How can I use CureCoach.App to measure my nutrition?

CureCoach.App is our digital platform that supports our coaching effort to Cure Chronic Disease. When completing the Lifestyle Diet module, your answers provide you with tokens that are either green, yellow or red when viewing the summary page. 

The answer options are “Rarely,” “Sometimes,” and “Frequently.” Never should be reported as “rarely.” For example, rare use of sugar and frequent consumption of vegetables gets you a green token. Frequent consumption of sugar and rare use of vegetables provoke red tokens. For those choices that are less clearly good or bad, you get a yellow token. Your goal over time is to increase the number of green tokens and decrease the number of red tokens by changing the choices and answers to these questions. 

CureCoach.App can be accessed on your computer, tablet, or smartphone by clicking here.

How do I optimize my diet for prevention of chronic disease?

The cause of most chronic diseases can be summed up using the Bad S’s: Sweets, Starches, Snacks, Seed oils, and Sitting, Smoking, Salt, Sleep Disturbance and Stress. 

Should I go on a diet?

There are so many diets out there: Paleo, Vegan, Ketogenic, Atkins, Zone, Mediterranean, Whole 30, Weight Watchers, and Nutrisystem to name a few. One of the main issues with dieting is that eventually you will go off, and then what happens? The whole plan falls to pieces and we typically regress to our original habits. The common promotion of eating three meals a day, “healthy” snacking, and counting calories create and perpetuate the problem. We are encouraged to graze like cows and eat to satisfy emotions. But we are not well adapted to that behavior.

We recommend watching this interview with Dr. Mark Hyman, one of the foremost leaders of health, from the Cleveland Clinic.

Our goal is to improve the way you view food and how it fits into your life and your health. 

How can I optimize my diet without “dieting”?

First, we recommend you start with a baseline body composition analysis. You improve what you measure, so don’t be discouraged by your initial reading if it is not ideal. This measurement helps you set an attainable goal and achieve it.

Weighing on a scale alone is not adequate. The body composition test allows you to know your muscle and fat mass, including your visceral fat. Visceral fat leads to diabetes and heart disease, so knowing this measurement is crucial to your overall health.

Come back regularly for additional body composition analyses. Seeing “The Judge” for detailed, measurable improvement over time will help you stay motivated.

Drink more water. Your urine should be copious and clear in appearance.

Avoid sweets (both natural and artificial). There is added, hidden sugar in every processed food. Avoid them all!

A rare sweet treat can be handled by most, but sugar is a toxin that should be avoided like tobacco.  Processed food companies became the new employers for the scientists who increased the addictive nature of tobacco.

Artificial sweeteners raise insulin levels without also raising glucose. Elevated insulin is THE MOST COMMON inflammatory stimulus, promoting prediabetes and arterial disease, among other chronic inflammatory conditions. These conditions dramatically flare when acute triggers, such as a virus, cause additional inflammatory sickness. Covid-19 is an extreme illustration of this effect. Artificial sweeteners are a “gateway drug” that strengthens your sweet tooth. They are a slippery slope to more sugar and carb cravings.  

Avoid starches including bread, pasta, white potatoes, and rice. Eat real food with no limits on vegetables, including sweet potatoes. 

Limited amounts of fruit provide micronutrients and fiber, but come with sugar. Do not juice. It removes  fiber that makes the sugar in fruits absorb more slowly with less rise in insulin. Avoid dried fruit, as it is almost pure sugar.

Stop snacking. Snacks are typically full of sugar and undermine our need to have periods of fasting to allow our insulin levels to drop. Fasting for 12-16 hours daily is a great “house cleaning” strategy.

Include good fats in your diet such as olive oil, coconut oil, nuts, seeds, olives, and avocados. Include lean protein such as salmon, sardines, and poultry, in your diet. Eat red meat on a limited basis. When purchasing red meat, look for grass fed and organic options if you can afford them.

Intermittent fasting (only drinking water, black coffee, and unsweetened tea) for 12-16 hours per day allows your insulin sensitivity to be regained by allowing your insulin levels to fall. I call it “window feeding” because you eat within a window or 6 hours as a goal.

Learn about the influence of your Microbiome. While probiotic supplements may help, eating a probiotic diet is even better. This includes fermented foods such as unpasteurized sauerkraut and KimChi. High fiber vegetables feed your good bacteria and can fix a great deal of health issues.

Get connected, motivated, and informed to support your changes.

Need help getting started? Request a complementary Discovery Zoom Call with Dr. Backs and begin your journey to better health.

How does Vitamin D Deficiency affect my health?

Vitamin D is an important nutrient, actually a hormone, that helps the body absorb calcium, which is essential for maintaining strong bones and teeth. It also plays a role in the immune system, muscle function, and reduction of inflammation. Optimal levels of vitamin D: 60-90 mg/dl. Don’t let anyone convince you that this can be “too high” and to stop your supplement. They don’t know the benefits of vitamin D levels above the population normal because the population as a whole is deficient.

Up to 75% of Americans are affected by suboptimal (< 50 ng/ml) vitamin D, which significantly increases the risk of heart attack, stroke, hypertension, diabetes, cognitive impairment, and cancer. Having darker skin, being obese, and not getting enough sun exposure to the skin are all linked to reduced vitamin D3 levels.

Symptoms of vitamin D deficiency include muscle pain, tiredness, fatigue, hair loss, back pain, bone loss, poor wound healing, and depression. It increases the risk of statin muscle pain. However, most individuals who are vitamin D deficient have no specific symptoms. 

What causes vitamin D deficiency?

• Inadequate sun exposure. Sunlight is the optimal source of vitamin D. When the skin is exposed to UVB radiation from sunlight, it produces a form of vitamin D known as cholecalciferol, or vitamin D3. Vitamin D3 is then converted into its active form in the liver and kidneys. This particularly affects individuals who are in institutions like nursing homes.

• Dark skin. Melanin, the pigment that gives skin its color, reduces the skin's ability to produce vitamin D in response to sunlight. Melanin absorbs UVB radiation from sunlight, which is needed for the skin to produce vitamin D. This means that people with darker skin require more sun exposure to produce the same amount of vitamin D as people with lighter skin.

• Old age. The skin's ability to produce vitamin D declines with age due to a variety of factors, including a reduced ability to convert sunlight to vitamin D, decreased skin thickness, and lower levels of the precursor molecules that are needed to produce vitamin D.

• Obesity. Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin, meaning it is stored in fatty tissues. Therefore, people with higher levels of body fat may require more vitamin D to achieve the same blood levels as people with lower levels of body fat. 

• Diseased kidneys. The kidneys are important for converting vitamin D into a form that the body can use. If the kidneys are not working well due to a disease, they may not be able to convert vitamin D properly, leading to a deficiency of vitamin D in the body.

• Digestive tract issues (such as Crohn’s disease, celiac disease, or cystic fibrosis). Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin, which means it needs to be absorbed in the presence of dietary fat in the small intestine. Digestive tract issues can affect the absorption of vitamin D in the small intestine. These conditions can cause inflammation or damage to the intestinal lining, which can interfere with the absorption of dietary fat and, consequently, vitamin D.

• A vegan diet without proper supplementation. Vitamin D is primarily found in animal-based foods such as fatty fish, liver, and egg yolks. Therefore, people following a strict vegan diet that avoids all animal products are at risk of vitamin D deficiency.

• Sunblock. When the skin is exposed to ultraviolet (UV) radiation, it triggers the synthesis of vitamin D3, which is then used by the body. However, using sunblock or sunscreen can reduce the skin's ability to produce vitamin D, as it blocks the UV radiation from penetrating the skin. It's important to find a balance between protecting your skin from harmful UV radiation and ensuring adequate vitamin D levels.

How can I treat vitamin D deficiency?

• Increase sun exposure. Make an effort to get a healthy amount of sun exposure without putting yourself at risk for skin damage or skin cancer. It's recommended to get a moderate amount of sun exposure, typically around 10-15 minutes per day, without sunscreen, on the arms, legs, and face.

• Eat vitamin D rich foods. Foods that are rich in vitamin D include salmon, sardines, tuna, egg yolks, fortified milk, and shiitake mushrooms.

• Vitamin D supplements. Supplementation can bring your levels into the optimal range. We recommend a combination of Vitamin D3 and Vitamin K2. Vitamin K2 enhances vitamin D absorption, delivery, and the binding of Vitamin D3 in the appropriate tissues, enhancing its activity and benefit. Vitamin K2 also improves arterial elasticity and insulin sensitivity. The product we stock and recommend is called "K Force."  

How do I know if I’ve properly treated my vitamin D deficiency?

Get a blood test measuring the serum concentration of 25(OH)D3. A “normal” level of vitamin D is at least 30 ng/mL or higher. However, our “optimal” range is 60-90 ng/ML. 

If you have been diagnosed with vitamin D deficiency and have started taking supplements or made changes to your diet, get your vitamin D levels retested after a few months.