(ish), but not like I thought I'd be doing when I wrote that post. And that's ok...

I'm on this path to rebuilding health, and the results I'm getting in that department are far more valuable than MAF Test results at this point in time. I know the MAF Test is also there to show if you're a "healthy athlete" but that also assumes one is consistently training at/around MAF heart rate in order to maintain or improve the MAF Test. I'm all over the board to be honest. So who knows: I could be faster if I went and did another test, or maybe not. But I just don't really feel that feedback is needed right now.

This is not to say MAF Tests are old news though! I can still give you 101 reasons why nine out of 10 endurance athletes--like those I coach, lol--should be doing regular MAF tests every 4-8 weeks. It's just, for me, my "MAF Journey," is taking a turn........

So, I will tell you where my heart IS at. Two big things that are bigger and more important than me:

~~~

A Resource on Health

The more I open up about my personal journey in a candid way--in particular regaining "female" health after once being a broken athlete--the more I am so thrilled to be doing what I am because it's clearly needed.

I am learning how many women--especially those who are endurance athletes--are also struggling with their health and simply not functioning as a woman should. At least a couple times a week, sometimes more, I receive new stories of health and/or performance tanking. Going slower and fatigue to begin then in gets worse: injury, amenorrhea, acne, hormone issues, hypothyroid, adrenal fatigue, weight issues, gut issues, insomnia, erratic moods, and so on. Usual culprits often include overtraining, over-racing, stress, under-eating, unhealthy relationships with food and exercise, body dysmorphia, straight-up eating disorders, etc. Often they are lost. There's plenty of great functional health practitioners out there who can help these women but (correct me if I'm wrong) there's not a lot of female endurance athletes who are bridging the gap between women in endurance sports and the functional health world. I want to be that person.

I need to be because countless female athletes are hurting their bodies and health at an astronomical rate. Some want help and deserve the right kind of help; some need to realize their symptoms and issues aren't "normal" and they're not alone. Some women will turn to western medical doctors but get zero answers--or worse shit-poor advice like, "It's ok not to get your period" or "just go on the pill." I'm sorry but, FUCK! This is BS, and I've been fed that story too--by a female doctor nonetheless. So often the health problems just continue, unaddressed, for 5.... 10.... 15+ years.

I am obviously not a doctor, nor here to dish out individual medical advice, but what I can do is just share my journey in detail and dish out tons of resources, and hope that provides inspiration to those silently suffering on how they can get help and take charge of their health naturally with a practitioner (or team of them) like I have. Be a detective. Don't be afraid! Don't accept BS answers from doctors who only give you 3 minutes before moving onto the next patient. If you feel like something is wrong and you're not getting answers you want--go with your intuition and seek the answers.

For example if you're a woman listen to this podcast now and by Sara's book too.

Let me change gears slightly...

~~~

Family Planning (ah!)

Another reason MAF Tests don't really matter to me right now is because of what I'm about to share.

This year I am getting married to the man of my dreams, and we have plans. We want to start a family! We're not starting tonight (lol) but it's coming. Which makes me sooooo grateful I switched things up in late 2013 to build back health because I've needed these past couple years to take the time to do it right.

It's incredibly important for a woman to be in a good state of health if she expects to get pregnant and build a healthy baby to completion.... I don't take this task for granted and I'm also not living in la-la land like I've had a perfect bill of health all my life. Two years ago my hormonal status was basically at rock bottom, and I know there would've been no baby-making happening had we bothered to try.

Meanwhile, I know plenty of women get pregnant all the time with sub-par health in some way shape or form. So please don't misunderstand, I'm not saying I need to be "superwoman" and obsess over a perfect body and perfect pregnancy. It's not like that at all. I'm just being real with the situation, and I know I have to get my body over some final hurdles to make a healthy pregnancy possible. Thus, I am taking the time to read books, study, and figure out how it applies to me. Do the right things for my body--like not overtrain in a way that could setback my hormones and things like thyroid. For a somewhat technical example of what I mean check out this podcast or this book.

So anyway, wow, right? Did you see that coming?

~~~

What's Next for TriTawn?

This story, this blog, this journey is taking new turns all the time as you can probably tell lately given the subject of my posts--not really the triathlon race reports of the old days, and I should probably do a redesign on this outdated blog or at least change that header photo (fact: I was amenorrheic when that photo was taken and definitely too skinny). But it's all good; it's all related and all important here on tritawn.com.

So what about training and racing? I can say with confidence I'm not quitting anything. I'm 30 and have plenty of years ahead. I am an athlete for life. After 20-plus years of being an athlete I don't think that's going to change. And it certainly won't change just because we start a family. Perhaps I'll have to revise the plan and my race schedule temporarily to make sure certain things happen, but I'm not worrying about a thing...

We got Ragnar SoCal and I got the Boston Marathon coming up--I will be there! I know I've talked a lot about ultra-ing too. This year? Maybe, maybe not. It's not off the table, but I'm also 100-million-percent willing to pull the plug on anything right now if my body gives me the signal that it's just too much. We're just taking it one day at a time. I'm monitoring myself well. We will see..........

I'm curious to see what my body is up for in 2016. The unknown doesn't scare me. I'm so ready for this crazy ride........

BAM!

Part 1: Keto vs. LCHF, and My Experience

Last week we published an Endurance Planet podcast on the potential risks of very low carb (VLC) and ketogenic diets for endurance athletes. This was especially geared toward female endurance athletes, and even non-athletes for that matter.

Keto/VLC is defined as roughly 50 grams of carbs a day or fewer, on most days. Furthermore, it's a very high-fat diet, often 50-70 percent of calories coming from fat! That's a lot of fat. It's also not a low-calorie diet, which should be clear if you know a bit about macros: 1 gram of fat has 9 calories, whereas 1 gram of carb or protein has 4 calories... if you have 50-70 percent of calories from fat, and you're eating enough, that's going to be a lot of calories. That said, it's not always pounding a ton of calories because keto-adapted people can go long periods with less or no food because they're so efficient at burning fat for fuel. Often the keto folk do intermittent fasting. And other times they're taking down "fat bombs." Endurance athletes are finding more interest in this diet lately because you can be a mega fat-burning machine and go forever on very little fueling needs--efficiency like none other.

To read more on what keto even means and its role for athletes, check this out. You'll see, it's extreme diet with extreme considerations. It doesn't just cut you off from cookies and junk, it goes way deeper. As do potential risky side effects if not executed carefully.

~~~

Keto Does Not = A Moderate Low-Carb High-Fat Diet

I had some folks email me and thanking me for the podcast, which makes me happy. And in Part 2 I'm going to talk more about why I thought that podcast was needed, along with more that we'll be doing.

But first, I think some people might have mistaken that the potential risks/side effects of keto also apply to a more moderate low-carb high-fat diet. It's important to point out that keto and VLC is not synonymous with a moderate low-carb high-fat diet. The moderate approach is something one would generally take on to promote better fat oxidation (fat adaptation), metabolic efficiency, "cleaner" eating, and overall better health (i.e. avoiding refined carbs, refined sugars and junk). Moderate low-carb diets are much more flexible, "friendly" and doable in most lifestyles, and have many many benefits. And for the record, if you see me hashtag #LCHF, in my world I use this acronym for a moderate low-carb high fat diet, NOT keto or VLC. Maybe it should become MLCHF lol.

Tailored LCHF kick ass diets for health and sports performance, and I truly feel like most people should go this route instead of traditional high-carb fueling. I don't promote high-carb diets for males or females, nor even females needing better hormonal health. I won't say never, though, because I also believe our diet needs are unique to our situations and I can think of a few cases where I can see high-carb diets working really well. For me? High-carb/low-fat makes me batty, erratic, foggy, flat and sluggish, gut in shambles, and I feel like crap. On the flip side, I cannot sustain keto (at this point in my journey). I do well somewhere in between, moderate low-carb, high fat, adequate calories. I've learned through trial and error; scroll down for more of my story.

For females who who need to regain hormonal health, there may be a bit higher need for carbs--but you don't have to go off the deep end--while allowing tons of good fat and calories in general. In regaining hormonal health and a menstrual cycle, I allowed more carbs when my body craved them*, but I did not need to binge on tons of carbs in an unhealthy way--it was more about ensuring adequate and nourishing energy was present in my regular diet (including the fat that had been missing!), that stress remained low, and that body fat/body composition remained in a good spot. It's as simple as that. Ok, I know it's not that simple, but it also doesn't have to be overly complicated if you're dedicated to the cause as I was/am.

*If you are currently a carb-addicted human you will always be craving carbs all the time, so first you must break this addiction--it's a mental exercise. Sugar and carbs are a drug, and you have to break the addiction. There's also usually an emotional and psychological component at play here too. And, no, you are not that special exception, sorry. I know what it's like to crave refined and processed carbs/sugar, and I know what it's like to get off that cycle. So when I say above that my body craved carbs these cravings were genuine--my body was asking for things it needed to rebuild. You have to respect that. Likewise, I also crave fat now--fatty meats, avocados, butter--and always crave the greens and veggies and so on. 

More reading on sugar addiction.

And ya, I'll say it again: I love LCHF and I'm willing to align myself with a diet style at risk of being called out for joining a LCHF cult, or whatever. But I don't mind because I really truly believe this carb- and sugar-addicted world in which we live is making us obese, the root of so many diseases, killing us, and hurting athletes' performances and health. (It's not the dietary fat that's to blame). Managing carbs and sugar so that it doesn't spiral out of control and lead to bad outcomes just makes sense--and it doesn't doom you to a life without carbs either.

~~~

Should You Cut Back the Carbs, Add the Fat?

How do you know if you should give this moderate LCHF stuff a try? If you can't go more than 2-3 hours without food in general, if your energy is constantly fluctuating (when you're empty you're a jerk/b*tch), and if you can't do a workout without fuel--even a 60-minute session--this is bad. I'd suggest weaning of the carb and sugar dependence and introducing more healthy fats into your routine. End that vicious cycle, end the carb and sugar addiction/dependence, and you will go far as athlete and human. The carbs, while enjoyable, can wreak havoc in you.

"Thanks to generations of people over-consuming sugar and other refined carbohydrates, many people suffer from a condition known as carbohydrate intolerance, or (CI). This is perhaps the most well-hidden epidemic of our time... CI then progresses to a functional disorder producing symptoms that negatively affect quality of life, such as fatigue. Gradually, this process generates serious illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease." --Dr. Phil Maffetone

That said, if you find you are having trouble getting off the carbs and shit is going haywire in the process, a few things:

1) First I would make sure your carbs haven't dipped below 100g/day--i.e. don't start with extremes like keto. Even though I personally hate counting and calculating calories and macros, sometimes it is needed, and even I've done it to check in.

2) Ensure you're getting enough calories and fat. Too low calorie is a common mistake when making diet switches and eliminating things--if you eliminate foods, you gotta replace the calories with something else nourishing. It could be as simple as adding more cooking fat (oils) to your meals; an extra handful or raw nuts, some avocado, or sipping on bone broth daily. Or google "fat bomb recipes" and take a stab. Again, food logging can help.

3) If it's still a problem and say you're 100-200ish grams of carbs a day and still struggling for whatever reason then I would look at the bigger picture: Are there other underlying problems that need solving first? Are you severely addicted to sugar/carbs and it needs time to break the addiction? Are you "fit but unhealthy" i.e. maybe overtrained and burnout. Is your lifestyle so high-strung and stressful that you can't survive without carbs? Or could it be another issue ranging from adrenal fatigue to gut disorders, and so on. Not that you need to be LCHF forever, or else, but a healthy person should be able to handle a moderate LCHF diet without it crashing their world.

We as humans simply don't need to be carbed up to survive and quite frankly it's really healthy to develop "fat-burning" with LCHF-ness whether you're an athlete or not. Like Maffetone's Two-Week Test, a test to see how you handle moderate LCHF (not keto) can be telling. It's good to be able to slip into LCHF with ease, and slip out if you feel like it. This concept is also closely related to what my friend Peter Defty is doing with OFM.

~~~

How I'm Dialing It In

As much as I now love LCHF, at first it was my enemy. LCHF did not work for me until I stepped back and fixed my health first--it was too much stress at the time. I also made the mistake of starting out too low carb, and too restrictive too often. In fact I remember blaming LCHF saying, "It ruined me."

But really, LCHF in itself was not the only problem. I was.

First off, I was likely doing something closer to keto and possibly too low-cal while 70.3 & Ironman training, so that did me no good. Yup, I made the mistake of mixing up keto and LCHF and it was mainly because I didn't carefully monitor what I was doing. Meanwhile, I was too deep into being "fit but unhealthy" at the time, overtrained, gut wrecked, and in need of lifestyle changes. I needed to get my training and stress under control. I needed rest. I needed nourishment of all kinds.

I still actually did achieve and maintain a level of fat-adaptation though. The fat-adaptedness was clear in my training, a few races, and even a metabolic efficiency test. But that didn't even matter at the time because my hormonal status and overall health needed mending if I wanted that fat-adaptation thing to do me any real good.

On my road to regaining health and recovering, I was able to still keep a healthy lowered carb/high fat/Paleo-ish approach as a general theme, and did so because I know at the end of the day this is a healthy way to live and thrive (and also knowing that high-carb diet hadn't done me any good either). But I also did not define how I ate by a specific diet and became open to anything that would charge my body back up. So I tweaked my approach to carbs, allowing more but not going off the deep end. I also got comfortable with eating a lot more dietary fat that had been missing for so long, and overall dug into more calories too--which really wasn't scary for me if you can believe it. It wasn't scary because when I put my mind to something--in this case the goal of regaining health--nothing can stop me. Overall, this combo/approach was when I found my sweet spot. It wasn't just carbs for female health.

But it's so important to underscore that I had bigger fish to fry than just a diet protocol. I had to create an environment--mind and body--that allowed for hormonal balance, a regular menstrual cycle, among other things. This made me reevaluate my training, racing and how I executed my days. Diligently making the necessary lifestyle changes was the ticket to start moving up the ladder toward optimization.

When it synced up finally--a healthy thriving body, good mindset, my macro's working for me not against me--man did that feel awesome!

And that's also when I could start playing around with LCHF how it's supposed to be--slip into lower carb times for fat-burning endurance sport purposes, and then cycle in the higher carb times for refueling, female health, and whatnot. Again, not to the extremes of keto but rather building a diet that would promote health, performance, and relief from gut woes--another benefit of LCHF.

~~~

Intuitive LCHF

My ticket to maintaining health and LCHF these days entails intuitive eating and living (so MAF!). I know "intuitive" is hard to define, but for me being intuitive means some days that are quite frankly very low carb/high fat, and that feels fine and I'm not depriving myself whatsoever. Then there are other days where I eat as many carbs as I want because my body says so: including but not limited to sourdough bread, sweet potatoes, gluten-free crackers/stuff, honey, oatmeal, rice, kabocha squash, healthy cereals, bars when on the go, even quality sweet treats (yes, I like to bake things like banana bread, healthy-ish cookies; yes, I love chocolate). And then days that are somewhere in between. It fluctuates with the training/adventures I'm doing, life demands and also my female cycle.

I've learned to really deeply listen to what my body's asking for, and answer its wishes. As such I don't find myself mindlessly snacking or chowing down at all hours of the day. Ya, maybe sometimes I eat beyond satiation when I cook a good meal, but that's because I also love food. And if you're good at balance and/or 80-20 you can be flexible.

But there's a catch:

Intuition only works when you don't overrule it with your brain by doing something other than what your body is asking for. 

...That said, there have been times when I've overruled my intuition--because I still get stubborn--and that's when I get in trouble. This usually happens when I let my old tendencies get the best of me--overly stressful kinda stuff--and there are times when I get this crazy idea that I can go even lower carb and keep it going even with more training added on... As such, my body may look great and I may even feel revved up (sympathetic state overload), but it's not healthy for me. I think that's what happened this last time--I was doing things that didn't align with what my body needed to thrive. So I stepped in and fixed it--fast. I'm totally back on track. Dodged a bullet. Learned more lessons. I think now I have even a better feeling of when my body is teetering on the fine line of wanting to "shut down" and go haywire vs. when it's wanting to thrive. It is literally is a feeling, and when I am thriving I just feel strong and sturdy like I can take on the world; when I'm about to shut down I feel weak, fragile, and emotional.

~~~

Ok let me tie this up.

I'd try not to lump keto and LCHF into one. They're not synonymous. There are many reasons why I'd recommend avoiding and/or being very cautious with keto (like the podcast covers) but LCHF tweaked to your needs can be a secret weapon. If you're trying and having trouble getting off the high-carb life there's a reason. Get to the bottom of it. We need to be in control of what we're eating instead of it controlling us. Climb that ladder of optimization.

Does Being 'Too Healthy' Cause Health Problems?

This year I've hit some awesome highs with health and wellness, feeling what it's like to operate close to (or perhaps at?) optimal, and it rocks.

But not so quick.

Can't get cocky about it. 

Recently I had some hiccups in the progress, and a lot of time for more self-introspection, which also made me think more deeply about what I'll talk about in this post.

~~~

First, the latest with me.

I'm still on this rollercoaster solving gastrointestinal (GI) disorders and building a healthy gut that was pretty wrecked. This is something I've mentioned but not written about in as much detail yet. In brief: I've diagnosed and successfully killed off (some) candida, an H. Pylori infection, etc, and generally I am not walking around like a bloated gassy balloon wretched in lower abdominal pain on the daily. It's not all done though. We are working on the rest including testing more specifically for Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO), and more investigation regarding the candida, which is a fungal infection, and whether its worked its way deeper into my tissues--we think this based on some symptoms. Furthermore we'll be entering the rebuilding phase to create a strong, robust GI tract. Meanwhile, additional diet tweaks and the right kind of eating for my situation have been integral to relief and recovery. However, ironically, often certain diet tweaks aren't optimal for hormonal health (for example, intermittent fasting = good for the GI tract, bad for hormonal status). It's quite the paradox.

Speaking of hormones. Starting in 2014, during my quest to regain health, I earned back a regular period and stellar hormonal status that I maintained even through marathon training, a BQ, and after. I regained this all naturally with damn hard work, a lot of love and TLC and holistic-style supplementation--coming off years of depletion, amenorrhea and poor interventions such as ongoing bouts with birth control before wising up and using the functional model.

But after so much progress my period packed up and left after this August. I know why. Looking back there was a shift. Not just the GI issues and diet, although, that was related. I allowed more stress back in my life, increased the training, and overall was not managing myself as well--getting too cocky that I was bulletproof--and slipping back to old ways like operating too much in a sympathetic state (aka flight or fight mode).

Had a "self-intervention," chilled out, (oh and got the flu = forced recovery) and, guess what, this December my period came back. All it took was some rest, recovery, and diet-wise increasing variety of carbs and even more nourishing fats. Carbs: things like white rice, long-fermented sourdough, and GF oatmeal. Fats: daily bone broth, and more of everything else.

But let me stop right there, save the back report for another post, and instead get to the point of this one:

~~~

Why does someone who's so healthy have health problems?  

Of the many health experts and professionals out there, especially those in the functional health space, you'll see that a vast number of them became experts after and/or while having their own health problems and solving them (or perhaps still working on them). These folks probably had an natural attraction to health to begin with, and their problems were either 1) their own fault, 2) out of their control, or 3) both. In the process of learning, educating themselves, playing detective, fixing issues (instead of treating symptoms), and getting real results, these folks realized what it's like to actually feel great.

Many of us run around thinking we feel great, but in reality we're operating sub-optimally--our definition of "great" is very skewed. We could be better. The health experts realized this in their own journeys and have dedicated their life to helping others feel great.

Tim Noakes for example. Mark Sisson. Or functional health practitioner Brie Wieselman, with whom I recently started collaborating--she too struggled with health which you can read about here. Or Dr. Michael Ruscio (my new man crush) who contracted an amoeba--as did Chris Kresser--both these guys fixed themselves with the functional approach. And there's Chris Kelly, Jimmy Moore, the list goes on. Sometimes the professional is already a well-respected expert but is still on the path to healing and solving his/her own issues such as Stephanie Ruper of the Paleo Women podcast who says she was amenorrheic for four years while writing her book, "Sexy By Nature." Stephanie had already established herself as a leading lady for women's health in the Paleosphere, giving women's health advice on her website, etc. She fixed herself using probably a lot of the same tools she learned and recommends to others. Does it matter that she was still partially broken while working as an expert on this stuff? Not in the least, probably made her a better expert i'd argue.

Bottom line, all these folks operate in the health space after having crashed themselves for whatever reason and so they really understand healing from the bottom up. Most importantly they know that healthy living--the way some would consider extreme--is key to feeling great and avoiding setbacks. If you know what it's like to have a disorder-ridden, dysfunctioning, shitty-feeling body and mind, you don't want a setback...

I am no different than this.

I was operating sub-optimally for years--actually doing quite well in that state, all things considered. Why was I sub-optimal? Certainly a lot of it was my own fault. From an eating disorder, to triathlon madness, to generally just carrying a lot of stress, I'm sure I created a good chunk of my health issues. I recognized it. I owned it. If you've been following me and this blog for a period of time you know that my dedication to health now is to overcome the "damage" done in my teens and 20s. I also won't rule out potential genetic components as well. Nature, nurture; it is what it is. I can't wake up with a clean slate and start over. That's ok! I accept that my hormones are sensitive and it's on me to promote an environment in which I can thrive--not only me but for my future family.

Speaking to what it's like to go from sub-optimal to optimal: my GI disorders for example. For nearly 10 years I was running around with these gut issues not understanding fully that they were severe problems and could be fixed! I can't even tell you how many times I've been plagued with embarrassing, painful gas; bloating to the point where I seriously wondered if I might be pregnant; and poop issues. Not to mention how the gut issues affected my mind. They often made me feel fat--when I wasn't at all--and irritable to the point of straight up bitchiness. I just thought all this was normal. Boy, was I wrong. You get some relief and you're, like "Holy shit! This is awesome! I want to feel like this always." And while it may seem like I'm still having all these problems, the reality is that it's just a long road to recovery given the long history, complete with hiccups and setbacks along the way. But the healthier and more in-tune I have become, the more I understand, the better I get, and the greater I feel. Why would I want anything else?

And don't get me wrong, I don't have unrealistic expectations that I need to feel the best ever every day for the rest of my life, eat perfectly every single day, or freak out if something is off. Nor am I turning this into another type of unhealthy obsession over achieving some level of unrealistic health. It's actually pure intentions for once. No eating disorder, no mental hangups--just the desire to learn and implement what that takes to feel great then turn it into a story and an education for others on how to do the same! Yup, part of the current journey is the growing passion toward this field of functional health and wellness. I the past couple years I've empowered myself with knowledge on how to heal from the inside out, who knows you may see a new angle for my career and scope of practice budding.

Bottom line: Being healthy is a no-brainer when you consider the alternative--feeling like shit. 

~~~

Does being too healthy cause health problems? 

Ohhh this is a good question.

Inherently, no. But hell yes, it can!

If the person's definition of health is skewed and not doing him or her any good, this could worsen and/or create problems, i.e. a vegan who's severely deficient in key nutrients and dysfunctioning; the obsessed runner who's scary thin and battling stress fractures left and right; the endurance athlete who goes too low carb while also doing crossfit style workouts on the side and HPA axis crashes. "But, vegan is clean!" "But, exercise is healthy." No, not in this context.

Or, too healthy can cause health problems if during the quest to be healthy one gets overly neurotic about every. little. thing. The stress state one can create over this quest for health is undeniably counterproductive and could worsen, prolong or create health problems--even the cleanest diet won't fix a person who's freaking out over every morsel of food, every germ, every sensation, every decision. When the quest to be healthy destroys your relationships and social life, when it keeps you up at night in worry, when you panic over food, anxiety over your condition(s); when you stop having fun, when you stop smiling, when there's no act of "playing" in your life, etc.... Dr. Ruscico talks about this a lot in how he treats patients--we need to care about health but not go off the deep end, so to speak. And I talked about this in my anorexia vs orthorexia post--i.e. healthy eating is good until it goes too far becoming a sick obsession. I've been down that road. Over it... I'm sure even the health experts have to watch themselves and not get trapped in a bubble of trying to be perfect, and thankfully I hear more of this being discussed in podcasts and written about in articles--living a life balance, seeking happiness, and having a healthy mindset is just as important if not more than what your blood test or whatever test results show!!!

So then you implement healthy practices to avoid health problems:

Part of my journey to optimal health and healing is learning to not be neurotic about things---because I know I can be that person looking at my history :). I still have to work at managing my stress, my tendencies to want to over-obsess and get neurotic, and I have to work to consciously turning on the parasympathetic (aka rest and digest mode) more often so it becomes habit and feels normal. I have to work at being present and mindful. I've taught myself to not look at my life as being too busy; I've let go of relentless and mindless multitasking; I've worked on just being lazy and doing little things that simply make me happy and smile. This often requires another level of self-discipline, for example avoiding overtraining even though all I wanna do is just run run run, going on that walk when I know its needed. Or avoiding letting a jam-packed schedule, traffic, long lines, etc, send me off into a state of anxiety and panic. Just stop and smell the flowers, really! See how it feels. Scary at first, and then scary good...

Achieving this mindset requires, of all things, another level of self-awareness. Meaning you have to know what it feels like when you're in an elevated sympathetic (stress) state vs. a more mellow parasympathetic (chill made) state. HRV is good for this. Many of us think we're chill but really, we're not--we're stressed. When we measure HRV we may be in for a shocker. Reality hits. I've heard Dave Asprey discuss this and I've even seen my fiance go through the process. "Whoa, I thought I was fine but the numbers clearly say otherwise." All it takes is a little tool like HRV to recognize the difference. But then you have to do something about it! Understand the feelings and what real stress feels like, and make changes as needed, if needed.

And at the end of the day if you don't want to be all biohacker about it, just know that you need to keep it real and loosen up. Your quest to be healthy doesn't have to be all uptight. And if you derail from healthy norms for a day or even a week it's ok! Just get back on track no drama.

~~~

Can you create food intolerances?

This is another one I hear a lot. Let's assume someone gets the bug up their butt to adopt a healthier diet and lifestyle, and let's assume this person is pretty healthy to begin with--no history like mine or the others mentioned. Say they give up gluten, dairy, sugar, grains and whatnot to adopt more of a paleo-ish clean diet. Not low carb or high carb per se, just a clean diet. Will this person cause food sensitivities and/or intolerances by eating more healthy? For example, if they give up gluten and dairy then go back to eating those things will they suffer the consequences?

I do think that clean eating and healthy living does make you more sensitive to the lower quality food and drinks for a couple reasons:

1) You become more intuitive and realize how quality food and healthy living actually makes you feel awesome!!! Even if you're not necessarily intolerant, clean eating makes you feel superhuman.

2) Or maybe you were intolerant and didn't realize it until you quit the trigger foods and drinks. You were operating at a 5, now you're feeling like a 10. Our food today--gluten, dairy, sugar and whatnot--is not what it once was and it often makes us ill, have allergies, etc. So you go off it, you get healthier. Then you slip up and go back to old ways for days in a row and find yourself wheezing, bloated and with brain fog. Well, this basically is showing you had detoxed from the "poison" and going back on it triggered those same sensitives you once thought were normal. Then the light bulb goes on. You were always intolerant, just never realized it. It doesn't mean you can't occasionally "cheat"--it's usually a dose thing. Just know your limit. Barring a full-on disease like celiac or nut allergy, a little moderation is fine.

~~~

Can healthful intentions backfire on health and hormones?

This is a rabbit hole. In fact, very soon I will be recording a podcast on the dangers of low-carb/keto eating for athletes and women, as well as things like falling victim to the female athlete triad (males included), because it's important to address: yes you can screw shit up with the wrong approach to diet and exercise. It's actually really easy to do. Too easy. Don't do it. We'll save this talk for another day.

~~~

Bottom Line

We all have our shit.

Generally, it seems like the health experts/pros--at least the ones I follow--are much more willing to openly talk about and discuss their issues, and what they've learned, in hopes they can help, inspire, and educate others on building better health and optimal living. Power to the folks who are brave enough to open up and empower us to be proactive. Even more power to them when they admit mistakes, sensitive stuff, and such. You all inspire me to do the same.... It's always going to be an ongoing quest, the best we can do is share information and foster a supportive environment.

Just remember: Have that set of checks and balances in place to avoid letting healthy intentions backfire.

Till next time....

Recommitting to Balance

I subscribe to Chris Kresser's email newsletter which says a lot about what I think of him and what he has to say because a) I disdain unnecessary emails, b) email subscriptions and most newsletters are generally just crap or sales pitches, c) I have enough other emails coming in daily that warrant my attention, d) it took me forever to unsubscribe from all the stuff I got signed up for (unwillingly) over the years from entering races and whatnot; these days I have that shit well-managed and I want to keep it that way. I refuse to spend an hour a week just deleting junk.

But Chris is one of a few who I'll let in. And below is a good example of why. I've copied and pasted his recent newsletter into this post, and what he said here is exactly what I was mentioning about slipping up recently with some of my stuff (stress). It's good to see that other experts do the same thing and are mature enough to call themselves out in a public manner like he did, especially when he's the one teaching people to avoid the very things he caught himself doing. All class.

For me, in addition to slowly but unintentionally allowing a bit more stressful living back in my life and that go-go-go attitude, I also recently realized I have been slipping up with my approach to training. I am getting way too addicted to exercise/training/racing again in an unhealthy way. Even though my intensity of exercise has drastically improved and I'm not faking it by secretly working out really hard (promise!), I still am mentally and physically obsessed to my workouts and losing sight of what is best for me. Not just for me but for John, our future, etc. Furthermore, I am losing sight of the very clear-cut goals John and I set together, as a team, for the events we have planned together. Our goals? Well, let's put it this way, we're not trying to get on any podiums. We just want to have fun, be adventurous, keep it loose and maintain balance. Maybe that's an oxymoron--ultra training and balance--or maybe not? Maybe we're on to something?

It's time to set some boundaries and get back to balance. I can dish that to my athletes and on the podcast, but I have to be honest, when it comes to my own self, it's easier said than done. When it comes to training and having a race/event on tap I tend to be an "all or nothing person." Shocking, I know. It's like an alcoholic who either has no beers or all the beers--there's no in between. For me, it's usually that I either train for a race with an absurd amount of focus, or I don't--I haven't mastered the in between. I got close with the marathon this year.

It's good to be committed, disciplined and focused, but that can go too far in my opinion, especially if you're a Type A'er like me who easily gets obsessed. A guy like David Goggins might disagree with me and say "go that extra distance" and that we all should find a way to go the extra mile(s), get uncomfortable, push the extremes, and be an "I can" not an "I can't" person. I get that, and I agree we need to get uncomfortable and not feed ourselves the "I can't" bullshit. David may be that guy who works out at any given opportunity putting in immense hours and volume. He may push his body to set world records like doing 4,030 pullups in 24 hours. He has his reasons for his approach of going all in, every day, year-round. I can do that too, if I wanted, but is that what I need? No. Individualization, folks. I can still get uncomfortable--in a healthy way--with my approach, and I plan to do that.

Now it'll be: Can I find that ability to casually train and not go overboard? Like Chris says below, it's just a matter of recommitting to the principles you value....

~~~

"Hi everyone,

When most of us think of addiction, we typically think of substances like alcohol, heroin, or tobacco.

But a more inclusive definition of addition, according to author Tony Schwartz, is 'the relentless pull to a substance or an activity that becomes so compulsive it ultimately interferes with everyday life.'

If we use this definition, it’s fair to say that nearly all of us are addicted to the Internet.

I’m no exception. In fact, when I became aware several years ago of how my compulsive behavior around the internet was affecting my productivity, health, and relationships, I set up some practices that would limit my exposure. I discussed these in two podcasts here and here.

These strategies included turning off notifications on my phone and mobile devices, only checking email 2-3 times a day, and focusing on my most important daily tasks before engaging with email/social media/meetings. Overall they've worked well and I've been able to stay on track and minimize distraction.

But over the last few months, I’ve started slipping. I’ve been checking email regularly throughout the day, looking at social media accounts more regularly, pulling my phone out of my pocket way more often, and spending a lot more time randomly browsing the web.

All of this started during the launch of my new clinician training program. I told myself that I had to be more connected during this time, so I could be available for any pressing issues that came up. While there may have been some truth to that, I think the Internet addict in me was also looking for any excuse to take over the reins.

Since I’ve fallen off the wagon, so to speak, I’ve noticed a decline in my overall health and well-being, and a definite drop in productivity. I’ve also found it more difficult to focus on the research and writing that is so important to my work.

But the worst part—and the effect that makes me feel more upset than anything else—is how these changes have affected the time I spend with my 4-year old daughter, Sylvie.

I’ve always been the person that cringes when I see a Mom or Dad pushing their kid on the swings and obsessively checking their phone the entire time. I haven’t gone that far, but I do notice that I’m looking at my phone a lot more than I ever did before when I’m with Sylvie, and I see how negatively this impacts the quality of my connection with her during these interactions.

One of the hardest parts of dealing with Internet addiction is that, unlike booze, drugs, or gambling, it's socially acceptable—and in some ways, even encouraged.

In fact, it seems like every day a new technology is introduced that promises to make us “more connected”: we can now check our email, social media, and the web at any time, from any place.

But is this really a good thing? It seems to me that the net effect of these technologies has been less connection, not more. Instead of simply being present in each moment and feeling connected with the people around us, our attention is increasingly elsewhere.

I worry about the effects of this. It’s yet another way that our modern lifestyle differs dramatically from the environment we evolved in, but it’s one that is rarely discussed or addressed.

With this in mind, I am recommitting to the principles I discussed in the two podcasts above. More specifically, I’m going to limit checking email and social media to 3 times a day, and avoid using my phone at all when I have dedicated play time with Sylvie.

If this is also an issue for you, what can you commit to? What steps will you take? Let me know on my Facebook page."