Kombucha; “The Elixir of Life”

by Dawn Depke

So many of our reader deal with health challenges such as fatigue, digestive disorders, and desire weight loss or cleansing so I feel compelled to share this information with you.  I recently learned the about the healing benefits and natural occurring probiotics, vitamins, minerals and amino acids naturally occurring from the fermentation process that creates this amazing “elixir or life” called Kombucha.  I drank it from time to time the past 3 years but it wasn’t until I did my husbands “leakygut” protocol that I realized my body absolutely loves kombucha. 

 

I was curious to know why my body was feeling so good every time I drank a 16 oz bottle of GT’s Kombucha, so I did a little digging.  What I found was truly amazing. First of all, if you suffer from the following list, you must read on, as Kombucha drinkers have found that this elixir has helped them with the following acute and chronic conditions.

•  Arthritis
• Digestive disorders (GI)
• High blood pressure
•  Poor circulation
• High cholesterol
• Chronic fatigue syndrom
• Poorly functioning immune system
•  Eczema
• Acne
• Allergies
• Hormonal imbalances
• Great as a liver cleanser and natural gentle detoxifier

What is Kombucha & Why is it Healing?

Kombucha is a fermented drink made from green or black tea and sugar added to cultures that forms a SKOBY ((Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast) and together in a dark, warm place kombucha is born.  Once it has fermented for at least 15-30 days, a wide range of organic acids, vitamins, minerals and enzymes that give this drink its extraordinary value & healing properties.

Most of the research on Kombucha comes from Russia and Germany and shows that it contains:

• B1, B2, B6 and B12
• Vitamin C (which is a potent detoxifier & immune booster)
• Probiotics (which add beneficial bacteria to the gut, boosting the immune system)
• Lactic acid (essential for healthy digestive action)
• Acetic acid
• Glucuronic acid
• Usnic acid
• Citric acid
• Oxalic acid
• Malic acid (helps the liver detoxify)
• Gluconic acid B
• Butyric acid  
• Gluconic acid (which is said to help against yeast infections)
• Nucleic acids (helps cells regenerate)

As you can see this elixir is loaded with amazing healing properties, but don’t take it from me…try it for yourself and see how you feel.  I have begun to make my own homemade kombucha so that I can have as much as I want without breaking the bank.  A regular 16 oz. bottle can cost anywhere from $2.50-$6.  I can make a gallon of it for about $1.00 using all organic ingredients and a little patience.  For information on how to grow your own SKOBY and make kombucha at home, view my video in this newsletter.

In joy and service,

Dawn Depke 

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.