#antiinflammatoryprotocol | Candice C Fitness

Best Supplements for Decreasing Inflammation

by Candice Scott | Apr 6, 2020 | Health, Nutrition

Inflammation we know stems from stress in some way shape or form to our body. Whether it is internal or external, physical, or mental, stress causes us to be inflamed. We want to find ways to offset it, to help us relax. Although I would always want to go a food first route we cannot guarantee anymore that what we are consuming is 1- without ANY sort of pesticide, chemical, toxin, additive and 2- that we are absorbing it internally as we should.

It would definitely be nice to just be able to eat some foods and absorb all the nutrients we need and get rid of all the stuff we don’t… however our bodies tend to not function that way anymore. After being exposed to numerous toxins and other harmful substances over the years our guts get imbalanced, our livers get backed up and we have things leaking into our immune systems. Not to mention so many of our foods are covered with crap we don’t need to ingest and are bodies do not know what to do with.

That is why supplementing is the next best alternative to help us get to equilibrium and rid ourselves of as much inflammatory substances and triggers as possible. I have come up with the best supplements in my opinion to fight this and included links to my favorites. I do have to say as a disclaimer though, ALWAYS consult a healthcare practitioner prior to starting ANY supplementation guide. These are strictly recommendations I am not prescribing anything :).

Important nutrients we need to fight inflammation :

Omega 3s – Specifically EPA and DHA. Aim to look for a 2:1 ratio of EPA to DHA on labels. DHA has been shown to reduce inflammatory markers in relation to gut health and EPA has been shown to help reduce inflammation in the blood and nervous system.
Ginger – can potentially help with reducing inflammation in the digestive tract – like colitis and help with indigestion
Spirulina – antioxidant found in algae – Helps reduce inflammation and increase immune function
ALA– Works for metabolism and energy production but also helps reduce inflammation through its antioxidant properties and helping protect cells and restore levels of certain vitamins
Curcumin – found in turmeric can help reduce inflammation and inflammatory markers it is absorbed best when taken with black pepper.

Certain Antioxidants
Vitamin A– helps fight free radicals (beta carotene converts it in our bodies)
Vitamin B6 – one that we don’t hear of as much, but low levels of this tend to correspond with high levels of c reactive proteins which show inflammation in the body
Folate – another form of a b vitamin (folic acid) that has been shown to reduce inflammatory markers
Vitamin C – improves immune function
Vitamin D- connected to inflammatory conditions and when it is low and helps with weight loss when combined with Calcium
Vitamin K- helps reduce inflammatory markers
Vitamin E- reduces inflammation
CoQ10 – reduces inflammation
Magnesium – reduces inflammation by decreasing stress, when we are low in magnesium we tend to be high stressed.
Glutathione- reduces free radical markers

So where should you start?

I wouldn’t recommend just going all in with everything to start. Not to mention with so many options out there it can be hard to find the best ones – if I had to start with just 5 I would start with these –

Omega 3’s –

http://track.equilibriumnutrition.com/SH67

Magnesium

http://track.equilibriumnutrition.com/SH4k

Vitamin C

http://track.equilibriumnutrition.com/SH4m

B complex

http://track.equilibriumnutrition.com/SH4l

Vitamin D

http://track.equilibriumnutrition.com/SH68

Or start with a great multi and vegan protein in one

http://track.equilibriumnutrition.com/SH4n

If you still want to focus on the food route that is ALWAYS the best option – you can find the best foods to eat and for which nutrients HERE.

ALWAYS remember if you choose supplementation for things, that you are doing JUST that… SUPPLEMENTING a well balanced diet and lifestyle to get optimum results. 🙂

Six Immune Boosting Tips

by Candice Scott | Apr 5, 2020 | Health

Top 6 Immune Boosting Tips

Need some every day things you can do to help boost your immune system? Right now pretty sure we ALL do! The six things below are great EASY ways to help. And the best part is most of us do these things already.

1 – Hydrate and add some Vitamin C

Hydration is something we should ALL focus on each and every day regardless of a pandemic situation. Hydration keeps our cells healthy. It helps our digestive system our circulatory system our stress response our bodies ability to filter things out (aka bad stuff). It helps with our metabolism function too. Vitamin C is also showing some promising ability to help fight coronavirus and rightly so. It has always been known to be a immune boosting supplement and something we all need to stay healthy. It helps reverse and decrease inflammation within us due to its potent antioxidant compounds. You can find some facts on that here.

Something that helps you get both HYDRATION AND VITAMIN C is Liquid IV and it is something I use everyday. Find out more about it here.

2- Sleep

We all know sleep is important. However do you realize how important it is for our immune health? Sleep is the time when our body recharges and detoxes the most. You know how when you are sick you tend to sleep more? It is because your body is fighting inside of you to knock down the illness. That is the time when you really want to rest because it helps your immune system do its job and you are not taking energy from it by doing other things. You actually do a reset if you will when you sleep. You want quality sleep though as it is not all created equal. Aim to get 7-8 hours a night. Right now should be a rather easy time to get it done too. I mean lets be honest, most of us do not have a whole lot on the to do list right now. It also helps decrease stress which in turn decreases inflammation which can help us ward off invaders if you will.

More on sleep? You can read about that in my older blog – Don’t skimp on sleep

3- Wash your hands

If you have not heard recently the importance of this you may be living under a rock. But washing hands is the prime way to protect yourself. Warm water. 30 seconds or sing happy birthday or abc’s one or two times through. Washing hands also helps not eliminate ALL bacteria (remember some is good for us) unlike alot of hand sanitizers do as they’re harsher. https://www.cdc.gov/handwashing/show-me-the-science-hand-sanitizer.html

4- Eat Real Food

Real food = organic (if you can) fruits, veggies, non farm raised fish, grass fed/organic meets and eggs. Real food is more packed with nutrients and vitamins our body needs. The vitamins and minerals help our immune system stay strong and fight off things we are worried about right now. These foods nourish our bodies vs. cause inflammation and harm most processed ones do. When our body is able to work at optimal capacity we are able to stay strong and fight off “invaders” better.

Here are some facts on inflammation fighting foods in an older blog I did. Inflammation Fighting Foods

5- Exercise

Exercise keeps us healthy! This does not mean we have to go all out and super hard with workouts. Simple movement can help too. It just depends on you. A rule of thumb I like to tell clients is that working out should make you feel better not worse. If you are taxed for a day or two after a workout you went too hard. Find something you enjoy, or find someone that can help you.

If you are interested in learning more about working out and inflammation fighting check out this blog – Key to lowering inflammation through your workouts.

You can also tryout my four week at home program and save $10 with code CHANGEUP at check out. (head to the link below)

6- Add in quality supplements to fill in the gaps

Supplementation is exactly that. Supplement your diet, supplement your body and add in what you may be missing. Quality is key here though. The best ones for immune health tend to be Vitamin C, Zinc, Magnesium, Daily Nutritional Support (with all vitamins you need) , Glutamine is great, Elderberry and Oregano Oil.

Here is a list of my faves. Favorite Supplements for Immune Health.

Workout Program (Save $10 with code CHANGEUP)

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Top 5 Accountability Tricks

by Candice Scott | Jan 13, 2020 | Lifestyle, Motivation

Accountability is showing up.

It’s a means of being consistent, slaying resistance, and doing what is best for you and believing in yourself enough to do so.

We all want to be accountable in all areas of our life. Yet we struggle in some but not so much the others.

The answer: Priorities

It all circles back to what is most important to you (even if you do not realize it). If work is your priority then you will put other things on the back-burner to make sure it gets done. If losing weight is, then it gets top priority on the to do list. If your friends are (this is probably more so in college or highschool) but they would be top of the priority list in ways like hanging out or getting dinner, going on trips etc.

The problem is when we put all our eggs in one basket so to speak, the other areas of our life get less focus and therefore we don’t grow or better ourselves within them.

Making each area within our life somewhat equal if you will (meaning Professional Life, Family Life (relationships), Health and Wellness, Financial Life and Spirituality (believing and having faith in something whatever it may be) will only make us stronger all over.

Stop and think about this- when you have your relationships, your relationships are good you tend to good at work too, when your health is good you are more productive, when you feel good or are hopeful for something you get more done and focus on the good stuff. Am I right? Of course I am!

This is why ACCOUNTABILITY matters so much. If you can hold yourself accountable in each area then you are guaranteed for success in 2020.

I have five different ways to help you get accountable in each of these areas. You can find one of these that works for you and apply it in each area of your life (or maybe just the ones that need work) OR you can use them all. Whatever suits you best.

TOP 5 HACKS –

1- Find an Accountability Partner

This can be someone or a group or even a program. Something that is going to keep you showing up. It could also mean spending money on someone like a coach or trainer, or a new program to make you use it. When you know someone is waiting for you, or you took a chunk out of your bank account for it, that can compel you to keep showing up. You can join mine – its free!! See below.

2- Focus on one thing to do each week and then add in small to do steps each day to make sure it gets done.

For example – Say you are trying to save $125 this week (your big goal is to save $500 a month). So you start with doing a budget seeing where you can save money. Then on top of that add any spare change or cash to a box or jar each day. Then take the money you would’ve spent eating out and put it towards it. You could sell something you do not need to go towards it. You could stay overtime at work or do something to make some extra cash. Breaking it down to a daily to do is so much easier to accomplish than just saying I need to save $125 this week.

3- Figure out your why for each goal in each area and keep it front of you. Need more on this? Check out my last blog on your WHY.

What drives you?? What is the real reason to your big goals. Your goal for wellness is to lose 10 lbs. Why is that? Is it to be able to move better, to decrease your risk for disease? That would be your WHY.

4- Make a big list of about 20-30 things you enjoy doing for YOU, Think self care (like read a book, take a bath, go for a walk, deep breathing, take a cooking class etc).

EVERY day do atleast 2 of these things. The reason is when you are doing things you enjoy daily you are happier, when you are happier you make smarter choices.

5- Kick resistance -Start noticing when you are resisting doing important things throughout the day

An example – First thing in the am. Get up when your alarm goes off. Don’t hit snooze.
Getting on top of resistance and recognizing it and pushing through to be more accountable will only help you decrease stress on yourself, you will see more things happen and you will begin to recognize when you are more prone to resistance and try to bypass it

Being accountable can help us in more ways than we recognize. Small little changes can lead to big results over time. Some of those hacks may not make sense to you now but if you start implementing them now, you will see a big difference in a few months I guarantee it (if you stay accountable that is 😉 )

Learn more about how I can help – HERE.

Join my FREE Facebook Accountability Group – HERE

Struggle to lose weight? Inflammation could be the problem.

by CandiceCAdmin | Sep 13, 2019 | Lifestyle, Womens Health

In our lifetimes, almost everyone at some point is trying to lose some weight. Could be a little bit, could be alot. It could be for an event or something like a trip coming up, it could be for life. Regardless of the reason (this may be the only time I say that), weight loss is a part of most of our lives at some point. Yet many have no idea that inflammation within our bodies may be the culprit for weight gain.. and/ or the reason we struggle to get it off.

You may have tried everything cutting calories, exercising more, working out harder, eating only fats or proteins, cutting carbs, trying cleanses…. There are so many options out there…. yet nothing works now or anymore. Not to mention most of them are only going to hurt us in the long run. Why is that? To keep it short…. We are stressing our body in some way when we do these things, and whether it was in the past or present if done too long, we cause chronic stress… which can and will cause weight gain, then struggling to get it off when that time comes.

Chronic stress is caused by inflammation and only leads to more within us. When it comes to weight gain/loss inflammation is a major culprit to our progress.

Inflammation is a response our body has that is natural within us. . When our immune system senses something foreign (like an illness or bruise) it defends us by firing up white blood cells to defend us and cytokines. However it does the same when we eat something that is processed and unnatural or if we have an allergy (even a slight one we may not typically notice, like brain fog) or ingest toxins in our water or skin care products. These stress responses overtime trigger our cortisol (stress hormone) and histamine to rise. This can lead to hormone imbalances due to more and more elevations of these and our body starting to think it is normal, so it re adapts. Unfortunately hormones are what control our metabolism so in turn it affects our metabolism function. In a similar fashion this process can also lead to insulin resistance.

Insulin resistance essentially means continuously high blood sugar because cells are not responding to insulin how they should when it is released (a normal process again our body does). This leads to an increase in fat cells within us (especially with visceral fat, in women). Fat cells when stored can start to have the ability to expand beyond what they should because they want to hold onto fat stores to live off of because our body is tricked through this process to think it needs to. And once again this adds more stress and inflammation in our bodies. Inflammation can also affect our brains ability to release leptin which is a hormone that is released to tell us when we have eaten enough and to get full….. Another factor to weight gain… and more fat cells.. Making us more inflamed.

So to wrap it up – Inflammation is essentially caused by a stressor that we experience for an extended period of time. – it can be any sort of stress be it physical, mental, from eating bad foods, to taking certain medicines for too long, from lack of sleep, from toxins in our environment, etc. – This “stress” develops inflammation through our immune system by it attacking certain parts of our body (autoimmune conditions), other diseases, increase in weight through fat cells and insulin resistance.

So how do we fix it?!? Or work on fixing it??

We need to decrease the inflammation and toxins we are exposed to, we need to replace certain things with better supplementation, better foods, better things that can help first fight inflammation and bring it down, and then restore and heal parts affected.

One of the best ways to start is by learning the right stuff to add to your diet. Here is a FREE grocery list for you with all of my favorite anti inflammatory foods.