Dr. Dennis Godby

WellWire: What was your inspiration for The Run?

Dr. Godby: My inspiration really began back in the 70’s and early 80’s where I was moved by accomplishments of activists like Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, in that one individual can really make a difference in stirring up a movement. Teaching social justice to about 1,000 students in a private school in the 90s, and my patients all deepened and inspired a greater commitment ! For me, it’s important to feel that I’ve contributed to the common good of this nation and planet. I feel this in my mind, in my heart and spirit, and it runs though my blood. I believe we can make a difference. My son, Isaiah had told me that when he was old enough he wanted to run across America and I made a commitment with him to do it, and now my other son Jeremiah has been inspired as has my nephew Jonas! I want to spread the word on natural medicine solutions and fairly simple lifestyle solution. These are drastic times and call for drastic measures, the steadily declining health of the American People is a national emergency.

WellWire: How long did it take you to train for this event? What’s your training schedule?

Dr. Godby: I started training around November of 2009, so about 20 months and I started by simply running one extra mile every single week.  What I discovered a few months ago was a training technique to dramatically reduce post-recovery time (which is especially important for an old guy like me). For every mile and a half I run, I walk for one minute. So in a 20 mile run, I would talk for 9 minutes.  Remember, it’s not about speed or records, it’s about determination and making it through.  I had a couple of setbacks with a hamstring injury which took 4 months to recover from and I wasn’t able to run in the California International Marathon. My younger son actually took my place, and I think that’s what inspired him to join us on The Run.

WellWire: Do you have any training tips for people looking to get in shape?

Dr. Godby: Always remember, not too far, not too fast, not too soon. I see the violation of this principle every day with friends, family and generally anyone who exercises. Realize that in the U.S. we have a ‘hurry up’ mentality and the body doesn’t work like that. Take time to build up and basically use common sense. Drink lots of water! I’ve been adding Ribose, by Researched Nutritionals along with electrolyes to all the water I drink. Remember that it’s more of a joint and ligament limitation as a pose to a cardiovascular limitation at the beginning. Give your body time to adapt, remember the basics. I’ve been taking a multivitamin by Douglas Labs, BCAA’s (branch chain amino acids by Pure Encapsulations), several adrenal products to supplement my training, and Nordic Naturals fish oil.

WellWire: How can people get involved with The Run?

Dr. Godby: We have an itinerary and a list of events you can attend. I’m taking support in the form of donations, a penny a mile. Sign up for a leg and run with me!  This is a movement and we need to get moving! Please go to TheRun.org and learn more about it, tell your friends, patients, through email newsletters, do what you can, where you can to spread the word. If you want a healthier America and more options in health care, we have to work for it.

Photo by Ed Yourdon.

If you asked me to name the biggest challenge to living a healthy and balanced life I’d say it’s exercising regularly. At least, I would have said that before. I’ve just realized that when I get motivated, I can do anything!

Of course, motivation is different for everyone. My friend started working out regularly when she realized that she wanted to check off “bikini competition” from her bucket list! Another friend of mine hired a trainer when she almost ran out of breath hiking in a beginner’s trail one weekend. For me, running and intense yoga always leave me feeling energetic and healthy. It makes me feel so good, I call it my emotional upper! That’s my motivation.

The psychology of exercise is universal and you can always find a motivating factor. In the February 2006 issue of the IDEA Fitness Journal, they listed a few:

• Improve health. For lots of people, simply being healthy is enough reason to get up, be active and stay active–not to lose weight or look good but to maintain overall health.

• Competition. According to the article, men are most motivated when there is competition involved. Guys, you should try activities that involve challenging other people, or even just yourself and your personal limits. Marathons, martial arts, rock climbing, or boxing are just a few. Hire a trainer if you can, or work out with someone who pushes you to go the extra mile.

• Flexibility. Women, listen up: most of female participants in the survey said that they are most motivated doing exercises that involve balance and flexibility. Obviously, yoga was a favorite. Yoga satisfies because it targets everything that needs attention: body, mind and spirit. And ladies, you know how great we are at multi-tasking!

• The social factor. The support coming from family, friends and mentors is very valuable. Human beings are first and foremost social beings. They function well with other people around and they function best with moral support.

Keep in mind that just 10 minutes of moderate to intense physical activity elevates one’s energy levels, and 30 minutes elevates happiness so to achieve long term motivating effects, take short but high intensity work outs. Also, those who squeeze in walking 5 to 7 times a week with moderate intensity are more likely to stick with their current exercise programs (and I’m a big believer in walking).

Have you found your motivation? Then let’s get physical!

Karla Mercado lives in New Mexico and is the author of Balancing Tenderfoot. She is passionate about human medicine, nutrition, and writing.

Photo by author.

That’s my dog, Cooper. They say that beagles are below average in overall canine smartness but this beagle is pretty smart–he takes me out for a walk each morning!

Studies show that dog owners are physically healthier than the average person (Source: bbc.co.uk). Most dog owners are regular walkies, which means that they get more physical activity than non-dog owners.

Regular walkies get almost twice the amount of daily exercise as those who just choose to stay at home. That’s about 300 minutes of physical activity per week! Walking Cooper for at least 45 minutes a day has significantly increased my energy level. I honestly don’t even remember the last time I felt physically exhausted.

It’s not just about having a dog, of course. Most pets help reduce mental and emotional stress, which are common risk factors of illness. Health psychologist Dr. June McNicholas says, “In some cases, the social support offered by an animal is greater than the support any human could offer.”

Owning a pet gives you the opportunity to meet other pet owners to increase your social network. There are tons of annual pet-related events that I’m sure you can find in your own neighborhood. Ever since I adopted Cooper, I had gotten to know my neighbors and now make small chat every chance we get. I have also met some people from the dog park who go to my school, and I didn’t even know that until Cooper started playing with their pets!

In other words, animal companionship can often lead to human companionship, which is a great way to enhance psychological health.

I’m not the only WellWire author whose life is enriched by their pets. In this picture to the right, Dr. Igor hikes with his dogs on the Oregon trails (check out more “Day In The Life” photos of WellWire authors on our Facebook page).

Do you own a pet? Let your pet enrich your life by simply taking you out for a walk.

Karla Mercado lives in New Mexico and is the author of Balancing Tenderfoot. She is passionate about human medicine, nutrition, and writing.

Photo by burningquestion.

If you’ve got a case of seasonal allergies, the last thing you probably want to do is explore nature and workout outside. But it’s beautiful outside! So join Dr. Kassam and learn how to alleviate those symptoms and make exercising with allergies a less agonizing experience.

Dr. Natasha Kassam is dedicated to facilitating the healing and wellbeing of her patients. Her passion is cardiovasular and pulmonary medicine. She practices at Bloom Natural Healthcare in NE Portland Oregon and is the host of askdrkassam.com.

Photo by Gamma Ray Productions.

Manage your insulin, manage your fat. That’s my article. I hope you enjoyed it, thank you for reading! What? You want more? I’m a big fan of the K.I.S.S principle (Keep It Simple Stupid) but Okay, I’ll elaborate a little.

While being overweight or obese can have several main contributing factors, studies as well as a sound understanding of modern physiology show that metabolic dysfunction, not character weakness, is the main cause of an individual’s inability to lose weight.

Maybe you’ve been told to just eat less and exercise more. Well, for any of you who’ve struggled with weight, let me ask you this, how’d that work out for ya? The surprising answer to this question is very often, “not very well.” In fact, the frequency of that answer is one of the anecdotal pieces of evidence that debunks the ‘calories in vs. calories out’ theory. And I’d never, with the patients I meet, suggest that there was a lack of willpower.

Instead I point to metabolic and endocrine dysfunction, which is at the root of most any challenging situation involving being overweight or obese. “Wait,” you say, “maybe it’s genetic!” Valid statement. But how do you explain the obesity rate, as a percentage of the population, tripling within the last 40 years? Did the genes decide to have a coming out party?

One needs only to look briefly into the science of epigenetics to abandon the old dogma of the predestined fate of genes theory and adopt the fact that our environment and lifestyle choices affect how or if those genes express themselves. So if it’s not willpower and it’s not genes, what is the key to losing, maintaining and managing weight?

Insulin production is fueled by carbohydrate consumption, which controls how fat your fat cells are. The body will go into a fat storage mode when sugar (from dietary metabolized carbohydrates) is available as fuel.

Here are some fat physiology facts that you should know:

• The primary regulator of excess fat is a compound called glycerol-3-phosphate. It’s a by-product of metabolized glucose, which is increased when carbohydrates are consumed.
• Inside a fat cell you can have triglycerides as well as fatty acids. Triglycerides are basically three of those fatty acids (hence the prefix ‘tri’) held together by the glycerol-3 phosphate molecule. With me so far?
• Of those two, the fatty acids are smaller and move in and out of the cell and into the blood for use as fuel, so that other cells, organs and tissues can function.

Therefore, since glycerol-3-phosphate is a by-product of dietary carbohydrates, the more carbs that are consumed, the more glycerol-3 phosphate is made available. As a result, more fat in the form of triglycerides are produced, which make fat cells fatter!

So, how do you stop this? If you decrease the amounts of carbs that you consume, you will cause less insulin to circulate and blood sugar levels will be lowered. This will reduce the amount of glucose (and glycerol-3-phosphate) that enters the fat cells, which will eventually make them fatter.

So again, by consuming less carbs, there will eventually be less glucose in the fat cells, and therefore less glycerol-3-phosphate. So triglycerides are not as easily accumulated and stored (which leads to fat fat cells).

Triglycerides that are available will be more readily broken down into fatty acids, which the body can use (read: burn) for energy! Did you know that people who are on low-carb diets can lose weight even though they may consume far more calories than someone on a low-fat diet? Am I saying that a low-carb diet is more effective than a low-fat diet in losing weight? Yes, and so is the New England Journal of Medicine.

In a two-year study of three diets; Low-Carbohydrate, Mediterranean, and a Low-Fat Diet, the people on the low-carb diet lost the most weight. But what surprised many was that blood markers like HDL, triglycerides, liver enzymes and C-reactive protein improved in the low-carb group- all for the better.

What’s more, LDL levels were also comparably improved in the low-carb diet, even though amounts of total calories, protein, and fat were not limited. Isn’t that the holy grail of weight loss, not to deprive yourself of healthy foods and still lose and manage your weight?

Would you rather spend your time counting calories or eating reasonable amounts of fresh, healthy, nutrient dense foods like grass-fed beef, free-range poultry and wild fish and game? Or healthy fats like avocados, olives, nuts and seeds, extra virgin olive and coconut oil, fresh organic, in-season, non-starchy vegetables and low-glycemic load, nutrient packed fruits, like blueberries?

What you won’t be shown in the above referenced study is that invariably, the group that was put on the calorie restricted, low-fat diet will, in most every circumstance, put the weight back on once they ‘fall-off’ of the caloric restriction. And they will, invariably, in most every circumstance, put it on much faster than they took it off.

And now you know the secret to effective weight loss: manage your insulin.

Dr Ron Spallone.

Dr. Ron Spallone, D.C. practices complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), in Lakewood, Colorado. He is the CIO for Core Health Innovations and writes a natural health blog.

Photo by Jenah Crump Photography.

Bounce Your Way to Health.

Our bodies are 60-80% water.  Learn how this impacts the lymphatic system.  Dr. Igor explains how to maintain the optimum functioning of fluids in the body through the use of rhythmic bouncing exercise.  Achieve 15-20x the efficiency of regular exercise through using a trampoline.

Dr. Igor Schwartzman practices naturopathic medicine with a strong emphasis in women's health, hormone imbalances, and thyroid disorders at Whole Family Wellness Center in Portland, Oregon. He is a co-founder of WellWire.com.