The summer season is in full swing and it is a favorite time of year for many with the opportunity to kick back and relax and enjoy time with family and friends. It’s also a time of year when our regular routine can fall by the wayside and often as a result so do our small daily healthy habits. Evolv’s e84 Challenge is a perfect way to incorporate those small daily healthy habits even when on vacation or outside of your normal everyday routine.

I can’t help but comment on what was recently announced that the FDA has approved a new weight loss drug, it’s been 13 years since the last. The agency cleared the pill for adults who are obese or are overweight with at least one medical complication, such as diabetes or high cholesterol. They also stated that the drug should be used in combination with a healthy diet and exercise. It is also important to note that further safety testing is being done on this drug to determine whether the drug increased the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Other side effects listed for this drug include depression, migraine and memory lapses.

I agree whole heartedly with Dr. Mark Hyman’s comments around the obesity epidemic*, “There is a solution to our obesity epidemic. But it is not at the bottom of a pill bottle. It is at the end of our forks. It is simply more effective than any medication and works better, faster, and cheaper, not just as prevention, but also as treatment for what ails us in the 21st century. We can change our obesogenic environment through individual small choices we make every day, and by making changes in our homes, our families, our schools, our workplaces, our faith-based communities. We have the power to take back our health. Let's start today.”
*http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/qnexa_b_1303050.html

What we are doing with the e84 Challenge is so important. What inspires me most about Evolv and the e84 Challenge is that we are creating a movement around Helping Other People Evolv and with health statistics like ours it is beyond critical.

Anne Bodak Smith B.S., D.C.
Chief Science Officer
EvolvHealth, LLC

I had the opportunity to spend time with Dr. Lee Schwartz in Minneapolis at the end of June. 

Dr. Lee Schwartz is a Chiropractor from St. Paul, MN and owner of Active Solutions bring chiropractic care directly to your home, office or sports facility.  I have been an avid fitness geek since my teen years. Whether it's hitting the gym, biking, playing tennis, golfing, water skiing, snow skiing, running, playing basketball, walking, hiking... I love it all and do it all to this day.  He is an avid reader who loves to keep learning and growing. Whether it's about fitness, health, nutrition, the body, the mind, business, self improvement, communication, finance.  He truly lives what he preaches .   He has been a licensed chiropractor since January 1999, and has been writing “Dr. Lee's Health Development Tip of the Week”  since that time.  His passion is to help you be more active and live a greater quality of life!  We are thrilled to have Dr. Schwartz as a part of the Evolv Health Experts Corner and we look forward to sharing his health tips with you!

Here is a great article he wrote on the Skinny on Fat:

The Skinny on Fat

Let’s take a look at fat, its resume, the different types, and whether fat is good or bad.

First, for more than 30 years we’ve all heard or been told to avoid fat, fat makes you fat, fat causes disease, reduce fat or beware…on the surface this makes sense right? Picture yourself sitting there enjoying your New York Strip,  you look at the fat on the steak and then you squeeze those couple of extra inches around your waist and think to yourself, “If I eat that it’s just going to go right to my belly.” Well that is not exactly what happens. Simply eating fat does not make you fat. In fact, eating fat has little to no effect on the stimulation of your metabolic hormones that dictate fat burning or fat storage.

You may be saying, “OK, doc, where are you going with this?”

The key lies in the metabolic hormonal state you are in as to whether the fat you are consuming will be used for energy or stored away as those “extra inches” as reserve fuel. If you are in a sugar burning state, then your body will be using and looking for sugar to burn and shuttle the fat away and stored. If you are in a fat burning state, then your body will burn the fat as fuel and store less.

It should go without saying that if excess fat is consumed, then it will be stored whether you are in a sugar or fat burning state. Yet what typically happens is if you are in a fat burning state, you may be eating less fat overall due to less cravings which will lead to more efficient use of the consumed fat leaving less to be stored.

What does fat’s resume look like?

• Efficient energy source, provides 2 ¼ times more energy than carbohydrate on a gram to gram basis (they are 9 calories and 4 calories respectively)
• Important in brain development, nerve system repair/development/function, immune system
• Key in cell communication/function being an integral piece of the cell membrane
• Helps absorption of fat-soluble vitamins A,D, E, K
• Required to make hormones (there are those hormones again!)
• Many more…

Rather impressive isn’t it?

The truth is, without the consumption of the right kinds of fats in the right amounts, the body breaks down and we lose health. Low to no fat diets will not help you, they will actually hurt you.

Let’s look at good, neutral, and bad fats and sources of each:

Good - monounsaturated oils (olive oil, canola oil) and omega 3 oils (ALA, EPA, DHA), sources here include wild salmon and krill oil (excellent sources), cold water fish (smaller the better), avocado, grass-fed grass-finished beef (excellent source), pumpkin seeds, walnuts, wild game, dark leafy green vegetables

Neutral (depends on your hormonal state) - saturated fats, sources include beef (no hormone, no antibiotic, preferably at least grass fed), cheese, eggs, and butter (these last three no hormones/antibiotics used)

Bad - you want to do anything and everything to minimize and/or eliminate these from your intake and your family’s intake, they include all *trans fats and hydrogenated fats, i.e. solid margarine, most processed carbohydrate/fat-containing foods, breakfast cereals, potato chips

*special note: trans fats are literally one step away from being a plastic, when consumed these fats are incorporated into your cell membranes making the cell membrane less flexible and decreasing the function of the cell. NOT GOOD!!

These statements have not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.  EvolvHealth products are not intended to treat, cure, diagnos, or prevent disease.