Message: The way you breath may change you blood’s pH

Read also Carbon Dioxide: Good or Bad?

It is well known that breathing is the most natural and potent regulator of pH in the blood and brain tissue. Simply increasing or decreasing the breathing rate and depth, the body manages to adjust it1s chemistry to any changes in environmental condition and swings in metabolic rate. The process does not require our attention and is fulfilled automatically.

However, unlike the automatism of the heart contraction, the breathing automatism is not absolute. We can voluntary change the way we breathe. Humans used this possibility since ancient times including breathing exercises in their spiritual and healing practices. Does it mean we can voluntary influence our pH? It does. But the question is: what for? What kind of our internal machinery would be affected?

Consider this. Deep intensive breathing (hyperventilation) leads to lack of carbon dioxide and thus to so called respiratory alkalosis (high pH), whereas moderate breathing suppression (hypo-ventilation) induces slightly excessive level of CO 2 (hyper-capnia) leading to respiratory acidosis (low pH).

Respiratory alkalosis eventually causes a number of problems, including elevation of pH inside the cells. The condition may be benign or potentially catastrophic. When pH reaches the value of 8 the metabolic disorders can produce a fatal result. Why? Below there are most known consequences of respiratory alkalosis, and each of them can be a reason for troubles (click here for footnoted list of symptoms).

1. First of all, fails the key for adequate oxygen delivery to tissues — appropriate co-ordination of breathing and blood flow

2. It does so partly because haemoglobin, which carries oxygen from lungs to tissues, fails to yield the oxygen there

3. Now, in spite of deep breathing, there is too little oxygen in the arterial blood

4. The blood flow in the vessels slows down

5. The blood vessels width decreases

6. Metabolism in the blood vessel walls impairs

7. Metabolism in the brain tissue impairs

8. Metabolism in the kidneys impairs

9. Turnover of calcium, phosphorus and magnesium impairs

10. Brain and muscle tissues start producing excessive lactate

11. Removal of acid metabolites decreases to counteract the tissue alkalosis

12. Regulatory effects of some hormones fail

13. Breathing airways start resisting to the airflow

14. Bronchi1s width decreases dramatically

15. Asthma symptoms worsen

16. Breathing gets unstable

17. Ventilation is inhibited

18. Arterial hypertension develops

19. Increased heart rate occurs

20. Pathological hyperactivity of the brain neurons develops

21. Evoked electrical potentials of the brain cortex get inhibited

22. Evoked electrical potentials of the spinal cord and subcortical structures show abnormal patterns

23. There is a decrease in favorable alpha wave power in the electroencephalogram

24. There is a threefold excess in the release of adrenaline into the blood

25. Panic attack develops

26. The blood inclines towards clotting

27. Gastro-intestinal tract hyperactivity develops, leading to irritable bowel syndrome Are these pathologies reversible? Luckily yes. Abnormal breathing causes them, breathing normalization cures. But what does breathing normalization mean? Breath deeply — isn’t it the key in all kind of breathing techniques? Then how about hyperventilation?!

It depends. You could see what happens with hyperventilation. Are there cases when it can be helpful? Yes, but mostly in clinical situations, when medical professionals take care of you. For example, in the case of acute brain trauma, edema, stroke, high intracranial pressure, high intraocular pressure. Perfectly adequate is deep breathing during birth process, when it is beneficial for both mother and baby. It is OK to breath deeply while exercising or during the hot weather. It is OK in any case when your body needs to elevate the pH.

Message: There is a diet plan called “The cabbage soup diet”, which is in fact a low calorie density plan and as such, it does work. But why cabbage?

Several clinical studies have found cabbage to be effective in warding off diseases, specifically, cancer:

In their article “Vegetables, Fruit and Phytoestrogens as Preventive Agents, ” Drs. Potter and Steinmetz from Cancer Prevention Research Program, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington, reviewed 205studies and, based on the evidence provided in these studies, included cruciferous vegetables (of which cabbage is a member) into the list of foods containing preventive phytoestrogens. They wrote:

“The practice of medicine– past and present — often involves the prescription of specific foods(almost always plants) or their potent derivatives, to treat a wide spectrum of illnesses. Foods that have been ascribed healing properties include the cruciferae (cabbage), the allium family, celery, cucumber, endive, parsley ,radish and legumes.”(1)

Scientists from the Cancer Research Laboratory, University of Auckland, New Zealand, investigated the role of micronutrients in healthy nutrition and concluded that some micronutrients that seemed to play a protective role in cancer are beta-carotene, vitamin E and vitamin C. In addition to those chemicals with an established role in nutrition, there is also a less well-defined group of chemicals, often referred to as phytochemicals, which may prove even more important. Examples here are a group of sulphur-containing chemicals present in brassicaceous vegetables, such as broccoli and cabbage, that appear to be very effective anticarcinogens.(2)

In the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies, New York University, researchers aimed to identify specific phytochemicals in Brassica vegetables, such as sulforaphane in broccoli that may confer protection against cancer.(3)

In China (Department of Epidemiology, Harbin Medical College, Heilongjiang), consumption of cabbage was found to protect against brain tumor development. Consumption of fresh vegetables– specifically that of Chinese cabbage and onion — fruit, fresh fish and poultry was inversely related to the risk of developing brain cancer. (4)

One of the most impressive results came from the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research, Nutrition and Food Research Institute. The results of 94 studies showed that with an increase in the consumption of cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli, the risk of many types of cancer decreased.(5)

Not Just Cancer

Studies conducted by the Department of Applied Biological Science, Tokyo Noko University, concluded that cabbage is also good for keeping cholesterol levels low. Cabbage was found to contain S-methyl-L-cysteine sulfoxide, which suppresses hypercholesterolemia by upregulating cholesterol catabolism. (6)

Russian Cabbage Soup Recipe

References

1. IARC Scientific Publications (Lyon). (139):61-90, 1996.
2. Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy. 51(8):337-44, 1997.
3. Nutrition Reviews. 56(4 Pt 1):127-30, 1998 Apr.
4. International Journal of Cancer. 81(1):20-3, 1999 Mar 31.
5. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention. 5(9):733-48, 1996
6. International Journal of Cancer. Suppl 10:7-9, 1997.

Message: Panic attack can be stopped by voluntary shallow breathing. Interestingly, it also helps asthma sufferers.

<< Read the 1st part

There is a disease, panic attacks, a major symptom of which is a strong, uncontrollable fear and frantic hysterical breathing. Do you know how that panic attack is fought? It’s hard to believe, but the victim is made to breathe into a paper bag (brown paper bag #4). What happens was recorded by placing a gas sensor inside the bag. After it is breathed in for a short time, the concentration of carbon dioxide inside increases. Then the attack stops. Turns out, not only the lack of oxygen but also the lack of carbon dioxide is harmful to the body. In the “Medline” there are many hundreds of clinical and experimental evidences on the harm of lack of carbon dioxide (hypocapnia), along with good effects of moderate hypercapnia.

The matter is that carbon dioxide is a strong physiological regulator of not only breathing function where it plays a leading role. It also affects the smooth muscles, including bronchi’s and blood vessels’. It is our “broncholytic” and “vasodilator” that is always with us.

Can a well known for forty years in Russia Buteyko’s breathing system’s powerful effect be related to that? Buteyko’s system is a series of simple breathing exercises that are exactly opposite all breathing schools (excepting maybe the Pranajama). However, they all have something in common — a requirement of diaphragm breathing. But Buteyko, besides the diaphragmal breathing instructs breathing as rare and shallow as possible. And the system works!

Now Buteyko’s system is being successfully developed in Australia, where for some reason there are especially many asthma victims. There is a professional association of Buteyko that already helped thousands people, and not only with asthma. Asthma research foundation supported the testing of the method afterwards released the results where it admitted that the goal of the test was to ridicule the unscientific system but had no choice but to recognize its obvious therapeutic effect (Medical Journal of Australia. 162(1):53, 1995 ). In Scandinavia, independently from Buteyko, a breathing apparatus (they named cassette), not much different from a snorkel, was developed which lets the patient rebreath some air. That increases the carbon dioxide concentration and also gives positive effects.

Amazingly, the cassette method is not completely free of “placebo” suspicion! Some people improved breathing when they were told they were rebreathing, though they were not: the cassette had a hidden hole, and the patients were breathing with perfectly fresh outside air! The method is turning out to be the body-mind one! Besides direct biochemical changes in the blood (the proper pH) and favorable blood vessel condition, the method requires one’s concentration on the body’s inner state, which is therapeutic itself. Also, some excess of CO 2 causes the increased concentration of endorphins in the blood, and endorphins are potent physiological regulators and adaptogenes. So, is that true that “everybody tries to breath out all kind of filth“? Think again.

Message: Necessary as air means most necessary. Our breathing process is unique in many ways. Everyone knows how long a man can live without food, water and air. Without air — almost no time. A few minutes, and brain cortex dies. Also unique is the availability of air: so far no one came up with a way to sell it. Finally, unique is the process’s character which is almost automatic. Almost. That’s the topic for today.

To Breathe or not to Breathe?

“…look, everybody breathes in pure oxygen, but tries to breath out all kinds of filth!”

A. Raikin

A man is sitting in a closed room and is doing something. The window is closed, the air conditioner is off. Oxygen is consumed, carbon dioxide is exhaled, thus increasing the CO2 concentration in the room. What happens?

None can say for sure! In a short period of time a number of following might change:

• Breathing depth
• Breathing frequency
• Heart’s contraction strength
• Pulse
• Blood flow velocity
• Blood vessel resistance
• Oxygen availability to tissues (how easily it is transferred from hemoglobin into tissues)

In a longer period of time, something else will change:

• Lungs’ vital capacity (how much air is taken in for the deepest breath)
• Amount of hemoglobin
• Amount of erythrocytes (red blood cells carrying oxygen)
• Eritropeses (production of erythrocytes in bone marrow)

Your breathing function is affected by the combination of all these parameters which in turn are related to each other, how — it’s impossible to predict. Moreover, each time, random combination might “fall out.” So when something changes in the oxygen availability to tissues or you change your breathing, your body brilliantly evades to compensate for those changes.

So do we need to control our breathing?

Seems that a healthy animal or a child has no need to. Some breathing techniques manuals instruct to uncover a baby and see how rhythmically it’s stomach rises and falls. The chest barely moves. That type of breathing is called diaphragmal, because the diaphragm, a muscle between the chest and stomach is the one that makes the lungs expand and contract. That type of breathing is meant for quiet body state.

When an awakened baby cries, it is visible that the chest starts working to take in as much air as possible. It is an emergency breathing. It is meant for stress and hard physical efforts. In rest, the body functions’ control is overrun by parasympathetic autonomous nervous system. In emergency cases — it is taken over by a competitive nervous system, the sympathetic one. It increases body’s work in order to escape a predator, chase a prey, or endure fear or rage. For example, the heart rate is increased, blood vessels contract to avoid losing too much blood in case of a wound, and so on. Functions that are not immediately needed, like intestinal movement, are slowed down.

Several US universities have developed the test predicting the development of premature babies. If the control of parasympathetic system is dominating, the prognosis is definitely better: the possibility of cerebral palsy, mental retardation and other typical pathologies of premature babies, is much less. Domination of the sympathetic nervous system, in babies as well as in adults, on the other hand provides for not so good a prediction. Of course, the body is more comfortable under the parasympathetic control, and the latter is dominant until something out of the ordinary happens.

Nevertheless, like in many other cases, we are deviating from the natural order of things. In this case, it is an abuse of the sympathetic system’s services. Hence are the tendencies to high blood pressure, increased pulse, etc. Hence is the emergency type of breathing when it is not needed.

Try breathing as deep and as fast as you can. Soon, you will get dizzy and might even get a headache. Asthma victims might get an asthma attack. People with heart problems might get an angina attack… >> Read more

Question: Hi, I was wondering if and how enzymes supplements that break down fat and protein impact the efficiency of a ketogenic diet? At first I thought they might be a good supplement for me to aid in the weight loss, but now I’m not sure.

Answer: Different enzymes digest different foods, so, you are right, on a low-carb diet you need different enzymes than on a high-carb diet.

Here is what major enzymes do:

• Protease – Breaks protein
• Amylase – Breaks carbohydrates
• Lipase – Breaks fat

The enzymes are found in saliva, the stomach, pancreas, and intestines. Digestive enzymes break down food into its basic components, which are then absorbed and used for body needs.

Do we have enough enzymes of our own?

The main reason we don’t is the processed food prevailing on or tables. Modern food processing techniques and cooking destroy much if not most of the enzymes naturally present in food. Poor digestion leads to poor nutrition and can cause a weakening of the immune system. Dr. Atkins developed the “Basic Enzymes Formula” containing more protease (helps digest proteins) and lipase (helps digest fats) enzymes and fewer amylase enzymes than standard enzyme formulas.

Here are the components:

• Atkins Proprietary Enzyme Blend 840 mg
• Proteolytic (Protein) Enzymes 378 mg
• Protease (50000 HUT)
• Protease ll (28500 PC)
• Bromelain (180000 PU)
• Protease lll (150000 PU)
• Protease lV ( 15 SAPU)
• Lipolytic (Fat splitting) Enzymes 378 mg
• Lipase l (1400 FCCLU)
• Lipase ll (600 FCLU)
• Amylolytic (preventing carb absorption) Enzymes 84 mg
• Amylase l (1100 DU) Amylase (5 GA)

Message: “There are few fitness programs which don’t advocate exercising. The benefits of strengthening muscles extends beyond just the calorie burning effect of moving more. Weight bearing exercise is important for women who are worried about osteoporosis, and being strong and flexible can have a positive impact on energy levels, and overall well being.” — M. Ball

Longer, Leaner, and Taller: A Review of Pilates

by Maggie Ball

Lesley Ackland is a walking advertisement for the Pilates exercise system. At over 50 years old, Ackland is stunning, and has the sort of body that most 20 year olds would love. Pilates is a low impact exercise specifically designed to ‘elongate’ and strengthen the body rather than build bulk, and Ackland has been teaching Pilates at her Body Maintenance Studio in London for over 10 years. She is also the author of 4 other Pilates books, and is clearly dedicated to this program. The basic premise of Pilates, which is very popular with dancers and models, is to strengthen ligaments and joints, increase flexibility, and lengthen the muscles. The exercises are simple, and not very different from other types of callisthenics, although they draw from Yoga a focus on breathing, and on slow, controlled movements done perfectly, in an attempt to integrate mind and body. The book covers the origins and philosophy behind Pilates, including the use of things like creative visualisation, breathing, control over the specific body parts being conditioned, flow, precision, and coordination.

The exercise program is broken up into segments focusing on balance, breathing, abdominal exercises, side stretches, back exercises, legs, and upper body exercises. Each exercise includes a photo of Ackland demonstrating the technique. Although the exercises are pretty easy, it can take some practice to coordinate the breathing, and get the movements exactly right, and these are key points to the Pilates program, but explanations are very clear, and if you read through each one first, and practice the breathing until it is almost rote, it isn’t hard to do these. The most attractive element of Pilates is that they focus on increasing muscle length through stretching, and avoiding the creation of bulky muscles. This is particularly relevant for women, who don’t want to create treetrunk legs or even super muscled arms. There are suggestions for using weights, and hints on posture, and general tips on gradually increasing the benefits of the movements with weights, and other forms of resistence.

Thorson’s First Directions publish a range of new age type books, featuring popular heath related topics and short, easy to follow formats. Pilates is a small, hardcover book which is easily carried around, and many of the exercises can be done anywhere, with little equipment. If you don’t already have a callisthenic program, and don’t live close enough to attend Ackland trendy (but expensive) studio in Convent Gardens, this book is a pretty good investment.

For more information about Ackland, or Pilates, or to purchase a copy of Pilates , at a discounted price, click here: Pilates

About the reviewer: Maggie Ball is content manager for The Compulsive Reader, Preschool Entertainment, and is the author of The Literary Lunch: Recipes for a Hungry Mind and The Art of Assessment. Her fiction, poetry, reviews, interviews, and essays have appeared in hundreds of on-line and print publications.

Message: Thou Shalt Not Overeat

Fighting stalled weight loss, or a weight-loss plateau, is not an easy business; nor is it easy to advise on troubleshooting because there are many reasons for this plateau.

What is overeating?

It depends. For one person, overeating means that she eats in excess of her energy expenditure, which may be due to the sedentary needs. For another person, it’s because of sluggish metabolism. For yet another, it can be a plain old cheating on his diet.

In this article, I’ll talk about the weight-loss plateau and one of its aspects that is rarely discussed: taste and calories.

There are two issues in the weight-loss plateau problem that concerns low-carb dieters. First, what is this plateau – ; is it anything real or all in our heads? Second, is low-carb stalled weight loss different from any other diet stalling?

A Look at the General Problem of Plateaus

A weight-loss plateau is when you were losing weight and then stopped losing, without changing your diet, exercise or other lifestyle factors. You eat the same diet and exercise as much as before, but your bathroom scales are frozen at some mysterious point, sometimes referred to as the body-weight set point.(Just think of your refrigerator: it’s the point you set to maintain the temperature you want. Though different in details, basically the same parts make up the human body’s “thermostat” or “fatostat,” for that matter.)

Body-weight set point is nature’s idea of what amount of fat you need. If we deviate from nature’s, it forces us to eat more – ; even when our fat stores are huge. Luckily, a low-carb diet allows your body to recognise your stored fat as legitimate fuel and uses it instead of storing it (as it does on any other diet.) However, there is another danger that is often overlooked by low-carb dieters:

The Sweeter, the Heavier

It seems that our body-weight set points are not carved in stone. Clinical studies revealed links between taste and the amount of food we eat.

Tastier foods make the set point of body weight shift up proportionally, that is: the tastier the food, the greater the set point. Researchers even showed that foods with negative taste qualities, (in the study, researchers added quinine) do the opposite: the more bitter the food, the lower the set point.

Artificial Sweetners Are Not the Answer

Sweet taste – ; even from artificial sweeteners – ; causes an increase in calories coming from fat and protein. Why does this happening?

Sweet taste, even coming with artificial sweetener, raises glucose concentration in the blood before the food has a chance to be digested. Your body knows that eventually, it will have all the carbs you’ve swallowed and it doesn’t wait until it that happens. Instead, it releases some glucose from the carbohydrate depots and hopes to get it all back. When the sweet food is real, the carbohydrates eventually get into the blood. If they’re not? Well, nature never counted on us inventing artificial sweeteners. Being fooled, your body reacts rather vindictively: it forces you to want more sweet food plus eat more next time, no matter what food you agree to have.

So, you’d be better off without artificial sweeteners. There are other tasty foods you can have on a low-carb diet.

Some Clinical Data on Fats:

* Preference for high-fat foods appears to be a universal human trait.
* How much fat we eat appears to be determined simply by the amount of fat available.
* Fats are especially provocative in the obese, who tend to overeat fatty foods more than the lean.

Clinical Data on Other Tasty Foods:

* Good tasting foods increased so-called diet-induced thermogenesis (heat production after meals) and reduced food efficiency (how many calories are used and how many pass through the intestines).
* Good tasting foods increase energy expenditure. It seems like a paradox, but when you eat what you really enjoy, you body gets less of this particular food’s calories.

Message: Magnesium is an important element in many physiological processes and its uses as a supplement range from depression to bone, muscle, and joint strengthening to blood vessels protection.

Recent research in France showed the role of magnesium in the regulation of thyroid hormones, insulin, estrogen, testosterone, brain chemicals such as dopamine, catecholamines, serotonin, GABA, and body’s electrolytes. Magnesium controls the turnover of potassium and calcium in the body so deficit of magnesium causes calcium to be lost with the urine but deposited in the kidneys, arteries, joints, brain, where it is not welcome.

Magnesium protects the cell from poisonous metals like aluminum, mercury, lead, cadmium, beryllium and nickel, which can contribute to Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases multiple sclerosis, and learning retardation.

Magnesium glycinate is considered the preferred source of magnesium. This form combines benefits of amino acid glycine & magnesium. It may also be less laxative and less irritating for the stomach than some other forms of magnesium. As to its role in as a weight loss aid, it’d be no surprise if you remember the significance of hyroid hormones, insulin, estrogen, testosterone, serotonin, GABA, and calcium in body fat deposition and appetite control.

Message: There’s always something new to try when it comes to dieting. A good strategy is making small changes and giving it enough time to see results. Only when there’s no results, go make another change. Note that under ‘results’ in dieting we mean any beneficial effects – inches loss, fitness improvement, health and/or mood improvements, etc.

Here are a few changes to consider.

1. If you tried to reduce fat in your diet without any progress, try to increase your fat intake while cutting down on refined carbohydrates (bread, pasta, potato, etc.)

2. If you tried a low carb diet and failed, try to introduce “good” complex carbohydrates like whole grains, legumes, and berries to your daily meals.

3. If you tried to exercise OR to diet separately, try to do these things together: research showed that this is a win-win combination. Not only it’s much more efficient for weight loss, but the health benefits are great even if your scale didn’t budge.

4. If your exercise routine included only aerobics workouts, add strength training: it’ll help to build more muscles thus enhancing your metabolism.

5. If you did too much of aerobics, slow down a little bit: this type of exercise is shown to shift your metabolism into somewhat economic mode.

Message: Emotional eating, or stress-eating, can be due to several reasons calling for different ways to fight it.

1. If you crave sweets, go on a low carb diet. Research and anecdotal evidence show that on a low carb diet, the ‘sugargolics’ stop eating sweets during stress or boredom

2. If you are reaching for any piece of food, ask yourself: is it really food that you want? Can a hug or a phone call do the trick?
Take a warm aromatic bath, watch your favorite movie, go shopping for pleasant things like perfume or flowers.

3. If you MUST eat, have healthy snacks read: baby carrots, string cheese, celery sticks, sliced apples with a pinch of cinnamon and vanilla, plain yogurt or even sugar-free dark chocolate.