A Tribute To Gordon Downie

By Travis Wade

My good man Gordon Downie just passed through town for the last time. I’m very sad I never got the chance to see him. I’m terribly heartbroken the Tragically Hip lead singer doesn’t have long to live. He is a Canadian icon and has a knack for Canadian references in his songs that sound so natural and unforced. No one can do it the way Gordon Downie can do it. FYI Trois Pistoles is a cute little town near the coast in Quebec that I passed through on my way to Gaspé.

I’ll never forget my first van and how the CD player was broken and I couldn’t get Gordon Downie’s poetry album out of the CD player. There was the time they were playing a word of mouth gig at the Trailway Pub in Vancouver as they often did. 75 people in a small pub and the Tragically Hip. I ran all the way there and after standing in line for about 10 minutes they announced they were sold out.

I found myself on the roof looking at ways to break into the Trailway when I came to my senses and decided, maybe not get arrested that day. Another time I raced to Rexall from a job near Lloydminster to see if I could get a ticket at the box office, but the band already started playing and the box office was closed. This time I didn’t have to break in, but I snuck in and sat down and enjoyed the show. I have seen the Tragically Hip more times than any other band at 7 times.

The Brain

Although I am very sad Gordon Downie is going to pass and there is nothing I can do about it I want to pass on information to all of you that prevents cancer and brain degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.

As an EMT, dementia and Alzheimer’s was seen in almost every patient living in an assisted living establishment. It’s so common it has become accepted as something that is inevitable with age. This couldn’t be more false.

The truth is brain degenerative diseases can be avoided with proper nutrition and exercise. That’s where I come in. I listen to Health Talks in my spare time everyday and I listen to hundreds of doctors talk about all kinds of diseases like cancer, thyroid problems, Alzheimer’s, etc. It doesn’t matter what the problem is, I hear the same things for all of them. So here is how to be healthy.

Avoid GMO’s. Stay away from white foods – sugar, flour, grains, dairy, potatoes – all foods with low nutrient value and high carb/glycemic index load. Lower your toxic load as much as possible, avoid food sensitivities, heal your gut with bone broth, find out what’s in your microbiome, correct dysbiosis (imbalance of good and bad bacteria of the gut), detox from heavy metals and other issues you might have; common ones are SIBO – small intestine bacteria overgrowth, and Candida which is a yeast overgrowth.

If there is something major to overcome, medication might be necessary, however, proper diet and exercise will give your body the optimal environment to recover and prevent relapse.

There are always specific things to help with specific issues, but today I will focus on brain problems and cancer in tribute to Gord Downie.

Cancer

The specifics for cancer beyond the above mentioned methods is a raw foods diet. There are books written on this and studies show pharmaceutical intervention in the treatment for cancer is futile. Juicing vegetables is the basis of the raw foods diet. Without sugar to feed the cancer growth and all the antioxidants in plant foods, an environment impossible for cancer to grow is created and in so many cases it reverses cancer growth.

Curcumin is the active ingredient in turmeric and the research keeps showing the positive effects of this powerful antioxidant. It helps with cancer and brain diseases like Alzheimer’s and dementia. If you supplement then a quality fish oil that isn’t rancid may help. If your cheap omega 3s taste like a rotten fish, you might want to upgrade. Of course eating the actual fish is going to have the best effect.

A quality multivitamin is always recommended and Sayer Ji from Green Med Info has brand names he recommends. If you want a recommendation just give me a text. Vitamin D is the biggest nutrient deficiency in North America and I’m sure our American friends get more than we do.

You’re not going to get a better source for vitamin D than the sun. The sun also detoxifies. You can never get enough sun and especially where we live. Take off your shirt and take off your sunglasses; you absorb most of your light through your eyes and I’ve heard one speaker say up to 90% of your light is absorbed with your eyes.

Alzheimer’s

Alzheimer’s is now being coined type 3 diabetes because Alzheimer’s is actually insulin resistance of the brain. This just means insulin can’t take sugar into the cells of the brain and brain cells die. The best solution doctors are recommending is coconut oil. MCT’s are great for weight loss for various reasons, but also great for the brain. Coconut oil has been seen to help reverse Alzheimer’s.

Dave Asprey, the founder of Bulletproof Coffee refines coconut oil to isolate the C8 in the coconut oil. C8 in particular does a liver pass and you will be in full ketosis in about a half hour. It’s instant ketones in the blood and doesn’t need insulin to feed the brain.

One more supplement I need to mention is according to research an apple a day reduces chances of Alzheimer’s by 37%. The sugar from a fruit affects the body much different than sugar extracted from fruit. High fructose corn syrup didn’t exist 60 years ago. Stay away from anything processed.

I wish you lots of health, love and happiness!

Travis Wade

The only holistic personal trainer in Edmonton

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Why Do Most People Call An Ambulance? Besides Loneliness

By Travis Wade

I have worked as an EMT for over 17 years. I have seen all kinds of health problems and it’s hard to watch when I know how to prevent health problems. The most common problem I’ve seen is abdominal pain. About half of the abdominal problems leave the hospital undiagnosed. You have to wonder why.

My full time job now is personal training and I am still helping people, but in a preventative way. That’s why I just want to go over some of the most common problems people have that I’ve seen and why.

Abdominal Pain

You can’t exercise your intestines the same way you can exercise your biceps. The number one nutrient I recommend to people is not even on the list of highest nutrient deficiencies in North America. It is soup broth. The types of food most people will eat these days does so much damage to their intestinal wall and most people don’t do anything to improve it. Your intestinal wall is made up of mostly collagen. How are you getting collagen in your diet?

Soup broth not only has collagen, but it has the amino acids proline, glycine, L-glutamine, and it has zinc, iron, magnesium, and lots of other nutrients your body needs. All of these are recommended to build up your gut lining. Also, you just don’t get the same effect if you use supplements; you need to eat properly with high nutrients and lots of fibre.

Heart Problems

Atherosclerosis and arteriosclerosis are generally the causes. The most common causes of atherosclerosis and arteriosclerosis was not on the list of nutrients to prevent heart disease that I just read, but it is on the list of most common nutrient deficiencies. It comes in third behind vitamin D and Omega 3s. Vitamin K2 is what reroutes calcium to its proper destinations like in the bones to prevent osteoporosis.

It also prevents the calcium (plaque), building up in your vasculature preventing diseases like heart attacks, stroke, deep vein thrombosis (DVT), and pulmonary embolisms. It also prevents the incredibly painful kidney stones and gallstones. Fermented foods like sauerkraut and kimchee have vitamin K2.

Diabetes

Caused by sugar, but even more by sweeteners including stevia, sucralose or Splenda, aspartame, and anything diet. Artificial sweeteners are even more addictive than sugar and produce diabetes faster. This may be intentional. Food companies want you buying as much of their addictive food as possible and a side bonus is they can get you on medication too.

Depression

Caused by many things, but a huge contributing factor is gut problems. Serotonin, dopamine, and other neurotransmitters regulating your mood are created in your gut. Take care of your gut with soup first, then find out what is in your microbiome. You might be able to manipulate your gut bacteria with natural methods or you might have to take a medication to get rid of severe pathogens under the guidance of a medical practitioner of course. Then take the steps to build a good strong microbiome with sauerkraut, sources of fibre, rice starch, and probiotics.

Autoimmune Diseases

Again this is caused by gut problems. The weakened gut lining allows bigger molecules to pass through the lining which your body doesn’t recognize and attacks. These molecules and inflammation along with the toxins being produced are what cause the autoimmune diseases. In every autoimmune disease you will find leaky gut syndrome. Some of the things that contribute to leaky gut syndrome are genetically modified foods, gluten, dairy, and lectin found in beans.

Thyroid Problems

Gluten is the protein in bread or flour that binds it like glue and one of the molecules that will pass through a weakened gut lining. Your body doesn’t recognize gluten and will produce antigens against it. Your thyroid has proteins that are very similar to gluten. The gluten antigens also attack the thyroid. Once you fix your weakened gut with soup, you can add some gluten back to your diet, however, gluten is one of the proteins that cause a weakened gut.

Another very common problem for the thyroid is everyday chronic stress. It creates an overactive adrenal gland and when cortisol is high, thyroid hormone is low. Experts don’t know which causes which but adrenal problems and thyroid problems go hand in hand.

Toxins

Toxins need an honourable mention here. I was talking to someone about mycotoxins in their coffee and they wanted to show me an article that said the mycotoxins in our coffee was under the legal limit and considered safe. The article also talked about how there was mycotoxins in dairy, peanuts, grains, and is even found in breast milk. All of the above are things I recommend avoiding in your diet for reasons much more than the mycotoxins. All except the breast milk which I highly recommend.

How did the mycotoxins get in the breast milk? Like a lot of toxins, mycotoxins are difficult to eliminate and end up in breast milk. This is another really good reason to reduce your toxic load. You are exposed to over 200 toxins before you’re born and if your mom wasn’t careful it’s in her breast milk. I am not saying you have to avoid everything that has toxins, but you have to take care to reduce your toxic load.

The mycotoxins in your coffee, along with the milk in your cereal, the grains in your cereal, the sugar… how much toxins have you swallowed at breakfast? By the end of the day? Week? Month? They accumulate and are very hard to eliminate. Is the accumulation below the legal limit? The legal limit isn’t a standard you want to follow by the way. I’m going to stop there.

Toxins = The external sources include air, water, diet, drugs, organic pollutants, heavy metals, radiation, and physical or psychological stressors. Internal processes include inflammation, free radical production and oxidative stress, allergens, infections, and even gut flora.