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Eternity Health Pillar Four: Nutrition

Let’s face it, people love food. Celebrated as a cultural practice, food brings together families and communities. It is both nourishing and pleasurable and ultimately, it is highly controversial.

When it comes to nutrition, it often seems that people, experts included, cannot agree on anything. While established that there is not one precise nutritional prescription that is universal law, we stand by certain truths that go beyond the cliché “you are what you eat.”

Avoid Sugary Foods Sugar is a drug. Adding sugar to improve the taste of processed foods is a health care disaster. This white liar of “empty” calories kills millions of people each year. There are no nutrients in sugar. Not so sweet right? The high fructose content of added sugar is metabolized strictly by the liver. High intake has been linked with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, insulin resistance, elevated triglycerides, abdominal obesity and high cholesterol over time. Sugar is also highly addictive accompanied by often intense cravings. Street legal and lethal, sugar is a raw deal. Add More Omega-3 Omega-3 fatty acids are under-rated and most people do not get enough for proper functioning of the human body. For example, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), an omega-3 fatty acid derived from animals, makes up about 10-20% of the total fat content in the brain. A low intake of omega-3 is associated with lower IQ, depression, various mental disorders, heart disease and many other serious illnesses. There are three main types of omega-3 fats: alpha-linolenic acid (ALA0, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Good sources of omega-3 fatty acids include plant oils, fatty fish, fish oils, and grass-fed meat and omega-3 enriched or pastured eggs. Supplements, while helpful, should never completely replace whole food nutrition. Cut Out Artificial Trans Fats Artificial trans fats are evil. We won’t side step that one. Trans fats are formed as a side product when vegetable oils are hydrogenated. Food producers often use hydrogenation to harden vegetable oils for use in products such as margarine. A high intake of trans fats is directly associated with various chronic diseases, such as abdominal obesity, inflammation and heart disease. If we could eradicate one nutritional gangster from diets, it would be trans fats.

Lean and Green!

Vegetables are good for you. OK, duh. These fiber rich powerhouses are packed full of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and trace nutrients. Survey says, eating vegetables will improve your health and lower your risk of disease. Pro tip: keep them crunchy.

The Importance of Vitamin D

It is critical to avoid a Vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D is emerging as a nutritional superhero. This unique vitamin actually functions as a hormone in the body. If you’re deficient in vitamin D (and most people are), then you are lacking a major hormone in the body. Deficiency is associated with many serious diseases including diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis, depression and others. Unfortunately, it may be difficult to get enough vitamin D from the diet and this is one supplement we highly recommend. Ask us more about how to add Vitamin D!

Refined vs. Unrefined Carbs

Digging deeper into the controversy of nutrition, perhaps the heart of it, we must discuss refined carbohydrates. Yes, they are bad for you. Refined carbohydrates are not the same as unrefined carbohydrates. Unrefined carbohydrates are whole foods rich in carbs and include whole-grain cereals, beans, vegetables and fruits. Refined carbs are sugar and refined flour. When high carb foods such as grains are processed, the most nutritious parts are stripped off. What is left are massive amounts of easily digestible starch. Eating refined carbs will cause rapid spikes in blood glucose creating a risk for metabolic syndrome, enhancing cravings, and making it easier to store fat.

Supplements

Supplements can never fully replace real foods. You can’t take a multi-vitamin with a diet coke and call it a day. Real foods carry a massive variety of trace nutrients that are essential to optimal health and disease control. Supplements can simply not match the variety of nutrients in real food. However, supplements can be beneficial as a “supplement.” Think Vitamin D! However, no amount of supplements will ever make up for a bad diet loaded in refined carbs, processed food, and sugar. Not a chance.

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Stay Away from Processed Food

Unprocessed food will always be the healthiest option. As the food system has become more industrialized, the health of the population has deteriorated. During food processing, many of the beneficial nutrients in food are removed. Additionally, processed foods are loaded with all sorts of artificial chemicals, some of which have a questionable safety profile. Eat real food. Mostly plants. Not too much.

There is no one perfect diet for everyone. In fact, diets don’t work because clients often feel deprived and restricted. Nutritional changes must be approached as a lifestyle modification. That being said, what works for one person may not work for the next. Many do very well on low carb diets rich in omega-3 fats, while others flourish with vegetarian high unrefined carb intakes. A very popular trend that is quickly becoming foundation is intermittent fasting. Many of our clients find greater success when adapting a fasting state into their routine than with any other program. At Eternity Health, we spend a great deal of time in the “food zone.” We offer a variety of nutritional resources and provide coaching. Nutrition is the cornerstone to optimal health and longevity. Period.

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MEET ELIZABETH BECKNER AND DAISHA ESCAMILLA

OUR CALIFORNIA LICENSED PHLEBOTOMISTS

Liz started doing personal blood draws after her son, Dashiell, was born with Zellwegers disease. His diagnosis required numerous blood draws and drug levels throughout his life. After sitting through long wait times at the labs followed by watching many different phlebotomists, many new to the job, struggle to find his veins, often poking him multiple times, as a seasoned phlebotomist, Liz decided to draw his blood at home and hand deliver it to the lab myself. Soon after she began doing personal touch blood draws so she can now offer that same personalized service to you.

Liz graduated from Pepperdine University with a degree in Biology in 1994. She moved to Santa Barbara and earned her phlebotomy certificate in 1995. Liz began working at St. Francis Medical Center in the Physical Therapy Department and quickly transferred to the Laboratory. Perfecting her venipuncture techniques on all floors of the hospital, including post-operative patients, pregnant women going into labor, sick or premature babies, and emergency room patrons, she then improved her patient care skills working for internal medicine doctors, one of whom was the Medical Director of Hospice and won Doctor of the Year. In 1999, Liz started working with a group of local retinal surgeons. Her primary job consisted of injecting dye into arm veins and photographing its flow through the patients retinal vessels. When patients are worried about their diagnosis or apprehensive about the procedure because of difficult veins, her quick, almost pain free needle stick and kind but professional bed side manner would put them at ease.

The various settings and patients Liz has encountered over the years have enabled her to become very skilled at finding the smallest and most fragile of vessels. Her specialities include infants and the elderly, diabetics of all ages, patients with rolling veins, on blood thinners or chemotherapy. She lives in downtown Santa Barbara, travels from Goleta to Carpintera and brings all the necessary supplies directly to you. All she needs from you is a lab request and your home or office becomes an instant draw station. Appointment times are very flexible, and she is friendly, reliable and punctual. Be kind to your arm and treat yourself to the luxury blood draw you deserve!!!

MEET MICHAEL BROOKINS; BS, CNMT, ABAAHP

Mike brings more than just a medical perspective to his clients; at the age of 14, he began an athletic career as a pole-vaulter that would end up taking him on an incredible journey over the next 13 years of his life. Throughout his athletic journey Mike was constantly working to find the ideal balance of fitness and proper nutrition in order to maximize his performances. Combined with his medical knowledge the years of athletic experience provide a unique and successful combination that serve to benefit his staff and clients.

“After I shifted the focus of my practice from Sports Medicine into Nuclear Medicine specifically Interventional Endocrinology. I found myself questioning our western medical paradigm…Here I was performing thyroid cancer and Hyperthyroidism treatments with harmful radical thyroid radioactive ablations which really made me take a hard look in the mirror and become more of a researcher to find safer and more effective options to better treat my clients. During my research I realized that there were very few, if any, medically directed programs focused towards achieving a “Healthier Lifestyle” rather than typical “Diet” fads.” A few years later after training and working with some of the worlds foremost Bio-identical Hormone Replacement specialists I became Board Certified in Anti-Aging and Regenerative Medicine. Sort of just found my passion and the answers I had been looking for with this new specialty finally after years of treating people with the Band-Aid “fix it when its broken” mentality instead of at the root cause.”

Mike has spent the last 10 years in Anti-Aging, Functional and Regenerative Medicine. He has trained over 120 physicians in Anti-Aging and Regenerative Medicine and consulting for their practices. Today his vision is a reality, and clients from all of the world come to benefit from the successful programs that have been established at Age Management Institute Santa Barbara. He firmly believes in educating the patient about the importance of good nutrition, hormone balance, stress management, and regular exercise is the key to aging well and having a high quality of life well into your golden years.