Optimal Levels of Vitamin C Can Help Insulin Sensitivity and Lower Inflammation

Optimal Levels of Vitamin C Can Help Insulin Sensitivity and Lower Inflammation

September 16, 2017

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Nathan Waters - Total Health Performance

Vitamin C is a nutrient that is commonly used by many people but the far reaching benefits aren't fully understood. Most take it to reduce the chances of getting the flu and that is all they really think of it as. Also when taking vitamin C, generally the dosages used are far too small for most individuals to see any noticeable improvements in their health.

Personally, I take 10 g per day on average. Now this does change throughout the year. I may take more or less depending on what I am doing with my training and how much work I have on. When training twice a day or when I have a lot of work on I will take a minimum of 10 g per day. This helps support my immune system and I feel it helps control my cortisol levels as well.

When I do take large doses of vitamin C I tend to get leaner. Now that could be from a few different mechanisms. I think it comes from controlling cortisol levels, lowering inflammation and oxidative stress, and also improving insulin sensitivity. Whatever it is I believe there are many benefits to having optimal levels of vitamin C. 

Dr Michael Jurgelewicz, DC, DACBN, DCBCN, CNS just posted an update of a study that showed people who have insulin resistance, are obese, or smoke, tend to have low vitamin C status. He also makes a great point about individuals with chronic conditions having increased nutrient demands. I think this is very often overlooked. I like to find out what I am deficient in and replenish that, not just take a host of supplements for no reason and just guess what I may need. On top of this I want to know why I am deficient in that nutrient. What is causing this deficiency?

"Individuals with chronic conditions typically have increased nutrient demands than those of healthy people. These are considered conditionally essential nutrients. There is either a disruption in metabolic processes, underlying inflammation, oxidative stress, or an inability to meet the metabolic demands with the current nutrient reserves.

In a study published five days ago in Nutrients, researchers demonstrated that patients who are prediabetic, have type II diabetes, or smoke have lower plasma vitamin C levels.

This makes sense since insulin resistance is associated with chronic low grade inflammation; thus, there will be increased vitamin C requirements to mitigate oxidative stress. There are other factors that may contribute to this as well, such as vitamin C excretion in those with microalbuminuria or competition for glucose and vitamin C into the cells.

....The level of nutrient intake that maintains the best possible health is highly variable from person to person. Lifestyle choices and environmental exposures filtered through genetic predisposition are fundamental factors in the expression of disease and a successful treatment approach must include investigation into these factors."

Tags:

vitamin C

insulin

diabetes

obesity

smoking

inflammation

oxidative stress

nutrients

glucose

Health

Originally posted on www.totalhealthperformance.com.au

Sleep and Memory

January 17, 2017

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Nathan Waters - Total Health Performance

We stress the importance of quality sleep to our clients all the time. It is one of the first things we work on when someone comes to see us. It is well known that sleeping well can help reduce obesity, improve our response to insulin, improve hormone function, improve our mental and physical health, and just improve our overall health in general. It is also very important in memory and consolidating the things you learn.

It has been shown that just 5 hours of sleep deprivation can lead to a loss of connectivity between neurons in the hippocampus. The hippocampus is associated with memory and learning. This is why you often hear people say that they feel like they have been out partying when they have just had a late night and didn’t get enough sleep. The brain was unable to remodel correctly and make/maintain neuronal connections that had been established throughout the day.

If you want to recall what you have just learned or even relearn something you have forgotten then taking a nap in between study sessions has been shown to help improve these two functions. The good news about this is that the results seem to last over a decent period of time. Probably why places like google have “sleep pods” or whatever they call them, to help improve the quality of work their employees do.

For more on this topic you can read the article below:

http://blog.designsforhealth.com/si-42214/sleep-and-its-impact-on-memory-and-learning

A Few Things About Coffee

Originally posted on www.totalhealthperformance.com.au

I had never realised how many people drank coffee until about 3 years ago when I started drinking it myself. Over 4 billion cups of coffee are consumed each year. It’s not something that I crave every day and I have a few guidelines I tend to follow. I really only drink it before a training session and I have one on a Saturday morning after work. It is always a long black as I don’t do well with milk, and I don’t drink it after 12pm so that it doesn’t disrupt my sleep. These are a few things that I do personally but there are many other things about coffee that you may want to know.

When you are purchasing coffee, whether it be out at a café or some for you to make your own at home, it is important to make sure that the coffee is organic. This is because coffee is one of the most chemically sprayed crops in the world. Many of the companies that produce conventional coffee will say that the pesticides are burnt off during the roasting process but I don’t believe this to be true. I would rather buy organic and not ingest these dangerous chemicals.

Even organic can have some problems with it but at least it minimizes the risk. If you get really into it you may want to find a company that produces coffee that is mycotoxin free and fungal by-product free. Mould often contaminates coffee beans and is one of the reasons you may feel jittery after having a coffee sometimes if you are not sensitive to coffee in the first place.

Another thing is to avoid drinking your coffee out of the take-away cups. The plastic from the lid actually ends up in your body. If you get a take-away regularly then take your own glass cup with you and get them to fill that up. Gemma Smith has written about this in a previous article that you can find here.

Coffee drinkers have been shown to live longer than non-coffee drinkers in many recent studies . Consuming 1 cup of coffee per day reduced the chances of dying from all disease by 6% and by 10% in those that drank 2-3 cups of coffee per day. This seemed to be the threshold as drinking 6 cups or more per day still only reduced the risk of dying by 10% compared to non-coffee drinkers. This has been put down to the antioxidants and certain polyphenols that are found in coffee beans. For some people coffee is the only source of antioxidants they get. Dark-roast coffee will help improve your antioxidant status and coffee can help speed up detoxification.

Coffee also has positive effects on blood vessels which can improve heart and brain health. Coffee can increase the production of nitric oxide which helps blood vessels dilate and it also has anti-inflammatory polyphenols that protect the cardiovascular system. A cardiovascular disease risk reduction of 11% was found in those that consumed 1.5 cups of coffee per day over non-coffee drinkers. A reduction of total cholesterol and triglycerides has also been shown in those that consume coffee.

Coffee has also been shown to help improve brain health reducing the risk for Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and dementia. Caffeinated coffee has been shown to increase a growth factor that increases the growth of new brain cells. Interestingly caffeine has also been shown to help with depression.

Drinking coffee may also decrease your risk of developing diabetes. Drinking 1-3 cups of coffee a day was shown to reduce the risk of having high blood sugar by 49%. Consuming coffee can increase fat burning and has been associated with lower triglyceride levels.

Coffee has more than a thousand beneficial compounds but a lot of these benefits are being related to chlorogenic acid. It is a polyphenol that has anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Chlorogenic acid can also lower blood glucose and reduce the risk of cancer.

These are a few of the benefits to consuming coffee. If you feel jittery or get anxious when consuming coffee, then it may not be for you. If on the other hand you enjoy your coffee then try to buy organic to stay away from pesticides and other harmful chemicals, don’t over-do it, and drink it at the right time of day to get some of the above benefits.