by Adin on December 30, 2010
For optimal health, getting a full blood panel at least once a year is recommended. In your panel you should include comprehensive blood sugar testing. Most Doctors do not prescribe any kind of comprehensive testing with regards to blood sugar. One of the reasons for this is that most health insurance companies allow a free basic panel alongside your annual physical. The problem with this free panel is that it is too basic.
Fasting Blood Sugar Test:
In most cases the doctor will order a fasting blood sugar test to be included in your basic panel. This test will only tell you the amount of glucose circulating in your blood stream at the time of the blood draw. Although this test gives you some information, it can be misleading due to conditions such as a cold or recent sickness, current stress levels, medications influencing the production of cortisol (example: Prednisone) drastic changes in diet, recent travel across several time zones, etc..
Hemoglobin A1c Test:
The Hemoglobin A1c Test identifies the average plasma glucose concentration in your blood stream over a prolonged period of time. Theoretically, you could eat 12 donuts the night before your fasting draw and it would have little to no effect on the A1c because it is an average concentration over time. A1c is a valuable piece of information, but only in conjunction with other markers as I will discuss.
Oral Glucose Tolerance Test:
The Oral Glucose Tolerance Test determines how quickly your body clears glucose from the bloodstream. Plan to spend 2-3 hours in the lab to complete this test (physician specific instructions may vary). The OGTT test will give you and your physician an idea of how your body modulates/handles sugar.
Fasting Insulin:
Insulin is produced by the pancreas and is responsible for driving the glucose into the cells. If insulin is not effective at delivering the glucose into the cells, a signal is sent to the pancreas to secrete more. People get into trouble when the pancreas gets “burned out” due to it having to secrete excessive amounts in its attempt help modulate blood sugar. A burnt out pancreas leads to insulin resistance, which later turns into type II diabetes. The fasting insulin test will help you determine if you are secreting too much insulin or not enough.
My concluding thoughts:
Type II Diabetes is skyrocketing in this country. Including these four glucose test in your annual blood panel will allow you to track over time how your system is handling glucose. Performing these four tests annually may also allow you to catch something that would have gone undiagnosed from a blood sugar standpoint!
Preventive medicine is the way of the future. Our medical system will not survive financially in the future if efforts are not made at the individual level.
Lab Testing through Premier Personal Training, Inc.
If you wish to keep some of your testing “under the insurance radar”, we can run these tests through a certified laboratory for a lower price than what you might pay if you simply brought your script to the lab. You must be a client of ours to utilize these services, but please feel free to inquire by contacting us.
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by Adin on December 28, 2010
Many of those with low back pain do not get better after treatment due to a common misdiagnosis. Dysfunction of the sacroiliac joint (SIJ) is often not ruled out as a potential cause of low back pain in many clinics.
How can I come to this conclusion?
In my career as a personal trainer specializing in pain reduction and posture improvement, I have seen roughly 40 clients with unresolved lower back pain who came to me for post physical therapy treatment (due to the Physical Therapist not ruling out SIJ dysfunction).
It baffles me that SIJ dysfunctions are being missed due to practitioners not performing the basic tests. For this article, I am only going to cover one of my favorite tests for SIJ function, the one-leg standing test (also known as the Gillet test, Stork test or kinetic test). Please feel free to share this information with your current therapist if you are currently undergoing treatment.
One-Leg Standing Test / Gillet Test
The practitioner should place his thumbs at S2 or the ILA of the sacrum (shown above) on the same side as the Posterior Superior Iliac Spine (PSIS). Don’t worry, for those of you without a background in anatomy and who are interpreting this picture from the frontal view – this hand position takes place on the backside!
Once the hands are placed in the proper positions, the patient will be instructed to stand on one leg while raising the opposite knee and to ninety degrees (waist height), flexing the hip for 2-3 repetitions. Next the patient will shift the weight to the opposite leg and perform the same action. The practitioner should maintain his hands in position on that side until both legs are tested. Lastly, the hands will palpate the opposite side of the sacrum while the process is repeated.
What is the practitioner looking for in this test?
Your therapist should be able to determine if your sacrum is moving relative to the ilium. If these two landmarks are not moving in sync, one or both of the sacroiliac joints may be “locked up” on one side. The beauty of this test is that the practitioner can determine which SIJ is locked up. In most cases, SIJ pain is experienced on the non-locked side. Pain on the non-locked side is typically due to the locked side forcing a hyper-mobility on the opposite side.
If your SIJ is locked up – How do you fix it?
The short term answer: Pay a visit to a chiropractor who can move the locked joint and get you out of the pain cycle ASAP! If you are in pain long enough, body compensations take place, creating additional and different layers of musculoskeletal disorders. Soft tissue work is critical alongside chiropractic care in treating acute SIJ for the first few visits. Chiropractors are often excellent at soft tissue work, so it is best to find one who can work both angles. Alternatively you can seek a massage therapist who specializes in myofascial release therapy or ART (active release therapy).
Important:
Do not go a Chiropractor who only uses a device called an Activator (for an acute SIJ issue). Although an Activator can be a great tool, it does not provide enough force to move larger joints in acute pain situations when the joint is locked up.
The long term answer: Correct posture of the individual, as it may be the root cause of SIJ pain/dysfunction. The best practitioners to work with are personal trainers specializing and experienced in pain and posture correction or physical therapists.
Final Points on SIJ and low back pain:
Please understand low back pain is one of the most misunderstood medical problems despite heavy research and training that has gone into it. A comprehensive approach must be implemented. Both functional and orthopedic tests must be performed to get a complete picture.
Lastly, if you or someone you know is not getting better after about three months (give or take a little depending upon circumstance) do not continue to see the same practitioner expecting a different outcome!
Please contact us if you would like to schedule a free 20 minute consultation.
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Weight Loss, Rehabilitation, Nutrition and Fitness Services. Sacroiliac Joint and Low Back Pain Elimination Programs.
by Adin on December 18, 2010
Time pressure is one of the main precursors to anxiety. Glutamine is a precursor to GABA in the brain, thus decreasing anxiety. A study completed by Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT USA (2001) shows that glutamine crosses the blood brain barrier and converts to GABA.(1)
GABA is the chief inhibitory neurotransmitter in the central nervous system. It plays a role in regulating neuronal excitability throughout the nervous system. (2) In laymen terms, GABA has a calming effect on the body.
Does taking supplemental GABA increase GABA in the brain? No! According to numerous clinical studies over the past 50 years, supplemental GABA does not cross the blood brain barrier (BBB). This BBB serves as a protective barrier, inhibiting toxic substances from crossing over and causing damage. The BBB “recognizes straight GABA” as a potential toxic substance, and does not allow for GABA delivery.
Glutamine does convert into GABA and is able to cross the blood brain barrier though an indirect pathway. There are many other supplements that do not absorb into the body or the brain. For example, taking supplemental glutathione is a waste of money because it does not increase your glutathione levels! Precursors such as glycine do convert into glutathione to an extent.
Protocols for Increasing GABA enough to influence change of anxiety levels:
Everyone has their own unique chemistry/makeup, so please consult myself and or a health care provider to help you with a custom supplementation protocol. I have helped many of my clients decrease or eliminate anxiety symptoms through herbs, targeted supplementation and dietary changes. Reducing or eliminating anxiety results in strength gains and increases muscle mass. Anxiety states are extremely catabolic to the body!
Call to enroll in a comprehensive anxiety reduction program utilizing, dietary, exercise, herbal and targeted supplementation. We offer both local and long distance consulting services. Call or Email Today!
Sources:
1. Brain Research
Volume 919, Issue 2 , 23 November 2001, Pages 207-220
2. Wikipedia
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According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), over 534,000 knee replacement procedures – which help patients regain mobility and quality of life – were performed in 2005. 335,000 of them were women and 176,000 were men. These numbers are going to increase as the techniques and results are improving.
This procedure has become very common and great emphasis has been placed on the rehabilitation. Pre-hab is however a necessity to improve outcome. If you are seeing an orthopedic surgeon, make sure you get a good sense of what you need to do to prepare for the procedure. It would be wise to see a therapist or educated personal trainer to design a program that will help strengthen your muscles and thus help you bounce back faster after surgery.
There are a few aspects of preparation you need to address: it is going to take some work but the rewards will be well worth the effort. You will need to make some changes that will affect your lifestyle. Diet being one of the first thing to look at. Excess body weight will cause undue stress and pressure onto your knee joints. That means more pain, more stress on the repaired knee. Paying attention to your diet will help you recover by improving your body’s healing capacity and placing less stress on your knees.
Discuss and evaluate your activities of daily living and make the proper adjustments to your environment if possible. Watch for loose carpets, setup a room downstairs if you live in a 2 story house, install support bars in your bathroom if you only have access to a tub etc.. If you are prepared, you will have everything you need following surgery. 
Make sure your hips and ankles are working well. Since your knees are going along for the ride, improve function of both the hip and ankle will decrease the stresses placed upon the knee.
You will need to address flexibility, particularly focusing on the quads, hamstrings, iliotibial band and calf muscles. You can introduce foam rolling and static stretches at this point to help lengthen these tight muscles. Check out the IT-Band rolling example.
You can perform ranges of motion exercises within pain free range of motion. Depending on the extent of the degeneration, you might need to perform exercises in a non-weightbearing position. Seating or laying down will help take some of the pressure off and will probably not aggravate your knee pain.
Learn how to use crutches or a walker, borrow some and practice, You may not realize how much strength you will need to use them! One definitely needs to develop some upper body strength to move around with these sticks…
You will need to strengthen your leg and thigh muscles as well as your gluts. This may be difficult because of the amount of pain you are in but there are isometric exercises you can do that are non weight-bearing. You need to make sure your quadriceps muscles (front of thigh), gluteus (buttocks) and gastrocnemius (calves) activate and work. You need to balance out your quadriceps and hamstring muscles and work your gluteus medius carefully.
Isometric exercises are a good way to start if you have not been able to exercise at all because of the pain. They have been shown to cause little stress on the joint and when performed at least 3 times a week, they will promote an increase in muscle volume and strength.
Your sense of balance has probably already been affected by the knee problems. Balance work will be required to restore your joint positioning sense for your ankle and knee. It needs to be addressed with great care before and especially after surgery. 
For those of you who are not in need of a new knee and are curious about knee health, most of these facts apply. Think about engaging in a knee saving program especially if you are sitting most of the day, starting an exercise program, spending many hours running every week or participating in activities or sports that require jumping, cutting and quick changes of direction.
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by Adin on December 7, 2010
DHEA has unfairly received a negative reputation due to people taking it without first testing for a deficiency. Blindly taking DHEA (or any other supplemental hormone) is not only irresponsible, it can be dangerous. For example, I recently tested my own DHEA / testosterone levels and found I had clinically low DHEA, yet my testosterone levels were just under 1,000 (which is plenty high by the way – Lab norms for testosterone are generally between 280 and 900).
Labs differ slightly in reference norms of DHEA, however healthy levels are generally between 160 – 450 ug/dL. If I had not done a full hormonal panel on myself and done just the DHEA, I would have thought, “I need to boost this up and start taking some DHEA!”…..which would have been a disaster because I soon would have pushed my testosterone levels high enough – forcing my estradiol levels to rise, creating a hormonal imbalance.
I have a confession to make. When I was younger (23), I had read that DHEA is the precursor to testosterone and I was into bodybuilding at the time and decided to try it. Even taking a low dose of 15mg per day, I was experiencing hot flashes and rapid heart rate. Well, I stopped taking it in a hurry and decided to consult my doctor to tell him my experience and to learn more. My doctor ran some blood tests and it turns out that I am an excellent converter. Naturally, I convert DHEA to testosterone like nobody’s business (my DHEA level was clinically low even at age 23). We are all chemically/genetically different and need to understand those differences by looking at a comprehensive blood panel.
I had a client recently who had low levels of dhea and testosterone, free testosterone, SHBG and IGF-1. This client was only 32 years old, so levels of the aforementioned (except SHBG) should all be preferably in high-normal range. I put him on 7-Keto DHEA(25mg) and pure DHEA(15mg) daily for three months, with no side effects. His levels returned to mid normal range.
In general it is best to retest in 90 days when supplementing deficiencies to guard against overdosing. Whenever you take a male or female who has low dhea and testosterone and bring levels up to normal range, they will feel a million times better! Of course, you’ll want to find out how the levels got depleted in the first place which can be challenging (it is best to hook up with a practitioner who can see the entire picture). Ideally you’ll want to find a way through exercise, diet and lifestyle to optimize hormones, but sometimes a synthetic push is needed if you have dug yourself a hole or ended up in one.
I cannot tell you how many times (typically my new clients) tell me, “I just read the greatest book and am following a general supplement protocol written by three highly respected physicians in the field of preventative medicine and life extension”. It makes me cringe, because 99% of them are not getting tested for deficiencies and since all humans are chemically/genetically different, they must be treated individually. I carefully inform my clients about the dangers of following the latest and greatest protocols when it comes to diets and supplements in particular (especially supplements directly influencing hormones).
To read more about how to boost your testosterone through zinc dosing click here
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