Are you feeding your BRAIN?

by Glen Depke, Traditional Naturopath

What foods does your brain love? 

Understanding that nearly 60% of your brain is made up of fat, it would make sense of getting more of them as a primary source of fuel. 

This is not getting just any fat though...

The artificial trans fats are some of the most damaging fats for your brain and overall health, leading to factors associated with memory loss, depression and so many challenges in your body. Add in the fact that an over-consumption of fats like omega 6 fatty acids can actually work against your goals by fueling pro-inflammatory pathways. Unfortunately with all the vegetable oils in our standard American diet we are now getting a 20:1 ratio, or more, of omega 6 fatty acids to omega 3 fatty acids. This should be closer to a 3:1 ratio.

This is important to understand since these may be the reasons that your memory may not be as sharp as it used to be, among many other challenges.

So what fats are the key?

Your brain loves a variety of fats.

Some of the best fats associated with enhanced cognitive function are Medium Chain Fatty Acids, with many studies even hinting towards the prevention of neurodegenerative diseases like Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease. 

You can get more medium chain fatty acids by consuming coconut oil. There has even been some recent information available as a strong benefit of coconut oil for those diagnosed with ALS.

Another important “Brain Fat” are omega 3 fatty acids, specifically the super charged omega 3 docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). The DHA component of your omega 3 simply put, is brain food.

DHA has been found in your brain’s cell membranes and retina. The consumption of DHA has also been associated with a decreased risk of Alzheimer’s Disease in the early stages. 
One of the more recent studies from the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that people who regularly eat DHA and EPA rich fish have larger and healthier brains than those who don’t.

Many experts believe that DHA achieves its cognitive effects by limiting the impact of stress and enhancing the synaptic neuron connection in your brain. You have heard me mention many times in the past that stress has an accumulative effect on the brain and this absolutely needs to be addressed.

In a recent randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled study, elderly people with mild cognitive impairment received either DHA fish oil or placebo capsules. After a year, the fish oil group showed significant improvements in short-term working memory. 

The next study is very interesting because medical students acted as test subjects.
In this recent double- blind study, coming from The Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research at Ohio State University, 68 healthy medical students were given EPA and DHA supplementation for 12 weeks. At the end of the study, supplementation with EPA and DHA showed a significant decrease in inflammatory markers and reduced symptoms of anxiety on the student’s test day. 

These studies are just some of the impacts on why I take omega 3 fatty acids myself and why I recommend these to my clients. Actually every adrenal client I work with is recommend a EPA/DHA-CoQ10 liquid supplement.

If you’re struggling with memory loss, poor cognitive performance, or depression, take a good hard look at what you are using to fuel your brain. Is it the high omega 6 fatty acids in vegetable oils or the high omega 3's in high quality fish, grass fed beef or a quality liquid omega 3 fatty acid supplement.?

Only you can answer this question...

Let's not forget the medium chain fatty acid in coconut oil also.

If your fats are processed and pro-inflammatory, your brain will NOT like it, and your brain will let you know by being slow, unhappy, and not sharp enough when you most need it. 

The point is to cut out the junk food and the foods that promote pro-inflammatory pathways and you can easily do this by reducing your omega 6 intake. That means moderation on the nuts and seeds and simply saying no to industrial and highly processed vegetable oils.  


Simply put, give your brain the what it craves!

So I do recommend you increase your intake of omega 3’s (DHA and EPA to be more precise) by eating more wild caught fish and grass fed beef while using a high quality liquid omega 3 supplement.

As mentioned above, I recommend the Pure Encapsulations liquid EPA/DHA-CoQ10 to my clients and take this myself. I always recommend liquid omega 3's for two reasons. Number one, the liquids are much easier for your digestive system and allow for an ease of absorption and assimilation into your body. The second reason is tied into the importance of consuming a "fresh" omega 3 fatty acids. It has been brought to my attention that the gel caps of omega 3 fatty acids run to risk of actually being rancid and adding a rancid fat into your body is not a good idea. With the liquid, you would absolutely know if this was rancid because you would recognize a foul odor that you would not recognize if you were taking a gel cap.

Note that you can bite into your gel cap to see for yourself if your product is fresh or rancid. Trust me, you'll know that difference.

The other benefit of the EPA/DHA-Coq10 liquid is the CoQ10 aspect. CoQ10 is a coenzyme that is the driving force behind every mitochondria, which is the little engine that drives every cell in your body. Sounds kind of important, huh?

If you have any comments or questions, feel free to post these below. I will respond personally.

Is Inflammation Killing You?

by Glen Depke

I know that title is a bit extreme, but you know the old saying, when the shoe fits...

I know, we have been discussing inflammation quite a bit recently but sometimes you come across something so earth shattering that you simply cannot wait to share.

Well, this is one of those shares.

Before we get going, I will provide a brief review the inflammatory process and its affects on the body.

First of all inflammation is a positive response of a healthy immune system but this is without the added triggers and the assumption that all the factors tied into pro and anti-inflammatory processes are working properly. With that said, we can recognize that those with chronic illness generally do not fit in this category.

Most of us fit into the inflammatory process discussed here:

• One of the many triggers that stimulate the receptors that initiate inflammation are present. These are some of the main triggers:
• Mental/emotional stress
• Nutritional stress
• Infections
• Chemotherapy
• Obesity
• Addiction
• ...and more
• The receptors initiate an NF-kB state which is a chronic inflammatory state
• This NF-kB state induces an immune system response
• This response can lead to (the more common are bold):
• Cachexia or wasting syndrome which is a loss of weight, muscle atrophy, fatigue, weakness, and significant loss of appetite in someone who is not actively trying to lose weight
• Adipocytes or fat/connective tissue cells that have differentiated and become specialized in the synthesis (manufacture) and storage of fat also known as chronic weight gain
• Anorexia
• Chronic Fatigue
• Depression
• Neuropathic pain
• Anxiety
• Cognitive impairment
• Sleep disorders
• Dellirium
• ...and so much more

For years in my clinics, we have been addressing inflammatory challenges in the following ways:

• Recognizing and removing the triggers that cause the inflammation, whether this be stress, nutritional, infection, obesity, addiction or other
• Supporting adrenal function to allow proper production of the body's natural anti-inflammatory which is cortisol
• Utilizing anti-inflammatory supplements such as omega 3 fatty acids as well as metabolic enzymes

While this and other factors provided a significant benefit for many clients over the years, there has still been that select few that are finding themselves extremely frustrated. These are the clients that are doing everything correct and still find themselves suffering the pain and discomfort of chronic inflammatory states.

Here's the kicker that is a new found knowledge for me.

While I have always know about chronic inflammatory states, better know in the industry as NF-kB states, what I did not realize is the feedback loops that these states create within themselves. Once you are in this chronic inflammatory state, the NF-kB has the ability to basically feed itself even if you remove all the triggers and basically do everything correctly.

There are feedback loops easily tied into weight gain, gut challenges, immune dysregulation, immune cell activation, poor liver function and so much more. Remember, these feedback loops often continue even if you are doing everything correctly and eliminate all your triggers.

OK, so what's a person to do with these chronic NF-kB states. 

First of all it is still very important to eliminate as many of the triggers as possible and create some balance within your adrenal function. From here it is important to use the best available products to push yourself out of the feedback loops of the NF-kB state.

All the research points to two key ingredients to do the job. Those ingredients are curcumin and resveratrol. The resveratrol is such a powerful component within this cycle that drug companies are racing to create a synthetic to this compound so they can charge you and your insurance company the big bucks for what you can use right now for such a small cost.

Don't go running to the store though to pick these up in capsules. 

While there may be a benefit for a select few of you, many that are deep in this state need something more potent that the capsules. There is a company that produces a emulsified liquid version of both the curcumin and resveratrol that is 4 - 6 times more potent than the capsule and understand that taking the combination of these together severely amplify the suppression of the NF-kB state.

Unfortunately this company does not allow me to sell these over the Internet, so there would have to be direct contact with Depke Wellness. If you would like to discuss the inflammatory programs used by Depke Wellness to stop the NF-kB state, you can call the office direct at 949.954.6226. We work with clients in office as well as via phone consultations.

With all this said, can you now understand the title, "Is Inflammation Killing You?"

If you have any comments or questions in regard to this article feel free to post these below for me to answer personally.

Anxious, Depressed, Unmotivated?

by Glen Depke

It is interesting for most of us the we feel our anxiety, depression or lack of motivation is derived from situations in our lives. While I don't want to take away the reality of your situations or the impact this has on your life, I will share that most of the anxiety, depression or lack of motivation is typically fueled by other life's imbalances.

Let's first look at the situations.

To be real, we ALL have situations. I do, you do and the person sitting next to you does. So why is it that one person will fall into depression, be completely stressed out or another may lose all levels of motivation to move forward in life? Is it really the situations?

The answer is typically a flat out, NO!

You nay be surprised at the underlying core challenges tied into your anxiety, depression or lack of motivation. The two main areas to look at are actually tied into your gut and your brain. I know, what can I be talking about?

Let's look at it very simply.

We ALL have the natural inherited ability to find the highest level of happiness available within every situation but often this ability is severely hindered by other physical challenges in the body. Remember from previous articles that I mentioned the gut/brain connection? Understanding that what goes on in your gut is also going on in your brain. Often individuals will be living with significant yet often undiagnosed gut challenges due to consumption of intolerant foods, poor digestion and/or poor diet. When we have gut challenges, this will have direct impact on your brain function and your ability to cope with situations in your life. Easy things that you can do right now to address this is to assess your likelihood of a gluten intolerance but completing this complimentary questionnaire at the bottom of the page here. You could also add a quality probiotic and digestive enzyme to optimize your own digestion and begin gut repair.

The other area to recognize is tied into your own brain history. So often individuals have occurred some type of brain trauma in their younger years and are paying for this now with the inability to "deal" with situations in their life currently. I can remember when I was younger falling on my ten speed bicycle when I was cruising at full speed. Doing something stupid of course. Well, the trauma early in life led to long term brain inflammation that needed to be addressed properly. I feel that this was one of the underlying core components to a seizure disorder I had in the past and also why my situations where challenging for me in my younger years. Working through my own gut/brain issues and living a health nutritional life has allowed my to not only walk away from a seizure disorder, but this also allows me to deal with situations in my life with relative ease.

This too can be you!

Follow these steps to begin this change in your life.

1. If you do not already, take a quality probiotic
2. If you do not already, take a quality digestive enzyme
3. Focus on your fundamentals of health
4. Assess your likelihood of a gluten intolerance and avoid this ingredient is needed
5. If you believe a past brain trauma may be hindering your ability to cope contact a qualified natural health care provider or contact me personally 
6. Understand that you have an ability to find the highest level of happiness in EVERY situation that you are involved in

These are the simple levels for you to begin your journey to empowerment, happiness and motivation. There are other levels to address as you continue this journey but it is important to simply start somewhere.

As always, if you have any comments or questions in regard to this article post this below for me to address personally. If you would like to learn more about the protocols used by Depke Wellnesss, feel free to register for a complimentary 20 minute phone consultation to address this by registering here. Your only commitment is time.

The Death of a Woman

by Glen Depke

It is recognized that during the life transition known as menopause, there is a significant decrease in the health and wellness for most women in our culture. This is due to the fact that most women move into menopausal years in a state of adrenal exhaustion. There are many different factors that tie into adrenal exhaustion, which is a subject in and by itself. If the adrenals are not in adequate function moving into this life transition, this leads to the possibility of increase of cardiovascular disease, stroke, osteoporosis, dementia, Alzheimer's disease, arthritis, and autoimmune disease. The typical symptoms initially felt for women that move into menopuase are listed below.

• Hot flashes
• Vaginal dryness
• Changes in skin tone
• Depression
• Poor concentration and memory
• Irregular periods
• Hair loss and thinning
• Pain and inflammation
• Weight gain
• Decreased cognitive function 
• Blood sugar imbalance

When I refer to the drop in health and wellness for women at this time, it is recognized that during a woman's life span, there will generally be a very slow and gradual decline in health known as the natural aging process. But when women enter the transition of menopause without healthy adrenal function, there is a very steep and dramatic drop in the health of a woman during the period of this transition. So there are two ways to address this. Either get your adrenals into optimal health prior to menopause or put out the fire of your symptoms and take the necessary steps balance this neuroendocrine, immunology dysfunction. 

As a woman, if you can move into this transition with a balance of your fundamentals of health and healthy adrenals this can potentially make all the difference in the world. You can continue the slow and steady aging process rather then the steep and dramatic drop off or this "death."

Understanding that once you are in the midst of these symptoms and health challenges created at this time, it is not only a hormonal issue. It truly is a brain, hormone, immune, gut, and adrenal issue. When address properly, you can find your balance once again and live a life of health and happiness.

If you would like to learn more about the Depke Wellness protocols on this subject, feel free to leave a post below for my personal response or call my office (949)954-6226 to set up a COMPLIMENTARY 20 minute phone session.

What is the Gut/Brain Connection?

by Glen Depke

So you think your brain is all in your head? Well, think again. Obviously it starts in your head but your brain extends into the brain stem, from there this leads to the vagus nerve which then extends throughout the gastrointestinal system. Yes that same nerve tissue that is within your brain extends into the gut and oh, what a connection!

Seriously about 90% of your brain output is directed through the vagus nerve and due to this lower brain dysfunction very often leads to digestive difficulties without any noticeable sign of neural degeneration. It is actually suggested that Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), is the result of a “disturbed” neural function along the gut/brain connection.

The gut/brain connection is a parasympathetic activity and does not react well to chronic stress. When under stress there is a significant suppression of blood flow to the gut and stress has an accumulative effect on the brain. This is one of the many reasons why emotional release is so important in my practice with my clients. It has been shown that anywhere from 50 to 90% of chronic gut challenges is also dealing with psychiatric disorders. The other challenge that arises out of this is within your immune system function due to the fact that approximately 80% of your immune system function originates in the gut.

For my left brain followers, let’s take a quick look at the neurology of gastrointestinal activity. The frontal cortex excites the vagal nuclei to activate the gut motility and enzyme secretion. The insular cortex actually lets the brain know where the gut is. The vagal nuclei which is affected by both of these cortexes activates the intestinal motor cells for gut motility, regulates the gut blood flow and activates the release of intestinal enzymes. From there, the enteric nervous system generates intestinal motility, generates enzyme release and provides input to the vagus nerve. And the cycle continues…

It is also important to understand that this gut/brain connection goes both ways. You can also be living with a gut challenge that will then affect brain function. This is typically due to inflammation within the gut. Remember that gut inflammation decreases neuron function and honestly most people are living with chronic gut inflammation on a daily basis. See last month’s article on leaky gut or other posts on gluten intolerance.

Some other keys to remember is that brain fog is a sign of neural inflammation often due to gut inflammation and if consuming a particular food affects your ability to think, it is suggested to address both the brain and the gut. Another significant factor is the result of a physical brain trauma. Often brain trauma leads to gut dysfunction.

The noticeable brain symptoms tied into the gut/brain connection are listed below.
• Brain Fog
• Poor Brain Function
• Cold Hands and Feet
• Inability to Experience Joy or to Motivate
• Easily Upset of Feelings of Worthlessness
• Poor Memory or Difficulty Learning
• Anxiety or Nervousness

Other important distinctions to reveal is the ghrelin which is a hormone produced in the gut, has a stimulating effect on neurotransmitters, poor brain function can lead to dysbiosis (poor bacteria balance), and dysbiosis can lead to depression.

So what can you do? Depending on the symptoms you are experiencing, there are specific supplements you can use to allow your body to balance that particular area of the gut/brain connection. If you live a sedentary lifestyle, it is advised to get up and move, since movement will activate your neurological system.

To get moving in the right direction, assess you likelihood of gluten intolerance by visiting Depke Wellness and following the Gluten Intolerance link and complete the questionnaire linked at the bottom of that page. Be sure to take your probiotic on a regular basis. Personally I use a probiotic called Ba-Co-Flor which I get from Germany. I have used this with my clients and personally for over 10 years with great results. If you would like information on this, you would have to contact me directly at 949.954.6226 or email me at Glen@DepkeWellness.com.

Another step is to address leaky gut if this is a challenge. If you did not read the article on leaky gut I would suggest you visit this to understand the likelihood of this being a challenge. Click here to view this article.

If you are interested in hearing more about the specific supplements used per neurological symptoms as listed above, leaky gut or any other challenge to the gut/brain connection, feel free to register here for a FREE 20 minute phone consultation to understand my protocols used with my clients.

If you have any other questions or comments, feel free to leave your post below and I will address this personally.

Could I Have Leaky Gut?

by Glen Depke, Traditional Naturopath

Absolutely you could have leaky gut. It is estimated that approximately 80% of health challenged individuals are struggling with this, and very surprising that approximately 30% of what we would consider healthy individuals, are also struggling with leaky gut. This really grabbed my attention as I was researching this further and further; recognizing that I had many of the red flags and mechanisms for this challenge myself. I would consider myself to be more in the upper percentile of healthy individuals, so how could I have leaky gut?

If you are health challenged or consider yourself healthy, I would recommend looking at leaky gut as a possibility and if you are a health profession, it is suggested that you look for this challenge with your patients or clients. If this is missed, you may be missing a significant component to slow or halt the healing process.

So what is leaky gut? First of all, I would suggest that it is really leaky small intestines. This creates a situation in your small intestines whereas the tight junctions that typically allow the vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and coenzymes to be absorbed through are now compromised. This will allow large undigested compounds, toxins and bacteria to be absorbed and assimilated. If you guessed that this would create some substantial challenges, you guessed right. These undigested proteins create an undesirable reaction in the underlying intestinal immune system, which promotes exaggerated immune responses. This then creates a viscous cycle of further intestinal inflammation and even further loss of integrity within the small intestines.

There are many mechanisms that can lead to leaky gut and I will list them below. Do you find that many of these initial mechanisms are currently a part of your life?

·Dietary

o Excessive alcohol

o Gluten

o Processed foods

o Excessive sugar

o Fast foods

· Medications

o Corticosteroids

o Antibiotics

o Antacids

o Xenobiotics

· Infections

o H-pylori

o Bacteria overgrowth

o Yeast overgrowth

o Intestinal virus

o Parasitic infections

· Stress

o High cortisol

o High CRH

o High Cat

· Hormonal

o Low thyroid hormones

o Low progesterone

o Low estradiol

o Low Testosterone

· Neurological

o Brain trauma

o Stroke

o Neurodegeneration

· Metabolic

o Intestinal inflammation

o Autoimmune

Based on the mechanisms that create leaky gut, you can see why this would be such a challenge overall in our culture. There are many health challenges that are directly associated with leaky gut as listed below.

· Fibromyalgia

· Chronic fatigue

· Depression

· Chronic inflammatory conditions

· Chronic Pain

· Inflammatory bowel

· Autoimmune disorders

· Multiple food sensitivities

· Chronic yeast overgrowth syndromes

· Brain fog

· Extreme sensitivities

Basically, if you are fatigued, depressed or inflamed it is important to address the possibility of leaky gut.

So how do you know if you have leaky gut? Well, if you are like me and you are feeling the symptoms and you have the mechanisms you can be very confident that this is a challenge and implement the dietary and supplement protocol to heal your gut. If you desire confirmation, I would recommend testing the will assess permeability/dysbiosis, epithelial cell damage as well as tight junction damage. Many labs only test the tight junction damage which may be incomplete for you if you are attempting to absolutely confirm leaky gut.

What is a person to do if they know you have leaky gut? First of all, you definitely want to fix this. Don’t think you can do this half _ _ _, if you know what I mean. Depending on the severity and longevity of this challenge you may be on a leaky gut protocol from 10 to 90 days. For an acute repair after let’s say antibiotic treatment or a night of far too much alcohol, you can use a 3 day protocol. Sometimes it is best to be preventive when you know the mechanisms are ripe for you.

This requires a specific diet to completely avoid all foods that are fueling the challenge, regular probiotic use, supplements to repair the gut lining as well as supplements to address the secondary gut challenges tied into leaky gut.

I cannot use words strong enough to point out the necessity of addressing leaky gut and the high percentage of individuals currently living with leaky gut.

If you would like to discuss my approach to leaky gut with me, Depke Wellness offers a complimentary 20 minute initial phone session to understand our approach of getting to the core of your health challenges. Visit here to register for your complimentary session.

If you have any questions or comments feel free to post this below and I will answer them personally.