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Positive Mindset

Posted on by Gerald J

I Think Therefore I Am

Positive thinking means that you approach unpleasantness in a more positive, productive and motivated way. Being positive means the best is going to happen, not the worst.

Positive thinking often starts with self-talk and imagery of something positive, in my case, its looking at pictures of my beautiful parents. Self-talk is the endless stream of unspoken thoughts that run through your head that says, I can, and I will improve my lifestyle –

Wellness Academy Pathways:

Diet – Physical Activity – Restorative Sleep – Positive Mindset

Evolution of Fruits

Posted on by Gerald J

There is some evidence that some of the fruits we enjoy eating today have been around for tens of thousands of years, in much the same form. For example, archaeologists have uncovered evidence of 780,000-year-old figs at a site in Northern Israel, as well as olives, plums, and pears from the paleolithic era.

But most likely, if someone handed you a fruit from 10,000 years ago, you might be surprised how small and sour the fruit you were tasting was, it would hardly resemble the plump, juicy fruit we enjoy today.

Bananas are believed to have originated up to 10,000 years ago and some scientists believe they may have been one of the world’s first fruit mankind began to manipulate and use for human nutrition. The first bananas are thought to have grown in the region that includes the Malaya Peninsula, Indonesia, the Philippines, and New Guinea.

In Kazakhstan from 30,000 years ago; figs, olives, plums, and pears, many of the fruits of the Paleolithic era were similar in form, but much small and not as sweet to the ones we eat today.

Less than 10% of most Western populations consume adequate levels of whole fruits and dietary fiber. Evidence of the beneficial health effects of consuming adequate levels of whole fruits has been steadily growing, especially regarding their bioactive fiber prebiotic effects, high antioxidant and mineral content which can help improve weight, blood pressure, heart & cognitive health and slow down the aging process.

Nature Got It Right

Grounding & Earthing

Posted on by Gerald J

Grounding or Earthing is a wellness practice which involves connecting with the earth by being in nature, walking barefoot on natural surfaces like grass, sand, or dirt, and even breathing in the air from forests, and the ocean. The idea is that this connection with the earth can help to reduce inflammation and promote healing.

Multi-disciplinary research has revealed that electrically conductive contact of the human body with the surface of the Earth (grounding or earthing) produces intriguing effects on physiology and health.

Scientific research over more than a decade indicates that your body can be protected and helped when you electrically reconnect to the Earth. That is, when you are grounded. Here are three examples of potential benefits that have been reported:

1). Decreased levels of inflammation and pain, 2). At the ocean, breathing in fresh air encourages respiratory health and can reduce the symptoms of asthma, promote respiratory health, improve allergies, and skin problems, and stimulate the immune system, and 3). research has just started looking at benefits of grounding daily on improve mood, depression, and the development of a positive mindset.

Nature Got It Right

Miami Wellness Academy
Miami HealthCoach

Biologically Younger’ People Who Defy Their Real Age Often Have 5 Things In Common

Posted on by healthcoach

Dan Buettner, the man who popularized the idea that there are five “Blue Zones” around the world where people live some of the longest, healthiest, happiest lives, says people living in those zones all share five common traits.

“It is this interconnected web of characteristics that keep people doing the right things for long enough, and avoiding the wrong things,” Buettner said.

Blue Zone residents, whether they’re home in Loma Linda, California; Ikaria, Greece; Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; or Nicoya, Costa Rica, all eat very little meat. Instead, they subsist on a largely plant-based diet filled with beans, nuts, and cruciferous vegetables, which Buettner has written about in a new cookbook.

But that diet, which bears some resemblances to a Mediterranean diet (named the best diet for 2020 by US News and World Report) is only about 50% of the Blue Zones longevity equation.

“It’s the scaffolding, this collagen,” Buettner told Insider. “That keeps people eating the right way for long enough.”

Here are the other four core principles that sustain life in the Blue Zones.

Move regularly, about every 20 minutes – Going to the gym is not a Blue Zones tradition.

“They don’t exercise,” Buettner said. Instead, people in Blue Zones are “nudged” into movement in little bursts throughout the day, by force of habit and, also, necessity.

“They’re walking, or they’re in their garden, or they’re doing things by hand,” he said.

In Buettner’s home state of Minnesota, he credits shoveling the walks in winter, digging, weeding, and watering a garden in the summer with keeping him spry.

“I don’t have a garage-door opener — I open it by hand,” he said. “To the extent that I can, I use hand-operated tools.”

He’s turned the inside of his house into a little mini Blue Zone, too, where he’s getting up and moving all year round.

“I put the TV room on the third floor,” Buettner told me, “So every time if I want a snack, I’d go up and down stairs.”

The technique is one he’s honed by studying life in the Blue Zones.

“It’s being mindful of how to engineer little bursts of physical activity,” he said.

Research has shown that such little energetic busts throughout the day can do a lot for overall fitness. One study published last January showed that even 20-second, vigorous stair-climbing exercise “snacks” spread out over the course of a day could improve fitness.

“It’s a reminder to people that small bouts of activity can be effective,” the lead study author Martin Gibala told Insider when his team’s research came out. “They add up over time.”

In Japan they call it “ikigai,” and in Costa Rica it’s a “plan de vida.” The words literally translate to “reason to live,” and “life plan,” respectively, and both concepts help residents of the Blue Zones feel there’s a reason to get up and do what needs to get done each morning.

Studies also suggest that a sense of purpose in life is associated with fewer strokes and less frequent heart attacks among people with
heart disease
, as well as more use of preventive care.

One 2017 investigation from researchers at Harvard concluded that a sense of purpose in life is associated with better “physical function among older adults,” including better grip strength and faster walking.

Good health and happiness can be contagious, and obesity can too.

In Japan’s Blue Zone, people form social groups called “moai” to help them get through life.

“Parents cluster their children in groups of five, and send them through life together,” as Buettner explained in a recent video. “They support each other, and share life’s fortunes and woes.”

The trend is not unique to the Japanese. In Loma Linda, California, Blue Zoners (many of whom are Seventh-day Adventists) are more likely to share vegetarian potluck meals than meet one another over a Chipotle burrito or McDonald’s fries.

Buettner has created Blue Zones “Projects” across the US, where cities and towns enact policies that change the entire environment people live in.

“We’re genetically hardwired to crave sugar, crave fat, crave salt, take rest whenever we can,” Buettner said. “We’ve just engineered this environment where you don’t have to move. You’re constantly cooled down or heated up … and you cannot escape chips and sodas and pizzas and burgers and fries.”

In cities from Minnesota to Texas, he’s helped create healthier communities where policies favor fruits and vegetables over junk food, people form walking groups to move around town and shed pounds together, and many quit smoking, too.

All of this, he said, adds up to troupes of “biologically younger” people, who not only weigh less but suffer fewer health issues as they age.

The Mind Body Relationship, Is A Two Way Street: Mind To Body, And Body to Mind – HealthCoach

Posted on by healthcoach

HealthCoach “Mens sana in corpore sano” (i.e., “A sound mind in a healthy body”) is possibly one of the phrases in human history with the widest range in meanings. Originally this phrase comes from Satire X of the Roman poet Juvenal (~60–127 AD). Juvenal’s intention with this phrase was rather to teach his fellow Roman citizens the

Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT–Lancet Commission on Healthy Diets from Sustainable Food Systems

Posted on by healthcoach

People in almost every region of the world could benefit from rebalancing their diets to eat optimal amounts of various foods and nutrients, according to the Global Burden of Disease study tracking trends in consumption of 15 dietary factors from 1990 to 2017 in 195 countries, published in The Lancet. The study estimates that one

THE STAGGERING COSTS OF DIABETES – HEALTHCOACH

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The American Diabetes Association (Association) released new research on March 22, 2018 estimating the total costs of diagnosed diabetes have risen to $327 billion in 2017 from $245 billion in 2012, when the cost was last examined. This figure represents a 26% increase over a five-year period. The study, Economic Costs of Diabetes in the

WEARABLES AND GLUCOSE MONITORING – HEALTHCOACH

Posted on by healthcoach

More than 29 million people in the US have diabetes, a staggering one in four don’t know they suffer from it and K6 children are developing prediabetes at alarming rates.

For those who do, how you regularly track glucose data depends on the type of diabetes one has and the treatment required. Monitoring is commonly done by taking a drop of blood with a pinprick, but a lot of people track continuously with wearables that measure blood sugar at intervals and relay that information to a smartphone or other device. (HealthCoach)

The first option is unpleasant and often inconvenient; the second is costly, and still invasive – but there is hope for diabetics to live more comfortable lives in the future with continuous glucose monitoring.

Non-invasive testing, where the skin isn’t penetrated at all, is the key to glucose monitoring.

Dexcom is one of the biggest names in continuous glucose monitoring with devices used by 200,000 people worldwide. Dexcom’s wearable tracker is made of two parts: a disposable needle that goes just under the skin to monitor interstitial fluid; and a patch that sits on top, housing the electronics that measure the sensor and transmit them to a Bluetooth device.

Most continuous trackers on the market read from this interstitial fluid, as blood glucose diffuses very quickly into it, making it highly indicative of exact levels at any given time. The latest Dexcom device, the G6 is slightly different then the G5.

The G5 and G6 is worn on the upper abdomen and Dexcom boasts that it’s the only one on the market that lets people make treatment decisions from the information. Dexcom states that readings from the device can determine if people should eat carbohydrates or take their insulin which is very unique because competitive devices don’t have that same level of performance.

The G5 is primarily used for patients with Type 1 diabetes, or who intensively manage their diabetes with insulin, but that Dexcom G5 and new G6 is also starting to see some usage by Type 2 sufferers and can be used by a HealthCoach – Gerald J. Joseph

  • 442 million people worldwide have diabetes
  • Sufferers of type 1 diabetes have a lack of insulin production, while in type 2 the body gradually becomes resistant to the insulin it can make
  • According to WHO data, diabetes was the sixth leading cause of death globally in 2015,

Overall- the new G6 improves on many fronts over G5, particularly the outstanding new one-button sensor inserter (applicator), strong accuracy without any finger-stick calibrations (maintaining a short two-hour warmup period), an extension to 10-day wear, a slimmer on-body Bluetooth transmitter, and clearance for use with other diabetes devices under an exciting new FDA pathway.

Compared to the G5, which had 7-day sensor wear, the G6 is expected to be more economical due to the longer 10-day wear

HealthCoach will be using the G6 to gather biometric data (blood sugar) in addition (steps, hydration, sleep, BMI, weight) Gerald J. Joseph says – a continuous tracker like the Dexcom G6 will be able to get better analytics to support people to make chronic disease management decisions in real-time – without the inconvenience of daily blood pricks and to communicate with the doctor – nurse – HealthCoach – “data” in a collaborative process in making lifestyle changes.

Dexcom’s G5 and G6 is currently only FDA approved for abdominal use, but soon smart watches may one day perform the same task?

Continuous Glucose Monitors

Like other CGMs – future watches will penetrate the skin to the interstitial space, but with an interchangeable module which will need to be changed once a month, that sits on the back of the watch and pushes the biochemical sensors under the skin. The accuracy rate is at +/- 8%, however it is yet to get the clearance from health regulators to put it in the hands of consumers.

HealthCoach – People with diabetes incur medical costs about 2.3 times higher than those who don’t suffer from the disease.

Non-Invasive Methods – HealthCoach 

Sweat contains a small amount of glucose which is derived from blood and interstitial fluid -researchers believe thatsweat glands which are distributed throughout the body could reflect dynamic physiological conditions of body which can help in real time a “HealthCoach” champion lifestyle changes “Gerald J. Joseph” says.

Because the correlation of glucose in sweat is much lower than that in the blood, sensitive sensors must become more accurate to match the accuracy of a direct reading of interstitial fluid or blood.

The correlation between sweat and blood glucose also needs to be studied more thoroughly

As for what the future holds – wearable glucose tracking is coming! For Diabetics, there are other factors to consider than just keeping an eye on their blood.

They are at risk for neuropath – open wounds damaging nerves and more prone to foot injuries that don’t heal easily. Early detection is essential and I foresee in the future socks helping the doctor – healthcoach detect increased blood sugar levels.

Our bodies respond to injury with inflammation, which causes heat; socks in the future will alert the wearer with a notification on their smartphone (HealthCoach) when they detect rising temperature in specific areas of the foot.

For proper diabetic foot care, I recommend wearing fresh cotton white socks and replace socks every month to avoid thinning especially with patients who have lost a toe or have had multiple ulcers – in addition to consuming my HealthCoach diet.

Detecting SUGAR

Detecting a massive intake of sugar levels in real time can help you see what sugary foods do to your body in real time – maybe you’ll be less likely to reach for a soda, or even a donut or cookie and just maybe the next time you may choose a delicious whole fruit snack.

More specifically non-invasive continuous glucose monitoring can essentially track your glucose levels just like wearables track your heart rate now. You’d have a daily, minute-by-minute break down throughout your day and no when you’ve been naughty.

You, your doctor and or your HealthCoach could then better and more instantly tweak your diet. And since diet is half of maintaining a healthy lifestyle, it could completely change people’s lives.

There are different levels of glucose monitoring.

Non-invasive continuous glucose monitoring would more likely impact everybody, largely because you’d get that near-instant feedback loop between what you eat and how your glucose is affected.

The level below that is just non-invasive glucose monitoring – this would allow something like a fitness tracker to track your glucose, but not all the time – perhaps at hourly intervals. It would be nice, but it’s not as game-changing as continuous glucose monitoring.

Let’s also not forget that there are around 100 million Americans living with diabetes. Non-invasive glucose monitoring would be a major quality-of-life upgrade, saving them a prick on the finger.

It’s one thing to be able to do non-invasive continuous glucose monitoring, it’s another thing to be able to do it so well it can help advise on insulin dosage for those with diabetes.

Let’s Look Deeper – The Science 

The problem is really about the laws of physics – you simple can not draw that much data from things like interstitial fluid at this time – More on this and how the Gerald J. Joseph – HealthCoach Prevention Program (HCPP) affects blood sugar (HbA1c)- in part II.

It does look like Continuous Non-Invasive Glucose Monitoring seems to actually be working and finally doctors and patients are going see how a can of Coke, grains and or processed foods affects blood sugar.

HEALTHCOACH 2020

THE NEXT WAVE OF FITNESS WEARABLES WILL SEND DATA DIRECTLY TO DOCTORS – HEALTHCOACH

Posted on by healthcoach

HealthCoach 2019

You’re committed to becoming more active and healthy. So you join a gym, find a workout buddy, or hire a personal trainer. And like more and more of us, you might also buy a fitness tracker—a wearable wireless device with built-in sensors that measure your physical activity. According to a Gartner study, 68.1 million wearable fitness trackers are expected to sell in 2015, and 91.3 million in 2016.

The North America Fitness Tracker Market is expected to witness market growth 17.2% CAGAR during the forecast period (2017 – 2023).

HealthCoach Data Trackers 

These mostly wrist-worn devices can tell you far more about your physical activity than the humble pedometer ever could. Current trackers—both dedicated devices and smartwatches with sensors—can measure your heart rate, distance traveled, speed, altitude, calories consumed, and even your sleep patterns the night before. As they evolve, and new kinds of sensors are built in, they can do what some targeted, wearable medical devices (such as blood glucose meters and cardiac monitors) can already do: Things like checking your breathing rate, stress level, and different types of brain activity.

But does the average user know what to do with—or even want—all this information? Does the average person really want to become the quantified self, continually measuring, examining, and evaluating their own physical data? Perhaps not: A study by tech consultants Endeavour Partners found more than half of US consumers who have owned an activity tracker no longer use it.

The Science

Dr. Steven Steinhubl, director of digital medicine and cardiologist at Scripps Translational Science Institute, has an idea of why this might be.

“For all of these devices, there has to be this back-end that gives you the useful kind of information that they want from that device,” he said. “There’s that rare ‘quantified self’ who really wants to look at all of the data in a new way and understand. But there’s going to be a much larger percentage of individuals who, the more their activity tracker bothers them, the less they’re going to want to wear it. We have to be able to provide those people with actionable, useful information, only when they need that information, and not just arbitrarily.”

Therein lies the challenge. Developers are taking it on, working on products that translate physical data into personalized feedback that can help users become more active. In addition to popular existing apps like My Fitness Pal, new kinds of personal analytics apps are cropping up. Lark, for example, tracks workouts via smartphone sensors, acting as a personal coach and cheerleader users can “chat” with. The app analyzes a user’s daily activities, suggests workouts based on those activities, and sends encouraging texts—say, a compliment on your choice of a salad for lunch.

Fitbit

Another web app, Exist, examines data from services a person already uses—Fitbit, iCal, Twitter, and Spotify, for example—and analyzes his or her habits across the different services. The app gets smarter and more personal over time, using data from the last 90 days to suggest new fitness goals.

These technologies that can collect and leverage someone’s physical information could lead to better overall health. Leading the way is Qualcomm Life’s 2net platform, a cloud-based system that captures, transmits, and aggregates biometric data from medical devices and sensors, so health care providers, family caregivers, and patients have access to the data. The 2net hub and 2net mobile products collect biometric data via short-range radios, then encrypt it and send it to the cloud-based 2net platform via cellular technology.

Data

Data sent to the 2net platform can be also synced with Qualcomm Life’s HealthyCircles Care coordination platform, an enterprise software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution that provides a secure communications and record-sharing infrastructure for care-team coordination. Through smart algorithms and exception-based management protocols within the HealthyCircles platform, a heart-failure patient’s blood pressure measurements could trigger an alert for a nurse case manager or doctor to check in on the patient, for example. And patients and family caregivers can monitor and manage the patient’s health status from home.

Developments like 2net and HealthyCircles are only the beginning of the quantified-self movement and health care. Connected health services will evolve with the data-collecting wearables that drive them. In-ear “earables” will measure body temperature and blood pressure very accurately. Wearables may even be invisible one day, replaced by hidden technology such as MC10’s tiny, see-through stickers—equipped with a battery and sensor—that sit on the skin.

As wearables are integrated into these health and fitness channels, health care professionals will look to the data collected on an everyday basis, rather than a yearly physical exam, ultimately shifting from an encounter-based health care to continuous care. Doctors will be more involved in a patient’s recovery and overall well-being. And an individual’s TMI data will become truly useful. It’s a paradigm shift in healthcare that will leave everyone feeling good.

HealthCoach –  The HealthCoach Prevention Program (HCPP) uses data from anthropological studies of modern day hunter-gatherer populations, Blue Zone regions around the world with high concentration of centenarians, and clinical studies to develop wellness protocols that can prevent and potentially reverse chronic disease syndromes and cognitive loss disorders.

HealthCoach Prevention Program (HCPP) Coming 2020

Gerald J. Joseph International, LLC – Thank you Qualcomm for the great insights.