LU 063: Chris Sandel – Effects of food restriction (and exercise) on your body and hormones.

Hey, lovely radicals... podcast time! In today's episode of the "Life. Unrestricted." podcast, I talk to Chris Sandel from outside of London, UK. Chris is a health and nutrition expert who runs his own company called "7 Health", and alongside that, his wonderful podcast "Real Health Radio". Chris works with clients all over the world through private consultations, and he also creates and runs online training programs. Chris’ approach to health and food is completely non-dogmatic, and he knows that there IS no solution that’s perfect for everybody, and that the more anxious and stressed out we are about food and weight, our health and our life will only suffer for it. Chris wants his clients to find their own personal best health, whatever that means for each individual, mentally, physically and emotionally. He also has a specific interest in improving client’s general relationships with food and body image issues. Listen to Chris talk about: – Why he considers himself lucky in terms of body image, and relaxedness around food – How he went from being a "fast food" youngster to a food-appreciating, health-conscious cook – Why it’s the people who are most "keen" to go on detoxes, cleanses and any types of restrictive eating are the very people that should avoid all that – Why he thinks that the majority of "diet-y" tipps out there are dangerous, and why we should NOT restrict our food – Why anyone with a "difficult" relationship to food should never do a cleanse or detox – Why we should broaden what foods we allow ourselves to eat, instead of narrowing the choices – Why he thinks weight-loss as a focus is not conducive to improve health – How he works with clients and what he focuses on – What kind of questions he asks of his clients to find out what the real issue is – What he would do with our imaginary client Susy who’s experiencing a loss of periods, bad sleep, digestive issues, who’s often restricting food and overexercising – Why sleep is a central piece when it comes to health – How eating and sleep are related – What frequent nightly peeing (and/or nightly sweating) points to – Why restricting is directly linked to the increase of stress hormones, and how they wreak havoc with our system – What HA (Hypothalamic Amenorrhoea – when the menstrual cycle goes missing) translates to, in terms of why a body decides to shut down the reproductive system – How HA is impacting a person’s health in worse ways than one might suspect at first glance (bone loss, depression, anxiety, thin hair/nails, mood swings, irritability, low libido, lowered body temperature, sleep issues, etc.) – Why (even though many physicians might recommend it!) going on the birth control pill is NOT solving the problem of HA, but – in fact – will only mask the problem by producing a so-called "withdrawal bleed" – What the Minnesota (Semi-)Starvation Experiment tells us about our own experiences with restriction, the impact on our physical and mental health, and how it is all related to a lack of energy availability – How he helps his clients deal with weight gain when they start recovering from dieting/overexercising – What is usually hidden underneath the fear of gaining weight – Why, especially in the "health and wellness (and weight-loss) realm", we are prone to fall for the "survivorship bias" (meaning that just because something worked for someone, we automatically assume that the same advice must be true for us) – What we trip over with the "halo effect" – What the "negativity bias" does to our judgment – How recovering from Hypothalamic Amenorrhoea improves much more than a woman’s hormones – Why he brings the ACE (Adverse Childhood Experience) study with all of his clients, and why taking this test can give a lot of insight as to why a person is struggling in life – What his latest project "Tummy" is about... ... And so much more! Here’s the link to Chris’s website: www.seven-health.com Here are some of Chris’ podcast episodes that you might find interesting! 1. The Minnesota Starvation Experiment: http://www.seven-health.com/2016/06/042-the-minnesota-starvation-experiment/ 2. The difference between eating disorders and disordered eating: http://www.seven-health.com/2016/08/054-eating-disorders-and-disordered-eating/ 3. Issues with a woman’s menstrual cycle: http://www.seven-health.com/2016/02/025-issues-with-your-menstrual-cycle/ 4. Chris’ overeating experiment: http://www.seven-health.com/2016/05/040-my-over-eating-experiment/ The book on HA (Hypothalamic Amenorrhoea) that Chris and I highly recommend is called "No period, now what?" by Nicola Rinaldi: https://www.amazon.com/Period-Now-What-Regaining-Improving/dp/099723668X The podcasts Chris mentioned where cognitive biases are addressed (something we all fall prey to) are called: "You Are Not So Smart" and "Hidden Brain". There are also lots of great books on human misjudgment/cognitive bias/implicit bias out there, I highly recommend: – "Mistakes were made (but not by me)" by Elliot Aronson: https://www.amazon.com/Mistakes-Were-Made-But-Not/dp/1491514132 – "Thinking, fast and slow" by Daniel Kahnemann: https://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Fast-Slow-Daniel-Kahneman/dp/0374533555 – "The Righteous Mind" by Jonathan Haidt: https://www.amazon.com/Righteous-Mind-Divided-Politics-Religion/dp/0307455777/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_img_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc;=1&refRID;=71BTDKKRKBBCBRZTKZFK – "You Are Not So Smart" by David McRaney: https://www.amazon.com/You-Are-Not-So-Smart/dp/1592407366/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc;=1&refRID;=71BTDKKRKBBCBRZTKZFK Here are a few example of biases that mess up our decision making process: http://www.businessinsider.com/cognitive-biases-that-affect-decisions-2015-8 If you enjoy and love my podcast, please consider supporting it by becoming a "Patreon"! 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