Does the Vitamin and Mineral Content of Food Influence Our Food Intake and Body Fatness?

The Claim: We Overeat Because Our Diet is Low in Vitamins and Minerals

We know that animals, including humans, seek certain properties of food.  Humans are naturally attracted to food that's high in fat, sugar, starch, and protein, and tend to be less enthusiastic about low-calorie foods that don't have these properties, like vegetables (1).  Think cookies vs. plain carrots.

In certain cases, the human body is able to detect a nutritional need and take steps to correct it.  For example, people who are placed on a calorie-restricted diet become hungry and are motivated to make up for the calorie shortfall (2, 3).  People who are placed on a low-protein diet crave protein and eat more of it after the restriction is lifted (4).  Humans and many other animals also crave and seek salt, which supplies the essential minerals sodium and chlorine, although today most of us eat much more of it than we need to.  At certain times, we may crave something sweet or acidic, and pregnant women are well known to have specific food cravings and aversions, although explanations for this remain speculative.  Research suggests that certain animals have the ability to correct mineral deficiencies by selecting foods rich in the missing mineral (5).

These observations have led to a long-standing idea that the human body is able to detect vitamin and mineral (micronutrient) status and take steps to correct a deficit.  This has led to the secondary idea that nutrient-poor food leads to overeating, as the body attempts to make up for low nutrient density by eating more food.  In other words, we overeat because our food doesn't supply the micronutrients our bodies need, and eating a micronutrient-rich diet corrects this and allows us to eat less and lose body fat.  These ideas are very intuitive, but intuition doesn't always get you very far in biology.  Let's see how they hold up to scrutiny.

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Powered By Plants: Natural Selection & Human Nutrition - New Book by Don Matesz

I am proud to share the news that Don Matesz has released the book Powered By Plants: Natural Selection & Human Nutrition. Here is a brief description of the book:

In Powered By Plants: Natural Selection & Human Nutrition, Don Matesz proposes that a plant-based diet powered human evolution. Challenging anthropologists and advocates of low-carbohydrate and 'paleo' diets who claim that we require meat in our diet because meat-eating drove human evolution, Matesz cites a large body of evidence indicating that the human organism has numerous heritable anatomical, physiological, and biochemical features primarily adapted to acquisition or metabolism of whole plant foods, but lacks the heritable features expected as evidence of evolution primarily driven by meat consumption. While natural selection appears to have favored a human biology that thrives on a plant-based diet, sexual selection may explain the apparent paradox that we are athletically capable of hunting but highly susceptible to diseases caused by the luxury of meat consumption.  Matesz surveys human biology from head-to-toe, and, backed by hundreds of references, shows that our sensory, locomotive, manual, digestive, and reproductive systems, and our nutrient metabolism, are all adapted to a whole foods plant-based diet. This evidence indicates that consumption of animal products promotes disease because it conflicts with basic human biology. 

Without question, this is one of the most well researched books on the topic of evolutionary nutrition, containing hundreds of high quality relevant references. Throughout this book Don Matesz critically examines many of the claims published in peer reviewed journals by prominent proponents of the so-called Paleo diet. Matesz ultimately concludes that the hypothesis brought forward by these proponents that humans evolved and thrived on a predominantly meat based diet is over-simplistic and is in disagreement with a broad spectrum of evidence. Matesz demonstrates this by examining dozens of factors that cast doubt on the hypothesis that Paleolithic humans were the successful hunters that these proponents have made them out to be. For example, Matesz points out the relatively low hunting success rate and low energy return from hunting by modern African hunter-gatherers, casting doubt on whether Paleolithic humans who used more primitive weapons would have had a greater rate of success. Another important point raised is the known high rate of dehydration and hyperthermia among modern day athletes running long distances in warm climates despite being supplied with water throughout their races, suggesting that Paleolithic humans living in warm African climates who had fewer reliable sources of water would have unlikely relied on persistence hunting to provide any significant portion of their diet. 

In this book, Matesz also examines the natural occurring pathogens found in animal foods, demonstrating that these are found in similar quantities in both intensively farmed livestock and wild game, and provides a significant amount of evidence for their role in human disease. This book is an essential read for anyone interested in evolutionary nutrition, and highly recommended for anyone interested in health in general.

Don Matesz has studied the topic of evolutionary nutrition for the best part of two decades, and his extensive knowledge on this topic allowed him to be selected as a presenter for the first ever Ancestral Health Conference. Read about Matesz's fascinating decision to return to a plant-based diet after 14 years of following a Paleo diet, and his struggle with ill-health caused by this former diet in his blog post Farewell to Paleo.

Click here for the paperback copy and here for the digital copy. A sample of the book can be viewed on Amazon.

Other recommended reading by Don Matesz

Response to The Miracle Cure for Losing Weight

Phytates: Antinutrients or Essential Nutrients?

Grass-Fed Animal Products Prevent Obesity and Cardiovascular Disease?

Iron, Oxidation, Inflammation, and Aging

Wheat Belly: Fat or Flat

Wheat Again

Sadhana Sundays with Baxter and Timothy

by Nina

Just a quick announcement that Yoga U will be hosting an interview with Baxter Bell called “Yoga And Healthy Aging: The Evidence And The Promise” this coming Sunday, December 29, 2013 as part of their Sadhana Sundays series. Timothy is also participating in the series with his talk “Yoga And Healing: Building The Body's Innate Ability To Heal,” along with many other well-known yoga teachers. If you’re interested, head on over to http://yogauonline.com/yogaspirit/sadhana-Sundays to register for free!

Autumn Light Festival by Melina Meza

And Happy Holidays, everyone! We’ll be taking a break from posting for a little over a week, and will resume business as usual in the new year on Monday, January 6. See you then!

Peace on Earth

This week I did what most Americans do during the holiday season….I went shopping. I think I am the stereotypical male in that I really don’t like shopping, but I do it to try and find gifts for the people I love. I remember when I lived in Rome in the 1970’s seeing how the Italians celebrated the holidays. It was much less about gifts and more about gatherings and joyous meals together.

Tuesday I went on our Lean Daily Management walk and realized how wonderful our staff is and how not just on Christmas Eve, but every day, they give so much to our patients and their families. It’s like most of them have the spirit of giving all year round. After rounds, I had three patients and families I wanted to see. One was a phenomenal volunteer who gives so much to GBMC. One was quite an accomplished gentleman who I did not know personally, but I knew of him, and was asked to visit him by a mutual friend. The third patient was a woman who had just delivered her first baby and her husband. They were so glad to have this new, wonderful gift in their lives. Making all three visits really got me thinking about what the season is all about, so I gathered my things and went home to be with my family.

I am writing this next to our Christmas tree listening to holiday music and looking at the ornaments that we have collected over the past 30 years. My favorite ornament sits atop our tree. It’s a paper angel that my son Mike made in Kindergarten and it has a photo of Mike’s face at age five glued on the body of the angel. It reminds me of how lucky I am. I wish that everyone in the world could stop during this season and reflect on what is really important.

I wish everyone a peaceful and joyous holiday season and for those who celebrate it – Merry Christmas!

To the Ears of Babes

by Baxter

Lelu by Melina Meza

Sometimes the sweetest things can happen during a yoga class. Recently, one of my students sent a description of something that happened when I was leading a Thanksgiving Day class in Montclair community of Oakland to a local reporter. Now it has showed up on the Montclarion website recently. Enjoy!

“Email bag: Reader Brad Newsham shares a story that may give you new faith in humanity. He says a full house at Montclair’s Mountain Yoga (on Thanksgiving morning) was deep into meditation when they overheard a dad and his little girl on the sidewalk below. “You get what you get – and don’t throw any fits,” said the father. Apparently that “Buddha-like parenting wisdom” caused quite a stir in the otherwise silent meditation. “When the ensuing hysteria died down, one Yogi quipped, “Well that’s one kid who might turn out okay,” writes Newsham.”

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Meditation: Effects on Gene Expression

by Ram

Yoga for Healthy Aging authors have written extensively on the power of meditation (dhyana) and its beneficial effects on so many aspects of life, including, but not limited to, disease and pain, sleep management, control of emotions, stress reduction, depression and weight-reduction goals. In all the above cases it seemed that meditation changed behavioral patterns and enhanced emotional stability. Articles by Baxter (How to Meditate, Thoughts On Dhyana ), Timothy (Starting a Meditation Practice), Brad (Stressed Mind, Stressed Cells), Nina (Meditation and Compassion)  and yours truly (Achieving Stillness in Turbulent Situations, Memory Loss: Meditation to the Rescue) have all provided lucid explanations of ways to meditate, the science of meditation and the effects of meditation on body and mind.

Vine and Wall by Melina Meza

In one of my recent posts, I also discussed meditation’s important role in slowing the progression of age-related cognitive disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. Researchers had demonstrated that meditation reduced hippocampal (the hippocampus is one of the areas of the brain involved in memory) degeneration and improved functional connectivity in those areas of the brain that are affected by Alzheimer's disease (see Memory Loss: Meditation to the Rescue). In response to the above-mentioned article, one of our readers recently sent us the following question:

“What exactly is meditation? At the end of our yoga class my teacher puts us all in a brief meditation session. Each day is different, one day she puts a audio tape and tells us to meditate on it, another day she reads some verses from a book and asks us to meditate on them, a third day she tells us to meditate on a color. I just cannot comprehend these different methods. To me all these are nothing but distractions. So how do I meditate?”

In chapter 3, verse 2 of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, we are introduced to the topic of meditation (dhayana) as follows: “Tatra Pratyaya Ekatanata Dhyanam.” Swami Jnaneshvara () translates this as: “The repeated continuation or uninterrupted stream of that one point of idea/notion is called meditation.” To put it simply, when the mind remains undistracted (still) for a length of time, it is called meditation.

Needless to say, humans inherently fear stillness, as it brings them closer to their true divine nature, which they are not prepared to face. Novices in a meditation practice have a tough time closing their eyes and keeping still in mind and body. It is a very natural response. Hence, in a beginner’s class the teacher usually begins by telling the class to focus on an object, color, flower, and so on. This type of meditation not only allows beginners to focus strongly on one point but it helps to bring their attention back to that focal point when the mind wanders. Another practice might include focusing on some soft music or recitation, engaging the auditory sense. The ultimate goal of the meditation exercise is to be at ease, relaxed and at peace with our surroundings. It is important not to resist any disturbing or distracting influences that come in the way of meditation practice. Everything is a part of meditation, including noise, thoughts, emotions, and resistance from the mind.

Now that I’ve answered our reader’s question about how to meditate, I’m excited to share some news with you about the benefits of the practice. In a new study by researchers in Wisconsin, Spain, and France, mediation seems to trigger very important genetic and physiological changes in the human body. The authors of the study report the first evidence of specific molecular changes in the body following a period of mindfulness meditation. Specifically, the study shows that meditation reduces the expression of several genes associated with inflammation. For more on inflammation, see my article Chronic Inflammation and Yoga.

In this latest study, the researchers investigated the impact of a day of intensive mindfulness practice on the expression of genes involved in several physiological functions. Blood samples from 19 experienced meditators and a control group of 21 subjects with no meditation experience who engaged in leisure activities were analyzed for gene changes. The changes in the gene expression were compared before and after the meditation session. Notably, the experienced meditators showed a marked reduction in the levels of pro-inflammatory genes, which in turn correlated with faster physical recovery from a stressful situation. There was no difference in the tested genes between the two groups of people at the start of the study, clearly suggesting that the pro-inflammatory gene changes were specifically associated with meditation. Interestingly, these same genes are the current targets of anti-inflammatory and analgesic drugs. According to the researchers, the research findings set the foundation for future studies to further assess meditation strategies for the treatment of chronic inflammatory conditions. I am very excited because if these studies prove successful, one can use stillness to curb almost all the present day inflammatory-associated maladies, such as, arthritis, thyroid disease, tendonitis, myositis, and neuropathies.

The health benefits from meditation are so strong that scientists are swearing by it and more doctors are recommending the practice to their patients. So it’s no wonder that meditation is going mainstream. I know if I had to choose between anti-inflammatory drugs or calmness of my mind to curb stress and inflammation, I would choose the latter. What about you?

Friday Q&A: Bronchitis and Yoga

Q: Every year I seem to get a couple of months of chronic bronchitis.  I have a regular gentle yoga practice, am 63, and am frustrated that when I get a winter cold it seems to settle into my lungs. I am wondering if you have any thoughts on what yoga to practice to strengthen and help heal my lungs.  I looked at your list of topics, but did not see anything that addressed this specific issue. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

A: I happen to be working on this post as I fly home from co-leading a yoga retreat in Mexico, which would have been all well and good except for the fact that I had a cold when I left over a week ago, and now I am still battling with a persistent, non-productive cough that feels like it is in my chest and not my throat. When I slip my doctor hat on, I can’t help but be suspicious that I may have gone from having a typical winter cold to possibly having an acute bronchitis. Bronchitis is an inflammation of the bronchial tree, that part of the lung architecture just down stream from your trachea, which is the biggest part of the tubes that allow air to move from the outside down into the deepest parts of the lungs, the alveoli, where our breathing gases get exchanged. Bronchitis, especially the acute kind, usually implies an infection of some sort, typically a virus or a bacteria, the latter for which antibiotics might be needed to eliminate.

Bronchial Tree

Since my cold showed up nine days ago, I have not felt much like doing a yoga practice! I had a low-grade fever for the first three days, and any mild physical activity left me feeling exhausted, so asana practice seemed like a potentially aggravating idea. Then, when the cough settled in to my chest, lying flat on my back led to more coughing, and deeper breathing also could trigger a coughing fit. So about the only thing I felt up for and that left me feeling a bit more rested afterwards was propping my chest and head up on a long body pillow, and doing yoga nidra practice with the sankalpa: My Immune system is robust! So my personal take-home message for acute bronchitis is that less is more, and that could be true for our reader if the “chronic bronchitis” has already set in for the winter.

Chronic bronchitis is a form of bronchitis that has been around for at least three months in the past two consecutive years and has the other following characteristics: daily cough that produces clear, white, yellow or green mucus, fatigue, slight fever and chills, and chest discomfort. Chronic bronchitis implies a constant irritation or inflammation of the lining of the bronchial tubes, and is often due to a history of cigarette smoking. Other factors can also lead to the chronic form of bronchitis, including air pollution as well as dust or toxic gases in the environment or workplace.

In addition to encouraging smokers to stop and those exposed to environmental factors to make smart changes, western medicine often recommends medications other than antibiotics, which are reserved for situations in which fever or change in color of mucus indicate an acute infection on top of the chronic symptoms. Instead, medicines that improve the symptoms might be recommended, like inhalers that help to dilate or open up the airways to allow easier breathing. And, depending on the overall severity of the symptoms, a very modified yoga practice might be necessary until the chronic bronchitis symptoms resolve for the season.

However, when our reader is in his or her nine months of relative respiratory good health, a combination of yoga practices might help prevent the severity and length of these seasonal bouts. All of the basic balanced yoga practices we have discussed for other conditions that lower the stress response will simultaneously improve immune function, so a regular, daily home asana, pranayama and meditation practice is a must. In particular, asanas that target stretching the tight musculature around the chest and ribs, like Cat/Cow, deep side bends like Gate latch Pose, and backbends like Bridge and Bow that open up the front chest could improve aspects of the overall respiratory system. Basic forward bends and twists will also help to address the entire three-dimensional area of the rib cage and lungs. 

Pranayama focus is also very important here. If there is any hint of asthma as part of the picture, please review my posts on that topic and visit Barbara Benagh’s website to read her insights on modified breath practices. I’d focus on two specific pranayama practices:

1. Improve overall lung capacity by very gradually working to lengthen your inhalation and exhalation. For example, if you find it easy now to do a two second inhalation and a two-second exhalation for a series of six breaths, begin to work towards four-second inhale and four-second exhale (4:4 breath). And when that gets easy, to for 6:6, and so on. Always work in a gentle way and avoid getting short of breath or shaky. If you do get short of breath or shaky, take a break, go down to a lower time ratio and proceed more gradually.
2. Increase muscular strength of the accessory muscles of breathing that are often called into action in breathing conditions like chronic bronchitis by practicing either Kapalabhati, Skull Brightening Breath, or Bastrika, the Bellows breath. By improving the strength and endurance of the accessory muscles of breathing such as the four layers of your superficial abdominal muscles (to mention only a few), you will be improving the stamina of your breathing musculature.  I’ll describe these techniques in a future post. But in the meantime, you can find good descriptions in Richard Rosen’s second book on pranayama, Pranayama Beyond the Fundamentals. And take your time with these techniques by initially doing only 15-30 seconds at a time. Take many days to gradually add more time to your practice.

With all the practices I am recommending here I am assuming that chronic bronchitis is the only health condition you are dealing with. If that is not the case, consult your teacher or a yoga therapist for a more personalized practice that is safe for you.

—Baxter

Food Reward Friday

This week's lucky "winner"... peanut M + M's!!!

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In Praise of Gomukhasana (Cow-Face Pose)

by Nina

Because this is turning out to be the almost all-Nina week (don’t worry, all the other regulars will be back soon), I thought today I’d just share with you some more of the beautiful artwork from the current exhibit Yoga: The Art of Transformation at the Smithsonian Museum.

As I was looking through the book, I noticed something surprising to me. While most of the yoga poses we currently do in our yoga classes and in our home practices were developed during the twentieth century (see Authentic Yoga), there are several poses—mostly seated poses—that are quite old. The artwork in this exhibit that portrays yogis in action allows us to see which ones they were. Of course, there are many examples of the classic seated position that we all picture from the past, Lotus pose (Padmasana. But I also noticed how many of these works of art portrayed yogis in a seated position similar to Cow-Face pose (Gomukhasana) legs.

It just happens that this is a pose I practice frequently myself (though not as a meditation pose) because I received advice that stretching my piriformis muscle would help me regain some mobility in my right hip, and Cow-Face pose is one of the best poses for stretching this muscle. And, as it turned out, practicing this pose on a regular basis did increase my hip mobility (see How to Stretch ).

Baxter finds this pose stretches the deep hip muscles in a different way than Sukasana (Seated Crossed Legs), Padmasana (Lotus pose), Baddhakonasana (Cobbler's pose) and Firelog pose, so it can be helpful for those with tight hips who want more mobility. And Shari recommends stretching your piriformis muscle to keep your sacrum happy and healthy. So it was quite amazing for me to see what a common seated poses this for ancient yoga practitioners. And as we haven’t yet taken photographs of one of us doing the pose, I’m so pleased to have some visual examples to show you.

While most of these paintings show the practitioner sitting on the heel of the bottom foot, many of us who aren’t used to this pose, may find this uncomfortable. In that case, sit with your hips on a prop (as in the video), such as a folded blanket, and your bottom foot alongside your hip.

Doing Yoga Without

by Nina

Yesterday I wrote Cheating at Yoga? about props and how we here at YFHA staff feel it is wise to use them to adapt poses to your body type and/or physical condition. But there are some physical conditions where a prop won’t help. In this case, you can simply modify your poses in certain ways to make them accessible to you.

I was thinking about this because recently a friend told me that she “can’t do yoga” anymore because shoulder injury (as yet undiagnosed). I assured her that she still could because there were a lot of poses that she would still be able to do. She then asked if there were some yoga videos for yoga without arms, and I said that I couldn’t think of any but that most practices (except Sun Salutation practices) could be modified by changing your arm positions or, in some cases, substituting one pose for another. I know all about this because I’ve had two frozen shoulders, which meant even moving my arm was very painful, and I continued to go to a public class and kept up my home practice throughout.

Because lifting caused her pain, I suggested that she avoid all poses where you bear weight on your arms. This would include Downward-Facing Dog, Sun Salutations, and some backbends, such as Upward Bow pose (Urdva Dhanurasana). A modified version of Downward-Facing Dog pose, Half Downward Dog at the Wall, could be substituted for the full pose. Inverted poses, such as Headstand and Shoulderstand, where you bear weight on your shoulders should probably also be avoided. For these, you can do partial inversions, such as Supported Standing Forward Bend and Supported Prasarita Padottanasana (see All About Supported Inversions), where your head rests on a block or other support.

Substitute for Downward-Facing Dog

Even after eliminating those poses, there are still so many other poses someone like her could do, including standing poses, seated twists, seated forward bends, and backbends, such as Locust, where your arms do not bear weight.

But what if even just raising your arms over your head or out to the side causes pain? In this case, in standing poses, you can modify your arm position to one that is more comfortable. For poses where both arms are overhead, such as Tree pose (Vrksasana), Warrior 1 (Virabhadrasana), and Powerful Pose (Utkatasana), bring your hands into Prayer position (Namaste) in front of your heart. You can even take this same arm position in poses such as Triangle pose (Trikonasana) and Extended Side Angle pose (Parsvakonasana), where your arms are out to the side. But you could also practice those poses with just the injured arm alongside your body or with a bent elbow and hand on your hip while your uninjured arm is in the standard position. In other words, just find a position that is comfortable for your injured arm. Feel free to experiment!

Surprisingly, seated forward bends, especially if you are flexible and normally hold onto your feet, can also hurt your shoulder. In this case, for the injured arm, reach it only as far as it can go and use a block underneath to support it. Binding in twists is also not recommended, as it is an intense stretch on the shoulder, but most of us know milder alternatives for the arms in twists.

It’s your practice people, so just make it work for you. Like I said yesterday about using props, this is not cheating! You’re still practicing and that’s all that counts.

Patient Safety and the Man-Machine Interface

We know that humans make errors and we also know that we can eliminate some of those errors through the appropriate use of technology. For example, the computerized order entry system (CPOE) has just about eliminated medication errors due to misinterpreted handwriting or the use of dangerous abbreviations.  
However, machines don’t fix everything and computerization creates new opportunities for error at what is known as the man-machine interface.

An example of a catastrophe created at this interface was the crash of American Airlines Flight 965. The aircraft was a Boeing 757, and it was on a scheduled flight from Miami International Airport to Cali, Colombia, when it crashed into a mountain in Buga, Colombia on December 20, 1995, killing 151 passengers and 8 crew members.

Cali's approach uses several radio beacons to guide pilots around the mountains and canyons that surround the city. The airplane's flight management system already had these beacons programmed in, and could have told the pilots exactly where to turn, climb, and descend, all the way from Miami to the terminal in Cali. Essentially, once the pilots had programmed the computer, the plane could have taken off and landed itself successfully.

Cali's controllers asked the pilots if they wanted to fly a straight-in approach to runway 19 rather than coming around to runway 01. The pilots agreed, hoping to make up some time. The pilots then erroneously cleared the approach waypoints from their navigation computer. When the controller asked the pilots to check back in over Tuluá, north of Cali, it was no longer programmed into the computer, and so they had to pull out their maps to find it.

By the time they found Tuluá's coordinates, they had already passed over it. In response to this, they attempted to program the navigation computer for the next approach waypoint, Rozo. However, Rozo was identified as R on their charts. Colombia had duplicated the identifier for the Romeo waypoint near Bogotá, and the computer's list of stored waypoints did not include the Rozo waypoint as "R," but only under its full name "ROZO." In cases where a country allowed duplicate identifiers, it often listed them with the largest city first. By picking the first "R" from the list, the captain caused the autopilot to start flying a course to Bogotá, resulting in the airplane turning east in a wide semicircle. By the time the error was detected, the aircraft was in a valley running roughly north-south parallel to the one they should have been in. The pilots had put the aircraft on a collision course with a 3,000-meter (9,800 feet) mountain. They realized their error too late and the plane crashed into the mountain. A system designed to make flight safer had been misused by the humans flying the plane and this had resulted in 159 deaths.

Recently, at GBMC, we had a near miss from a human error at the man machine interface. An ED doctor was trying to order a CT scan of the head and neck on a patient and inadvertently clicked on the next name in the list and ordered the CT on the wrong patient. In the old system, the doctor would have taken an order sheet and stamped the patient’s name on it, but in the computerized world, this type of new opportunity for error presented itself.

The wrong patient did not get the scan because our design for safety has a check that worked that day. Jana Sanders, the C.T. technician who was working reviewed the patient’s record and questioned the orders because there was no mention of a fall or head/neck pain. Jana called the physician to make sure he wanted these exams on the patient before doing the scans. At that point, the physician realized the error, thanked Jana for catching it, and put the order in for the correct patient.
 
It is said that in highly reliable systems, operators have a preoccupation with failure. Operators, like Jana, have a questioning attitude because they know that humans make errors, so they follow the design for safety and do the check to make sure they have the right patient. They also realize that computerization prevents many types of errors but creates some new ones at the man-machine interface. Our hats are off to Jana on a job well done!

What opportunities for error do you see in your work at the man-machine interface?

Cheating at Yoga?

by Nina

As I wrote in my post Practicing With Pain, sometimes we get a question from a reader that leaves me feeling sad. This one, from a reader who was accused by a teacher of “cheating,” came in just recently:

Am I a cheater if I use Props?
Cheat/Cheater: (Oxford dictionary): deceive, fraud, deception, a person who behaves dishonestly, a liar



Dear esteemed Writers /Teachers of this blog, I have been practicing yoga for nearly 20 years and have completed 500 hrs of teachers training. I have studied with several master teachers including Judith Lasater, Kofi Busia, Tony Briggs, Tim Miller, David Swenson among others. These days owing to some back and knee issues I use props when required since I know what’s good for me and what can hurt me. Last month I was in a class that saw a new teacher who introduced herself as a teacher with several years of experience and having studied from several well known teachers in this country and in India as well. Despite her impressive background, what surprised me was that in several hip and knee poses when I used the prop or the back wall as a support (for some balancing sequences) she would come to me and say “You are cheating; don’t cheat”. To me the word cheat meant that I was engaging in fraudulent behavior. At the end of the class I confronted her and sought out an apology from her which she refused to do. I have stopped going to her classes. Now my question to you is: Why is anyone a cheater if he/she uses a prop? Do we have to wait for a teacher to tell us to use these supports? If I know my body well and feel the need for a prop, why am I a cheater? Is the use of a belt/block/wall for poses that we feel comfortable akin to engaging in deceit or a dishonest act?

Anyone who has been reading this blog for any period of time—or who even just looks at the photos—knows that we do not consider using props to be cheating. In fact, we consider using props as needed for your body type and physical condition to be a very wise way to practice yoga. So, no, dear reader, we do not agree with the statement that the “use of a belt/block/wall for poses that we feel comfortable akin to engaging in deceit or a dishonest act.” See Yoga Props: An Introduction for a general overview of some of the props we recommend incorporating as needed into your practice.

Baxter protects his hamstrings from tearing by using a prop

I’d say that from our point of view, the only way to “cheat” at yoga is not to practice and then pretend you did. However, there are a lot of different styles of yoga out there, and not every tradition recommends the use of props. So it’s very possible that some of you, as our questioner experienced, may encounter a teacher who is unfamiliar with or does not believe in the use of props. That, of course, does not justify the rudeness of the teacher described above, and it seems wise to me that after such an unpleasant experience with this teacher, our reader decided not to return to class.

But I also think it is wise every time you take a class with a new teacher that you arrive a bit early, introduce yourself to the teacher, and briefly describe any physical problems you may have and let the teacher know you’ll be using props. I have mild arthritis in my right hip, so I always let the teacher know this and assure them, however, that I don’t need special attention as I know how to look after myself by using props and modifications. At that point, the teacher could make clear his or her particular philosophy regarding props, and it would be up to me—if props were discouraged or forbidden—to decide whether or not to take the class.

Use up leftover ham

There are always a few slices in the fridge... here's a great, healthy way to use up your leftover ham – it could soon become a festive season favourite!

Ham pasta bake

prep 10 min cook 30 min serves 4

250g penne or rigatoni

2tbsp low-fat spread

2½tbsp plain flour

500ml skimmed milk

1tbsp Dijon mustard

75g slow-roasted tomatoes

150g cooked lean ham

100g goat’s cheese or
reduced-fat feta, crumbled

1 Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan 180°C/gas 6. Cook the pasta according to the pack instructions. Drain, then return to the pan.

2 Meanwhile, melt the spread in a saucepan over a medium heat, then stir in the flour and cook for 1 min. Take off the heat, then slowly add the milk, stirring until combined. Put the mixture back on the heat and stir until it thickens. Reduce the heat and simmer for 2 min. Take off the heat, then stir in the mustard.

3 Pour the sauce over the drained pasta, then stir in the tomatoes and ham. Transfer to a 2 litre baking dish, top with cheese, then bake for 15–20 min until golden and hot.

Per serving: 476kcal, 26.6g protein, 12.3g fat, 5.9g saturates, 69g carbs, 12.5g sugar, 5.6g fibre, 2.1g salt, 240mcg calcium, 2.4mg iron

For more pasta bakes using up your festive ingredients – from stilton to sprouts – get a copy of Healthy Food Guide magazine’s Winter issue, out now, or download the iPad edition from the App Store or Newsstand.

Taking Back the "Yoga Body"!

by Nina

Are you familiar with the term “yoga body?” What does it mean to you? Unfortunately, for many people, this term connotes a young, slender, super-bendy woman posing on the cover of a magazine along with promises that doing certain yoga poses will result in a “fierce and fabulous” body, worthy of a photo shoot. Recently, a book cover by yoga teacher Sadie Nardini seems to capitalize on this concept:

Here, a young, attractive and very slender woman, who is not even doing yoga on the cover (really, what is that silly position she’s in?), seems to be promising that in 21 days, you’ll have a body that looks like mine!

Of course, if you’re one of our regular readers, you will know that when we talk about the effects of yoga asana on your body, we’re referring to overall physical health, including strength, flexibility, balance, agility, and reduced stress levels, not the way you will look after practicing for 21 or more days or the advanced poses you’ll be able to show off. So in general we just tend to ignore mainstream media’s obsession with physical beauty and the resulting distortion of yoga practice. Recently, however, some discussions in the blogosphere as well as at my own dining room table made me realize it would be worthwhile to raise my concerns about this disturbing trend and to take back the term “yoga body.”

First of all, there has been the “scandal” over Lululemon’s founder and CEO Chip Wilson’s statements blaming women’s physical “flaws” for problems in the company’s yoga pants. Yes, people, in explaining why certain women found these expensive pants were pilling, Wilson said that “quite frankly some women’s bodies just actually don’t work for it,” and “It’s really about the rubbing through the thighs, how much pressure is there over a period of time and how much they use it.” The take-away here was that if your thighs touch when you stand with your feet together, you don’t have the “yoga body” needed to wear certain “yoga pants.” Do I even have to explain how offensive—and completely antithetical to the real purpose of yoga—this is?

Then, I read some inspiring posts by yoga blogger, Roseanne Harvey, an average-sized yoga practitioner, who decided to test the program in Sadie Nardini’s book and document the results by photographing herself in before and after photos. She decided to do the program for two reasons. The first reason was to test the rather ridiculous time frame being promoted. I’ve already written about the issue of being realistic about the time period required for results (see Take Your Time). But it’s very compelling to see the dramatic before and after photos Roseanne took of herself after doing the program. Spoiler alert: she looks basically the same in both photos, possible even a little rounder in the after photo.

But more importantly, Roseanne wanted to take the opportunity to explore the concept of a “yoga body,” asking some of her favorite yoga writers to weigh in on the topic. And she concluded by saying:

“But I’m starting to feel that the “yoga body” is something that needs to be reclaimed (or possibly even claimed; was it ever ours to begin with?). It needs to be reclaimed from Google, reclaimed from marketers, reclaimed from a fragmented culture that has mixed messages and ideas about the human body.”

Yes, Roseanne! I agree wholeheartedly. So this is me joining your movement! And I’d like to add that while most of the discussion around the term “yoga body” focuses on body image and body weight—certainly vital issues in our culture—what about age? What about the gray hair, wrinkles and sagging flesh that come along with the natural aging of the body? My final inspiration for this writing post was seeing this recent photo of BKS Iyengar on the occasion of his 95th birthday.

How about this as the ultimate “yoga body?” Here is 95-year old man, complete with sagging flesh, white hair, and wrinkled skin, who is still in good physical and mental health, and who is completely comfortable in his skin. In this case, I really do think the picture itself says it all.

Friday Q&A: Yoga for Swelling in the Legs (Edema)

Q: I teach a gentle/restorative class on Wednesday evenings and a couple of weeks ago I had a lady come to class who has edema only in her right leg. She had done yoga off and on and was interested in starting back up with yoga. She had limitations of course, but told me that she has had this edema for 4 years and after observing her in that first class, she knew her body well...in what she could do and not do.  Well... she came back for the second class (I am still amazed when they come back) and after class offered for me to feel how much heavier her right leg was than her left... just looking at the leg, it was 2x as big, maybe even a little bit bigger... SO... I lifted her left leg and then the right leg with the edema and I was AMAZED at how heavy that leg was... all that extra weight she was carrying around.  One of the poses I taught that evening was Viparita Karani and she told me it helped her leg.

SO... do you have any suggestions as to what yoga poses would be good for this situation or any other advice?

A: The first thing that jumps out at me is that she only has edema in one leg. Given the fact that she has had this condition for four years now, I’d have to assume she has seen her doctor and has undergone a thorough work-up to figure out the underlying problem causing such significant swelling. It would not be a bad idea, if you feel comfortable asking, to find out if there is a diagnosis, as it could impact how you would address the problem with yoga asana.

As some background, the Mayo Clinic website has this to say about leg swelling, or edema:

“Leg swelling can occur in any part of the legs, including the feet, ankles, calves or thighs. Leg swelling can result either from fluid buildup (fluid retention) or from inflammation in injured or diseased tissues or joints. 

“Many of the causes of leg swelling, such as prolonged standing or sitting or an injury, are relatively harmless in the long term, and your doctor often can easily identify the reason for the problem. Sometimes, however, leg swelling may be a sign of a more serious disorder, such as heart disease or a blood clot. It's important to seek prompt diagnosis and treatment when leg swelling occurs for no apparent reason or is accompanied by apparently unrelated symptoms, such as breathing difficulties or chest pain.”

The list of possible underlying causes is quite impressive and is likely to be a bit overwhelming to the layperson, but for those interested, this Mayo Clinic article on Leg Swelling has that list. The site gives a nice explanation for how the body deals with trying to maintain normal fluid balance in the body:

“Leg swelling caused by the buildup of fluids in leg tissues is known as peripheral edema. Several body systems help maintain the appropriate balance of fluids, including the circulatory system, the lymphatic system and the kidneys. A problem with any one of these systems may contribute to the buildup of fluids. Gravity can also contribute to the accumulation of fluids in your lower limbs, particularly with prolonged standing or sitting."

When there is swelling in only one limb, the causes of the swelling can be different than when both legs or all limbs are involved. In my experience, I have had quite a number of students with swelling in just one arm following surgical treatment for breast cancer. As part of the surgery, several lymph glands are removed from the armpit area, the axilla, to see if the cancer has spread beyond the breast. As a side effect, the normal return flow of lymph fluid from the fingers to the heart is disrupted and leads to chronic swelling on the affected side. There are other causes of one limb swelling, as outlined from the website Healthline.com:

“Some conditions that may cause swelling in just one leg include:

• Blood clots. Clots can cause pooling of fluid and may be accompanied by discoloration and pain. In some instances, clots may cause no pain.
• Weakened veins. Varicose veins, or veins whose walls or valves are weak, can allow blood to pool in the legs. This is a common condition.
• Infection and inflammation. Infection in leg tissues can cause inflammation and increased blood flow to the area. Inflammatory diseases, such as gout or arthritis, can also result in swelling.
• Lymphedema. Blocked lymph channels may be caused by infection, scar tissue, or hereditary conditions. Lymph that can't drain properly results in edema. Lymphedema may also occur after cancer treatments, when the lymph system is impaired by surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy.
• Tumor. Abnormal masses can compress blood vessels and lymph channels, affecting the rate of fluid movement.”

If your student has not yet sought a diagnosis, please encourage her to do so. As to how to address the swelling via yoga, you are already on the right track. Poses where the legs are above the level of the heart, such as Legs Up the Wall pose (Viparita Karani), use gravity to help move the extra fluid in the leg towards the heart. So 10 minutes in Viparita Karani regularly, say twice a day, could be quite helpful. In the book The Woman's Book of Yoga and Health: A Lifelong Guide to Wellness, Patricia Walden has a longer version of Viparita Karani, with variations in which you move your legs into some other positions, such as Upavista Konasana, besides straight up. This would be another good series to try, and your other students may enjoy it as well! Our modified Relaxation pose (Savasana), where the calves rest on the seat of a chair, would be an excellent substitute for flat Relaxation pose. If the prop under the pelvis is uncomfortable, this pose can be done without one. See Easy Inverted pose for more information.

The restorative version of Bridge Pose, where the shoulders and head are on the floor and the torso and legs are supported on two bolsters positioned lengthwise, will also assist in the return of fluid in the legs toward the heart. See All About Supported Inverted Poses for other ideas.

Active use of the leg muscles normally assists the return of blood and lymph fluid from the feet towards the pelvis, as the contraction and relaxation of the leg muscles helps to pump the fluids against gravity in their respective vessels, be they veins or lymph vessels. So some gentle movement practices would also be of potential benefit. Examples include our Dynamic Reclined Hip Stretches, dynamic standing poses such as Warrior 2 Mini Vinyasa, or a modified easy Sun or Moon Salutation. That should give you both a good start. Please let us know how things proceed!

—Baxter

Yoga for Heart Conditions

by Shari

One of the workshops I teach regularly with my colleague Bonnie Maeda is Yoga for Heart Conditions. Bonnie and I believe that yoga can be so effective for the management of heart disease because it is a holistic health approach that takes into account all of the varied systems of the body —in yoga, the body is part of a greater whole. Yoga is also accessible to all who want to practice, no matter what their physical ability may be. And yoga’s powerful stress management tools, including learning to slow down and breathe deeply, have many beneficial effects on heart health. Several scientific studies have now demonstrated conclusively that learning to breath deeply decreases blood pressure and slows down heart rate by stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system (Relaxation Response) and slowing down the sympathetic nervous system (Fight or Flight Response). And once you learn to become mindful of your breath and of how your body can feel when it is in a relaxed state as opposed to a hyper-arousal state, then conscious, healthy eating is a natural sequel of the yogic approach to health. Finally, learning to move your body (which nourishes all the musculoskeletal, respiratory, lymphatic, and circulatory systems) will help improve heart health.

Today I thought I might give you a little background about heart health, share with you some statistics that I find fascinating, and provide an overview of how yoga can help with heart conditions. To start, the cardiovascular system is made up of the heart, arteries, veins and capillaries, and a pulmonary circuit that transports blood to and from the lungs. The system functions to circulate blood throughout the body, bringing nutrients and oxygen to each and every cell as well as collecting waste products from cell metabolism for elimination by the lungs, skin, kidneys and intestines. The system also functions to deliver hormones and enzymes to specific tissues.

The heart is actually a muscular organ about the size of your fist. The outer layer of the heart muscle is called the myocardium. The heart has four chambers and four valves that function as one-way doors to keep the blood flowing in the proper direction. The heart has its own electrical system that triggers each heartbeat, a regular, coordinated cycle causing the chambers to relax and contract and pump blood through the entire body. There is also a separate artery system (coronary arteries) that runs through the myocardium ensuring that the heart itself receives oxygen and nutrients

Various cardiac conditions include;

• Hypertension: higher than “normal” blood pressure
• Hypotension: lower than “normal” blood pressure
• Atherosclerosis: accumulation of smooth muscle cells, lipids and connective tissue inside the inner most layer of the arterial vessels(plaque build up)
• Coronary artery disease: the three major coronary arteries may be blocked or damaged, and there is decreased blood delivery to the heart muscle
• Congestive heart failure: a clinical syndrome where the heart fails to propel blood forward normally, resulting in congestion in the pulmonary and or systemic circulation, and the diminished blood flow to the tissues causes reduced cardiac output
• Heart attack (myocardiac infarction): occlusion of the coronary arteries with death to the heart muscle cells.
• Dysrhythmias: faster than normal heart rate (tachycardia), slower than normal heart rate (bradycardia), irregular heart beat.

Here are some interesting statistics:

• Heart disease is the number 1 killer in the modern world and more women than men suffer heart attacks.
• Hypertension (high blood pressure) affects 1 in 6 people in the western world and 1/3 of them are unaware they have hypertension.
• Angina (heart pain) attacks most frequently occur between 10-11am.
• Most heart attacks occur on Mondays and more occur in the winter months.
• Emotional stress will most often precipitate heart attacks in women.
• Physical stress will most often precipitate heart attacks in men.
• Dissatisfaction with one’s life, loneliness and unhappy marriages (or relationships) can also increase cardiac risk factors.
• Inflammation, like gum gingivitis and rheumatoid arthritis, is a major factor in heart disease.
• Stress hormones will raise blood pressure and increase heart rate with increasing strain on the heart itself and increasing its need for oxygen.
• Stress will often cause coronary muscle spasms. It takes the body three hours to recover after an episode of intense anger.

So how does yoga fit in with the management of heart conditions? What stimuli do we want to encourage to soothe the nervous system, which in turn affects all the major organ systems in the body? In her post, The Relaxation Response and Yoga, Nina mentioned all the different ways we can use yoga to switch our nervous systems to Relaxation mode, including meditation, breath practices, restorative poses, Relaxation pose and yoga nidra. Deep, slow breathing, including ujjayi breathing and alternate nostril breathing, is found to be extremely effective in calming down our central nervous system. Please refer to Nina, Baxter, and Timothy’s excellent posts on the breath.

Additionally, yoga poses, including both partial and full inverted poses, that stimulate the baroreceptors naturally reduce blood pressure and show the heart rate. Please refer to all the posts that Nina, Baxter, and I have written about what baroreceptors are and how they may be modulated by positional changes of the body. Although there is some disagreement among various sources on which poses to avoid and which to include when trying to manage hypertension (essential idiopathic hypertension), the poses most frequently recommended for their calming benefits include:

Inversions

• Relaxation pose (Savasana) with legs on a chair
• Legs Up the Wall pose (Viparita Karani)
• Supported Bridge Pose (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana)
• Headstand (Sirsasana), if it is already part of your practice and is comfortable for you
• Shoulderstand (Sarvangasana) if it is already part of your practice and is comfortable for you

(See All About Supported Inverted Poses for more information)

Forward Bends

• Seated Forward Bend (Pascimottanasana)
• Head-Knee Forward Bend (Janu Sirsasana)
• Other forward bend variations

(See for Soothing Yourself with Forward Bends for more information.)

Now some of you may read this list and say, “ I can’t do any of those inversions” or “ I can’t do any of those forward bends.” But the key principle here is how might you modify these poses so you CAN safely do them when considering all the other medical conditions you might also have. For example, propping yourself higher in a seated forward bend, as shown below, can make the pose accessible (and safe) for you.

Everyone can sit on a chair and drape their bodies onto a table or desk for a supported forward bend. And even if you can’t do a classical inversion, everyone can modify Legs Up the Wall pose. It can easily and accessibly be done in bed if there is an available wall for you to put your legs up on or you practice Easy Inverted Pose, which is a bent knee version of Legs Up the Wall pose.

Again the intention is to practice safely and wisely and to try not to put up barriers to prevent yourself from practicing daily.

I’d like to let our San Francisco Bay Area readers know about an upcoming workshop on this topic that Bonnie Maeda, RN and I are doing on December 21, 2013 at Brentwood Yoga Studio in honor of the winter solstice! In this three-hour workshop we’ll be discussing general cardiac physiology and actions, and how the practice of yoga can be an adjunct to self care and health management.

Happy Solstice and be well.