Life By Design with Dr. Jamie Richards

Real food first.

That's the number one rule for Eating By Design and for good reason.

Nothing will improve your results faster than simply eating more real food.

Rule number two is eat protein with every meal.

That's what today's episode of Life By Design is all about and I'm sharing the details from a recording I made for our private Facebook Group.

What We Cover

• How much protein is enough protein?
• What's more important, the total amount of protein or percentage of protein?
• The fastest way to improve the percentage of protein intake is NOT eating more, it's this.
• The meat sweats are an indicator of this mechanism that makes eating protein as the first macro nutrient such a powerful action step.
• How to eat your protein. The best sources and why.

This week we review research published in the Journal of Athletic Training, looking at the importance of checking and correcting and movement deficiencies in the necks of people who have suffered a concussion. The challenge is that since the anatomy is very similar - meaning that the nerves and structures that supply and innervate the brain also have links to the neck. Due to the crossover, concussion and cervical syndrome, as the authors put it, can mimic each other in the way they behave. What We Cover

• The number of diagnosed concussions due to sport and recreation activities has been steadily increasing during the past few decades, with an estimated 3.8 million concussions occurring in 2014.
• A concussion is a complex pathophysiologic process that is induced by bio-mechanical forces and affects the brain.
• Cervical injuries and concussions can share similar mechanisms and nearly identical symptoms or causes.
• Concussion symptoms may actually be caused by cervical injury, yet their 'treatment' is very different.
• Patients with cervical injury respond immediately to soft tissue massage, passive stretching, strength training, cryotherapy, thermotherapy, vestibular maneuvers, and cervical check-ups.
• Patients who have post-concussive syndrome after sport concussion and exhibit symptoms of dizziness, neck pain and tenderness, or headaches may have cervicogenic dysfunction.
• The importance of an examination and finding the root cause to the problem.

Don't make the mistake of thinking fish oil is good for you or your children. Fish oil is a vehicle to help deliver omega-3 fatty acids into your body, and because our current lifestyle and environment make that a challenge to get, fish oil might help. That's a real mouth full, but let us explain more concisely on today's episode. An interesting study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, aimed to see if there was a difference in health kids between the ages of 8 and 9 who received about 375 g/week of oily fish compared to poultry for 12 weeks. In total, 199 kids were tested. At baseline and endpoint, the authors assessed attention, processing speed, executive functions, memory, emotions, and behavior with a large battery of tests and questionnaires and analyzed erythrocyte fatty acid composition. The samples were fasting and collected by venipuncture blood. What we cover

• "We found that a high intake of oily fish tended to improve overall scores of cognitive performance and socio-emotional problems in healthy children."
• The results were dose dependent, meaning kids with higher levels of Long-Chain-Poly-Unsaturated-Fatty-Acids (Omega-3s, found in oily fish) did best.
• These results support the current hypothesis that omega-3 fatty acids (found in fish oil and oily fish) are good for the brain development of children and help prevent and avoid aggression and autonomic dysregulation.
• Give your children high-quality fish and fish oil. It's good for them and their brains.
• 1g total EPA / DHA is a suitable starting dosage.

So here we are in September... Are the kids going back to school? Should they go back to school? When is life going to return to normal? Is life going to return to normal? Am I putting my kids at risk? Will they be safe? Am I a bad parent for sending them back? What will others think of me? How are we going to pay for all this? What if Jim loses his job because his work shuts down? Have you had enough yet? Sometimes life can get overwhelming. We all know that it's a natural part of life that we all experience. Life has its seasons, and you will be much more likely to be overwhelmed during certain times of your life compared to others. But how do you deal with it? One of the issues with overwhelm is that it takes your mind away from you and your values and places them on consistent fires that need to be put out. The more time you spend putting out fires, the less time you have for doing things that prevent those fires and now you have more fires. The problem goes on and on, and it's a cycle. On today's episode, we talk about how we deal with overwhelm. What We Cover

• The issue of overwhelm is not just the amount of choices; it's the lack of clarity and certainty. How can you gain clarity if you are unsure?
• The most important thing that you need to know and understand about decision making.
• Owning businesses is non stop overwhelming; here's what we've found helpful.

"Some people have a lot of pride in not taking drugs or supplements, but the primary goal should be to feel your best. Not using a medicine that improves your health because you take pride in being 'substance-free' is counter-intuitive to your main goal of feeling well." This was an online quote from an excellent physician that we respect. We find this quote interesting and would like to discuss further because there are some great and not so great ideas being expressed. The purpose of this podcast is to discuss and show you why ideas are important and how accepting others ideas, especially if you haven't thought it through, might lead you down a path you'd wish you never found. What We Cover

• The logical fallacy called "begging the question" and how it applies is very evident in this quote. Feeling good and being healthy are not necessarily the same thing. You must know and understand the differences.
• The logical fallacy of "composition". Drugs and supplements are not the same thing.
• The very true idea that letting pride interfere with something that is helpful or beneficial is not that smart.
• The importance of knowing and understanding complex concepts (health, supplements, drugs) and knowing how to clearly apply them to your life.
• The importance of hearing, interpreting and understanding ideas and how to best apply them to your life.

You are what you eat.

Maybe not literally, but to pretend that what you put into your body doesn't affect your health and performance is nonsense.

Today we review a study from the University of Michigan seeking to establish an association between chronic spinal pain and diet.

In some ways, we already know (there was a Nobel prize given in 1982 for the PGE2 and Omega-6 link) that a poor diet can lead to increased pain byways of inflammation.

But this study wants to link chronic spinal pain to more certain types of diets and people who eat those diets.

The purpose of this podcast is to review the data, give our opinions and let you know how we believe this applies to your life and what you can do to make your health better.

What We Cover

• Spinal pain (pain in the back, neck, and hip) affects 54% to 80% of adults and is a leading cause of physical disability and associated problems, including decreased quality of life, unemployment, and mood disorders.
• How the costs add up! The impact of chronic spinal pain is approximately $253 billion annually.
• What are the mechanisms linking diet to chronic pain?
• How does sugar intake affect chronic pain?

They do, but probably not in the way that you think.

If anything, emotions are the part of your consciousness that makes life worth living.

What we mean by them not mattering, is simply not in the process of making decisions.

Imagine if you couldn't feel love, pride, happiness, joy and even negative emotions like anxiety, depression, and grief...emotions are helpful if you know how to position them correctly.

But, emotions are not a good way to make decisions. If anything, emotions are the end result of the decisions you have made based on your values or in opposition to your values. They should just not be the reason you make the decision in the first place.

In our 2020 culture, we've taken emotions to the next level.

We value feelings so much that we make decisions for our lives based on other people's emotions - that's crazy!

In today's episode, we discuss emotions, what they are, what they are not, and how to control your feelings because they are under your control.

What we cover:

• A rational basis for emotions. What emotions are, where they fit, and what they tell you about the state of your life.
• How we believe you can change your emotions and why you'd want to.
• Why using emotions as your primary determinant for decision making is a bad idea.
• How we, as a society, got to a place where we overvalue emotions.
• The reason vs. emotion dichotomy. Why it's false, why you need to know and what you need to do about it.

A study from the International Journal Of Spine Surgery concluded that individuals with Type-II diabetes have an accelerated rate of spinal degeneration, and the amount of degeneration is more severe than non-diabetics. We also don't think it's too far of a stretch, although you can't claim this study as a source, to suspect that prolonged elevation of blood sugar levels (AKA diabetes) has detrimental effects on your other joints as well. We already know that diabetes is a risk factor for nearly every chronic health condition (cancer, heart disease), we might as well add spinal degeneration to that list. So what can be done about this? The purpose of this podcast is to discuss this study, it's implications and possible solutions. What we cover

• The study, it's shortcomings and it's conclusions.
• Exactly how does what we eat affect our physical health?
• Why you can't rely on mainstream dieting advice.
• Why the best way to change your diet has nothing to do with eliminating food (eventually it does, but not off the hop) and everything to do with adding in the good stuff.
• The best exercise to do with spinal degeneration. It's so simple (didn't say easy) and underrated, it's almost criminal.

To say that poor mental health is an issue would be an understatement. Mental health, at least to us, is the most important asset you have in your arsenal of human powers. Since humans live and depend on ideas (all of which rely on mental health), the health and well being of your mind is priority number one. That's why when we see any information (in this case, an editorial) looking at how to improve vital brain chemicals such as serotonin and tryptophan naturally, we get excited to review, share, and discuss. It seems like mental health deteriorates every day, and the challenges facing people are just getting heavier and heavier. It's why we are excited to help in any possible way we can to ensure you stay mentally healthy. What We Cover

• A general review of human nature and why your mental state is your most important asset and why you need to make your mind's functioning top priority in your life.
• The 4 methods of naturally raising both serotonin and tryptophan and how to plug them into your life.
• Our thoughts on the cause of poor mental health.
• Our personal experience with poor mental health and what's helped us.

We pick up from where we left off in Part 1 of Getting Your Diet Right... Nothing has changed, we still think the whole world has lost it's mind when it comes to nutrition! The purpose of this podcast is to review and continue teaching the principles of Eat By Design. What we cover

• What type of veggies are best? Cooked or raw? How about organic? Is it worth the extra cost?
• Are grains a food group? What type of nutrients will you get from grains and can you find those elsewhere with less potential negative effects?
• Why eating "gluten-free" isn't the primary reason to avoid eating most grains and what is?
• Are legumes as bad as grains are made out to be?
• What supplements are required to balance a healthy diet?
• Are carbs good or bad? The most confusing macronutrient explained in terms that just about anyone will understand.
• What about dairy? We're the only mammal that drinks another mammals milk...does that even matter?