Interesting and Potentially Scary Health Facts

Here are some interesting facts tied into our shopping choices, insurance costs and a potentially very scary fact for all of us.

Enjoy!

•          Due to our cultural shift in nutritional integrity, In 2010 fresh format grocery stores experienced an impressive sales gains of 10.8%

•          99.7% of US shoppers bought some fresh fruits or veggies when shopping. Here are the most popular:

o   Bananas 85.9%

o   Potatoes 84.3%

o   Onions 82.7%

o   Tomatoes 80.5%

o   Citrus Fruits 73.0%

o   Apples 71.0%

• ·        Many companies are now offering wellness programs to assist in lowering their health care costs. Here are the most popular offered:

o   Wellness programs 59%

o   Smoking cessation programs 39%

o   Health screenings 38%

o   Fitness center subsidy/reimbursement 35%

o   Weight loss programs 30%

o   Nutritional counseling 19%

o   On site fitness classes 12%

o   Health care premium discount for getting annual health risk assessment 10%

•          The SCARY interesting fact is “man-made” meat

o   Scientists in the Netherlands are working to make beef in labs from about 10,000 stem cells collected by cattle

o   They hope to mass produce beef WITHOUT cattle

o   Whether you are a meat eater or vegan, this could be scary. Ouch!

The Standard American Diet Experiment

by Glen Depke

OK, so most of you know me by now and understand the I hold a high level of nutritional integrity. You may wonder what I mean by this. To put it simply, this is my typical nutritional plan.

•  I follow a version of a protein type meal plan
• Almost always include a protein, carbohydrate and fat together for my meals 
• Utilize probiotics daily as well as a digestive enzyme with any cooked food meal
•  I typically eat gluten only about 2 to 4 times all year (Save those times for some of my old favorites)
•  I rarely eat corn or grains
•  I drink 2-3 sodas all year and only those with real sugar, none of that high fructose poison or even worse the sugar substitute poisons
•  I do occasionally have some wine, a cocktail or gluten free beer
•  Always make the effort to eat the best possible food source available
• Overall I am not perfect nutritionally but I eat very well about 90% of the time, which is exactly what I teach most of my clients

Based on my general meal plan and overall health plan, I will share that my mental/emotional health and clarity is very strong and my memory is definitely above average. My energy is typically high physically, mentally and emotionally during most moments and I sleep well, while waking ready to rock and roll.

Well with that said, I will share that I performed an experiment the past 6 days.

I went back to the Chicago area to visit my family and friends for a 6 day trip. During this trip, I made the choice to try some old food favorites from back in the day. Here is a list of some of the foods I experimented with.

•  Pizza twice (yes, with gluten containing crust)
• An Italian beef sandwich (with the bread) and French fries
•  A gyro (with the pita) and French fries
• 1-3 drinks 3 out of the 6 days (1 gluten containing beer)
• 2 milk shakes (chocolate of course)
• Some pringles

Now when I was not eating or drinking the above foods I was making the best choices available. I stopped at Whole Foods and picked up some organic free range fertile eggs, kombucha and some filtered water. I brought with me some raw soaked almonds and when I was out, I did make positive choices when I was not experimenting with the (SAD) foods above.

So what do you think was the response to my experiment?

Well number one, even though I still went to bed early most evenings and had adequate sleep, I never felt completely rested. I did not wake with that same vigor. I also had a tough time maintaining energy through the day and was often exhausted into the evening. My bowel movements, while normal in regard to quantity, were definitely challenged in quality. I was bloated with consistency. My memory was severely challenged. Heck, I had to call my bank to let them know I was out of state on vacation to allow use of my credit card and I couldn’t remember my street address to save my life. I also noticed that I was not the same man emotionally. I felt as if others thought I was a crab a_ _ at times.

All from 9 poor choices over a 6 day period!

Overall I think you can see the effect that just a small amount of the (SAD) can have on your sleep, your energy, your digestive system and your mental/emotional health.

I remember the day that I had the gyro plate with fries, it was so yummy that I took the left overs back to eat the next day. When I spent the entire day belching up the gyro, I threw it out because I simply could not go through that again.

So here are the key points to understand. The standard American diet (SAD) in even very small amounts on a consistent basis is very detrimental to your health. It is so important to make a commitment to quality nutritional choices at least 90% of the time.

Think of it this way. If you eat 3 meals per day, which is what I would typically recommend, you would consume 21 meals in one week’s time. 90% would be eating quality foods, right for your Nutritional ID, for 19 of those meals. The other 2 meals, do what you want. Be open to some of your old favorites as long as they do not contain intolerant foods, such as gluten if you have a gluten intolerance. This creates a freedom and removes the restrictions that can stifle most.

When you begin eating in this way and your energy, physically, mentally and emotionally improves on every level it then becomes easier to make your own choice to cut back on the challenging meals for yourself. You’ll begin to get addicted to feeling good!

Thankfully, I am on the plane and heading back to California. Can’t wait to get back to my regular eating plan and feeling amazing! While some of those old favorites still taste so good, they simply are not worth the pain and discomfort.

The taste of some of our poor quality nutritional favorites does not come close to the way amazing feels!

If you are already eating well and feeling the benefits of this, please pat yourself on the back and be an example for so many others. If you are eating the (SAD) let my experiment be a lesson for you and understand that there are some incredible levels of health waiting for you simply by improving your digestion and eating well.

You can do it!

I wanted to share a late entry to this article. Remember, I originally wrote this on my plane ride back to California. Well, after being back a few days, I found myself challenged with a bacterial infection that I picked up somewhere during my travels that really took me down for a few days.

Do I think this was a coincidence or did my poor choices leave me suspect to this? I think you already know my answer to this.

If you would like to learn more about improving your digestion, assessing food intolerance or assessing your Nutritional ID, register here for a complimentary 20 minute phone conversation with me personally.

As always, if you have any comments or questions in regard to the 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.

What's Male Menopause?

by Glen Depke

I want to first share that there is so much information available on menopausal symptoms for women. Unfortunately much of this information is inadequate but at least there is some level of focus and understanding. About the only focus on male menopause is the occasional commercial on the radio to sell some supplements to enhance testosterone production.

With today’s article you will understand that increasing your testosterone level may actually be making your worse. It is unfortunate that most of the information available is based on the false information that this is only an endocrine dysfunction. This is truly a neuroendocrine immunological disorder. You’ll understand soon.

Let’s start with the fact that what most know as male menopause is properly referred to as andropause. I know, so now what is andropause?

It is always easiest to first describe what most men will feel when they are experiencing andropause.

•       Do you recognize a lack of passion?
•       Lack of drive?
•       Lack of motivation?
•       Do you find yourself more interesting in the couch than much of anything else?

Unlike the dramatic changes that women will occur when they are experiencing symptoms of menopause, the age related hormonal changes in men occur gradually throughout many years and are not as obvious.

I also want you to understand that andropause is not an age thing. Often men can be experiencing andropause early in adulthood. There really is not magic age of hormonal dysfunction for men as generally recognized in women.

Of the ten most common causes of death in men, this is a list that would tie directly into andropause.

•       Heart disease
•       Stroke
•       Diabetes
•       Suicide (Depression)
•        Alzheimer’s disease

You’ve waited long enough. Here is the answer to “what is andropause?”

The first understanding is that the shift into andropause is generally caused by chronic inflammatory conditions or chronic insulin challenges. Obviously the insulin challenges are typically nutritionally based but most do not understand that the chronic inflammation is also typically nutritionally based. When we eat foods that drive up blood glucose levels this creates insulin issues and when we consume foods that we are intolerant to, we create chronic inflammation.

Once we are experiencing this chronic insulin reaction and/or chronic inflammation, this leads to altered androgen balance. This leads to further systemic inflammation and further gut challenges. In turn, this will lead to brain issues, obesity and vascular disorders.

Ouch!

All this without recognition until it seems to be too late. The good news is that even if you’re already in the midst of this chaos, it’s not too late.

I also want you to think about what I mentioned earlier, this is not only a hormonal issue. This is also an immunological and brain issue. If you only address the hormonal issue you may not only be missing the boat, you may actually be making this worse.

If you have had your hormones checked and your practitioner told you that your testosterone levels are low and you are now taking supplemental testosterone, you could be worsening your issues. This is because one of the patterns of male aging is the aromatization of testosterone into estrogens. Basically this is due to an enzyme that creates this conversion.

Yes, you heard it correct, you could be converting your testosterone to estrogen type hormones. All right guys, is there anyone ready this that feels they want or need more estrogen?

I think not!

There are other patterns that may lead to depressed free testosterone, which is so important to us men. This could also be tied into the precursors of testosterone production being inhibited or other forms of testosterone production that react poorly to testosterone receptors.

I know some of this may get a bit technical, but at least understand the importance of understanding what is going on and addressing this properly.

There is nothing worse than following a protocol to build your health, only to find that you are worsening your situation.

If you are suspecting that andropause is a challenge for you, feel free to register here for a complimentary 20 minute phone session to understand the steps needed to find your health and balance.

As always, if you have any questions or comments, please leave these below for me to address personally.

Now or Later...It's Up to You!

by Glen Depke

How many times have you heard, "you can work hard now or you can work hard later?" This old saying can very easily be used in conjunction with your health. Look at our society, there are so many individuals that do not want to put any effort into their health now, only to suffer the consequences later. One of the problems is that so many have been fed the lies that you can simply damage your body without any worry because you will be able to use drugs or surgery to fix this later. Easy now and easy later mentality. 

Good luck with that one!

We have actually been a 100 year experiment and let me share a secret with you.  

The experiment failed!

I want to share that it really is not that difficult to find and maintain optimal health when you start looking for it, before you are sick. That makes life so much easier. 

Many of the clients that come into my office start this journey after years of health challenges and I often think to myself, "I wish he/she would have come in years ago." I understand that we have not been taught to be proactive with our health but it is time to do something different. Different is the key, since we are a culture of trying to find a different result by doing the same thing. 

You know the story...

I want you to understand, that if you have already waited to make some changes until after you have found your health challenged, it is not too late. I have had the pleasure of witnessing thousands of complete health turnarounds in my career and often with individuals that have been told by conventional doctors that they would not be able to overcome their health issues.

I am not one of those holistic practitioners that bashes the conventional medical system. Everything has a time and a place. I just find that for those with chronic illness, living a life of medications is not the answer. The answer lies in our own choice of taking charge of your health. Focusing on your fundamentals of health, addressing your mental/emotional stress, balancing your exhausted adrenal glands, dealing with your gut, immune and brain issues and ridding your body of the metabolic waste and toxins that poison you every day.

The current paradigm of drugs and surgery first, holistic health second and self care last is completely inverted. We should focus on self care first. If we stumble and find ourselves with challenges, seek out the assistance of someone in holistic care, such as a Naturopath (that would be me), Chiropractor, Acupuncturist, Herbalist, Homeopath or Body Work Therapist. Now if this still does not work, you may need the assistance of conventional medicine.

Do you see how this fits though?

While this may sound like a lot of work, I can share that it is quite simple when taken in steps. This is a focus for me with all of my clients. Take it one step at a time, create success and take the next step. You simply continue to move forward until you have reached the level of health and happiness that you desire. You did not get sick in month and your are not going to completely turn your health around in a month either. Take your time, create success and always move forward.

I am never the one to tell you what level this may be (you're desired health that is). This is your decision, it's your life and you are the one that has to live in it.

Some of my clients never stop learning and growing and a in a constant state of flux to be the best they can be in every moment. Others are simply happy to have significant improvement and live out their lives on this level without putting forth any deeper understandings. Remember, it is all up to you.

What I am really trying to get through to you today is the understanding that if you put forth some effort now, it will actually be much easier later.

I believe the natural aging process is about living a healthy, vibrant life, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually until very close to the end of life. At this point, there is a very steep and dramatic decline and we die. 

Lots of fun and excitement, living our greatness and leaving the world a better place when we left than when we came.

Sounds much more inviting than the "natural" aging process. You know, we vibrant in our twenties, gain weight in our thirties, begin to develop chronic challenges in our forties, diagnosed with significant challenges in our fifties and succumb to the knife and pill organizers for our meds in our sixties. There's nothing "natural" about this.

It is simply watching "sick" people get old.

Now or later, it is truly up to you!

If you are new to Depke Wellness, click here for an opportunity to discuss the protocols used by Glen Depke and Depke Wellness at no cost to you.

As always, if you have any comments or questions about today's article, leave a post below for us to answer personally.

Do You Sabotage Your Health?

by Glen Depke

Think about it, with the Internet, there is no shortage of information available. Most people understand on some level what they need to be healthy. We often know what to do, so why can't we achieve the health and happiness we desire. The answer more often than not is your saboteur.

You know the saboteur. This is the part of you that tells you to smoke a cigarette when you they can kill you. Tells you to over consume junk food when you know it is nutritionally void. Tells you to watch TV when you know you should be exercising. Tells you stay up late when you know you need a good night's sleep. Tells you to blow money on something you do not need, when bills are piling up. Tells you to lash out at your spouse when they have not done anything wrong. Tells you to eat gluten when you know it creates issues for you. By now, I think you get the picture.

Well here's my take on this as I see it with my clients over the years. 

I look at saboteur as a part of you but not you. We could compare this to a parasite. A parasite can be inside of your body but it really is not a part of you. It is simply living within you, feeding on you and using you as a host while damaging you at the same time. Think about it. Your own personal saboteur is doing he same thing. It is living within you, feeding on your mind, and using you while damaging you at the same time.

So how do we become infected by this saboteur? I believe this infection starts with our domestication. For those that have not heard me talk about domestication in the past, look at it this way. We are all born wild human beings. From here we are domesticated on every level. We are taught what to say, how to say it, how to react, how to interact, what languages to speak, what religions to follow and the list goes on. 

So who do we learn this from? Well actually we learn this from every single person we come in contact with. Each teaching us their own interpretation of the rules of life, the domestication, and often the infection. The most significant influences on teaching us this saboteur is our primary care givers, which is most often our parents.

While I know that our parents have the best intentions, but they are only teaching us the very domestications that they were taught themselves. They are just passing along the patterns of sabotage they plague themselves. Understand also that what we learn from the time of conception until about 5-7 years old, becomes a part of what I consider the old brain. This aspect of self forms the patterns that we live our lives by. Do you ever wonder why we consistently make the same mistakes? You would think we learn from our past mistakes but we often keep making the same mistakes over and over again. 

Don't be too hard on yourself though. We are all trying to muddle through the same challenges. The biggest difference is that some of us are aware of this while most are simply ignorant to these domestications. It is often hard to see what is challenging you when you are living in the midst of it.

Well, if you at least have awareness of the saboteur, you are at least at the first step. If you were not aware in the past, I would hope that you are aware at this point in this article. So not that you are aware what can you do?

The first action to take is to stay present. Break down your life into the only moments that truly exist. This would be right now. The past is over and the future is not here yet. Be in this moment! When we are not in the moment we are typically agonizing over the past or portraying our past trauma into our future. Sounds like tons of fun right? So much fun, most of us live in these states most of the time. It is time to be in the moment!

Once you can be in the moment, the next action step is to chose what is empowering to you and those around you. Do this in your moments. As you are making choices throughout your day ask yourself this simple question all the time. Is this choice empowering me and those around me or is this disempowering? If it is disempowering your option is very simple. Chose something else! But of course be sure your next choice is empowering.

From here it is important to allow others around you to "be". To explain this let me give you an example. Let's say that your spouse is having a bad day and you feel that he/she is taking it out on you. From here you would typically take it personally and feel the need to attack back. It would be much easier to understand that your spouse is simply dealing with a tough time and allow him/her to be with their issue. Taking it personally can be so damaging to us. Stop taking everything so personally! Allowing others to "be" is so healing for us and for them.

To put this all together, let's look at an example. Let's say that an area that you typically sabotage is by eating junk food when you know it is damaging you. You find yourself at a party and it seems that all the have available is junk food and alcohol. Remember to first be in the moment. You do not have to make a choice based on what you have done in the past. Recognize that it is not your problem that the host decided to only offer poor quality food and alcohol to you. You can let this continue to be the problem of the host and not yours. Then ask yourself the question, is eating the junk food and having a cocktail empowering or disempowering? From here, I would simply recognize that whatever you chose is perfect. 

If you chose the junk food and alcohol, don't beat yourself up with guilt and negativity. This simply feeds the saboteur, feeds the infection. Know that you can chose differently next time.

On the other side of this equation, let's say that you chose to ask for a glass of ice water with lemon and you found some nuts and cheese to snack on. The host or others at the party might give you a hard time for not indulging but remember, you are not allowing their problems to be yours.

Follow these simple steps and watch your saboteur dissolve before your very eyes. Watch your "perfect" shift and change. Witness yourself living the life of health and happiness. The life of your dreams!

As always, if you have any comments or questions about this article, leave a post below and I will answer this personally.

Resentment...the Silent Cancer

by Dawn Depke

*within this article, all examples are about and for the average person, not someone who is abusive, that has a chemical imbalance or a diagnosed mental/emotional issue.

Have you ever wondered to yourself, “Why isn’t my relationship the way it was in the beginning?” (So loving and amazing, you saw the best in your partner and they saw the best in you.)  Have you ever found yourself not as happy now as in the beginning of your relationship and you wonder “what happened to us”? 

Do you want to know a secret?

Relationships teach us many things about ourselves, especially if we are open to learning.  Relationships are our greatest teacher and gift.  So in the case that our relationships deteriorate over time is due to resentment that builds and grows and becomes a “silent cancer” destroying a once healthy, loving relationship. 

Resentment is birthed because of personal perception.   Perception changes the minute someone “hurts us”.  That person is the same person they were 5 minutes ago, you just look at them differently now.  When you perceive what they did or said was “wrong, bad, hurtful, inconsiderate or mean, your perception of that person automatically changes.  Then resentment is created.  Resentment is created when we take something personally that someone said or did to us.  Or in other words, resentment is created when our perception of what someone said or did hurt us.

Now to stretch you even further, imagine that no one can actually hurt you.  No one can make you feel sad, mad or glad.  Have you ever had two people tell you the same thing and one made you mad, but the other you took as constructive criticism?  They told you the same thing, but your perception was different based on how you feel about the person and what they have done and not done to you in the past.

If you find yourself saying things like, “He makes me so mad!!!!” I challenge you to look at yourself.  First look at what actually happened.  Then feel what emotion ignited within you and what you are “so mad” about.  Look at what they said or did and ask yourself, “did they really do this (say this) to make me mad?” and usually your answer will be “no”. 

An example that happened to me this weekend was when my husband and I went to a social event and he got in line for drinks for us because I had our dog with me and the dog was not allowed to enter.  He asked me if I wanted to go first and I said no.  He came back without anything for me. I got upset because he has never done that before.  My perception was that he was being selfish and inconsiderate.  I thought it was weird that he only “took care of himself” and that is not like him.   So as I thought about what this was bringing up for me, I realized that I made his actions mean that he didn’t care about me.  When I could separate what happened from what I was feeling, I could see that he was not being selfish nor inconsiderate, that he didn’t do it to hurt me.  My perception was not true, and when I broke it down, I realized that it was just a miscommunication and that he does love me. 

Silly, right?  Well we do it all of the time, but as long as we can separate what happened from how we are feeling, and then ask ourselves why we are really feeling that way, getting to the core of our own issue and realizing our perception about the other person is really about something within us, perhaps insecurity.  Reminding ourselves when these feelings arise within us, it is not about them, it is about ourselves.  We can only feel something that is inside of us.  Again, no one can make us feel a certain way.

To help you understand this further here is an example.  No one can feel jealous unless they have some amount of insecurity.  Jealousy attaches to insecurity.  If someone is secure they will never experience jealousy. 

So my challenge for you this week is to look at the relationships in your life that “push your buttons” and get to the core of what is going on inside of you that allows those buttons to be pushed and see if you can begin to look at that person in a different light or perception and see your world change in an instant.

If you have any questions or comments about this article, please leave this below for Dawn to address personally.