A Free Peak Into My Coaching Program

As your coach I'll support you in reaching your wellness goals by guiding you through incremental changes over a 6-month period. Typically we'll meet or have a phone call every 2 weeks to check in and discuss progress. My recommendations during your program will help you build a lifestyle that makes healthy choices convenient and preferred. Your program will depend on your specific needs and goals, but there are 5 categories that I'll use as an outline. 

1. Peace and Recovery
2. Nutrition and Food
3. Movement and Play
4. Purpose and Fulfillment
5. Connection and Spirituality

These are the categories that I focus on when working with my clients. When there is an imbalance it usually throws things off overall. Creating a lifestyle in which we regularly put energy into each of these areas allows us to find greater joy in life and greater wellness. Maintenance may require stepping back periodically to evaluate ourselves, however it’s best to set up wellness routines that we don’t have to constantly check up on. Building a lifestyle means it’s second-nature and we can conserve energy by not constantly having to make “the right choices.”

Peace and Recovery come first because we need consistent reminders to balance out the high-stress environment of most American communities with time to seek peace of mind and allow for deep recuperative times. The typical American puts themselves through a great deal of stress, so we have to find time to decompress. We can begin to develop health problems or injuries if we demand too much from our bodies without proper recovery. If you want to perform like a champion then you have to recover like a champion.Through recovery we rebuild muscles, rewire connections in our brains that allow us to learn new things, and signal our nervous system to calm down in order to shut off the fight or flight mode. Meditation/mindfulness and sleep are our primary tools to accomplish this.

Nutrition and Food are vital because our cells demand resources to function at optimal levels and support our body processes. We need a wide variety of nutrients, so keeping an eye on what we’re eating will allow us to fulfill this need. Some basics to live by are to eat a rainbow of fruits and veggies everyday, eat real/whole food, listen to your unique body, and focus on seeking nourishing foods rather than on what you’re not allowed to eat.  Exploring food sensitivities and knowing what doesn’t work for your body is vital, but it’s also important to enjoy your diet.

Movement and Play provide an outlet for our inner child and help maintain strength in our body as a whole. Moving often and testing our muscles creates an environment in our body that positively impacts our genetics, allowing us to remain more youthful and energetic. Picking up objects and moving our body strengthens our muscles and bones. Joining friends or family for playful activities that put a smile on our faces reminds us to have fun and not take everything in life so seriously. 

Purpose and Fulfillment give life meaning and make our days joyful. When we feel like we can wake up and accomplish something of value it’s easy to stay motivated and find the energy to carry on. Whether it comes from work or volunteering, we all do better when we are fulfilled by how we spend our time. Determining our purpose is one of the biggest questions in life, and doesn’t usually come easily, but living true to ourselves can heal us and keep us strong for years.

Connection and Spirituality also help us find meaning and provide perspective for everything else. Sharing experiences and physical proximity with others is a natural and essential human condition. Community and belonging provide a direct, everyday connection. Spirituality is a more abstract idea, and means something vastly different for each person. Our feeling of connection to something larger than ourselves, or even our understanding, enlivens our spirit.

Now that you know what the heck each category means, is there anything that stands out that you’re ready to work on right now? Maybe now is a good time to reflect on each of these subjects and find some time to journal your thoughts. I hope you’ll get in touch with any questions/concerns.

If you'd like to set up a free consultation, please email me at aaronkaskowitz@gmail.com

2018: Turnt Up

“Be More”

This is the direction I’m inspired to take my coaching practice. I believe expressing and creating from deep within will give us greater fulfillment and improves the world around us. Owning our purpose makes us healthy and happy. 

It is my wish for everyone to Be More of who they are already. Resolutions are typically about improvement and change, but I think we’re all pretty amazing as we are. My only adjustment would be to turn up the volume a bit and amplify you. You’d become louder to yourself and to the rest of the world. So many of us aren’t sharing our gifts.
 
I hope you’ll find your voice in 2018. If you’d like to discuss this in depth then get in touch! Here’s how you might approach this.
 
Meditation
There’s nothing to fix. When we meditate we may seek to understand ourselves and find clarity to embrace it. Often I will sit and practice clearing my mind to find peace, but sometimes meditating on a subject can bring awareness to an opportunity for growth. Some ideas for becoming more mindful in 2018:
 
-Can you be more present and prepared to give yourself to others?
-What are your beliefs about yourself and can you allow your limiting beliefs to evolve to open more to the possibility and joy in life?
-How can you free yourself to feel abundance in your heart?
 
Lean Toward Discomfort
Being more also means experiencing more of everything. Seek it to know the feeling of uncomfortable situations so you can power through to the other side having gained wisdom. Own your weaknesses as much as your strengths so you can grow and learn. Often the toughest exercises are the ones we need most of all.
 
Relationships
Resolve to love yourself, your partner, family, strangers, friends and rivals. Love them so they may find peace and reflect it back into your life and beyond.
 
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Thanks for being uniquely you.

Aaron Kaskowitz

Subscribe to my newsletter here!

#1 Reason Why I’m Ready to be Your Health Coach

I already believe in you. All you need to do is be ready and believe in yourself. Belief has the power to heal us.
 
You are certainly strong enough to do the work needed to make a lasting change, but it is invaluable to have a knowledgeable partner standing beside you. I can hold you accountable when necessary, but I want celebrate with you, and help you recognize the opportunities to feel joy and healing. After a six-month program you will be equipped to move on and make progress on your own, for life. If you are willing to begin to make adjustments to your lifestyle, and want to talk about where to start, I am happy to give you a free consultation to determine whether or not we would be good partners.
 
Chris Kresser recently wrote a short explanation of why you need a health coach. To quote from that piece: “If you have chronic symptoms, but they aren't bad enough that you need to be in the hospital, you could certainly still benefit from a comprehensive functional medicine approach. But in many cases diet, lifestyle, and behavioral changes may be all you need to mostly or even completely resolve your symptoms.”
 
Many of us are living with chronic health conditions that can be controlled. My approach is based around maintaining balance by developing routines that provide chronic wellness.
 
One of my star clients gave a testimonial that I’d like to share below to give you a better sense of how this works. I’m so excited about his success.
 
 “So much of this is social. He does an incredible job listening and encouraging. He’s part therapist, part male cheerleader, and all encouraging.

Aaron brings a ton of understanding to the table. First, he understands health. He is licensed. He knows that of which he speaks. This means he is able to suggest things that might not have hit your radar, and comment intelligently on things already on your plate. Secondly, and more importantly, he understands this is a process, a literal lifestyle change. He knows this will take the rest of our lives. There is no “30 pounds in 20 minutes” program here.

Aaron takes a well-reasoned, broad approach to health. It’s not about waist size, scale readings, or one rep max. Instead, you’ll hear about blue zones, sleep, foods that fill AND feel good. 

Bottom line, we all ended up where we are on our own. It’s smart to bring in a professional to reposition and build momentum towards tomorrow goals.”

-Lost 30 lbs
-Eating for health
-Sleeping well every night
-Loving most every step along the way
 
Please share this newsletter with your friends and hit me up if you’d like a free consult!
 
With tremendous gratitude,

Aaron Kaskowitz

Subscribe to my newsletter here!

Medicinal Mushrooms

Over the last few weeks I’ve been pretty obsessed with functional uses of mushrooms. They can be delicious in cooking, but I’ve discovered they have many amazing medicinal uses. My introduction to this Kingdom of life was through using Four Sigmatic mushroom coffees and elixirs. The company’s creator, Tero Isokauppila, has been spreading the word about how rad ‘shrooms are.

One of the attractive qualities of mushrooms is that they’ve been nature’s medicine for so long, and don’t generally bring great risks. Mushrooms offer a lot of potential benefits, but I don’t want to use too much at once, nor do I want to risk over-stimulating my already over-active immune system. There’s conflicting information about whether they can increase immune activity to a dangerous point for those of us with autoimmune issues. My doctor has suggested incorporating them and keeping an eye on how my body responds, but not to go overboard. However, incorporating functional mushrooms could be worthwhile if you wish to boost your immune system to fight off viruses and infections. Here’s 4 mushrooms and some of their many amazing qualities. 

Lion’s Mane

The tipping point for my deep-dive into this world was my discovery that Lion’s Mane mushroom has been studied for its ability to re-grow the myelin sheath in the central nervous system. Myelin is what is destroyed in multiple sclerosis, so this information was incredibly exciting for me. I’ve experienced myelin loss, and I’m not willing to accept permanent damage without putting up a fight. I should mention that Lion’s Mane probably does not provide the building blocks for myelin. It sends a signal to the body to repair by increasing nerve growth factors, so a nutritious diet is still vital to providing the necessary components for the body to heal.

Reishi

Before finding out about Lion’s Mane, I was very intrigued by Reishi for it’s ability to calm the nervous system and balance the immune system. It is known as the “Queen of Mushrooms” and has been used for thousands of years as the “Mushroom of Immortality”. I think the Reishi has provided a calming effect and has helped me get longer, deeper sleep.

Chaga

The other 2 mushrooms I’ve been experimenting with are Chaga and Cordyceps. Chaga is known as the King of Mushrooms. One benefit that stands out is that this medicinal mushroom has been shown in studies to decrease cancer growth. It may also have the highest concentration of antioxidants of any food. Antioxidants control the free radicals in our body that cause damage if not controlled. Chaga generally acts as a potent anti-inflammatory to calm the inflammation that contributes to most diseases. Finally, it can help with digestive issues, which are commonly associated with autoimmune activity.

Cordyceps

Cordyceps is known to improve physical performance and ATP production. It’s been used by Olympic athletes to set world records. Pharmaceutical companies have extracted a compound from Cordyceps for a drug to treat multiple sclerosis. The drug is called Gilenya. In fact, mushrooms are very widely used in pharmaceutical drugs (Perhaps 40% of the drugs on the market). 

Lion’s Mane Medical Research Links

In the Central Nervous System:

• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24266378
• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12675022

In the Peripheral Nervous System:

• https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3176599/

Products

• Four Sigmatic Mushroom Packets
• Lion's Mane Extract from Real Mushrooms on Amazon 

Extra Links for the Curious

• Mushrooms in Drugs
• Mycelium Internet of Life!

Let me know if you have any thoughts on using medicinal mushrooms. I’d love to hear from you. Thank you for reading!

And a huge thank you to Mary Keane for her adorable, brilliant illustrations.

-Aaron Kaskowitz-

Sign up for my newsletter HERE!

Alignment With Nature

You got stuck at the office under the awful fluorescent lights until past your bedtime. When you finally get home you end up eating right before bed and sleep through your morning bike ride to the farmer's market. Waking up in the morning requires a little extra coffee, and you aren't feeling like walking the dog, so you miss out on the sunshine until after lunch. By now you're so out of sync with your normal circadian rhythm, you might as well be in another time zone. 

The circadian rhythm is how our bodies align with the daylight, especially influencing our sleep/wake cycle. We’ve adapted to be creatures of a certain type of routine. When we are chronically out of sync with this natural cycle, we throw things into mis-alignment and our disease risk increases.

Circadian entrainment has a wide variety of wellness implications. When we’re out of alignment, it could be affecting us in ways we wouldn’t expect. This is kind of the anti-biohack. The intention is to get out of the way of our own nature to understand how our environment affects us. Alignment means accepting our biology and enjoying the benefits that come from embracing it. This can be accomplished if we're mindful of a handful of important variables.

How Do We Influence Circadian Alignment?

Meal Size and Content

We’re meant to eat a lot in the morning to break the fast from the night before. According to articles I’ve read recently, our carbohydrate intake is also meant to be highest in the morning and decrease throughout the day. Lunch should be somewhat smaller than breakfast. Dinner should be smallest, and eaten before dark. The studies about carb intake had me sort of flipping out because I followed the Bulletproof Diet doctrine of eating carbs only at night to “avoid spiking blood sugar” and causing swings all day. I think you can mostly avoid this when you’re keeping to a slow-carb, low glycemic diet anyway. Also, when we get synced up with nature we’ll be able to find more systemic balance, including blood sugar.

Time-Restricted Eating

The space between dinner and breakfast should be as long as we can realistically manage, so that we have daily fasts in which our rest and healing processes can kick into full gear. We’re often in an over-fed state throughout the day, which overwhelms our digestive tract and limits our body’s healing processes. What is the point of eating all of those nutrient-dense foods if you don’t give your body the chance to utilize the resources it’s taking in?

To most effectively take advantage of nightly fasts, we should eat dinner early and breakfast nearly first thing in the morning. Skipping breakfast is trendy, but seems to negatively impact circadian alignment. Our insulin sensitivity is best in the morning, and it decreases throughout the day, so we’re primed for carbohydrates in the AM. Our metabolism is naturally very slow at night and we are unprepared to efficiently use sugars. When we eat a lot right before bed we end up storing too much of it as fat and we have lower quality sleep.

Based on studies showing health benefits from maintaining a time-restricted eating schedule, weight loss and disease risk are correlated with what might be classified as intermittent fasting. A limited window for eating might be 8-12 hours. This gives the body a break from digesting and allows for healing processes and aberrant cell clearance.

Light Exposure

The strongest example of environmental forces is sunshine. You could say we’re solar powered, but this goes beyond making vitamin D from sunlight. We need to have lots of sunshine during the daylight hours. As my inspiration for this post, Bill Lagakos, calls it, “circadian entrainment” will be strongly influenced by bright sunlight from dawn to dusk.

On the other hand, we should consider avoiding light at the right times. Our communities have been built to blast us with artificial light. Our digital devices, held close to our faces, will do the same, even while the room is dark. When the sun goes down we’re meant to be in near darkness. Obviously this will be difficult for almost all of us, but the benefits of decreasing blue-light exposure are better sleep and better circadian alignment. Specifically, blue light decreases our melatonin production, which is the hormone we associate with sleep. You all know the importance of sleep, right? We must prioritize high-quality sleep, not just high duration sleep. Use warm lights and candlelight at night, and turn on the night-shift mode on your iPhone or Flux on your laptop.

Here are some of the reasons to get back in sync:

Later meal timing increases body fat: http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/early/2017/09/06/ajcn.117.161588

What time we eat affects our biological clock. Science: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/317735.php

Studies show that time-restricted eating lowers disease risk.  This study shows impacts on breast cancer risk from nighttime fasting: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4417458/

Bill Lagakos posts excellent articles on nutrition science that have inspired me to write on this topic. I’ve also changed my routines to align better with my own nature. I’ve seen the benefits in my blood sugar and energy levels. The long-term effects are surely even more significant: http://caloriesproper.com/carb-early-but-not-often/

 “The importance of caloric distribution across the day on weight loss therapy was supported by a recent 12-week experimental study showing that subjects assigned to high caloric intake during breakfast lost significantly more weight than those assigned to high caloric intake during the dinner:” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24467926

This week, just prior to posting this, my dad sent me a link to this well-timed news about the Nobel Prize in medicine being given for circadian clock research! Cool! http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/02/health/nobel-medicine-prize-circadian-rhythm/index.html

Illustration by the super-talented Mary Keane. At half my age, she already has a whole lot of this wellness stuff figured out! Huge thanks and shout-out to her for the collaboration.

If you’re new, sign up for this newsletter HERE!

Move It or Lose It?

The Summer is the time to feel and act young. With the sunshine and life bursting all around, everybody seems to want to get out and have an adventure. In addition to the positive impacts on our circadian clock from the ample sunshine, we become eager to move our bodies in different ways during this time of year. We have inputs from our environment helping us out, but we also benefit from motivation within us to do more. This desire for activity seems to bring greater energy and exercise capacity because by doing we are sending signals to our body to adjust to the new level of activity. Basically, if we act young and strong our bodies will understand the need to be strong and make the change to support our habits.

If we live a sedentary life and don’t send signals to our body to be prepared then we’ll probably allow for deterioration and loss of some ability. It seems to be that genetic expression and physical strength both play a role. We’ll activate our youthful genes and train our muscles, connective tissue, bones, etc. to take more of a load. So I’m planning to apply this principle in all seasons, especially since I’m lucky enough to live where it’s warm and sunny all the time.

I’ve spent a large portion of the last year doing low-impact exercise, but it seems that some heavier strength training has been lacking. I was afraid to push my body because I felt weak, but a small nudge without going too hard, may be just what I needed. In fact, ever since restarting my twice-weekly routine I’ve begun feeling better in areas related to my MS that have been bothering me for quite a while. I felt quite validated in my choice to get back in the gym after finding this article. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/08/170801090231.htm

My routine for Day 1: squats, bench, deadlift. Day 2: squats, overhead press, bent over rows. I always incorporate some stretching and bar hangs to release compression in my spine from a lifestyle where I sit a lot. On days when I’m not in the gym I’ll meditate, do light yoga, bodyweight exercises and as much walking/hiking as I can find time for. And dancing.

Now I better take full advantage of the Summer and get out to the beach again soon! Feel free to send me an email with your thoughts and/or plans to take full advantage of your strength and ability. I’d love to hear from you.

-Aaron Kaskowitz-

If you’re new, sign up for this newsletter HERE!

Better Health Through Community

My personal introduction to Health Coaching was through nutrition, and many people assume this is at the core of any health program, but this isn’t necessarily true. Food has great power to heal us, but I’ve seen, and experienced first hand, that nourishing our bodies through mindful living has greater power to heal our bodies and minds. That’s why my purpose statement on my website puts mindful living before nutrition.

The lifestyle aspects of health coaching are community, fulfillment in career, exercise, spiritual practice, sleep, relationships, play/joy and creation. The goal is to find balance and fulfillment in as many of these areas as you can, but it works best to focus on just a few at a time. So, I wanted to share my recent thoughts on Relationships and Community because I’ve noticed that most people can benefit from a reminder to connect. I’m one of those people.

The Blue Zones

https://bluezones.com/live-longer-better/

Blue Zones are areas where people live uncommonly long, active, healthy, happy lives. Many of the probable factors contributing to their lack of deterioration in later years are on the list of healthy lifestyle factors listed above. Why do they live long? One vital factor: Community and social connection.

Many of these communities have multi-generational households. Families stick together, and people are surrounded by social support their entire lives. They’re stuck with them, but they’re blessed by them because they’ll never suffer from loneliness.

We need each other. We need physical contact. Staying close together instead of creating distance from things like the internet and studio apartments affords us better health. Our communities are interconnected through technology but most of our time spent with others is at work where we don’t get the social connection our souls desire.

Smart People Did a Study

https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/03/23/the-secrets-to-a-happy-life-from-a-harvard-study/

A Harvard study on happiness that has run for 75 years, says that close, quality relationships are the key. “Over and over in these 75 years,” Dr. Waldinger said, “our study has shown that the people who fared the best were the people who leaned into relationships with family, with friends and with community.”

A good relationship contributes so much to our well-being and a bad one can do just the opposite. We can have fond memories and daily support, or we can have daily stress from butting heads and distance ourselves only to end up lonely. Which sounds better? Which do you think leads to better happiness/health?

Strong relationships can also impact the other lifestyle factors because they would likely lead to more sharing of ideas and positive experiences. So we’d be smarter and more prepared, and we’d laugh and smile more often.

If we don’t have strong relationships and social support through every year of life, we are missing out. We all need physical contact like hugs, and to feel deep connection with others. When community is lacking in our lives, we’ll feel the need to compensate. Whether or not we know it, we can develop habits of filling the gaps with things like sweet food, drugs and alcohol, or retail therapy in order to stimulate the brain in ways it has missed. There’s no replacement for the real thing.

Thank you for being a part of my community!

Sign up for my email updates HERE!

Cancer and Nutrition

Hello again! 

I just picked up my very own URL, so you can find me at www.aaronkaskowitz.com. I am also accepting clients for health coaching in March. If you are looking for an accountability health partner, I'd love to work with you to achieve greater everyday wellness. I'm also open to feedback and discussion anytime. Please feel free to reach out!

Cancer

This is a write up I put together for a friend discussing how nutrition may impact cancer. I am by no means an authority on cancer treatment but I have read numerous reports and studies about some therapies that have worked for people battling life threatening illnesses, and it is certainly information worth sharing.  I know that if I were dealing with something this serious I'd be searching for any and all tools to feel armed for greater wellness and happiness. 

I believe diet and lifestyle can make a huge difference in beating cancer, as well as nearly any other illness. At the very least these interventions can be used in conjunction with the standard of medical care to greatly increase wellness. 

We all have cancerous cells in our bodies every day, but our immune system constantly destroys them. Cancer cells primarily thrive on sugars (glucose), so when we stop eating carbs we are decreasing their fuel sources. That's one significant reason why a high (quality) fat diet is my go-to for longevity. 

It's also important to eat lots of GBOMBS (greens, berries, onions, mushrooms, beans, seeds) to support the body through nutrition. They all have a place in our daily diet, though I'm not a big fan of beans. I try to eat a rainbow 🌈 every day. Each color of veggies/fruits has its own benefits and micronutrients. It's the polyphenols that give their deep, gorgeous colors.

I'm kind of obsessed with cruciferous veggies lately. Here's a great source of info on plant foods with potent anti-cancer effects.

If you want to do some reading from one of my favorite sources for lots of cool health topics, check out this link to Tim Ferriss and Peter Attia's cancer toolkit. 

What I Would Do With This Knowledge

If I were undergoing chemotherapy I would ask my doctor if fasting around my chemo sessions was advisable. I've read that it is very helpful in increasing the effectiveness of the treatment and bouncing back afterward. Fasting can give the body a chance to take a break from digesting and focus on healing and ditching bad cells. It also starves cancer cells because there's a lack of glucose. 

I'd use lots of medicinal mushrooms like reishi, and I'd eat tons of the veggies mentioned above. I'd also add lots of MCT oil to my diet using coconut oil products like this to help me follow a strict ketogenic diet. The ketogenic diet is very low carb, high fat, and moderate protein. Much more can be found here and in my ketones blog post.

Mindfulness/meditation/spiritual practice is essential. It promotes peace of mind and relaxes the nervous system to allow the body to heal. It is also a time to practice gratitude for the beautiful life we live and decrease damaging stress hormones. Quality sleep, community involvement and regular exercise are also essential. 

Until next time!

-Aaron Kaskowitz-

Subscribe to receive email updates via my newsletter here!

Back to School!

What good is this struggle if we don’t learn/grow from it?

What good is this lesson if we don’t share it?

What good is this life if we don’t appreciate all its gifts and privileges? 

Here I am! Sorry for my absence.

My current status is healing and learning. I’m gearing up for another shift in my life that I am very excited to share with you all. I’m learning nutrition and health coaching through an online school called the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. It’s a year-long program that will certify me to practice coaching and begin my new career in a field I’ve been quietly dedicated to for the past several years. It has become more and more obvious over the past couple years that I should shift my commitment to bettering myself through lifestyle and nutrition over to a commitment to sharing my growth toward wellness with others.  

Recent thoughts on stress

Although chronic stress is pretty killer and rampant, eliminating it isn’t necessary nor advantageous. That’s too combative a stance to take. The real goal is to manage and minimize the effects of stress. It’s a fact of life and a tool our body uses to get us ready to defend ourselves in dangerous situations. In times of chronic stress, though, our health deteriorates so we have to learn to cope. I’ve been taking adaptogenic herbs to support my body dealing with unavoidable stressors. The product I use and trust: https://goo.gl/8uOXdy

A few things I’d like to change in order to manage and minimize my daily stress:

·      Meditate more regularly. Do you meditate? How is it going for you?

·      Find a place to live that has parking and is located in a quieter, less chaotic place

·      Transition into my new career with clear goals

·      Enjoy creating a daily routine. Routine isn’t easy to create when day-to-day, week-to-week work schedules are in constant flux as they’ve been for the past couple years. That should change next year.

·      Save more money. Real talk.

Incredible edibles

My latest course materials got me pretty excited about onions, mushrooms and greens. The anti-cancer nutrients, immune system support and hormone balancing effects made me focus on adding them into my daily diet. Greens are a no-brainer, but we get so much benefit from them it’s good to have the reminder to seek them out more. Mushrooms haven’t been in my regular diet for a while, but apparently they have the ability to bind to our cells and mark them for death if they’ve become abnormal. This is an important function because those are the bad cells that can lead to cancer.  Onions inhibit the growth of fat cells and cancer cells. I’d like to avoid disease, so I’ll keep eating some of this bad medicine. 

Thanks California!

It’s now legal for adults in California to walk around with an ounce of Mary Jane and grow it. It’s actually legal on the entire West Coast now. You can’t really buy it in Cali yet, unless you’ve already got your medical card, but soon it’ll be easy. This is excellent news because cannabis products have been tested extensively in therapies for MS and many other chronic illnesses. I can attest for cannabis products that are heavy in CBD being beneficial for anxiety and MS symptoms. These are non-psychoactive so you don’t get high. Thanks for the article, Kimberly: https://goo.gl/P4DVOJ

I promise not to leave you hanging so long until my next post. As this coaching business becomes more of my focus I’ll be more likely to write and think through some fun topics via these posts. If anybody has advice or ideas for me in this transition I’d love to hear from you.  

Love you all. Stay well.

Subscribe to the newsletter email here!

Reminder

i heard something a few weeks ago that resonated regarding attitude toward the self. it helped me realize that instead of believing i am somehow flawed and need improvement, growth and personal development should be viewed as compassion toward oneself. It shouldn’t be seen as fixing something broken in you. thus, we are better equipped to give to others when we have allowed ourselves to heal. that is the ultimate goal.

Relapse

Hi! I hope everyone has had an awesome Summer so far. I've been on Summer Vacation, since that’s what adults do. I’m glad to be back on the writing thing so I can share some cool things with you.

Ever since starting this newsletter, I assumed that one day, in the distant future I’d have to share about my experience with a relapse in my MS. It happened much sooner than I expected.

A couple weeks ago my legs started losing sensation and over the next few days they got very tingly. It felt kind of like my legs had gone to sleep from being in an uncomfortable position for too long. I still had full function, aside from some sore, tense joints. My legs felt heavy when I walked. I’ve noticed some major improvements in the last few days, but it’s been bizarre. At the beginning it was pretty scary and stressful.

Stressful is the key word. Managing stress is one of my absolutely vital lessons in living with MS and maintaining good health. I have been dealing with chronically high levels of stress for the last month or two, and I think it broke my body down enough to trigger something pretty aggressive in my dysfunctional immune system. Autoimmunity doesn’t really go away, but you can do a lot to control it and avoid triggering it. Calming things has been my goal for a long while, but I ran into trouble here that’s reminded me to do some important things.

Meditate

Meditation is necessary for me at this point. I know it helps me not become stressed about stressing and manage the loop of negative thinking and worrying. I know that stress is the enemy, but I need to be prepared for stress when it inevitably comes. I take some herbal supports for stress, and I learned about a supplement called inositol that can be used to calm down the anxiety. I don’t take it, but will consider it in the future if necessary.

Eat a rainbow of veggies and nutrient-rich foods every day

Terry Wahls is a hero in MS wellness for a reason. Her diet works for people with serious cases of MS, and I need to make sure I’m utilizing this information. Keeping up with a strict, unconventional diet can be tough. I don’t plan to punish myself for forgetting to eat enough broth and liver, but this will serve as a reminder.

Work with a doctor

Doing this alone isn’t a good idea. There are functional medicine doctors who do more than just amplify the positive effects of a healthy lifestyle, diet and supplementation. My doctor provides support and knowledge I will never posses. She’s provided me with excellent advice and set me down an even better path. I’ve been doing great since my diagnosis, but I could be doing even better, and I never want to experience this type of relapse again.

Along with increasing my fish oil and turmeric dosages, the doctor recommended something I’m pretty excited about: Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN).

LDN is a medication originally used for opioid addiction. The low dose of the drug works by blocking the opioid receptors in the brain for a short duration, and by the time it clears out of the system the body has responded by creating more endorphins to cope with the decreased sensitivity. The endorphins stimulate more T-regulatory cell activity. T-reg cells are the regulators in the immune system, which is what keeps your body from attacking itself in conditions like MS. It also decreases inflammation in the central nervous system. That’s my laymen explanation of it.

This website has a lot of great info if you’re interested in knowing more. Apparently the drug can be useful in many conditions, and comes with very low risk of side effects. I wouldn’t consider taking it if it seemed to have many risks. A few of the conditions it has been used to treat are depression, parkinson’s, crohn’s, PTSD. Here’s a super cool podcast from Chris Kresser about LDN.

I started on LDN 7 days ago. Nothing new to report, really. I dream more, but it hasn’t really changed much of anything yet. I’m giving it some time and remaining optimistic.

I’m interested in connecting more with people who have similar health battles and experiences with using nutrition to achieve wellness. I hope this newsletter and blog will continue to reach people who will benefit from it. I’m excited about what the future will bring.

Subscribe to the newsletter here!

Happiness for No Reason - Tara Brach

I wanted to share something soft and feelsy this week because I was struck by the sense of well-being and optimism I felt while listening to this episode of the Tara Brach podcast of meditations. This has started to mean a lot to me lately. She is very soothing and has some fun stories. If you’re lucky enough to have the time to sit and listen, or listen while driving, I think everyone will enjoy this sauna for your mind.

The most important take-away from this episode is that choosing happiness and a positive existence is a key step in making it your default mode. This couldn’t have come at a better time for me because I just recently made the decision that I’d make a shift exactly like this. My goal is to simply be more happy, joyful and mindful in the present. I’m sure it helps that my goal came from seeking personal growth, rather than an assignment by someone else. And it doesn’t hurt that I have some incredibly joyful people in my life to learn from.

According to Tara, a genuine desire to achieve this state of mind is enough to get you there more quickly. Because of neuroplasticity, when we choose to utilize gladness paths in the brain more often they will become stronger and become easier fallbacks.  If you’re lucky you might find yourself being happy for no reason after practicing and giving yourself reasons to have gratitude.

I’m always working to keep a sense of empowerment over my health and learning about variables that I can control. It seems that happiness, gratitude and enjoyment are within our control. They’re also at the basis for living the good life. We should absolutely make the choice to be happy if it helps us live in a more naturally glad state. Sbe mentions this quote several times to illustrate how the choice to feel something actually generates an important physical response in the brain: “Where attention goes, energy flows.” –True Refuge

Accept and find peace right now, and be glad to be wherever you are. Instead of always seeking and expecting that if you finally achieve some specific thing that you’ll be happy. Happiness right now is key. 

Download her podcast from iTunes or check it out at these links: Part 1 Part 2 

For newbie meditators, here’s a guided meditation. 

A little article on the health benefits of gratitude.

You all have my gratitude for your attention and I hope that you’ll go flex your happiness muscles. It’s the weekend, after all!

-Aaron Kaskowitz-

New subscribers to this email newsletter can get set up at this link

Ketones!

Maybe you, I and everyone we know should use ketone supplements. The benefits are tremendous and they aren’t prohibitively expensive. I’m not aware of any real risks because all of us were made to generate and use them.

Ketones are the reason we don’t die while fasting. We only store enough glucose for about a day’s worth of energy, so at that point we have to either add glucose by eating, or adjust by burning the fat we’ve stored in our bodies to produce ketones. Ketones are actually the cell’s preferred fuel instead of glucose, and we can fast for days and many days at a time without crashing because they’re so well utilized by our cells. Our big brains require ketones pretty quickly when we’re not eating.

Dietary Overhaul Option

I’d love to go deep into the benefits of fasting in a future post, but for now just keep in mind that it has always been normal for humans to fast periodically, and it’s actually healthy.  A few of the benefits of therapeutic fasting are clearing out pre-cancerous cells, turning on genes that improve our health, fat loss, increase insulin sensitivity, mental clarity and increase in productivity from not thinking about meals (The ultimate podcast on fasting and ketosis with Dr. Dom D’Agostino).

Another way to enjoy the benefits of fasting is to simulate a fast through the ketogenic diet. This is a diet that will cause our body to burn fat and generate ketones. Classically this is 75% fat, 20% protein and 5% carbohydrate. A very high fat diet is abhorrent to some people, but this diet has been shown to be effective in treating epilepsy, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, cancer, multiple sclerosis and many neurodegenerative diseases. It can be useful in prevention and treatment. I’ve heard of people whose health is fundamentally changed for the better by a strict ketogenic diet. It’s worth a shot if you’re facing something serious and your doc approves it. 

Or… Not

If you don’t want to make crazy changes to your diet then you can still supplement with ketones for a lot of benefit. I add ketones to my diet by eating things like coconut oil, specifically the refined oils in products called Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCTs). These products are the real magic behind the butter coffee craze. It’s not just about healthy fats, but mostly about the MCTs that jumpstart some really cool processes in our cells.

• MCT/Ketone supplements have a lot of promising results:
• Improve blood sugar
• Increase fat loss
• 28% better mitochondrial density
• Ketones turn on genes for longevity
• Decrease oxygen consumption while increasing ATP production. ATP = the molecule used as an energy carrier in our cells
• Increase in mental clarity
• Increase in satiety so you don’t feel like you need to eat
• This study explains that ketone supplementation decreased cancer proliferation because cancer cells rely on glucose and glutamine, and are unable to thrive on ketones http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ijc.28809/abstract 

The benefits of ketones aren’t dependent on being in a fasted or ketogenic state, but people with serious health concerns should absolutely give the keto diet a try. I’ve tried the diet, but I’m currently trying to gain weight so I’m eating a moderate amount of carbs. I’m very open to trying it again in the future, but I’m enjoying supplementing with delicious MCTs for now.

Products I Use

The cost of entry to this ketone experiment is around $15, or you can bump up to the more potent products to get the experience more fully.

Best deal I’ve found

Awesome product, high price, 16 oz or 32 oz sizes

One step down, but still solid

Supplement for people who really need something potent

New product that seems promising if you don’t have a sensitivity to dairy

My Butter Coffee Recipe

I genuinely look forward to this so much that I never have trouble getting out of bed

1. Chemex or French Press Pot of freshly ground coffee
2. A large spoonful of grass fed ghee/butter
3. 2 tablespoons of MCT oil (start with less than a tablespoon and increase over a couple weeks)
4. Cinnamon

Then blend it up! This is important and tastes a million times better. I use a stick blender, but a real blender is the best. 

Optional additions:

• A few drops of vanilla extract
• Grass-fed collagen protein powder
• For a mocha, add raw cacao powder and cacao butter

To learn all about the ketogenic diet and its incredible medical applications: A resource created by smart people who actually know this stuff

Here’s a direct link discussing the use of ketones in Multiple Sclerosis.

Direct quote from this website: “Neurological disorders such as ALS, Multiple Sclerosis, and Parkinsons Disease: research is showing that ketone bodies exert a protective affect on the nervous system and slow the progression of nerve related diseases.”

New subscribers can go HERE to sign up to receive the email!

Bacteria Run the Show

Our Bacteria Friends

My favorite topic related to Multiple Sclerosis is the gut microbiome. Once I fell into that rabbit hole, a lot of doors appeared to open on the other end. There’s a huge body of research and widespread optimism about how the gut is the key to unlock healing in many areas. While I’m happy to be on that bandwagon, I don’t think it’s the magic bullet to fixing everything. However, in MS, the immune system is attacking healthy cells, and it appears that microbe (bacteria, fungus) imbalance in the gut is an important factor in developing this disorder. They say microbe cells in our own bodies outnumber our cells 10 to 1.

This feels significant…

They are actually completely necessary for us to function. And besides the fact that there are trillions of them that live in us, it has become the norm to be missing important microbes and/or have an overgrowth of others that are less beneficial.

How did we mess up?

We got this way from antibiotics, sugary diets, lack of fiber and lots of environmental factors. What we consume always has bacteria all over it - and that’s a good thing. We need a diverse input in order to keep growing the rainforest of little guys who help us function. They compete for space and need to be kept in balance, similar to an ecosystem in nature. So keep eating organic veggies straight out of the dirt.

Antibiotics and excessive focus on hygiene/sterilization caused extinction of so many little guys that we left a gap for overgrowth of others. Antibiotics don’t specifically kill the dangerous bacteria that might be harming us. They wipe out so many friendly bacteria in the process. It’s compared to losing a portion of an organ. Our microbiome is like an organ with a role in so many important areas of health. The most important is probably brain health.

The Gut-Brain connection has come up a lot lately in trending research. Some neurologists have even started to focus primarily on the gut. This wouldn’t seem to make much sense intuitively, aside from the “gut feeling” coming to mind.  In fact, the gut and brain are directly linked via the vagus nerve.

What are they even doing in there?

• Generating Neurotransmitters
• They are allowing for production of T-Reg cells. These immune system cells are responsible for regulating the cells that break down the myelin in the brain in MS.
• Acting as either Pro-Inflammatory or Anti-inflammatory
• Digesting our food
• So much more

How to influence your gut health now:

• Probiotics – An example of a new product I just ordered: http://www.generalbiotics.com/
• Prebiotics – supplements and foods that feed bacteria
• Botanical antimicrobials – They can be potent, and are useful if there’s an unruly microbe that needs to be put in check.
• Diet – Eat lots of veggies for fiber and avoid processed junk

Links

• A new podcast episode I noticed while getting this ready to share: Is A Disrupted Microbiome at the Root of Modern Disease?
• NYTimes: Can the Bacteria in Your Gut Explain Your Mood?

Consider this an introduction. I’ll cover this much more in the future because there’s a lot we can do to improve our situation.

See you soon-ish.

-Aaron

New subscribers to the email newsletter can sign up here.

Omega 3’s, Berberine, Meditation

All of these topics deserve a long analysis, but I wanted to break down a few radical nuggets for your enjoyment.

I feel it’s less risky to use naturally occurring compounds than to medicate with pharmaceuticals that change our biology and cause crazy side-effects. So, here’s a couple supps that came up this week which have amazing benefits.

Omega 3’s

Fish Oil/Cod Liver Oil/Krill Oil

I’ve used cod liver oil for a while, and I feel better when I do than when I don’t.  Most recently I started taking this fish oil. What does the science show? “Patients with multiple sclerosis supplementing 1 gram of fish oil daily for 2 years significantly reduced clinical symptoms of MS.” Rhonda Patrick discussion of omega 3

Increase:

• Omega 3 to omega 6 ratio in our body. Since our diets have become too heavy on omega-6, supplementing with omega 3 is probably a good plan.
• Brain health through vital fatty acid availability. Besides water, our brains are mostly fat.

Decrease:

• Inflammation: According to this article, “having enough omega-3s in your system provides your body with the tools necessary to combat and resolve acute inflammation almost as soon as it is triggered.”
• Triglycerides

A few things to note:

• Keep them fresh and in the fridge. They can get rancid.
• Buy the ones that are molecularly distilled to avoid mercury.
• One source says it’s ideal to take fish oil with a 2:1 ratio of EPA to DHA.
• If you’re not allergic to shellfish, I’ve heard that krill oil is the best choice, and may have a similar makeup as unicorn blood.

Berberine

I’ve used this a bit before when trying to clear out some unwelcome microbes in my gut, but this week I dug into a bit more and discovered that berberine’s benefits extend far beyond weeding in the gut. It seems like a promising botanical for wellness in several areas.

Decrease:

• Blood sugar – This is important because I’ve heard Peter Attia mention insulin sensitivity as one of the most important factors for life extension. It is also important for current health status.
• Cholesterol
• Toxin-causing bacteria and antibiotic resistant bacteria

Please note: I’ve read about risks associated with taking berberine every day for too long, so probably best to take breaks. A couple weeks on, couple weeks off.

Cool links:

• http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0042529
• https://authoritynutrition.com/berberine-powerful-supplement/
• http://www.naturaldigestivehealing.com/blog/2011/08/19/natural-anti-microbial-supplements-for-ibd/
• http://www.itmonline.org/arts/berberine.htm

Practice Meditation

Meditation helps MS symptoms. link to a cool article here

The benefits of meditation cannot be overstated. It comes up over and over when I listen to interviews with happy, successful people at the top of their game. It comes up among science geeks who have done their research and describe why it’s magic.

It seems to have become especially important in our culture to take the time out to meditate or seek mindfulness because of the over-stimulating urban environment. There’s no break for our brains, and it’s hard to filter when you’re constantly connected via smartphone notifications.

A lot of people have started with the app Headspace and moved on to their own practice from there. There’s no right or wrong way to meditate, but starting with something very simple is best. Sit still for 10-15 minutes and breathe deeply. Refocus gently to your breath to let thoughts drift away as they appear. Don’t try too hard. Just relax. It gets easier and is always worth the time. I’m trying to add this into my daily routine, either right before I go to sleep or first thing in the morning.

Increase:

• Ownership and control over your thoughts and how you respond to stimuli
• Blood flow to important parts of your brain
• Ability to focus and appreciate

Decrease:

• Inflammation
• Rumination on negative thoughts and stress from them
• Energy wasted from sympathetic nervous system activation

New subscribers can sign up here.

Diet and Inflammation

Happy Friday! Sorry to miss last week - I’m not a very prolific writer. I think it’ll actually be rare for me to have a weekly post, but here’s a bi-weekly update!

Why do I care so much about what I eat?

People close to me know that it’s an adventure for me to order food at restaurants. They also know I have reasons for my choices, although I tend to spare them the boring details. I could write a 50-page manifesto of my diet and nutrition plan, but that would be of very little use to you because we’re all vastly different and we all generally have different goals. However, one goal I believe we can all share is lowering inflammation. We all have to do the R&D for ourselves to figure out what works for us, but chronic inflammation should be universally avoided. 

Inflammation is your body’s natural response to eliminate an initial cause of cell injury. It clears out dead cells and damaged tissues, and initiates tissue repair. The immune system becomes overactive and destructive to your healthy cells. Rhonda Patrick likened this effect to “setting off a nuclear bomb to kill a cockroach.” There’s unnecessary destruction all over. Chronic inflammation also causes difficulty in absorbing nutrients and damages normal cells. (There are many other effects, Time Article) According to this study and many others, inflammation is the primary driver of aging, and the benefits of minimizing chronic inflammation range from minor to major. Minor benefits would be improving our skin health, while major would be avoiding depression and diseases of aging. In the case of autoimmune conditions like multiple sclerosis, inflammation can be out of control and activated without a threat to work against. This type of chaos may be involved in your immune system destroying the myelin in your brain in MS.

So… How do I respond to all of that?

Since diet is one of the primary sources of inflammation, we have an opportunity to face it head on every time we choose what to eat. There are many edible and inedible things that we put into our bodies that drive inflammation. In addition to food sensitivities, we have trillions of microbes in our guts that need to be in balance to keep inflammation in check because the gut is at the root of the majority of the inflammation in our bodies. Our immune system and central nervous system function are also dependent on gut health. The Gut-Brain Axis is discussed widely in the health science community lately. Dr. Perlmutter says, “new research has shown that healthy, fat-rich diets have a myriad of benefits to the brain on the macro-scale in brain function, and benefits on the micro-scale in terms of inflammation.” Whitepaper on the subject here.

Knowing you can control such a significant amount of inflammation through dietary choices opens up an incredible opportunity to heal yourself. 

This is a great place to start, and it's why I am pretty strict about what I put in my body. I feel like a smart plan to start figuring things out, the Wahls Protocol, is appropriate because it eliminates common sources of inflammation in order to give you a break from them. Then you can reintroduce these foods later to test their effects on you. Some foods really don’t ever need to be eaten, but that’s a rabbit hole to go down another time. It’s best to keep it simple at the beginning and learn as you go. Incremental changes got me from 2011 to 2016 in good health through nutrition. 

Dr. Darya Rose would probably call me a Foodist. It kind of sounds like a religion, and I guess that isn't too far off, but really I feel like I’m following the classic advice of Hippocrates to "let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food." It’s worth the effort, and I think my good health is proof. There are many more interventions for inflammation out there, and I’m sure I’ll be discussing many of them in the future. 

Here’s a taste of a few key items to pay attention to or seek out:

Add: Turmeric (supplement curcumin), cod liver oil, vitamin d, coconut oil, grass fed meat and grass fed butter

Subtract: Sugar, vegetable oil, gluten

New subscribers can sign up here.

Busy Week Links

Happy April, fools!

This has been an insanely busy week, in which I’ve had no free time. So, instead of sending a rambling, incoherent discussion of and important topic, I’m going to provide some of my favorite websites and online resources. These guys inform my decisions on so many things, including inspiring me to pursue this newsletter.

If you have any websites, books, podcasts or whatever to recommend, I’m very interested to hear from you. There’s plenty more where these came from, but they’re probably my favorites.

Rhonda Patrick, AKA FoundMyFitness: Her podcast and website have fueled so much of my recent brain-expansion in health. Her posts and interviews are densely packed with information straight from scientific literature and first-hand experience. She's raising money, and I believe she's more than earned a donation. 

Dr. Terry Wahls: She has compiled a science-based and tested protocol for MS. Read about it online or check out her book. She went from a wheelchair to an active lifestyle.

Tim Ferriss: I don’t think I can say enough about how Tim. His podcast interviews, books and blog posts have enriched my life and inspired me to become a better learner, and to seek out knowledge in general. The podcast is an awesome companion for LA traffic because I listen in to his insightful conversations with super-intelligent, thoughtful people.

Chris Kresser: A smart, self-proclaimed “healthy skeptic” who does his research on the topics his patients and podcast listeners need help with. He knows how to translate his research into applicable practices for a wide range of people.  Instead of taking sensationalized media coverage of health topics at face value, he digs into the study literature to explain why some of the claims are invalid, or have alternative explanations.

Dave Asprey, Bulletproof: Dave is a goofy guy, but he’s hacking biology and life in incredibly interesting, useful ways. He’s all about finding ways to become your highest-performing self, and that can get to an insanely perfectionist level, but incrementally introducing some of his ideas can improve your life if you are open-minded.

Next week I’ll be discussing something more in depth. New subscribers can sign up here.

Have an amazing weekend!

Introduction to Research and Development

Hello! 

I’ve been tossing around the idea of starting a health blog or an MS-related blog of some sort because I count myself as extremely lucky to enjoy consistent good health. I believe there are many like me, or many who just need a small boost to get their engines going into several higher gears. This writing applies to everyone, and it could especially benefit those who’ve been diagnosed with some illness. 

It’s difficult for me to identify myself as someone with MS because my affliction is quite minimal. I’m jarred by any mention of characters in movies with MS because it’s always presented with such a sense of dread and helpless hopelessness. Turning inward I feel gratitude mixed with fear of the unknown, and I remain optimistic knowing my future self will maintain strength and ability. I know how lucky I am to have enjoyed a healthy MS walk over the past 4 years. It didn’t start completely optimistic, but I gave myself hope by deciding to fight disease progression.  I decided to thrive, not just survive.

I am gifting this newsletter to anyone who is interested because working to improve myself has never been enough. I don’t claim to be an expert in anything, but I have a persistent motivation to better myself and cultivate an understanding for what makes me well. I’d like to encourage others to do the same. If it has positively impacted my life, or I believe in it, I’ll consider sharing it with the readers. There’s a great deal of information online with wide-ranging points of view, but this will be presented through the lens of my own health experience. I’ll try not to share too much that I haven’t at least attempted to apply to myself first.

Topics could range from strength training, diet/nutrition, anti-aging practices, supplements, mindfulness/meditation, cool products, podcasts and articles.

I'm calling the newsletter R&D because it will be a discussion of topics that I research and the development of new habits to integrate the information. Much more to come... See you next week.

SIGN UP FOR FRIDAY EMAILS HERE