wellness Archives | Linden and Arc

Men’s health is defined as identifying, preventing, and treating conditions that are most common or specific to men. It is not just a magazine to help men get buff, however, most men would struggle to come up with even a definition that would resemble the above. Men’s health is under-researched, underfunded, and under-appreciated. How is can this be when it represents half the world’s population?

Unfortunately, health is not an issue men talk about. This lack of societal acceptance as an issue has made men’s health become a silently growing, enormous, and destructive problem. This lack of awareness is causing some extremely disconcerting statistics. For example, the gap between male and female life expectancy continues to widen and is on average 4 years. This gap is even wider in socially disadvantaged groups. There is not a single country where men live longer than women. Not only is life expectancy lower but men have a lower quality of life, poorer health, and significantly decreased functioning. Men have decreased quality of life from poor health and on average men spend 9 years in poor frail states (this is close to a decade spent in disability, poor energy, and loss of independence!). Men are more likely to die from cancer, heart disease, lung disease, and diabetes than women.

Men’s Mental Health

Mental health is another arena that is neglected for men. Men’s risk of suicide is close to double or triple that for women. In fact, the risk of alcohol and illegal drug abuse (including other harmful activities) is extremely high as well. This is a reflection of how men are dealing with mental health concerns. Men participate in higher riskier health activities such as smoking and unprotected sex. They are also at high risk of death and disability due to violence and trauma. Society’s silence on these issues has contributed to men accepting this.

Preventative Health Care and Men

Men access preventative health care much less than women and are much more likely to ignore their health concerns and not participate in universal screening programs. There is a profound lack of interest in men’s health by global health institutions and many health organizations omit men’s health as part of their agendas. Apathy on a personal and global scale has only compounded the problem of men’s health.

The real issue here is men’s mindset. Men take pride if they haven’t been to a doctor in 25 years. They claim nothing is wrong and they believe it makes them sound strong. that they are not broken and they don’t need help. Men neglect their bodies for years and maintain their sports cars regularly. Realizing your body is a more complex machine than the car in the garage is the first step in improving men’s health overall. Once established, men will realize that their bodies require care more often than once in 25 years!

There is so much that men can do to improve their health. Follow these 2 steps to optimal men’s health. Research to make better choices and the desire to live a life with more energy and vitality!

Step 1: Become Aware of Where You Are Right Now

The first thing in creating any achievable plan is having an awareness of where your health is right now. Men should visit their doctor to receive age-appropriate screening. Screenings should include a physical exam and diagnostic tests. You can take deeper dive into your health if you have symptoms or health conditions. These more specific testing options can determine your hormones, vitamin, and mineral levels.

It is also crucial to know not only your weight but your body fat and muscle mass percentages. Muscle mass has a big role to play in strength and vitality especially in men. The more strength you have, the longer you live in general. As well, the stronger you are the longer you can play sports, hike, golf, and ultimately avoid a wheelchair. When you receive a well-rounded picture of where you are at, you can begin making a plan with measurable and specific goals.

Think of it as getting a scouting report for a hockey draft. As a potential draft candidate, you will find out how you measure up and decide if you want to shore up areas that could use some help. Maybe it’s your puck handling or backward skating speed. In medicine, that could be your mental acuity or lack of quad/hamstring strength. A physician helps you get the most out of life and in the best shape you can. Wouldn’t we all want to look as good and feel as good as Richard Branson (he’s in his seventh decade of life now) rather than a guy who had two knee replacements and can barely walk?

Step 2: Creating Change with Different Choices

Sometimes all people need is to see all the different choices and have it explained in a meaningful way by an expert. You can do simple things that to give you energy, increase your muscle mass percentage, decrease body fat percentage, and change your overall health.

For example, did you know that eating better, exercising, and not smoking can drastically improve erections? Or, that the blood vessels to the penis are the same size as those going to the heart? Thus, erectile dysfunction is a real risk factor for developing heart disease. Most men want to have and keep their erections strong. Functional Medicine also shows that doing keeping strong erections will increase your overall well-being. Measuring, tracking, and being accountable can make these changes easy to implement, especially if you have something to gain. Your gains are overall health and the ability to have healthy erections.

That small voice in your head tells you that things can be different, life can be more joyful, more energetic, more meaningful, and that your health can be better. This is a call to an adventure and a journey to be better. Make the decision to have an extraordinary life and start it by taking care of your body. Would you rather drive around in a Ferrari 308 GTB Berlinetta (the one Magnum PI drove) or have your body be the equivalent of a beat-up Dodge Caravan Minivan? It’s your choice. Your body is the only real vehicle you have in this lifetime so decide how you want it to look and feel.

Prostate Cancer

Men today are terrified of prostate cancer. It affects 1 in 7 Canadian men and is responsible for the deaths of 1 in 27 Canadian men. Age, genetics, and race are well-known responsible risk factors in overall prostate health, but the one element that many people ignore is diet and obesity. Diet and obesity are completely modifiable!

Getting “man boobs” is not only unsightly, but it is also a warning sign that you are increasing your risk of cancer. Obese men have a 20% higher chance of prostate cancer and really obese (BMI>35) men have a 34% higher chance of developing prostate cancer. This makes sense because the more fat men carry, the higher the circulating hormones they have! (including female hormones)

Screening is essential. It has led to detecting cancer earlier with the hope of intervening and preventing death. One of the most deadly combinations in men’s health are these two factors:

Men’s lackadaisical approach to their health. If they wait until symptoms are felt, it will be too late, because…
Prostate cancer symptoms usually don’t surface until it has metastasized.

With screening, we can find prostate cancer 8-10 years before a man would have symptoms. Obviously, with earlier detection, the treatments are more effective.

Men can do so many things to decrease their risk of prostate cancer and improve outcomes if diagnosed. All lifestyle factors play a part in these outcomes including nutrition, weight, exercise, sleep, stress, and relationships. These elements are extremely important to prevention, treatment, and recovery from any side effects to treatment (ie. recovering from surgery). Knowing that cancer can be modified by what you do, not just what the doctor says he can do about it is the best way to take control of your health.

One plan men can implement with a diagnosis of low-grade prostate cancer is watchful waiting. This is monitoring with no intervening treatment. We encourage you to address lifestyle factors and re-empower yourselves with the knowledge that you can help participate in changing your outcome. This also helps with the anxiety and stress of having a prostate cancer diagnosis.

Benign Prostatic Hypertrophy

A condition called Benign Prostatic Hypertrophy describes the enlargement of the prostate or BPH. Symptoms of BPH include getting up more than once at night, having a noticeably slower stream, and urinating twice before breakfast. It affects almost every aging man, can cause significant disruption in the quality of life, and requires medical intervention. It can also improve by changing modifiable lifestyle factors. Some of the simple ways to reverse Benign Prostatic Hypertrophy and rebalance hormones is decreasing body fat percentage, especially abdominal fat. We advise adding foods to your diet that are helpful in prostate health.

Men’s health is finally taking precedence through functional medicine. The Linden & Arc Vitality Institute approach focuses on the patient as a whole. The 7 Core Nodes of Healing covers the mind, body, soul, and spirit which are all connected, in health and wellness. Each node represents a set of interconnected biological functions, much like a web, all influencing each other. Through detailed quantitative testing and keen analysis, we look at the overall function and organ efficiency of each system in the model. If you’re ready to start taking your total health seriously, contact Linden & Arc Vitality Institute today for an initial consultation.

Authors: Julie Hong MD CCFP CTM IFMCP and Jun Kawakami MD MSc FRCSC Urologic Cancer Surgeon

The breath is a powerful source of transformation for brain health and breathwork is a practice that improves it. The rate and rhythm of the breath are intimately connected to our mental & emotional states (Brown & Gerbarg, 2012). Just as the emotions and the mind cause the breath to vary, by consciously controlling the breath, we gain control over our mind and our emotions (Trinity College Dublin, 2018).

Anxiety and Stress Eased by Breathwork

Combining this modality of breathwork with the eye gaze by noticing ten things in the room and mentally or aloud saying their colour and what they are, as well as pressing the feet into the floor, will activate your parasympathetic nervous system and bring you into a feeling of calmness (McKay, Wood, & Brantley, 2007).

Depression

On the other hand, when a person is feeling the depths of depression and despair, they may sigh a lot with almost a sense of defeat. The breath here is usually more in the belly. To bring more life force or prana into the body, it is recommended to sit up straight, lengthen the spine, and with an open mouth – breathing deep and forcefully into the upper chest. This activates the sympathetic nervous system and creates a sense of alertness and aliveness (Levine & Frederick, 2005). Taking breathwork one step further, raise both arms above the head as you inhale, allowing the eye gaze to follow the hands while keeping the chin level (Rosenberg, Rand, & Assay, 1987). Five to ten of these breaths and one will feel a tingling in the whole body, with the eye focus becoming clearer and a sense of elation.

How and why does this happen?

The respiratory system is one of the only major systems in the body which is usually involuntary but can be voluntarily controlled via attention (Levine & Frederick, 1997). The rhythm of our heart is thought to be another involuntary system, but if we want to, we can change the speed of our heart by modifying our breath. Should we slow down our breath, for example, this brings the body and mind into a state of calmness and relaxation, thereby slowing the heart rate.

The Breath: A Life Force

Breath is the life force that keeps us going; if we didn’t breathe, we would die. When we are able to control the breath with breathwork, we are able to moderate the way we feel in the moment and develop a sense of control over stress levels.

Your rate of breathing and state of mind are inseparable. Using a full yogic breath or other pranayama techniques reprograms your whole cellular memory (Khalsa & Lumpkin, 2015).

History of The Breath

For thousands of years, ancient wisdom techniques from the east have exalted the virtues of breath-focused practices, such as pranayama and meditation for their numerous cognitive benefits, including an increased ability to focus, decreased mind wandering, improved arousal levels, more positive emotions, decreased emotional reactivity, and many other benefits (Yates & Immergut, 2017).

What did they know that we are just now validating scientifically? Well, a new study by researchers at Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience and the Global Brain Health Institute at Trinity, Dublin explains for the first time the neurophysiological link between breathing, cognition, and emotion. The research shows that the way we breathe directly affects the chemistry of our brains in a way that can enhance our attention and improve brain health. This study focuses on changes in the levels of noradrenaline in response to the breath. Noradrenaline is a chemical messenger released in the brain when we are challenged, curious, focused, or otherwise emotionally aroused, and when we exercise. If produced at the right levels, it is essential to help the brain grow new connections (Trinity College Dublin, 2018).

Breathwork: A Scientific Study

Outlined here by a Ph.D. candidate at the Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience and lead author of the study, Michael Melnychuk: “Practitioners of yoga have claimed for some 2,500 years, that respiration influences the mind. In our study, we looked for a neurophysiological link that could help explain these claims by measuring breathing, reaction time, and brain activity in a small area in the brainstem called the locus coeruleus, where noradrenaline is made. Noradrenaline is an all-purpose action system in the brain. When we are stressed we produce too much noradrenaline and we can’t focus. When we feel sluggish, we produce too little and again, we can’t focus. There is a sweet spot of noradrenaline in which our emotions, thinking, and memory are much clearer. This study has shown that as you breathe in, locus coeruleus activity is increased slightly, and as you breathe out it decreases. Put simply this means that our attention is influenced by our breath and that it rises and falls with the cycle of respiration. It is possible that by focusing on and regulating your breathing you can optimize your attention level and likewise, by focusing on your attention level, your breathing becomes more synchronized.”

Breathwork and Brain Aging

Even more exciting in this area of research was the understanding and uncovering of how breathwork and meditation may have an effect on the aging of the brain. Ian Robertson, Co-Director of the Global Brain Health Institute at Trinity College, Dublin, writes:

“Our findings could have particular implications for research into brain ageing. Brains typically lose mass as they age, but less so in the brains of long-term meditators. More ‘youthful’ brains have a reduced risk of dementia and mindfulness meditation techniques actually strengthen brain networks. Our research offers one possible reason for this — using our breath to control one of the brain’s natural chemical messengers, noradrenaline, which in the right ‘dose’ helps the brain grow new connections between cells. This study provides one more reason for everyone to boost the health of their brain using a whole range of activities ranging from aerobic exercise to mindfulness meditation.”

In sum, breathe deep! It’s good for your brain health.

References

Brown, R., & Gerbarg, P. (2012). The healing power of the breath: Simple techniques to reduce stress and anxiety, enhance concentration, and balance your emotions. Shambala Publishing.

Khalsa Kaur, J., & Lumpkin, N. (2015). Enlightened bodies: Exploring physical and subtle human anatomy. Kundalini Research Institute

Levine, P., & Frederick, A. (1997). Waking the tiger: Healing trauma. North Atlantic Books.

Levine, P., & Frederick, A. (2005). Healing trauma: A pioneering program for restoring the wisdom of your body. Sounds True Inc.

McKay, M., Wood, J.C., & Brantley, J. (2007). The dialectical behavior therapy skills workbook: Practical DBT exercises for learning mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, emotion regulation, and distress tolerance. New Harbinger Publications Inc.

Melnychuk, M.C., Dockree, P.M., O’Connell, R.G., Murphy, P.R., Balsters, J.H., & Robertson, I.H. (2018). Coupling of respiration and attention via the locus coeruleus: Effects of meditation and pranayama. Psychophysiology, 55(9). DOI: 10.1111/psyp.13091

Rosenberg, J.L., Rand, M, & Assay, D. (1987). Body, self, and soul: Sustaining integration. Humanics Publishing Group.

Trinity College Dublin. (2018). The Yogi masters were right — meditation and breathing exercises can sharpen your mind: New research explains link between breath-focused meditation and attention and brain health. ScienceDaily. Retrieved from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/05/180510101254.htm

Yates, J., & Immergut, M.. (2017). The mind illuminated: A complete meditation guide integrating Buddhist wisdom and brain science for greater mindfulness. Hay House Publishing.

Author

Charmaine Husum, DKATI, RTC, CT

Pleasure Hormones Help to Create Bad Habits

Whether it’s gluten, dairy, eggs, or coffee, creating bad habits may be pleasurable but also bring some level of pain. A few things factor into why they are so hard to break. One factor is the plastic nature of our brains which refers to the ability for it to change. Most of these substances catalyze the release of pleasure hormones.

Neuroplasticity

Imagine your brain as a field covered with fresh snow. You walk from one end of the field to a birch tree on the other side. Looking back, you can see your footsteps clearly carving a path from your starting point to the birch tree. Now, imagine that every day for a week, you walked that same path- following your footprints from the previous days. As more snow falls on the rest of the field, your path to and from the birch tree has been dug down to the dirt. Let’s explore more about how the human brain works.

Creating Bad Habits: How Our Brain Works

This is how the brain works when it comes to creating habits. New connections are created by every act, word, and thought. Through repeated action, pathways in the brain become reinforced and turn into a habit. ‘Walking a path’ you’ve walked many times before are similar to habits like turning to chocolate or wine when you feel stressed or sitting on the couch after a long day. These habits become so ingrained in the brain that it happens almost automatically.

Now, imagine after a week, you decide to walk from your original starting point to a pine tree on the opposite side of the field. There is no path to this tree, so you have to trudge through deep snow to get there.

But you get there.

In the same way, adopting a new habit takes more effort than keeping to status quo, but it is possible. The human brain remains plastic long into adulthood so it is never too late to create new habits! As Dr. Norman Doidge, author of The Brain That Changes Itself, says, “…we don’t so much ‘break’ bad habits as replace bad behaviors with better ones.” It all starts with a shift in attention; cultivating curiosity toward the ‘automatic’ action and introducing the possibility of NOT acting on an urge, or of responding differently.

Here’s where mindfulness comes in…

Mindfulness & The Brain

Diana Winston of UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center describes mindfulness as “Paying attention to present moment experience with open curiosity and a willingness to be with what is.” In the context of creating new habits, this means creating pause. Take a step back when you get the urge to do something you’d prefer not to do. Notice how the body feels, listening to the stories in your mind, and put distance between the urge and the action.

Simply note the feelings in your body and mind as being pleasant or unpleasant. Know that even if your immediate feelings are very unpleasant, the long-term effects of making a healthy diet and lifestyle change will produce longer-lasting and more profound benefits than the transient giddiness of a “guilty pleasure.” Bad habits will ultimately lead to long-term suffering in the form of chronic illness, cognitive decline, or metabolic imbalance. Here’s an easy exercise that will help train your brain and create new and good habits.

Functional Medicine: Training Your Brain for Good Habits

Choose one daily habit you’d like to change.

For the next week, before acting on this habit, stop and take five deep breaths. Then, notice how your body and mind feel. You don’t need to change your habit yet; just notice the feelings that come before the action.

You may want to record your discoveries in a journal.

One Last Note:

KINDNESS is KEY. Remember: you are on this journey of wellness and vitality because you care for yourself. There is nothing inherently wrong with you. There are merely subtle refinements to be made in your physical health which can help you to feel more fully alive and ready to share your unique gifts with the world. Together, we are working as a team to optimize your health. We want to see you shine! Throughout this process, especially in times of challenge and transition, remind yourself that you are here at Linden & Arc Vitality Institute because you love yourself enough to want to feel better. Be kind in the way you relate to your mind and your body. Be curious about why you’ve developed certain habits and resist the temptation to judge yourself for them. If you take a step back or can’t find clarity at the end of certain suffering, choose to trust the process and keep going. Do this because you love yourself; because you’re worth it.

Interested in reading more on mindfulness? We recommend Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn, and The Mind & The Brain by Jeffrey Schwartz, M.D

“Mindfulness is about being fully awake in our lives. It is about perceiving the exquisite vividness of each moment. We also gain immediate access to our own powerful inner resources for insight, transformation, and healing.” – Jon Kabat-Zinn

The Ketogenic (keto) diet has become somewhat trendy. There is a ton of information floating around the internet about it. What’s missing is a fundamental explanation of why it is so powerful and the more advanced techniques that take it to the next level.

Benefits of the Ketogenic Diet

It can reduce inflammation, clear the skin and mind, give bountiful energy, burn fat, squelch cravings, and more. Fasting is a large part of the diet. It’s important to follow the method properly to achieve those proven results.

The best layout we’ve seen for following the keto diet is on Dr. Jocker’s website. He covers the benefits and breaks down the science of how to follow a cyclic ketogenic diet in a way that is best for your body. You’ll find the philosophy behind it, the different methods, the process, and the program levels.

Functional Medicine uses the ketogenic diet for its specific health benefits in treating certain conditions. We’ll help you create a personal plan that is at a level you are comfortable with. There is a beginner, intermediate, and advanced plan and you can work your way up.

To learn more about how it can promote better health, book an initial consultation with our team. Contact us or email [email protected].

Tag: wellness