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Dr. Nally’s Twenty Two Tough Truth’s

Sunday’s are my day of rest, . .  . if a physician ever really rests? I’m sitting out under the stars very late on this Sunday evening, into the wee hours of Monday morning.  (It’s our turn for flood irrigation at 2 o’clock in the morning).  But, I appreciate these times of solitude.  It is on Sunday’s that I’ve been able to work on twenty two life lessons (tough truths) that make life better. I do my best to treat Sundays as a “sacred” or “holy day,” a day of rest from my temporal labor, to contemplate the word of God, to pray & meditate, to participate in public worship and focus on where I am at in my personal spiritual development.

Yes, I know.  I’m a physician; and yet, I believe in God.

No, it is not a contradiction.  (I can already see my in-box filling up with agnostic castigation.)  Friends of mine claim atheism or agnosticism.  Yet in the day to day trenches of life, I find there is no real atheism. There is no such thing as not worshiping.  When it comes down to it, we all worship something.  We each have the choice of what we worship.  Worship being defined as giving adoration, reverence or homage to someone or something.

We have the choice of worshiping the God, a god (however you may define god), spiritualism, truth, ethical principles, nature, football, money, your body, someone else’s body, power, fame, etc.  You and I know this on a basic level, we just have to come to grips with what it is we hold on a pedestal, and to which we “pay homage.”

There comes a point, when one deals with life and death on a daily basis, that a person must question the very existence of God, and come to terms with who or what we actually pay homage.  I’ve sincerely asked that question . . . I’ll leave that story for another time.

It’s during my Sunday afternoons, that I’ve been able to contemplate and attempt to re-apply the “tough truths” of life that seem to challenge me.  So, instead of sharing some bacon with you this evening, I thought I’d share twenty two of the truths that I am working on improving in my life. (Though . . . they’re almost as good as bacon!)

Twenty Two Tough Truth’s that I’ve Learned & Had to Re-Learn in Life:

  1. There is much about life over which we have absolutely no control. You cannot control everything that happens in life, but you can control how you respond.  Your response is your greatest power.  “The joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives, and everything to do with the focus of our lives.” (Russel Nelson)
  2. It’s not about the cards you’ve been dealt, it’s about how you play the hand. (Randy Pausch)
  3. W. C. Fields said, “Smile first thing in the morning and get it over with.”  My expectations often make me utterly unhappy.  Happiness is letting go of what you assume your life is supposed to be like right now, and sincerely appreciating it for everything that it actually is. 
  4. In mortality, we will always be incredibly imperfect.  If you wait until you’re perfect before you share your stories, ideas, talents and gifts with the world, no one will ever hear from you.
  5. A moment spent worrying is a moment wasted. Worrying will NEVER change the outcome.  Do more, worry less. Train your mind to see the lesson in EVERY situation, and then make the very best of it.  Liberating ourselves from our fears, automatically gives people the ability to do the same around you.  
  6. The best lessons often come from the very hardest days.  If you are having a hard day, stand strong, there is a lesson here.  Sometimes you have to experience a low point in life to learn a good lesson you couldn’t have learned any other way. 
  7. Success easily gets to our heads, and failure easily gets to our hearts.  Our true character is usually revealed at our highs and lows.  Be humble at the mountain top, steadfast in the valley’s and faithful in between. 
  8. We often confuse being busy with being productive.  What you pay attention to grows.  So, focus on what truly matters and let go of what does not. “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” (Jim Rohn)
  9. More money left un-managed just creates more problem.  Yes, we need money to live.  Earn it. Save it. Invest it. But, avoid spending money you haven’t earned, to buy things you don’t need, to impress folks you don’t even know. Manage your money so it doesn’t end up managing you. 
  10. Most of us don’t need more to be happy – we need less.  When things aren’t adding up in life, begin subtracting.  Life gets much simpler when you clear away the physical and mental clutter that makes it complicated. 
  11. Our fancy gadgets (phones, computers, tablets, radios, etc.) often get in our way and dehumanize us.  We all need to learn to be more human again.  Don’t avoid eye contact.  Don’t hide behind the gadgets.  Smile often.  Ask about people’s stories . . . And, then, listen.
  12. We don’t always get what we give.  You will end up sadly disappointed if you expect people will always do for you as you do for them.  Not everyone has the same heart you do. 
  13. Most arguments we have with one another are pointless.  Be selective in your battles. Peace in this moment may be better than being right. You actually don’t need to attend every argument into which you’ve been invited. “You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every barking dog.” (Winston Churchill)
  14. I’ve never met a strong and confident person with an easy past. Be grateful for your scars.  Be thankful for the emotional muscle and physical strength you gain from standing against the winds of life.
  15. The only way to completely avoid pissing people off is to do nothing of importance. 
  16. The true definition of “Hell” is to meet the person you could have become on your last day on earth. 
  17. Just because you fell off the ketogenic wagon today, doesn’t give you license to drag it into the woods, set it on fire and use the insurance money to buy Twinkies
  18. “You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” (Mae West)
  19. Ignoring your passion in life creates anxiety.  Ignoring the anxiety, creates panic and hopelessness. Never ignore what moves you. Mold your work around the lifestyle that brings you passion, don’t mold your passion around your career. 
  20. The human body tends to move more or less in the direction of your expectations.  This is why it is so important to know that the attitudes of confidence and determination you feel and hold are just as much a part of your treatment program as medical science and technology.
  21. The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those, who in times of great moral crises, maintained their neutrality. (paraphrased from Dante Alighieri)
  22. A man would do well to carry a pencil in his pocket, and write down the thoughts of the moment.  Those thoughts that come unsought after in the moment are commonly the most valuable, and should be secured by recording them, . . . because they seldom return.  (Brigham Young)

Over the years, I’ve carried a leatherbound little notebook with me and I write down thoughts or quotes I hear into that little note book.  Among these thoughts and quotes I’ve collected, I’ve found that on Sundays, I can let my mind chew on them.

One of the things that I’ve learned over the years is that observing a weekly “day of rest,” or “holy day,” is that this behavior is one of the most important safeguards to health and wellness.  I’ve learned this from my personal experiences during periods when I didn’t observe the “day of rest” and periods where I have closely guarded that “day of rest.”  I’ve found that observing the Sabbath has truly become a “delight” as spoken of by the Old Testament prophet, Isaiah.

Science Demonstrates Importance of Day of Rest

What is fascinating, is that science has recently demonstrated how this works.  In early 2000, Marcus Raichle from Washington University demonstrated that the human brain demands 20 percent of the body’s energy and uses only 5-10 percent more when solving calculus problems, reading a book (or this blog post, for that matter) or writing a letter.  However, they noticed that some areas of the brain became notably less active when concentrating on a mental challenge, but fired synchronously when laying flat in an MRI scanner, allowing their thoughts to wander (1).

This was confirmed by a number of other researchers who noted that there was a coordinated communication between diverse areas of the brain when people were “resting.” This mysterious coordination between different parts of the brain during “daydreaming” has become known as the default mode network (DMN).  In the last few years, we’ve learned there are actually five different “resting state networks” that coordinate vision, hearing, movement, attention & memory. However, the DMN is the most researched and appears to be the most important.

Dr. Immordino-Yang reviewed the research on the DMN and found that downtime is an opportunity for the brain to make sense of what it has recently learned. It is during this “day of rest” that the mind coordinates unresolved tensions, conversations we had earlier in the week, re-writing verbal blunders, and practicing standing up to those that intimidate us.  Our minds shuffle through the neglected to-do lists and post-it notes on the mental refrigerator of our brain, searching for solutions and answers.  It moves back and forth through childhood scenes and futuristic adult hopes and dreams. It is during this time that our brain looks at the moral connotations of our performance with others (3).

Other research demonstrates that the mind solves very tough problems during this period of rest and day-dreaming.  You may have experienced something like this when you solve a problem while in the shower.  (I hate to admit it, but many of my problems get solved in the shower.)  When the mind isn’t actively working or learning something new, it can accumulate, memorize and rehearse recently learned skills, actually transcribing them onto new brain matter (4).  Recent research demonstrates that this recording of new memory and skill, called “sharp-wave ripples” actually occurs more often during “rest periods” than during sleep (5).

Meditation and the Day of Rest

Meditation and/or prayer have been shown to strengthen connections between regions of the DMN.  Those that observe a day of rest with meditation develop a more intricate wrinkled cortex, the outer layer of the brain that gives us the ability to perform abstract thought and introspection.  Meditation appears to increased both the volume and density of the hippocampus, the area of the brain essential for memory storage and the frontal cortex that allows us to control or rein in emotions.  Fascinatingly, meditation and observance of a “day of rest” slows the natural “wilting” of the brain regions required for sustained attention that normally withers as we age (6, 7, 8, 9).

How soon does observing a rest day or “keeping the Sabbath” become effective?  A number of studies show that noticeable changes occur within a couple of weeks.  More importantly, daily meditation has been show to be more effective in the long run than the total hours of meditation over one’s lifetime (10,11).

As a physician and a clinical hypnotherapist, I personally use and recommend daily meditation.  If you want a free copy of my self-guided meditation program for relaxation and weight loss, CLICK HERE.

Now, what I want to know, is does bacon intake during the rest day have any effect on the hippocampus, frontal cortex or wrinkle cortex?  I guess we’ll have to wait for that research to be completed.  In the mean time, check out my membership page to see what we do know about the use of fat and cholesterol does to help attention and energy.

References:

1. Raichle ME, MacLeod AM, Snyder AZ, Powers WJ, Gusnard DA, Shulman GL. “The maturing architecture of the brains default network.”  Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2001 Jan 16; 98(2):676-82.
2. Moussa MN, Steen MR, Laurienti PJ, Hayasaka S.  “Consistency of Network Modules in Resting-State fMRI Connectome Data” PLOSone. 31 Aug, 2012. http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0044428.
3. Immordino-Yang MH, Christodoulou JA, Singh V. “Implications of the Brain’s Default Mode for Human Development and Education.” Perspectives on Psychological Science. 29 Jun, 2012. 7(4): 352-364.
4. Payne, JD. “Learning, Memory, and Sleep in Humans.” Sleep Medicine Clinics. Mar 2011. 6(1):15-30.  https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1556407X10001220.
5. Perlow LA, Porter JL. “Making Time Off Predictable – and Required.” Harvard Business Review. Oct 2009. https://hbr.org/2009/10/making-time-off-predictable-and-required.
6. Zeidan F, Johnson SK, Diamond BJ, David Z, Goolkasian P. Mindfulness meditation improves cognition: Evidence of brief mental training.” Consciousness and Cognition. Jun 2010. 19(2): 597-605. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053810010000681#]
7. Luders E, Kurth R, Mayer EA, Toga AW, Narr KL, Gaser C. “The unique brain anatomy of medication practitioners: alterations in cortical gyrification.” Front Hum Neurosci. 29 Feb, 2012. online. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2012.00034/full
8. Pagnoni G, Cekic M. “Age effects on gray matter volume and attentional performance in Zen meditation.” Neurobiology of Aging. 28(10): 1623-1627. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0197458007002436
9. Luders E, Toga AW, Lepore N, Gaser C. “The underlying anatomical correlates of long-term meditation: Larger hippocampal and frontal volumes of gray matter.” Neuroimage. 15 Apr 2009. 45(3) 672-678. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3184843/
10. Chiesa A, Clati R, Serretti A. “Does mindfulness training improve cognitive abilities? A systematic review of neurpsychological findings.” Clinical Psychology Review. 1 Dec 2010. 31: 449-464.  http://psy.fgu.edu.tw/web/wlchou/perceptual_psychology/class_pdf/Advanced%20Perceptual/2011/2011week15_HaoChen_paper.pdf
11. Chan D, Woollacott M. “Effects of level of meditation on experience on attentional focus: is the efficiency of executive or orientation networks improved?” J Altern Complement Med. 2007. Jul-Aug. 13(6): 651-657. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17718648.

Men's Hearts Failing Them for Fear

I am always fascinate when religious or spiritual topics collide with medical evidences and/or disease.  I am convinced that “the natural man” has trouble recognizing that all things are spiritual unto God (1 Corinthians 2:14).  Unfortunately, training in medicine often attempts to “educate the spirituality out of you.”

However, this week,and in church today, I’ve been reading about “signs of the times.”  Of interest, and something that I’ve been pondering, is the statement made in Luke 21:25-26 where the Savior, Jesus Christ, specifically foretells the signs of His Second Coming. Among the perplexities and distress outlined, one statement stands out this week and has been the food of much thought, “Men’s hears failing them for fear,…” (Luke 21:26).

heart failure help

This food for thought is actually what directed me to this verse, as I’ve had a number of people express notable fear and worry over whether their diet is correct, because so much miss-information abounds in society today. Argument, stress and fear over diet, apparently, is not new and was something that even Paul noticed and wrote about in his Epistle to the Romans (Romans 14:1-3).

Stress and fear are two of the biggest hindrances to health and weight loss in my office.  The most common non-food cause of failing to maintain ketosis while living a ketogenic lifestyle is stress.   Stress is often due to fear.  Men, and women alike, become fearful because they seem to:

  1. Forget their Purpose
  2. Forget their Identity

When heartache arise from illness, injury, disability, death, divorce, wayward children and the other innumerable causes, stress and fear abound.  Worry about diet and health, in a time when so much contradictory advise is at our fingertips, adds to that fear.

I dont careWhen we forget our purpose and our identity, three symptoms arise both physically and spiritually:

  1. Apathy toward some or all parts of life (“It’s just going to change again so why even care . . ?”)
  2. A mental slumber due to temporal or carnal pacification (“I can just eat and/or drink my problems away”)
  3. Fear of change and the pain or effort it may take to make a change (“I don’t have the will-power to change anymore.”)

The scriptures call this “weak hands & feeble knees” (Isaiah 35:3), and we in medicine refer to this as dysthymia, the first step in progression toward chronic depression and/or anxiety.

These symptoms all increase chronic levels of cortisol and Ponderinginsulin.  Amplified “brain fog,” weight gain, and inflammation are physical responses to the mental fear that is chronically unresolved.  These symptoms just add to the apathy, mental slumber and fear of pain that was already present.

The problem is that over time, this progressive triad lead down the hormonal path to what we now call atherosclerosis, narrowing of the blood vessels, increasing the risk for heart attack, heart failure and stroke.   This was seen in Hippocrates day as “sudden death related to episodes of chest distress” (Leibowitz, 1970).  The Italian anatomist Giovanni Morgagni (1682-1771) described it in his day as “the force of the heart decreases so much more in proportion as the greater number of its parts becomes tendonous instead of being fleshy.”

SO, WHAT DOES ONE DO?

First, realize that the problems you are facing have been faced by millions of human beings and you are not alone.  But, to paraphrase Irene Dunne, if you don’t stand for something, you will fall for anything.

I no longer believe in coincidence.  Whether you have thought about it or not, every interaction you have with others (even our interaction . . . your reading this blog), are not by coincidence. There is a reason.  Whether you believe it or not, everything around us testifies that God exists; the Hand of Providence can be seen from the rotation of the earth, planets and stars, the precision of the seasons, the balance of the atmosphere allowing for the perfect pressures and concentration of elements to sustain a life giving breath, to the perfect replication of DNA within billions of cells throughout the body.

I’m not trying to get religious, and, no, I can’t prove this through the scientific method . . . But, that is just the point.  Hands are weak because of lack of faith.  Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidences of which are not yet seen.  Even though we do not see the evidences, we can discern the light and that gives hope.  Hope is a substance that gives purpose.  I can strengthen hands by sharing a little light and stabilize knees through friendship and fellowship (Romans 14:1).

If the Big Bang started the universe, what started the Big Bang?  Where did the first atom or molecule or particle of dust come from?  I have a very difficult time accepting that you and I are here by accident, by a chaotic explosion that created order.  That implies that there must be a plan, and that plan had to have been set in motion by a Creator.  You and I have a place in that plan.  That also implies that that Creator placed solutions to our challenges, including the diseases of civilization, within our grasp and available to those seeking the solutions upon the earth today.

PleasurePrincipleSecond, today’s society teaches the Pleasure Principle.  This is the human instinct to seek pleasure and avoid pain, including avoiding painful recollections.  We often define ourselves by those things that bring us pleasure.  We each go through personal tests, failures and triumphs. Some of us harness all of those experiences for good, others find worsening mental paralysis due to fear of them. We often hide from the painful experiences and attempt to bury or forget them.  Food is often involved with many of the experiences of life, and for a significant number of people, the endorphin release from eating a meal, sometimes just the act of chewing, may be the only pleasure one experience in a day, in a week or a in a year. Many people hide from painful recollections behind the simple pleasure produced by the eating of “comfort foods.”  Food, and our opportunities to experience pleasure from it’s various flavors, textures and physical stimulus, begin to define us.  However, hiding from life’s painful memories with momentary pleasures usually prolongs or makes the problem worse. The ingestion of simple foods containing glucose and fructose, their effect on the liver, and the hedonistic hormonal response is the basis of addiction, and simple carbohydrates provide the perfect fix.

Fascinatingly, when fructose is metabolized in the liver, in the presence of glucose (the basic structure of sugar – one fructose molecule bound to a glucose molecule), the byproduct has a hedonic (pleasure experiencing) effect on the exact same pleasure receptors in the brain that bind to morphine.   Yes, that’s why the M&M’s make you forget your troubles and why the Jolly Rancher is so jolly.  And, its the same reason you crave another do-nut two hours after you ate the entire baker’s dozen.

Healing can only occur when one is willing to confront and talk about the reasons, the real reasons you’d rather experience the endorphins from the do-nuts with your family instead of acknowledge your weakness, stresses, and fears.  Many of us are so afraid of where we might be, we avoid acknowledging where and who we are.  It takes courage not to take the easy path.  And I will be the first to admit, pizza is the easy path and it’s scenic views are decorated with french fry palms and sunset clouds of apple fritters.

Third, many cultures and most forms of religion or spirituality incorporate the use of fasting to one degree or another.  Why fasting?  Well, it removes the effect of the pleasure principle for starters.

Fasting is also a simple and inexpensive method of shifting the body’s metabolism to one of ketosis.  Spiritual, physical and mental clarity are more prominent in the ketotic state.  Finding your identity and purpose are often encouraged while fasting.  In fact, a whole chapter in the Old Testament’s Book of Isaiah is dedicated to the powerful effects of fasting and the ketogenic state it produces (Isaiah 58:3-12).

Your life is never without meaning. Keep it real by recognizing that diet alone may not compete your answer for physical health.  Having courage and faith allow you to see and embrace the truth that is right in front of you. The  Alcoholics Anonymous’ 12 step program only becomes successful when one realistically and courageously applies their faith to align with the truth they have felt all along.  For any long-term lifestyle change to take place, one must connect and live the principles before one truly knows they are true.  In this way the Ketogenic Lifestyle becomes real and men’s hearts are less likely to fail them.  You can start here: The Principle Based KetoDynamic Lifestyle.