Overpowering Toxins with Sulforaphane: Not All Heroes Wear Capes!🥦

Modern life is bustling with innovative technologies for a convenient living; online access to news and information, timesaving transport, fast foods and cosmetics that leave us feeling ‘our best selves’. This improved way of living, however, is accompanied by increased exposure to a multitude of chemicals, pesticides and electromagnetic fields, which have the capacity to cause tissue damage and disturb our delicate hormonal balance.

Fortunately, these effects can be offset using the superhero nutrient sulforaphane! 🌱

A build-up of these toxins can overburden the body, leading to fatigue, weight gain, digestive disturbances, and hormonal disorders. Fortunately, these effects can be offset using the superhero nutrient sulforaphane, which stimulates toxin elimination and reduces the fall-out from toxic exposure by strengthening antioxidant defences.

The War Against Toxins

The battle between antioxidants and toxins is much like a war between good and evil. Toxins create molecules known as free radicals, which cause damage to our cells: a process known as oxidative stress. Conversely, antioxidants are substances that can neutralise free radicals, thereby protecting our cells and tissues from damage.

Our body also neutralises and eliminates toxic substances via detoxification, with the liver primarily responsible for eliminating the toxins we are exposed to. Whilst the liver is an efficient organ, it can benefit greatly from detoxification support to prevent it from becoming overburdened by constant toxin exposure (to read more about detoxification, click here.) This is where sulforaphane plays a key role, enhancing the body’s detoxification processes and reducing damage caused by free radical exposure.

Sulforaphane Saves the Day

Sulforaphane is an ingredient made by the body from nutrients found within cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli, cabbage and kale. Sulforaphane increases antioxidant protection by stimulating the antioxidant defence system within the body that protects against the effects of oxidative stress.

Additionally, sulforaphane enhances detoxification activity in the body by inducing enzymes involved in metabolism of harmful toxins by the liver, promoting their elimination.[1]

The Elusive Hero

Providing your body with sulforaphane is not as simple as adding a few extra spoonfuls of broccoli to your dinner plate; you need to provide your body with the right ingredients to make it. The main ingredient is glucoraphanin, found primarily in broccoli seeds, however you also need myrosinase, found in high concentration in broccoli sprouts, to ‘activate’ it (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Sulforaphane is made from glucoraphanin, with a little help from myrosinase.

Although broccoli does contain both glucoraphanin and myrosinase, you would need to consume almost two cups of raw broccoli each day to attain enough for a beneficial amount of sulforaphane. For those who prefer cooked broccoli, the heating process destroys myrosinase, so while cooked broccoli can give you glucoraphanin, there is not enough myrosinase to convert it into sulforaphane in the body.

Additionally, vitamin C is needed to turn on myrosinase, making it a vital ingredient for sulforaphane production.[2],[3]Therefore, whilst this hero ingredient is formidable in the face of its toxin foe, its strength can remain elusive given the wrong circumstances. A carefully crafted supplement derived from seed and sprout, containing glucoraphanin, myrosinase and vitamin C, provides the building blocks for sulforaphane production, ensuring your antioxidant superhero steps out of the shadows and shines!

Sulforaphane…More Like Sulfora-gain

If you suffer from fatigue, stubborn weight gain, digestive disturbances or hormonal conditions, you may need detoxification and antioxidant support from the superhero sulforaphane. To give your body the best chance of making enough, look for a supplement derived from broccoli seed and broccoli sprout with added vitamin C.

https://bit.ly/2L5Vb74

Life can be Challenging with the addition of Health Problems and not knowing what to do!🤷‍♀️

ARE YOU!
• Looking to make Healthy dietary changes.
• Wanting to know what you can do to prevent disease.
• Would like to know how to optimise your health and health treatments. • Wanting to eliminate unhealthy habits that aren’t serving you well.
• Looking for support with a diagnosed illness.
• Wanting to learn how to cope with anxiety or trauma.
• Would like to learn how to take charge and control of your health and combine a Healthy work and life balance.

Then take the first steps to LOOKING AFTER YOU and FIND OUT HOW you can Achieve Optimal Health, Happiness and Vitality. Please contact me for further information. 🌱#Optimal Health #Healthyliving #Healthylifestyles #Nutrition #Anxiety #Lifebalance

Interesting Fact!🤗

Frequent self-monitoring, that is, recording of dietary intake and physical activity has been associated with greater weight losses, and has been shown to be a strong predictor of dietary change!🤸‍♀️ Self-monitoring is a proven practice to become more self-aware of eating and exercise habits, and it will help you make healthier choices long-term.

Whether you’re a pen and paper person or prefer to use an app or your fit bit, research shows self-monitoring enhances your awareness of certain activities offering accountability and enhancing motivation.

Why Are You Bloated? Too Much Cake, or Something More Sinister?🤔

We have all become a little snack-happy at a party, eaten too much cake, and had to undo the top button of our jeans to make room for the food baby. However, if you feel and look bloated regularly without overindulging, your gut microbiome might be trying to tell you something!

What is Your Gut Trying to Tell You?

We have all become a little snack-happy at a party, eaten too much cake, and had to undo the top button of our jeans to make room for the food baby. However, if you feel and look bloated regularly without overindulging, your gut microbiome might be trying to tell you something!

A healthy microbiome is a flourishing and diverse ecosystem containing a wide variety of beneficial bacteria and microorganisms, with minimal potentially harmful or disease-producing bacteria. When the microbiome is balanced, you are able to create and absorb important vitamins, your immune system functions well, and you clear waste products effectively (yes, I mean poo!). However, if your gut ecosystem needs a little TLC, life and your belt buckle may be quite uncomfortable.

Bugs Out of Balance

An imbalance in your gut microbiome is known as ‘dysbiosis’, which is a reduction in both the number and/or diversity of the beneficial microorganisms within your gut, with an increase in less beneficial bacteria as a result. Dysbiosis disrupts the healthy functioning of your gut, leading to a plethora of uncomfortable symptoms, including digestive pain, bloating, nutritional deficiencies, or even a compromised immune system.[1] What causes it? Poor dietary choices, frequent antibiotic use, a lack of exercise or unmanaged stress. (To read more about the causes of microbiome disruption, click here).

Dysbiosis and bloating have also been linked with digestive disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). SIBO is a type of chronic infection in which bacteria that usually reside in the large bowel reproduce in large numbers and migrate to the small intestine, somewhere they should not be.[2] This can cause excessive bloating, flatulence and digestive discomfort.[3],[4] If you suffer from a digestive disorder, you could have an imbalance in your gut microbiome that needs addressing.

Meet the Methanogens

If you have dysbiosis, ‘methanogens’ may be lurking in your gut. These bacteria release methane gas as they break down fibre from your food, which can cause bloating, sluggish digestion, slow transit time (the amount of time food takes to travel from your mouth, through your gut, and out the other end), constipation, bloating, flatulence and gut discomfort. As excess methane production is connected with chronic constipation, it may be worth finding out if methanogens are making you feel stopped up.

Bad Bugs Take You For A Ride

By disrupting your internal gut microbiome, dysbiosis can create an environment where disease-causing organisms have the opportunity to flourish. We pick up little gut hitchhikers in the way of potentially harmful bacteria and stubborn yeasts in our daily activities. If our gut microbiome is fighting fit, it is able to kill off and dispose of these critters very effectively, however, if our gut microbiome is struggling, disease-causing bugs can take over.

Can you perhaps trace your gut issues back to a nasty bout of gastro or even Bali belly? Lingering symptoms can include bouts of nausea, gut pain, loose bowels, constipation (or both), brain fog and severe bloating. Even after an infection is identified and successfully treated, dysbiosis can persist, leaving you vulnerable to further infection.

There are multiple reasons why you could be chronically bloated, so how do you find out what’s going on in your gut? The best way is with a microbiome test.

Introducing the Metabiome™ Test

Based on cutting-edge science, the Metabiome™ stool test uses innovative, accurate and comprehensive testing methods to provide you with an in-depth understanding of your gut microbiome. It also measures how well your microbiome is able to function to keep you healthy, for example by helping you create vitamins and digest your food.

The test is able to identify all the microorganisms living in your gut, good and bad, showing you the types and amounts of beneficial bugs and the functions they are able to perform for you. It also measures the type and number of potentially harmful microorganisms (including methanogens) in your gut, and how they might lead to your bloating, constipation or other gut symptoms. Once you have the ‘why’, you can begin to address the cause of your issue and improve your symptoms.

If you’re curious to know how your gut measures up, the Metabiome™ test also scores your microbiome out of 100, based on 11 key signs of a healthy microbiome. The closer your score is to 100, the happier your gut microbiome is, and the greater your potential for fabulous health.

The stool sample is easily collected in the comfort of your own home, and can be mailed in the supplied reply-paid envelope. There is no awkward, tiny sample jar; all that’s needed is a swab from your toilet paper after wiping. It couldn’t be easier!

It’s Best to Test

If your skinny jeans have not seen the light of day for a while and your microbiome is yelling at you with symptoms of bloating or discomfort, dysbiosis may be the cause. The results of the Metabiome™ test can help you bring balance back to your gut microbiome and reduce those uncomfortable gut symptoms. Make an appointment with me to access this simple test and get some answers.
https://bit.ly/2HmiMOA

Mastering My DNA!💫

It was interesting to learn that my Fitgenes Food Choice gene results identified that alcholol and caffeine sensitivities can seriously impair my health. So that means no more Expresso Martinis for me!!🍸😉

Diet-related health issues can be frustrating and debilitating, so if you would like to know more about how your genes effect your health, so you can make more informed food and lifestyle choices please contact me.😇🌸