I often get questions from people who have seen advertisements for weight loss supplements and they wonder if they work. One of those supplement companies has a product that they call "GOLO". Their pitch is that it is a combination of supplement pills and a low-calorie diet, but it is primarily pills that contain a few minerals and some crushed herbs. I took a deep dive into the literature on the herbs they have included and I discuss the results in this episode.

Before I got to GOLO, I mentioned a wonderful organization called World Central Kitchen. They recently lost seven of their disaster relief workers in Gaza; tragically they made headlines for the worst possible reason. These people head towards the disaster while the rest of us are fleeing. They need our help more than ever now.

I first read an article in a lay magazine about the basics of the diet advice and herbal remedies they include. The link to the article can be found here.

I read an NIH article about the gardenia extract and I was surprised that there was some promise with this one. Here is the link to the NIH article.

This is an NIH article on the Banaba extract.

Another NIH article shows promising results from the salacious extract for both weight loss and blood sugar control.

I stumbled upon an article about meditation that led me down a rabbit hole of other articles looking into why or how meditation helps us feel better. Turns out, there are hundreds of recent articles discovering exactly what meditation is doing in our bodies. So where would I begin?

It was overwhelming to be sure. But I started with articles from the National Institute Of Health, or NIH, which publishes a meta-analysis on a certain topic.

The first was a very long NIH group of studies which reported that there is a special protein called brain derived neurotrophic factor, which is necessary for healthy brain function. Low levels of this protein can be found in patients with Parkinson's or Alzheimer's disease. But what can we do to improve the levels of this protein? Exercise helps. A high antioxidant, plant-based diet helps. But what about meditation? The results discussed here seem promising.

Next, I reveal an NIH meta-analysis article that gets into the area of epigenetics. This can get complicated and sciency, but they are basically saying that meditation might help us with adaptability to our environment. They may be in the initial exploratory phase of understanding what is going on, but I find it fascinating. The article can be found here.

There is a more comprehensive article by the national Center for complementary and integrative health that is excellent. It gives us all a feel for the larger picture. I could see a time where regular meditation becomes a part of our healthcare plan. At the very least, it could help us through this post-pandemic, scary – political time in American culture.

As always, feel free to contact me on my contact page, at healing outside the box, if you have any questions or suggestions of future episodes.

Today's episode is a relatively short one, so I thought I would start by giving you a 5 minute sample of my new memoir, called Helpers Anonymous (now on audible and itunes. If you are interested in listening to the audio version of the memoir, you could send me your first name and email address and I will email you one of the free audible codes for the book. If you want another version and just prefer to get it yourself, the paperback, ebook, and audio versions can be found on Amazon, right here.

The question today is not about whether proteins are essential for life and if we need to get them from food. It is and we do. Today we are talking about the source of the protein, plant versus animal. And more specifically, does one type of protein influence blood sugar control or insulin resistance?

As it turns out, an abundance of branched-chain amino acids from animal protein, may be associated with insulin resistance or even type II diabetes. The National Institute for Health (NIH) has put out several journal articles, like this one, reporting that people with type II diabetes have higher levels of branched-chain amino acids than control subjects. Another more detailed NIH article goes into the connection in more detail. The title is "the emerging role of Branched-chain Amino acids in insulin resistance and Metabolism."

But the entire role of branched-chain amino acids is still unclear. One NIH article suggested that when branched-chain amino acids were taken as supplements by the military to guard against traumatic brain injury, they may have been effective. However, they do not increase the growth of brain cells.

The reason that there is no clear-cut proof that animal protein causes an increased risk of insulin resistance, may be that it's just complicated. One possible explanation that is being investigated is that it may be more to do with altered gene expressions, caused by mutations. Whatever it is, the problem is related to protein that comes from animals, not plants.