Brando's Blog

Free Fat Loss Webinar

Free Fat Loss Webinar

 

Achieving Long Term Fat Loss -

No fads, no quick-fixes, just the truth

 

 

Over my career in health and fitness since 1996, I have helped many people achieve their fat loss goals and help them to build a body they are happy with.

 

However, there have also been a number of people who have not been so successful. Whilst I have always given the best knowledge and experience available to my clients, I can see why many of them did not achieve success.

 

I know one thing for sure. Long term weight loss is not about exercising more and restricting calories! IT DOES NOT

WORK

!

 

The only way to achieve a lean body is to optimise your health. You cannot carry excess body fat and be healthy. Symptoms (excess body fat is a symptom) are signs to your conscious mind that something is out of balance in your fundamental homeostatic control systems and needs to be put right.

 

In order to be healthy and have a lean body, 10 factors need to be addressed. They are:

 

1. Thoughts and emotions
2. Breathing mechanics
3. Hydration
4. Nutrition
5. Digestive system health
6. Immune system health
7. Detoxification
8. Elimination
9. Hormone balance
10. Sleep patterns

 

To register for this webinar, please email info@bodychek.co.uk. Register to join in this free Webinar on 22^nd July at

7pm

BST. There are only 25 places available and most of them have already gone. Register today to avoid disappointment.

 

When is Wild Salmon not Wild? Part 3

I have finally received a response from Waitrose concerning my delivery of Wild Salmon, which I believed to be farmed salmon.

I have been informed that the salmon I received was Coho Salmon, whilst the usual type of salmon I receive is Sock Eye Salmon. I have no way of knowing for sure whether this is true and that Coho Salmon looks and tastes awful or whether they did in fact make a mistake with their packaging and are unwilling to admit it.

If you buy Salmon direct from a fish monger, I suggest you check the colour before you buy and ensure it is a deep red and not a grey-pink colour and ensure you ask that it is Sock Eye Salmon.

When is Wild Salmon not Wild? Part 2

In my last post, I stated that I had received farmed salmon from Waitrose, when it fact, I had ordered wild salmon and it came in ‘Wild Alaskan Salmon’ packaging.

 

Following my return from the tennis match, I called the Ocado Call Centre and spoke with a very pleasant and polite young lady. I explained that whilst I had ordered ‘Wild Alaskan Salmon’ and it clearly stated the fact on the container, due to the colouring and taste of the fish (which was competely void of taste), it was clearly not ‘wild’, but had to be ‘farmed’.

 

Straight away, she agreed to refund the money due to a lack of satisfaction in the product. I accepted and appreciated the gesture. However, my main concern was the fact that the product had been incorrectly packaged and was misleading to the public and potentially harmful to people who are paying a much higher price for a higher quality product, yet receiving a very poor quality product that could potentially be harmful to health.

 

I have asked for Ocado to call me back to explain how the error happened and how they will ensure this will not happen in the future. Initially, I was told that they do not call customers back, but after I explained that they have broken Trading Standards laws, the young lady informed me that they would call me back. Three days later, I am yet to receive a call to explain the situation.

 

It makes me wonder how many people have unknowingly eaten farmed salmon thinking it is wild. I understand that mistakes happen and this could be a genuine mistake. I would like hear from anyone who has experienced the same problem as it might not be so innocent, but a way to cut costs and maximise profits by trying to pull the wool over the customers eyes. If this is the case, they will need to get up a little earlier to catch me out!

 

After going to a Waitrose store and buying Wild Salmon over the counter I returned home and took some photographs so you can see the difference. Note the difference in colour between farmed (which had been packaged as 'wild'), a grey pink (left) and wild, a dark pink (right) prior to cooking.

  Notice the difference after cooking in the colour. The one on the left is the farmed salmon and is much lighter and duller in colour than the wild salmon on the right.

I will update you on any progress as and when I receive feedback, or if indeed I contact Trading Standards.

 

 

 

When is Wild Salmon not Wild?

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you will know how important it is to eat 'Wild' fish and not organic or non-organic farmed fish.

Farmed fish organic or otherwise are fed unnatural feeds. Fish as far as I am aware over the millions of years they have been in existence have never grown grains to feed themselves. Yet, this is what farmed fish are fed. An unnatural diet to any animal will make it sick. It has been found that farmed fish do not have the same omega 3 fatty acids that wild fish have as they are not consuming a natural diet.

Farmed fish, organic or otherwise are given coloured dyes in their feed to make them look pink and not the grey colour they go when fed an unnatural diet. Farmed fish is analogous to battery chickens, living in confined spaces not able to move around, eating and defecating in a very small area. The same health problems that occur in chicken and cattle that are kept in confined spaces also occur in fish. If animals can't get normal amounts of exercise and they are eating and defecating in the same area what do you expect?

How healthy would you expect to be if you lived in your living room 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with 50 other people and you couldn't move around and you had to eat from and defecate on the floor? Not a nice thought? If you get your nutrients from the animals you eat, how healthy are you if you are eating these sick animals? Not good so far!

So where am I going with this?

Well, each week I order Wild Alaskan Salmon from Ocado, the delivery service for Waitrose. I order Wild Alaskan Salmon as it is believed to be the least contaminated source of salmon. Most fish worldwide nowadays are contaminated with toxic heavy metals from all the pollution in our seas and oceans. I really wish I could get Wild Salmon from Scotland, but it seems you can only get farmed salmon from Scotland.

Anyhow, last week, I received my order from Ocado and early on Saturday morning prior to a tennis match I opened the salmon (see picture above). Straight away, I smelt a rat (well, something fishy anyhow). The colour of the salmon looked too grey to be wild salmon. So I double checked the container and it definitely stated 'Wild Alaskan Salmon' (see picture above). Trusting Waitrose, I thought that perhaps it had been sourced from a different region and was a different colour. I cooked the salmon and the colour again looked too pale to be 'wild salmon'. As I had a tennis match that morning and had nothing else unfrozen to eat, I decided to eat the fish.  It tasted disgusting! As someone who regularly eats wild salmon and someone who is very much in tune with the foods that I put in my body, 'I knew' this was farmed salmon.

Tune in next to see what happened when I contacted Waitrose...

Are Hidden Internal Stressors Making You Sick? - Part 4

If you are not quite feeling yourself or are not feeling as young and energetic as you used to, you may just have a hidden internal stressor such as an infection.

To discover whether you have an infection or not, you may wish to use a good laboratory. It is suggested that a stool sample is taken on four consecutive days. Any less, may miss identification.

 

If an infection is found, firstly, the host needs to strengthen all the bodily systems by:

• Ensuring adequate hydration
• eating a 100% organic diet
• eating right for their metabolic type®
• eliminating any sensitive foods from the diet
• balancing steroid hormones
• supporting the immune, digestive and detoxification systems
• reduction of mental / emotional stressors
• sleeping from 10pm for at least 8 hours every evening in a fully darkened room

 

Once the systems are strengthened, the infection can then be addressed. There are many approaches, including pharmacological (in consultation with your Doctor) and natural therapies.It is suggested that you seek guidance from a professional who has a good track record of helping people with such infections and helping people to feel amazing again.

Are Hidden Internal Stressors Making You Sick? - Part 3

In this post, I will show you some of the common infections us humans get, how we become infected and what symptoms they may cause:

Giardia Lamblia

Giardia Lamblia is a flagellated protozoa parasite that colonizes and reproduces in the small intestine (S.I.), causing Giardiasis. Giardiasis does not spread to other parts of the gastro-intestinal tract, but remains confined to the lumen of the S.I. Giardia traphozoites absorb their nutrients from the lumen of the S.I. and are anaerobes (don’t require oxygen).

Giardia infection can be caused by drinking contaminated water, food or through the fecal-oral route (poor hygiene). Giardia cysts can survive for months in cold water and therefore be present in water systems. They may occur in water supplies even after treatment as they are resistant to conventional water treatments such as chlorination. This is one reason why I recommend people use a reverse osmosis whole-house filtration system.

Cryptosporidium Parvum

Cryptosporidium Parvum is a parasitic disease of the intestinal tract. Symptoms include acute watery and non-bloody diarrhoea. Other symptoms may include anorexia, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. Cryptosporidium is particularly concerning with clients that have compromised immune systems.

The Cryptosporidium infection is spread via the fecal-oral route.

Cryptosporidium is considered to be the most important water-born pathogen in developed countries. It is resistant to all levels of chlorination. Another good reason for using reverse osmosis water filtration systems!

Cryptosporidium infection destroys cells and breaks down the mucosal barrier. Cryptosporidium migrates in and out of cells on a seven day cycle and can cause widespread cellular changes.

Cryptosporidium can inhabit the whole G.I. tract, especially the small intestine and colon.

Blastocystis Hominis

Blastocystis Hominis is a single cell parasite, classed as a Stremenopile that infects the gastro-intestinal tract. Blastocystis Hominis can infect farm animals, birds, rodents, amphibians, reptiles, fish and cockroaches. Blastocystis Hominis has a great diversity of morphological forms which makes it difficult to identify and diagnose.

Common forms of Blastocystis Hominis are vacuolar, granular, amoeboid and cyst forms. The organism is dependent upon the environmental conditions as it is very sensitive to oxygen.

Blastocystis Hominis is found in the colon in humans. People with Blastocystis Hominis may or may not have symptoms. Symptoms include watery or loose stools, diarrhoea, abdominal pain, gas and vomiting. 

Entamoeba Histolytica

Entamoeba Histolytica is an anaerobic parasitic protozoan. Entamoeba Histolytica infects humans and primates predominantly. 50 million people are believed to be infected worldwide. Domestic animals can become affected, but are not believed to infect humans.

Entamoeba Histolytica can cause abscesses in the brain, lung, diaphragm, liver, spleen, colon and around the anus. Entamoeba Histolytica is the second largest cause of death worldwide (after Malaria) and it infects the colon five to seven weeks after exposure. It also invades the central nervous system of the colon. Entamoeba Histolytica damages nerve tissue as well as muscle tissue.

Inflammatory bowel disease is common with people infected with Entamoeba Histolytica. If follows a pathogen mediated course; it can invade the liver and anywhere it wants to go.

High cholesterol can drive it from the colon to the liver. Use of corticosteroids can drive it from the colon to a full-blown systemic infection in three to five days.

Many deaths occur annually with liver abscess biopsy when Entamoeba Histolytica is present as it is released into the general circulation causing death by toxicity / antigen overload with in two to three hours.

Helicobacter Pylori

Helicobacter Pylori is a bacterium, often found living in the lining of the upper gastro-intestinal tract and liver. H. Pylori infects up to 50% of the human population and is pathogenic to humans and is strongly associated with peptic ulcers, chronic gastritis, duodenitis (inflammation in the S.I.) and stomach cancer.

H. Pylori are able to thrive in the very acidic mammalian stomachs by producing high levels of the enzyme urease, which raises pH from approximately two to a more bio-compatible range of six to seven.

H. Pylori is a spiral shaped bacterium that is found in the gastric mucous layer or attached to the epithelial lining of the stomach.

H. Pylori causes more than 90% of duodenal ulcers and up to 80% of gastric ulcers. Approximately two thirds of the world’s population are infected. Infected individuals have a two to six times higher risk of developing gastric cancer and mucosal associated lymphoid type lymphoma. Related symptoms include heartburn, acid reflux, upper abdominal pain, indigestion, belching, gastritis, duodenal / peptic ulcers, carcinoma, headaches, especially migraines, constipation, nausea, acne, halitosis and undigested food in stool.

H. Pylori enters the body most often through under-cooked food. It has also been suggested it can be passed via saliva (kissing) and has been obtained from oral cavities as well as vaginal and prostate fluids. The likelihood of infection increases with age.

Tune in for the final part of this post, when I will outline some strategies for eliminating these types of infections and getting your health and vitality back.

Stay tuned...

Are Hidden Internal Stressors Making You Sick? - Part 2

In Part One of this post, I introduced the concept of infections being stressful to the body often causing less than optimal health and disease and how most people have them without knowing.

Secondary infections or opportunistic organisms suggest a more deep-rooted process. One example is Candida Albicans, which has been linked to many diseases including cancer according to Dr. Doug Kaufmann, author of “The Fungus Link” and others. These opportunistic invaders can only exist in a weak host. Therefore, the causes of the proliferation (the weaknesses of the host) of the invaders requires addressing, not just the invader itself.

 

A good test for these invaders is four separate stool samples taken on four consecutive days. The test looks for levels and types of intestinal flora, yeasts, parasites, worms and blood in the stool.

 

Intestinal health is a prerequisite for the body’s physiology. If you have a less than optimal intestinal tract, you cannot have good health. The functions of digestion and absorption are so fundamental to the maintenance of homeostasis in metabolism that every physiological process is ultimately dependant upon digestive function. Suboptimal digestive function can be either a basic cause of, or a substantial contributor to, a variety of disorders, some of which may have seemingly little or no obvious clinical correlation to intestinal physiology.

 

In Part Three of this post, I will show you some common invaders, explain how we can be infected, where they tend to locate themselves in the body and what symptoms they have been known to cause.

Stay tuned...

Are Hidden Internal Stressors Making You Sick?

Any form is illness or less than optimal health is caused by the inability to handle the amount of stress placed on the body. Excess stress will lead to a number of bodily systems being out of balance, which over time will lead to disease unless appropriate intervention is applied.

 

A common cause of stress on the body is infections. Most infections go unnoticed for many years and often a number of decades. Infections keep the body in a state of chronic stress which can lead to adrenal fatigue, mal-digestion, mal-absorption, toxicity and detoxification problems. The longer the chronic stress remains the likelihood of hormonal, immune and metabolic breakdown increases.

 

If someone has an abnormal gut flora (dysbiosis) or micro-organisms that are not normally present indicates a weak host and a loss of homeostasis. A weak host can suffer alterations in the gut pH, mal-digestion, mal-absorption and overgrowth of ‘bad’ bacteria. Infections disrupt intestinal mucosal barrier function (our internal protection layer from infections) from the toxic metabolic products (waste) of the invaders.

 

Invaders can migrate to tissues and organs far from the gastro-intestinal tract. Micro-organisms can become cysts, remain dormant and can be extremely difficult to detect. I have certainly had many clients who have been tested by their Doctor and given the clean bill of health, yet didn’t feel well and knew something was wrong. On testing, using a combination of saliva, urine and stool samples, I have found infections in every client I have ever tested. Many of the infections are often very destructive.

Tune in next time to see if you have hidden internal stressors...