What would Don Draper do?

So, what's your coping mechanism in life?
This sketch is just priceless - it is pure brilliant in portraying how many of us go about our daily life in some way or another, whether we are conscious about it or not, and whatever our "drug" of choice is.

As anyone who has watched an episode of Mad Men knows, Don Draper is the epitome of a civilized addict. His narcissistic behavior and need for control is a direct result of an unstable biochemistry, if he is not engaging in his drugs of choice (cigarettes, alcohol or sex), he is being emotionally abusive.

His inability to handle emotions is why he is succumbing to self-destructive coping mechanisms that temporarily numb him out.

Veteran actor Jon Hamm plays Don Draper in Mad Men.

First step in treating someone like Don Draper is to rebalance his biochemistry so that he no longer deals with those ongoing struggles that cause him to be a ticking time-bomb. He is constantly experiencing peaks and dips in his dopaminergic and seratonergic neurotransmitter system based on what he is doing (or temporarily abstaining from doing). And those drastic brain chemical fluctuations would drive anyone up the wall. You can have all the knowledge in the world on how to deal with emotions etc., but if you are fighting against your biology, you stand to lose.


Treating an imbalanced biochemistry should always come first - that enables people to feel comfortable in the skin they're in effortlessly and without needing to spend countless hours at the shrink's going over semi-invented or not childhood traumas that just are not relevant to keep dwelling on when focus should be on letting go of the past and moving forward.

Balance your brain and everything else in life suddenly seems a lot less dramatic.
Addicts create drama because they are about to crawl out of their skin - that is how uncomfortable it feels to be them, and thus creating some outside triggering dramatic event gives them a temporary relief from focusing on their own inner discomfort.

Once inner balance is restored there is no need to create outer chaos.

Get your brain chemistry evaluated here.

Amy Winehouse: Another one bites the dust.

Only 27 and today she was found dead in her London apartment.

Amy Winehouse has been struggling with drug, alcohol and food addiction for years; a deadly combination that sooner or later will lead to cardiac arrest. Ultimately, a lot of eating disorders and addictions cause heart attacks - which is then noted down as the primary death cause. But whenever someone below 50 years of age dies from a sudden heart attack, you have to look into their lifestyle more thoroughly - few young people have a weak heart, if not abusing some sort of substance or suffering from eating disorders; so many deaths are being misinterpreted and thus the statistics of how many young people actually die from their addictive behaviors are still in the gray zone.
Amy Winehouse is scheduled for autopsy tomorrow.

Amy Winehouse dead by 27. Killed by addiction.

If only she had known that the reason why she could not cut the chains of addiction by sheer willpower is due to severe brain chemical imbalances; and if those are not addressed via nutrient and amino acid therapy, every stint in rehab is doomed to fail, as she will constantly have the urge to self-medicate on drugs/alcohol to stabilize her mood temporarily.

For more info on how to rebalance brain chemical imbalances and how we can help you if you are struggling with an addiction contact us.

Source:

http://www.newser.com/story/124136/amy-winehouse-dead-at-27-found-in-her-apartment.html

New Breakthroughs in Addiction: Optogenetics to control reward-seeking behavior

Using a combination of genetic engineering and laser technology, researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have manipulated brain wiring responsible for reward-seeking behaviors, such as drug addiction. The work, conducted in rodent models, is the first to directly demonstrate the role of these specific connections in controlling behavior.

In the technique, scientists transfer light-sensitive proteins called “opsins” – derived from algae or bacteria that need light to grow – into the mammalian brain cells they wish to study. Then they shine laser beams onto the genetically manipulated brain cells, either exciting or blocking their activity with millisecond precision.

The findings suggest that therapeutics targeting the path between two critical brain regions, the amygdala and the nucleus accumbens, represent potential treatments for addiction and other neuropsychiatric diseases.

Reference:
http://www.med.unc.edu/www/news/2011/june/scientists-use-optogenetics-to-control-reward-seeking-behavior

Eating breakfast shown to reduce brain signals that when active, lead to reward driven eating behavior.

New study explains the brain chemical science of what we already know: Eating breakfast in the morning reduced brain activity in the regions associated with motivation and reward, which is also where dopamine is released – a hormone that plays a role in emotional well-being and pleasure. Skipping the most important meal of the day is associated with more snacking and food cravings.

More protein in the morning reduces snacking

Functional MRI (fMRI) was used to look at brain activity related to food motivation and reward. The researchers also measured appetite perceived by the teens, hormonal markers and psychological motivation related to desire to eat.

The adolescents who ate breakfast reported greater satisfaction and less hunger throughout the morning, compared to those who skipped breakfast.

Check out the texture!
There is nothing better than starting off the day licking a bowl clean of ice cream...
 slightly naughty, but it really is good for you! Depending on what I crave, 
I'll top it with berries, shaved dark chocolate, chopped nuts 
or simply drizzle some raw honey over it. So. Unbelievably. Good.

The Nutrition Doctor in The Kitchen is right now making frozen yogurt with just 3 ingredients: Greek yogurt, raw honey and a tiny drop of Amaretto.
When making your own fro-yo, the secret to amazing rich creaminess that just wraps around your tongue like silk is to use 2% Greek yogurt and adding just a drop of liqueur to lower the freezing point and avoid ice crystals. Greek yogurt is a great breakfast choice as it has triple the protein contents of regular, so it satisfies you longer than regular plain yogurt. In the heat of the summer this is one of my breakfast favourites - yes ice cream for breakfast. Rich, creamy... so decadent yet oh-so-good-for you. Lick it, baby!

Reference: 

Heather J. Leidy et al. 

“Neural Responses to Visual Food Stimuli After a Normal vs. Higher Protein Breakfast in Breakfast-Skipping Teens: A Pilot fMRI Study”. 

Obesity (2011) doi:10.1038/oby.2011.108

Eating for pleasure.

Sometimes I eat for pleasure.

Sometimes I eat for comfort.

Sometimes I eat because my body demands fuel right now.

What I always do, however, is that I savor the flavors.

I NEVER eat anything that I do not truly enjoy.

Whether it be savoring the bold, earthy richness of Amarone in the bath tub or enjoying the explosion of flavors unfolding on my tongue that comes from dipping salmon sashimi in salty soy sauce mixed with green wasabi that just gives it that perfect "kick" combined with the sweetness of pink, pickled ginger. I believe food is there to be enjoyed - to nourish your body, mind and soul.



Alcohol is off-limits while you are

rebuilding your brain chemistry,

as it blocks the GABA/serotonin receptors.

However, to a STABLE brain, a glass of red wine

does offer benefits due to its contents off resveratrol.

Medicinal nutrition can be tasty. There is nothing pleasurable about stuffing yourself with soggy fries while typing away on the keyboard. You are not even realizing the flavors of what you are eating. Emotional overeating has nothing to do with being a foodie.

I am a foodie, but I do not numb myself with food; rather I use it as one of the many pleasures that are available to every human being.

French double-crème raw cow's milk brie on rustique, crusty baguette and sipping a glass of Amarone as the sun sets.

Did you know that truly... TRULY... enjoying your food and savoring every bite actually boosts anti-aging endorphins in your body?  And that forcing that shot of seemingly good-for-you but absolutely for your taste buds repulsing shot of wheatgrass increases stress hormones as your force it down in an attempt to make up for your sins.  Food is supposed to be a daily pleasure, not a struggle.

Here's something to think about.

'I recently picked a new primary care doctor. After two visits and exhaustive Lab tests, he said I was doing 'fairly well' for my age. (I just turned 77.)
A little concerned about that comment, I couldn't resist asking him, 'Do you think I'll live to be 80?'
The doctor responded by asking, 'Do you smoke tobacco, or drink beer or wine?' 
'Oh no,' I replied . . . 'I'm not doing drugs, either!' 
Then he asked, 'Do you eat rib-eye steaks and barbecued ribs?' "I said, 'Not much since my former doctor said that all red meat is very unhealthy!' 
'Do you spend a lot of time in the sun, like playing golf, sailing, hiking, or bicycling?' 'No, I don't,' I said. 
He asked, 'Do you gamble, go on vacations or have a lot of sex?' 'No,' I said. 

He looked at me and said, . . . 'Then, why do you even give a damn?'

Savoring the flavors of life... on every level.

A healthy life does not entail one that is confined or restricted; it is about living the life of your dreams, and you can  only do so if you are not numbing yourself via self-destructive behaviors. It's not the glass of red wine or the couple of French truffles in the evening that is killing you: It's trying to find happiness at the bottom of the scotch bottle after work; It's raiding the cookie jar and disconnecting from yourself and your emotions and needs.

Forget willpower and get and KEEP that six-pack!

One word that absolutely makes my skin crawl is "willpower".
A term that is greatly used and abused by everyone working or interested in the health field.
"Use your willpower; just stop stuffing your face with Oreos etc. etc.". Those who say that have NEVER used willpower. It is that simple. We are all wired differently, and the more you have to rely on willpower to change - the greater the initial pain of change, the more imbalanced your biochemistry, and quite possibly what you are doing in order to reach that ideal body is not matching your genotype! That is why your brain and body is screaming "NO! I don't want to do this!"

"Beauty is a gift from nature given to those who live according to its laws"
 - Leonardo da Vinci


If only we would start listening to our bodies once again - reconnecting with our body, mind and soul, and retraining our appetite swtich through healthy behaviors that match our unique genotype, then we would find that the lean physique many of us struggle to achieve would be given to us effortlessly. Yes, really. No willpower needed.

Hello HOT stuff!
Sean may have gotten those amazing ABS
by sheer willpower, but he won't be keeping them 
if he is not matching his meds, diet and supplements 
with his biochemistry type!

Use your willpower... and expect to fail!
Willpower. Just the sound of it. I just cannot stand that word. Simply because it makes very little sense. Willpower is an illusion. Humans are hedonistic creatures, and we are going to do what makes us feel good.

Getting and keeping a ripped six-pack has nothing to do with willpower. We are driven by emotions and willpower is fragile and only lasts for a limited amount of time - explains why 95% of all diets fail.

You can have your biochemistry type determined today - make your appointment with The Nutrition Doctor right here, right now!

Food & Drug Addictions. It's an imbalance in your brain chemistry!

During my work with eating disorders and addictions in Denmark I came to realize how important it is to understand that addictions cannot be treated through psychotherapy alone - simply because they are based on biochemistry imbalances that set the individual up to crave specific substances beyond their control. You can have all the insight, knowledge and skills on how to deal with stressors in life etc. but if you are fighting against your biology, you are up against powers stronger than you! It has NOTHING to do with lack of morals or willpower, but rather everything to do with brainpower.

This led me to initiate their nutritional treatment program consisting of amino acid therapy to help combat cravings and stabilize those neurotransmitters that are associated with the various types of addictions. They now have the highest success rate in treating food addictions and co-dependencies in the world.

Similar for every addiction - whether it be food, drug, alcohol - or even behavioral addictions (stealing, shopping, cutting, sex etc.) - is that they are based on specific nutrient deficiencies. Understanding this basic fact along with integrating the science of nutrigenomics - how nutrition affects our genotype - enables us to cut the chains of addiction FOR LIFE!

In this clip, Julia Ross explains the background of food addiction which you can read more about in her book The Diet Cure, which is a good book to get a basic understanding of what exactly you are up against when it comes to dealing with addictions.

In order to have your biochemistry type defined and brain chemical imbalances determined, you can make an appointment with The Nutrition Doctor here.


NB: Turn off the music in the right side bar before watching the video clip!

Breaking A Bad Habit

Habits are learned slowly but once they are in place they are by their very nature difficult to break. One defining feature of habits is that they are resistant to extinction. Habits are very inflexible; they're very unresponsive when a situation changes. The distinction between behavior driven by a goal and behavior driven by a habit is that goal driven behavior requires thinking. 

However, if you do the goal driven activity often enough, then it becomes an automated habit triggered by circumstances beyond your control.

Dopamine influences both types of behavior,  revving up  the motivational circuits of the brain and strengthening the power of habit. The circuitry operates in roughly parallel loops, with one loop acting as the processing center for motivational information and another focusing on the motor activity associated with habits.

The implications for someone trying to control food intake are obvious. As habits are learned, the brain comes to code whole sequences of behavior as performance units that can be triggered by specific contexts. Cues in the environment become the triggers of predictable and automatic actions.

When it comes to food, we are, in essence, following an eating script that has been written into the circuits of our brains. The more rewarding the food, the stronger the learning experience that creates the automatic behavior (i.e. high sugar/fat foods). That's the danger of habit. 

But habit formation has the potential for good as well. If we can learn to turn all of this around, we can eventually create new habits, ones that motivate us to pursue other, healthier sources of reward.

Contact us to get a brand NEW YOU this year!

Analyze this: The celeb with a serotonin deficiency!

Now as some of you know Britney Spears has undergone some dramatic weight changes throughout her career.

Rumors have it, that she is suffering from bulimia, which is characterized by consuming excess amounts of food in one sitting, only to purge it up shortly thereafter. Unfortunately, this is a very inefficient way of losing weight long-term, as your body responds by speeding up its ability to absorb calories - the absorption of calories from those doughnuts has already begun once the first bite has been taken. This is also why bulimics often are in the normal - overweight weight range.

Britney has previously undergone treatment at Promises rehab for alcohol abuse (one of the most frequent abuses connected with Bulimia). Furthermore the pop princess is notoriously known for binge shopping and episodes of borderline behavior.

Now why am I focusing on these things in particular?

Because our behaviors, eating habits, weight fluctuations and personality traits all reveal how our brain is wired and which communicators are out of whack, so to speak. Those communicators - neurotransmitters - can be rebuilt, and your brain can be rewired in order to combat cravings effortlessly!

In Britney's case there is a clear cut correlation between her key issues and a serotonin deficiency.
Serotonin is the neurotransmitter in our brain responsible for keeping us happy and collected as well as keeping our appetite in check. Serotonin (and its resulting delta brain waves) is produced in the brain's occipital lobes and controls your brain's ability to rest and resynchronize and is also involved in vision. When your serotonin levels are balanced you can sleep deeply and think rationally. You are able to live in the moment and enjoy the simple things in life, such as eating a good meal or watching the leaves play in the wind.

Key signs of a serotonin imbalance are:

• Borderline Personality Disorder
• Carb cravings and alcohol abuse
• Impulsive
• Anger/ Rage/ Emotional outbursts/Anxiety
• Appetite dysfunction: chronic hungry/obsessing over food
• Overly self-critical
• Adrenaline junkie/ thrill seeker
• Depression
• Restlessness
• Difficulty concentrating
• Palpitations
• Binging behaviour (food, shopping, kleptomania, sex etc.)

These signs are simply the symptoms of the cause - which is an imbalanced brain chemistry! In order to treat these issues you need to understand which nutritional strategies, supplements as well as meds that support your brain wiring! When you engage in extreme behaviors you are simply self-medicating on things that give you an instant relief from your pain and imbalanced brain. The key, however, is to rebalance your brain and all the symptoms then painlessly disappear! - Quitting an addiction is NOT about willpower! It's about understanding which chemicals in your brain are responsible for making you crave certain substances and then how you can alter it.

Every time Britney goes on a diet she will deplete that chemical further.

Especially if it's a low-carb diet or a vegan type of diet - both extremes have been proven to screw up serotonin balance big time. And this is something which females are particularly vulnerably to as estrogen and serotonin levels are connected (also why most females crave carbs and suffer PMS during certain times of their cycle - because they are experiencing a drop in serotonin levels due to fluctuating estrogen levels. However, this is something that is preventable - PMS is NOT normal!).

Contact The Nutrition Doctor to get you back on track to a STRONG MIND in a STRONG BODY!

FEED the BRAIN and BURN the FAT!

The legal psychostimulant drug that could make you smarter, leaner or spike your insulin, frazzle your nerves and add inches to your waistline...

What did Balsac, Kant, Rosseau and Voltaire all have in common? They loved coffee! The rich aroma... the sensual lingering aftertaste... smooth yet strong.... I have always been fascinated by contrasts in life: textures, tastes, places, people, paces, ideas.... and then there is coffee.

Today coffee beans are the most widely traded commodity after oil, and caffeine is the world's most commonly used psychostimulant drug. And I am hopelessly addicted.


Caffeine raises blood pressure slightly, ups your metabolism, dilates the bronchi of the lungs, and allows the body quicker access to fuels in the blood (explains the popular choice of red bull and vodka...).
It increases the flow of urine in your kidneys and acts as a laxative in your colon.

How you react to coffee reveals how your brain is wired!
People who are low in GABA will be very sensitive to anything containing caffeine and will not benefit from it - physically nor mentally. Also, the severity of depletion is of utmost importance to consider: if you are diabetic type-2 you will have a severe dopamine depletion, as this chemical has been found to be a key indicator in this condition. That means, coffee is completely off-limits, as it tends to spike your cortisol levels which again causes insulin to spike 'n crash - a recipe for disaster. For someone with a more balanced brain chemistry, coffee can be a great mood and metabolism booster.
The secret ingredient to anti-aging
Apart from that, studies have found it to be one of the most efficient ways of reducing visible signs of aging such as cellulite and wrinkles when the green coffee bean extract is used topically - this is part of the secret to the efficacy of Seriously Cellulite Solutions™ by Santini Skin Solutions™.


The science in your coffee cup
The secret to coffee's stimulating effect is this: it binds to the body's receptors for adenosine, a natural chemical important in sleep and wakefulness. As the cells in your body use up energy, they make adenosine as a byproduct; the harder they work, the more of the chemical they make. The adenosine attaches to receptors on cells everywhere in the body and quiets their activity. In this way it calms heartbeat, lowers blood pressure, decreases the release of stimulating neurotransmitters, and induces sleepiness. Caffeine enhances alertness by binding to adenosine receptors and inactivating them - thus preventing the chemical from exerting its quieting effects. So ultimately caffeine works by foiling the process by which the nerves are calmed, rather than actually exciting them!

Coffee could make you smarter... or simply just an anxious nutcase.
FMRI scans have been used to measure coffee's action on the brain, and the studies showed greater activity in the parts of the brain involved in attention and concentration.
That said, whether you will benefit from adding in coffee depends on how your brain is wired - if you are already severely depleted in GABA, the calming neurotransmitter in your brain, then you will react negatively towards caffeine, as it lowers your ability to handle stress even more.

I know that I had to cut my coffee intake drastically since moving to New York, since the pace of life here is quite different than from the West coast, and I really didn't need anything that lowered my stress threshold, since I have high dopamine already. And while high dopamine is great, as it is your body's natural battery, so to speak, and controls everything from your energy levels in the bedroom to the boardroom, your body needs a balance between calming and excitatory neurotransmitters in order for you to be focused and driven yet calm and collected.

There is no point in joining the club of neurotic overanxious nutcases due to excessive caffeine consumption - apart from you most likely will end up contributing to your shrink's growing wallet.

Want to know how YOUR brain is wired?
Again, eating right for your brain chemistry type and understanding which supplements, herbs and amino acids to take as well as - as a last resort - prescription medications and psychotrophic drugs, should always be matched to your genotype as well as tailored to which neurotransmitters in your brain that are out of whack. And this is where conventional doctors and nutritionists go wrong - they are not treating the cause, nor do they match the treatment protocol with the patient's genetic profile, rather it is simply geared at suppressing the symptoms.

However, if you fail to connect the myriad of symptoms with the actual cause and the underlying key imbalance in your brain and biochemistry, then you will not be able to ever get off any prescribed drugs nor benefit fully from whatever supplements you are taking for overall health. THAT is why people get addicted to medication or don't experience any progress on supplements - and THAT is a waste of your money and time!

Get your tailormade treatment program to reach your peak performance today based on your specific brain wiring and biochemistry type!

Make an appointment with The Nutrition Doctor today!

Reference: 
Hiroshi S. et al. Inhibitory effect of green coffee bean extract on fat accumulation and body weight gain in mice. Altern Med. 2006; 6: 9

Willpower vs. Brainpower

Being fat. It's NOT about willpower - it's about BRAINPOWER!

One thing that continues to amaze me is the amount of ignorance that people are able to show off.

Manhattanites are blunt. Angelenos are softies. Now I know that some people prefer the straightforward talk that New Yorkers are known for as things admittedly can get a bit sugarcoated in Cali, but that is no excuse to lack empathy.

Let me give you an example. 

I was walking along the bike path down by Coney island when this guy sitting on the board walk yells out to a girl walking in front of me: "Yo, you got fat, girl." He looks at the doughnut she's eating and continues, "Yeah we know where that fat came from huh...". Unbelievable. 

Now I am usually pretty calm and collected, but this sort of childish behavior demonstrated by picking an easy target to humiliate in order to boost your own vain ego always challenges my anger management skills. And I am sure this will make for a great story some day, but until then I count my blessings. Because frankly, I wouldn't be worth much, if it came down to a fight with my skinny ass on the line. Anyway, this is not about me and anger management techniques. This post is about being fat.

And the fact that overeating is an addiction similar to drug and alcohol abuse. 

It changes our brain and offsets a cascade of disastrous biochemistry reactions in our body.

Still, for some reason people think being fat is a matter of choice. It is not. Being addicted is not a choice. Just imagine the pain that this girl is going through each day - the humiliation and the condescending comments.When you are in her shoes it is difficult to stand up for yourself - everyone's got an opinion of why you are fat. And it is not exactly like those who feel entitled to judge her are perfect beings - their issues may jut not be that obvious to the eye. For some reason people think it is okay to say "hey, you are fat - why don't you just close your mouth".

However, what many people just do not get is that for her it is not a question of willpower.

The reason why she continues to stuff herself with dougnuts is not because she is lazy, retarded or lacks integrity. This young girl has messed up her biochemistry so bad that she is unable to control her cravings. She is literally addicted to fast food. Obviously, said guy thought that she could just close her mouth and stop eating that garbage. If it were that simple we would not have an obesity epidemic. Americans are not getting fatter day by day due to lack of morals, willpower and knowledge.

We are getting fatter day by day, because we have screwed up our brain chemistry.

An imbalanced brain chemistry causes us to crave foods that hijack our brain's reward center and sets us up to behave like addicts towards certain types of foods.

Understanding the biochemistry of food and how they affect our brain chemistry, taking into account that each one of us are predisposed for a specific brain chemistry combination that - when balanced - makes us feel "normal". Our brain chemistry has a set-point similar to our weight - when treating any type of disease, this needs to be taken into account, simply because your brain controls every aspect of your body!

Ultimately, that is also why people respond differently to the same diet! 

Each one of us have uniquely wired brains that governs our personality, food preferences, waistline and how we perceive life. 

Nutrients, food strategies and behaviors MUST mach our genotype as well as cater for our brain chemistry set-point in order to make us feel and look on top of our game.

If what you are currently doing is right for your brain chemistry type then you will think SHARP, have ZERO cellulite and be able to handle life with everything it throws at you without needing Xanax or that after work drink(s)! This is not about abstinence - it is about changing your brain, so you change your preferences and coping mechanisms painlessly! After all, life is supposed to be enjoyed and food really is a sensual pleasure that is able to nourish our body, mind and soul when we understand how to take care of ourselves and stop the self-destructive diets and addictive black/white thinking pattern!

It really is that simple.

We need to understand that no amount of willpower and calorie counting will ever get us where we want to be - humans are hedonistic creatures, and we will do what makes us FEEL good!

The cottage cheese solution...

The only cottage cheese is on my plate...

You can change your brain, so that you perform at your peak: physically and mentally! And yes, I know this works, because I live by this myself - and I do not work out and yet the only cottage cheese I have is what is on my plate! Talk is cheap, ultimately results are what count. Are you ready to get started on your new life?

When you change your brain.... you change your body!

Matching your nutrients, diet and everyday behaviors with your specific brain chemistry type will give you a STRONG MIND in a STRONG BODY!

Contact The Nutrition Doctor today to change your brain, body... and LIFE!