Are you spending enough time outdoors? . . .

With the spring season officially having started, our days are now

longer and we naturally seek to spend more time outdoors.  Modern conveniences (e.g., cars, planes, buildings), work and multiple commitments that demand our attention, however, frequently limit our ability to be outside to enjoy the sun’s radiance and warmth.  In the past, our ancestors evolved in an environment vastly different from today's world.  Before the advent of agriculture, clothing and buildings, we spent the majority of our time outdoors fully exposed to the sun.   

An important strategy to optimize your health then is to balance the added conveniences of our modern technologies and embrace our ancestral heritage by spending more time outdoors.  Our bodies function at their best when our serum vitamin D levels are in an optimal range.  This is particularly important considering that more than 70% of Americans are vitamin D deficient.

Vitamin D3 is really a prohormone that regulates the expression of over 2,000 genes in your body.  Having insufficient  levels of vitamin D increases your risk for several autoimmune conditions, diabetes, heart disease, various forms of cancer and depression¹.  Some studies have also linked prenatal vitamin D3 levels to schizophrenia.   

Above and beyond the production of vitamin D3, the sun’s ultraviolet rays help to reset your body’s circadian rhythms.  Your circadian rhythms regulate your sleep/wake cycle, appetite, satiety, concentration, attention and even influences your cravings for certain foods.²

 

Regular sun exposure also helps your skin to produce sulfur: cholesterol sulfate, and vitamin D3 sulfate.  Sulfur is a molecule that has an important role in the structure and biological activity of many proteins and enzymes, including your body’s detoxification pathways.  Sulfur deficiency is associated with obesity, heart disease, and autism.³ 

Sensible sun exposure is a simple practice that can enhance your vitamin D3 levels and reduce your risk of many health conditions. Spending 15 -30 minutes outdoors with your arms or legs exposed and without sunscreen can help you to raise your vitamin D3 levels,  sulfate levels and optimize your health.

To your health,

Dr. Sandoval 

To learn more about how working with a psychologist and holistic health coach can help you to enhance your health and well-being, call or email Dr. Sandoval to schedule a free consultation.

1. Holick, M.F. (2011). The Vitamin D Solution: A3-Step Strategy to Cure Our Most Common Health Problems
2. Wiley, TS. & Formby, B. ( 2001). Lights Out: Sleep, Sugar, and Survival.
3. Seneff, S.,  Davidson, R. & Mascitelli, L.  "Might cholesterol sulfate deficiency contribute to the development of autistic spectrum disorder?" Medical Hypotheses, (2012), 8, 213-217.

The information, published and/or made available through the www.drjosesandoval.com website, is not intended to replace the services of a physician, nor does it constitute a physician-patient relationship. This blog is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. You should not use the information in this post for diagnosing or treating a medical or health condition. You should consult a physician in all matters relating to your health, particularly in respect to any symptoms that may require diagnosis or medical attention.  Any action on the reader’s part in response to the information provided in this blog is at the reader’s discretion. 

Are you in need of a Spring cleaning and detox . . .

If you experience fatigue, irritability, problems concentrating or disturbances in

your sleep, you may benefit from a Spring cleaning.  Spring is looked upon as a season of renewal and rebirth.  Likewise, your low energy, mood swings, sleep disturbances and difficulties concentrating may be indications of a buildup of toxins and need to clean-up your diet and detox.

Instead of making a shopping list and buying several vitamins and/or supplements, focus on avoiding environmental toxins (e.g., second hand smoke, smoking, chlorine in pools that research shows combines with urine to form dangerous chemicals, fumes) invest in whole, organic foods that are raised without herbicides, pesticides and other synthetic chemicals that damage your health and animals that are raised humanely and safe to eat.  Not only will you keep your exposure to toxins to a minimum, you will help to build your body’s natural defenses and experience an increase in vitality, clear focus, sound sleep and sense of renewal.   

You can build up your body’s defenses, support your immune and detoxification systems by ensuring that you eat adequate amounts of the foods that will give you the building blocks to create glutathione.  Glutathione is an intracellular antioxidant that supports your body’s immune and detoxification systems.  It is made from three amino acids: l-cysteine, l-glutamatic acid, glycine and sulfur. The sulfur in glutathione makes it act like fly trap paper, stick to toxins and safely remove them from your body.  

Sulfur containing foods

• Garlic
• Kale
• Onions
• Broccoli
• Water cress
• Cabbage
• Asparagus
• Brussel sprouts

Foods containing the amino acids l-cysteine, l-glutamatic acid, glycine

• Unpasteurized milk (i.e., ideally grass-fed, organic and hormone/antibiotic free)
• Raw eggs (i.e., from chickens that are pasture raised)
• Undenatured, cold processed whey protein
• Tomatoes 
• Avocado 
• Spinach 
• Meats (e.g., beef, lamb, bison, chicken, turkey, wild caught, pasture raised, grass fed, wild caught)

Exercise also helps you build up glutathione.  Aim to get moderate levels of exercise (i.e., 30 minutes several times a week). Stress depletes your body of glutathione so it is important that you learn to manage your levels of stress effectively.  By taking these simple steps, you will reduce your exposure to environmental toxins, help build your body’s natural defenses and experience a renewed sense of vitality.

To your health,

Dr. Sandoval

To learn more about how working with a psychologist and holistic health coach can help you to enhance your health and well-being, call or email Dr. Sandoval to schedule a free consultation.

The information, published and/or made available through the www.drjosesandoval.com website, is not intended to replace the services of a physician, nor does it constitute a physician-patient relationship. This blog is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. You should not use the information in this post for diagnosing or treating a medical or health condition. You should consult a physician in all matters relating to your health, particularly in respect to any symptoms that may require diagnosis or medical attention.  Any action on the reader’s part in response to the information provided in this blog is at the reader’s discretion.  

 

How to get back in sync with your body’s need for sleep . . .

If you are like many people, the shift in time

and “springing our clocks forward” with the passing of day light savings time arrived with a loss of an hour of sleep, a decrease in energy, forgetting important meetings you had planned to attend and the inconvenience of having your day hit by an unexpected “detour.”    

More than a simple inconvenience, the consequences of inadequate sleep are very damaging to you as adequate sleep is essential for you to regulate numerous hormones in your body, like testosterone, estrogen, melatonin, leptin and ghrelin that help you to lose weight.^1,2 Insufficient sleep also increases your risk for many mental health problems like depression and cognitive problems like ADHD.³  Getting sufficient sleep is also important for you to minimize the damaging effects of stress, support your brain’s detoxification system and repair your body.  Making sure that you get adequate sleep will also reduce your risk for many types of cancer, like prostate cancer (i.e., melatonin acts as a very powerful antioxidant). 

Before I talk about simple strategies to help you improve your sleep, there is no “magic” number of hours that you need. Listen to your body. Your needs for sleep will vary according to the cycles of nature (e.g., with the spring season now beginning and the summer approaching the days are longer and there is more sunlight; in the fall and winter the days are shorter and there is less sunlight) because your sleep and wake cycles are regulated primarily by your exposure to external cues that influence your circadian rhythm and your lifestyle.⁴   

Exposure to sunlight during the day (or high lux artificial lights) suppresses your secretion of melatonin and helps to reset your circadian rhythm.  More than practicing sensible sun light exposure, having good sleep hygiene is important.  So if you have tried different approaches and still experience problems getting back in sync with your body's needs for sleep or wake up in the middle of the night, follow my simple recommendations below: 

1. The most effective and simplest strategy to improve your quality of sleep is going to bed at the same time each evening and waking up at the same time every morning.
2. You also want to develop a night time ritual to help you transition into sleep. Try reading or meditating (e.g., Mindfulness Meditation or Loving Kindness Meditation) an hour before you go to bed. 
3. To help you sleep more easily, it is also important to avoid certain stimuli and avoid drinking or eating within 3 hours of your bed time.   Eating before you sleep can interfere with restful sleep as your body is still digesting food. 
4. As a rule of thumb, you also want to dim the lights in your room or house 2 hours before bed time to help your body produce more melatonin.  
5. Wear a sleep mask or install black out curtains in your bedroom to keep artificial lights from interfering with your sleep.  
6. Minimize or avoid your use of electronics like your T.V., computer or smartphone as they emit a blue spectrum light that can interfere with your body’s secretion of melatonin. 
7. If you must work and use a computer or your smartphone, use software like f.lux to reduce the interference on your computer and IPhone or EasyEyez for Android. Or wear orange or red tinted sunglasses like BluBlockers to protect you from blue spectrum lights. 
8. Set your smartphone on “airplane mode” and unplug your Wi-Fi router at home as you will not be using the internet during your sleep and the EMFs produced by your phone and Wi-Fi router may interfere with your sleep. 
9. Set the ambient temperature in your bedroom down to at least 70 degrees Fahrenheit or lower. Your core body temperature drops during sleep and setting your climate control higher can contribute to restless sleep.

Upon waking, take a moment to notice how you feel. If you feel refreshed and alert, make a mental note of what you did the prior night and repeat the cycle.   Ideally, you will wake up without the need for an alarm. Otherwise, you need more sleep and need to adjust your schedule so that can go to bed earlier. It’s best to set your intention and go to bed by 10:00 pm and allow for eight to nine hours of sleep.

To your health,

Dr. Sandoval

To learn more about how working with a psychologist and holistic health coach can help you to enhance your health and well-being, call or email Dr. Sandoval to schedule a free consultation.

1. Czeisler, CA, Klerman, EB. “Circadian and sleep-dependent regulation of hormone release in humans.” Recent Progress in Hormone Research. (1999). (54):97-132.
2. Van Cauter, E, Knutson, K, Leproult, R, and Spiegel, K. “The Impact of Sleep Deprivation on Hormones and Metabolism.” (2005). Medscape Neurology. (7):1.
3. Ilardi, S. (2010). The Depression Cure: The 6-Step Program to Beat Depression without Drugs.
4. Wiley, TS & Formby, B. (2001). Lights Out: Sleep, Sugar, and Survival.
5. Stalgis-Bilinski, KL, Boyages, J, Salisbury, EL, Dunstan, CR, Henderson, SI, and Talbot, PL. “Burning daylight: balancing vitamin D requirements with sensible sun exposure.” Medical Journal of Australia. (2011).194(7):345-8.