Luke Coutinho Archives

August 19, 2019 By Luke Coutinho 5 Comments

Digestion: The Secret to Losing Weight

How often are you worried about that sneaky fat creeping up around your mid-section, a bloated belly after you eat or low energy sabotaging your workout? What do all of these have in common? They’re all reflections of the direct relationship between sluggish digestion, slow metabolism and weight gain. Overeating during the holidays and engaging in less physical activity means this process can really snowball in the winter.

However, The Good News!

By increasing digestive efficiency with diet, lifestyle and targeted supplements, we can effectively shed extra fat, boost metabolism and support nearly every other area of health in the process.
Good digestion goes beyond the idea that “You are what you eat”.

Digestion is at the very center of our core health. It sets the foundation for health, happiness and well-being. We now have greater insight into the many roles digestion plays in immunity, hormone balance, and even mental and emotional health.

Traditional healing practices around the world, especially traditional Asian medicine, have long recognized these relationships. In fact, some Eastern medical systems treat nearly every disease by addressing the digestive system. And most often, when we optimize it, everything else comes into balance — particularly, the bathroom scale.

Herbs & Supplements For Digestion

The close relationship between herbs and supplements are mirrored by the fact that certain nutrients and herbs that support digestion also increase metabolism. They work by promoting mitochondrial function while also encouraging efficient nutrient breakdown and assimilation.

Other digestive-supporting herbs and ingredients work by increasing digestive enzymes, improving circulation while helping to soothe inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract and throughout the body.

Black Pepper & Other Spices

Pungent culinary herbs and spices have long been recognized as digestive aids. Their strong aromas and spicy flavors stimulate the production of digestive enzymes for better food breakdown. They also bring warmth and circulation to the system to clear stagnation.

Their strong antimicrobial properties generally promote a healthy digestive environment. And now, researchers are finding that such long-cherished digestive aids also work in other ways to promote healthy weight. For example, black pepper, a spice that has been cherished for its ability to support digestion, works on a genetic level to block the formation of fat cells, helping to control weight. Black pepper is also mixed with the amazing Curcumin (Turmeric extract) to boost metabolism and weight loss.

Probiotics

Another factor that affects digestive health is the use of Probiotics. These friendly bacteria evolved with us to offer countless health benefits — particularly for digestion. New roles for these bacteria are continually being revealed.

Around the world, fermented probiotic foods, such as sauerkraut and miso, have been used for digestive and overall health. Probiotics help break down food into essential nutrients and efficiently eliminate wastes.

They control inflammation, support immunity and keep harmful bacteria at bay, while producing numerous enzymes and nutrients we need for digestion and overall health. Unsweetened yogurt is the easier bet to get your share of Probiotics. But, a new research shows these also play a key role in healthy weight management.

One Probiotic species in particular, Lactobacillus Gasseri, has been shown to reduce visceral fat (the dangerous fat around your midsection), by up to 9 percent after three months.

Cinnamon, Cardamom, Turmeric (Curcumin) & Ginger

The herbs Cinnamon, Cardamom, Turmeric (Curcumin) and Ginger are also excellent to improve digestive capacity, support metabolism and reduce inflammation. Asian medicine uses ginger to treat stomach aches. It’s generally considered safe when taken in small doses i.e. 1 to 3 grams per day.

They help warm the digestive system and reduce occasional digestive discomfort, and support healthy digestive function, metabolism and nutrient absorption.

Since digestion and metabolism are so closely linked with other systems of the body, it’s critical to take a holistic approach for healthy weight management and overall wellness. Stress in particular can wreak havoc on all systems but is especially harmful to digestion and metabolism.

Regular meditation and mind-body stress relief practices such as yoga and Tai Chi can help reduce inflammation, increase energy production and support overall digestion. In fact, almost any type of regular exercise can significantly support digestive and metabolic health. Good eating habits are also important. Our mothers were right when they said, “Don’t skip breakfast“. You can throw your metabolism out of balance and cause extra fat storage.

Chew Slowly

Thorough chewing of food and eating at a relaxed pace benefits digestion and weight in two ways, firstly, the extra chewing breaks down food more thoroughly, making it easier to absorb nutrients. Secondly, by proceeding slowly it allows time for your brain to receive the signal that you’re full, reducing the chance of overeating.

Whether you’re someone who eats to live or lives to eat, improving your digestion with targeted natural solutions produces ripple effects across all areas of health, not just weight. The first things you’ll notice when your digestion is functioning better are increased energy, less bloating, reduced water retention, more efficient elimination and a better sense of overall well-being.

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March 1, 2019 By Luke Coutinho 81 Comments

Why Stair Climbing Is The Best Exercise!

You can run a 5k but running up a couple of flights of stairs tires you out? You can squat heavy and lunge with weights, yet walking up a couple of flights of steps makes it feel like a whole other workout? Here’s a workout that can actually challenge your body, endurance and actual strength and stamina

Climbing stairs is one of the best exercises when it comes to pure FAT BURN, strengthening the lower body, toning the butt, thighs, calves, losing inches from those love handles and belly as well as building great abs. Along with these benefits, it is the immense good it does for your lungs and CardioVascular System.

Why Should You Choose Stairs?

It is totally free and just about all of us can get access to a set of stairs
It leverages gravity and the heavier we are, the harder we’re forced to work and the more calories we burn
It is a relatively intense exercise that quickly increases our heart rate and in doing so, can greatly improve our cardiovascular fitness
It helps strengthen and shape our most common problem areas like calves, thighs, buttocks and tummy
It is a very efficient way of burning maximum calories and is great for those of us with limited time to exercise
It can easily be mixed with other exercises like walking, skipping and weight training to maximize results. Stair climbing workouts are easy to build progression into
It can be done by almost anyone, regardless of fitness level
Because it is weight bearing, it helps build bone strength
It is low impact and safe for the knees, provided the correct technique is used and a pre-existing condition doesn’t exist

The way forward with exercise is quality over quantity. Too many people fix a ‘one hour’ workout in their mind and if they can’t find time for that ‘1 hour’, they just don’t do it.

Aim for power workouts, 25 to 30 mins max, where you max out your reps, burn those muscles and really get your heart rate up. 35 to 40 minutes should include a great warm up and an extremely important cool down.

You can burn more calories walking/running up steps in 30 mins than a 1 hour run or walk, plus it challenges your body.

Start off with a couple of flights, walk and run slowly. As you get better, run and then skip 2 steps at a time and run or walk.

In a nutshell. Walking:

Burns More Calories
Stair climbing engages your body’s largest muscle groups to repeatedly lift your body weight up, step after step. Thus, using your muscles to carry your own weight is far higher to running as compared
Maximizes Your Cardio Efforts
It also raises your heart rate immediately, thus, maximizing your cardio benefits
Increases Core Muscle Strength
Climbing stairs is a great way to amp your core muscle strength
Tones & Sculpts Your Body
It also engages every major muscle in your lower body — glutes, hamstrings, quadriceps, abs and calves to exercise and thus tones your body better
Low Impact Workout
You don’t have to ideally sweat it out while climbing stairs. Just a few stairs every day will give you a good workou

Safety First

Never run down the stairs, be confident while running up and take a break when needed.

Start doing this regularly and soon, you will be running up flights of stairs, feeling fitter, younger, stronger and leaner.

July 12, 2018 By Luke Coutinho 17 Comments

Suffering from Lower back pain? could be lack of calcium and D3

Lower back pain?

Degeneration of the spine?

Lumbar disc problems?

Joint pain?

Body aches?

The common solution for all of the above problems is to pop a calcium or D3 supplement. It’s true though, a deficiency of these vitamins can cause all of the above, but there are many ways of looking at this.

You can be popping the best brand of supplements, but remember, it just does not work that way. For Calcium to get absorbed into the bones, your D3 levels have to be adequate. If it’s not, your calcium supplement is being wasted, so are the foods rich in calcium that you are consuming.

Furthermore, Vitamin K is such an ignored vitamin. You should know that Vitamin K is needed for the bones to absorb Calcium. Vitamin K is found in dairy products and green leafy veggies.

Here’s how it works – For strong and healthy bones, joints and a super strong spine, you need sufficient calcium, D3 and Vitamin K for it to work effectively. I should add in B12 as B12 is necessary for healthy bone marrow and for the body and spine to grow stung and healthy.

Calcium, Vitamin K, Vitamin B12 and Vitamin D3

A balanced diet should give you all of the above. Apart from nutrition, there are few other tips

– Regular and smart exercise.
– Stretching, warm up and cooldowns.
– Knowing your tight muscles and working on flexibility.
– DO NOT SIT IN ONE PLACE FOR MORE THAN 30-45 MINUTES-This is too much strain and stress on your lower back/sacrum and it leads to lower back, sciatica and lower body aches and pains.

Look for nutrition in fresh and real foods. Supplement only if you have to and if you have a deficiency. The choice of preventing or healing yourself from pains is up to you and how you want to deal with it. But, make sure you keep up with nutrition, exercise, rest and have a positive attitude.

June 7, 2018 By Luke Coutinho 1 Comment

Power Of Immunity – Part 2

In my last newsletter, I spoke about the importance of the lymphatic system and how a poorly operating system can cause major diseases like cancer.

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A poor lymphatic system can also be the reason one struggles to lose weight.

Allergies, sinus, and other immune related diseases, usually get treated with conventional medicine, I am not against this, if it works, use it. But, first make sure your lymphatic system is working well, as it’s this system which boosts immunity and prevents or heals the above related conditions.

In cases of cancer, if doctors suggest the removal of lymph nodes, I strongly suggest second and third opinions. Removing lymph nodes if not necessary, can cause more serious problems in the future. Sometimes cancer cells may have already passed through those nodes to other parts of the body, so removal may not be necessary.

Our body has different parts that contain lymph nodes responsible for removing and cleansing deadly toxins.

It’s a common practice to have one’s tonsils removed during a severe bout of flu and cold. Try never to do that if it can be avoided. Your tonsils have an extremely important role to play in your lymphatic system, so goes the same for an enlarged spleen. Many say these parts of the body don’t have roles to play, but they do.

The lymphatic system, a system of lymph fluid and lymph nodes, is vital for

Elimination of toxins. The lymphatic system can be aptly described as the garbage disposal of the body and is responsible for filtering and eliminating toxins.
The immune system. The lymph nodes house a high concentration of white blood cells that increase when the body is fighting off illness or infection.
Weight loss and weight management. Toxicity is a huge part of the weight loss puzzle. If you don’t support your lymph system, you will have even more trouble losing weight and gaining muscle tone.

The most important thing to remember about the lymphatic system is that it relies on our movement. Unlike the cardiovascular system with the heart automatically pumping fluid, the lymph system relies on our body movements as a pump.

This means that exercise, even a simple walk, can stimulate your system to work well and drain toxins out from the body.

The older we get, or even if we are sick or bed ridden, we must make attempts to walk or move so we can help the lymphatic system work.

While all movement engages the lymphatic system, walking is an accessible exercise that everyone can fit into their daily routine. If you don’t have the opportunity to walk around outside, take occasional breaks to simply walk in place.

Deep breathing

You know how I emphasize on ‘ Vitamin O ‘ being the most important vitamin we need. Well the lymphatic system needs it too. The more you breath, the deeper you breathe, try breathing from your diaphragm, all this helps you stimulate this amazing system.

Yoga

In the deeply restorative practice of Yin Yoga, poses are held for at least 3 minutes, and up to 10 minutes. The pressure of your own body in these prolonged holds can help release areas of lymphatic congestion. Additionally, many of the poses reverse the flow of gravity and twist the body, aiding in lymphatic flow. You can also focus on poses that stretch the hips, since the groin area contains a concentration of lymph nodes.

Legs Up Against The Wall

In this pretty self-explanatory yoga pose, lymphatic circulation in the lower body is maximized. By reversing the flow of gravity in your legs, you circulate the lymphatic fluid and encourage the elimination of toxins.

Dry Brushing

the lymphatic system is pretty close to the surface of the skin. It doesn’t’t take deep pressure to help release lymphatic congestion, which is why dry brushing your skin is so helpful. This process requires just a few minutes before your shower and stimulates lymphatic flow. You simply brush your body with a stiff, dry brush and this activates the lymphatic system.

Sitting

Have you heard of the modern epidemic called “Sitting Disease?” Studies show that prolonged periods of sitting correlate to an increase in degenerative disease. Research shows that exercise doesn’t reduce the risk of sitting… the only way to reduce the risk is to not sit as much.

Perhaps one factor influencing the correlation between sitting and disease is lymphatic function. Movement engages lymphatic flow, but sitting creates stagnation of lymphatic fluid. Remember, the lymphatic system doesn’t’t have a pump so you have to be the pump!

Hot And Cold Showers

Alternating between hot and cold showers stimulate the system to work better.

Lymphatic massage

These are professional massages that are done to help cleanse the system.

Important: Major lymph nodes are situated under the arms, where the breast connects to the armpits and the inner groin areas along the thighs. We need to keep these nodes open for breathing and release of toxins through sweat.

Don’t use anti perspirants, that block these nodes to prevent one from sweating.

Avoid wearing under wire bras for a long time as these block the nodes.

Avoid tight underwear for long periods of time.

Select apparel like cotton that allows the skin to breathe and the body to naturally let go of toxins through sweat.

Do all of this to improve your own immunity without the dependency on heavy medication and drugs. Your body is designed to heal itself, it has the powerful inbuilt mechanism to do so. Start your own healing, and the sicker you may be, the more requirement for helping your lymphatic system and immunity.

From a nutritional aspect, waking up to a glass of warm water with freshly squeezed lemon does wonders for your lymphati