Reversing Skin and Joint Aging with Collagen

What is Collagen?

Collagen the most abundant protein in the body, is composed of the amino acids glycine, proline, hydroxyproline and arginine and in nature is found exclusively in animal tissue, especially in bones and connective tissue.

Collagen helps to give skin its suppleness and elasticity, hair its strength, and connective tissue its ability to hold our joints in place. Collagen protein makes up roughly 30% of the total protein in the body, and over 70% of the protein in our skin.

The body’s natural collagen production declines with age and many modern lifestyle factors (like stress, poor diet, gut health imbalance etc.) can also decrease the body’s ability to make collagen. Supplementing with collagen can actually reverse the effects of aging on our skin and joints!

• This Study shows evidence that supplemental collagen may help improve skin elasticity and reduce roughness and wrinkles in skin aging.

• This study shows evidence that hydrolyzed collagen supplements improve arthritis pain and generally benefit bone and joint health.

• This article is explains how collagen is also great for our gut – they help heal intestinal permeability (“leaky gut”) and restore the normal mucosal layer in the gut.

One of the best Collagen supplements we've seen is the grass fed version offered by bulletproof. 

Cheers to Healthy + Happy + Hydrous

Cheers to Healthy + Happy + Hydrous

Winter is a surprisingly dry season in Arizona. It’s easy to forget this after dealing with the insane heat of summer, but it’s true. Things like sinus headaches, ear/sinus infections, colds, and dry, cracking skin are a few of the signals that let us know things are a little dryer, and more vulnerable than our bodies would like.

Here are few tips to staying happy, healthy, and hydrous all winter long:

H2O My Friends –

When it’s not a blistering 115 degrees outside it’s easy to cut back on our water intake. We feel less thirsty in general and when we’re cold we tend to prefer drinks with caffeine or sugar i.e. hot chocolate, tea, and coffee. We instinctually want to warm up from the inside out but the problem is that the things that make our water taste better are actually working against us and dehydrating us – drying us out even more. So, try this next time you’re feeling a little chilly…

-Start your morning with hot/warm water with a squeeze of lemon or lime juice. This not only gets your hydration levels up it also helps to kick start your digestive system.

-For every cup of caffeine/sugar you drink (think fruit juice, coffee, tea, milk, etc.) follow it up with a cup of plain water to keep hydration in balance.

Nasya Oil –

Nasya Oil is an ancient Ayurvedic tool for keeping nasal and ear passages healthy. It is extremely helpful in contributing to immune system health, nervous system health, and moisturizing our sensitive systems. Nasya oil is not only handy in the winter months for dry, windy, cold days but is also a tremendous help whenever you are in an environment where there is a lot of blowing dust and pollen. Ummm, so pretty much every day in Phoenix.

This tip isn’t for the faint of heart since using Nasya oil requires a little, well, open-mindedness but trust me when I tell you that the benefits are definitely worth it.

In order to receive the best benefits, drop a few drops of oil in each nostril with your head tipped back and take a few sharp sniffs! Sniffing deeply allows the oil to coat all of the little mucus membranes in your nose and keep them safe and sound from viruses and irritations while also going deep enough to reach the back of the throat and cervical lymph. Try this one out and you’ll so glad you did. Nasya oil is an awesome buddy to keep on hand all year long.

Go Au Naturale –

We have all dealt with dry, cracking skin at some point in our lives, and we all know what a bummer it is. We keep reapplying the lotions and potions trying to combat the dryness, and heal our skin. This is a great idea in theory however I encourage you to think about what lotion you are lathering on all winter long.

Our skin is the largest organ we have and it’s absorbing everything we put on it and taking right into our blood stream. Look at almost any bottle of lotion from the store and you are certain to find at least one ingredient you can’t pronounce. There are a lot of ingredients in our lotion that we would not eat if they were in our food but we don’t think twice when putting them on our skin. When we coat these chemicals on our bodies we are soaking in toxins and taxing our already overworked immune system. While moisturizers and lotions seem innocent keep in mind that a lot of those clever companies actually put ingredients in the lotion that encourages dry skin (think parabens, petroleum, and aluminum) to keep us coming back for more.

Now, I know that natural products don’t always feel as nice or smell as good - trust me I still struggle with the switch over myself – but there are more and more awesome products on the market that you would be ok eating if someone dared you, and these are the things we should be lathering on and soaking up. Next time you are getting ready to call it a night, try mixing a little coconut/olive/ or mct oil and lavender essential oil on your feet and hands so while you sleep your body is being rejuvenated and rehydrated. There are also a few great companies (and local!) that make all natural healing balms and lotion bars too that go on a little thicker and last a little longer that also smell great and are daytime wearable.

What Is Wrong With Hot Yoga? Is Hot Yoga Actually Bad For Your Body?

I want you to envision yourself standing outside on a typical street corner in Phoenix Arizona in the middle of July. As you visualize yourself standing in the heat, imagine how you feel. Imagine the sun hitting your skin, imagine your body temperature rising as the sun greets you. Now imagine time passing, 10 minutes pass, now 30 minutes, after 90 minutes in this intense heat, imagine how your body feels, your clothes are probably drenched in sweat, you probably feel drained and want to sit down, and you absolutely are in need of hydration. If you've ever been to Arizona in July this probably won't be that hard for you to envision. The temperatures in the summer heat here are brutal, and they can drain and sap your body of energy even if you are just standing still. 

We get asked quite frequently why we don't offer hot yoga at the studio, and want to take a minute to share our opinion.  

Biologically: 


The American Council on Exercise conducted a study which raised concerns about hot yoga's effects on the body. This study was conducted on students who were both healthy and regularly practiced Bikram yoga, and during a 90 minute class core body temperatures  regularly reached 103°F. The study noted that" The National Athletic Trainer’s Association (NATA) and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) both state that exertion-related heat illness and heat stroke can occur at a core temperature of 104° F." It is important to note that this study was done on regularly practicing, healthy adults, and being a first time student or having any health concerns could potentially increase the potential for harm. Pregnant women and people with diabetes or any sort of cardiovascular problems, including high blood pressure, should avoid hot yoga, according to recommendations from ACE and Canadian health groups. In fact, according to AZ Central "At Bikram teacher trainings, a medical tent is set up to aid those who vomit, pass out, have seizures or otherwise suffer from heatstroke and dehydration." 

If Heatstroke, dehydration, and passing out don't seem like serious concerns to you maybe this will. The biggest risk from hot yoga may very well be over-stretching injuries. The heat in a hot yoga room allows your muscles to stretch more, but more no matter what the Nike ads say, more is unequivocally not equal to better.  You can seriously damage yourself if you stretch too much. According to Dr. Sonja Stilp, over stretching in hot yoga can cause serious injury to the "hamstrings, knees and lower back" Scientifically there is a huge difference between muscular flexibility and joint flexibility. The reason for this is because your ligaments are in place to stabilize the joints. When you are in a heated environment, your blood flow increases making you feel like you are more flexible then you really are. Going deep into yoga poses in an unheated studio may feel more difficult, because your joints give you signals when you've reached your safe stoppage point, when the room is heated, you may not feel that stoppage point and you may surpass your safe zone and injury yourself.  The more often you stretch your ligaments past their safe stopping point, the higher your risk for tearing a ligament, or stretching your ligaments to the point where they can no longer support your joints. If you've ever rolled your ankle, you've stretched your ankle ligaments past their safe stopping point, and you've probably noticed that your ankle is less stable, it can stay that way for weeks, years or sometimes permanently depending on how seriously and how often you rolled your ankle. Its this same over stretching of the ligaments that can happen in hot yoga. It’s important to understand that when ligaments stretch out they can stay that way, and cause joint instability permanently.


Philosophically:

Yoga is the opposite of an Arizona summer, yoga is about cultivating energy, and harnessing your "prana" so you can refill your body with the energy that life, and the Arizona heat can drain from you. Yoga is not about extremes, but quite the opposite, yoga is about finding balance at the center. On the grand scale, extremes are actually easy, balance requires the cultivation of practice and focus. Putting your body into extreme conditions drains your body of energy, when you should be seeking yoga as an opportunity to refill it.     

Weight Loss:

This is one of the most interesting selling points of hot yoga, in a hot yoga studio you feel like you’re working really hard, your body is sweating because your body is doing everything it can to cool itself. But does sweat translate into burning fat or losing weight? Let's be honest, if being in a hot place was all you needed to burn fat, Arizona probably wouldn't have a square inch of unused real-estate and we'd probably notice how thin our bodies were getting each time we sat down on our blazing hot car seats. While sweating in a hot yoga studio can make you think you’re killing it in terms of shedding fat tissue and burning calories according to Dr. Brian L. Tracy, an exercise scientist at Colorado State University, this is not so, Dr. Tracy notes, "If you’ve spent time reading about (hot yoga) online, you might assume you’d be shedding up to 1,000 calories per session, but that’s not the case.” He says. His research shows men burn an average of 460 calories, while women work off about 330 in a 90 minute class. So what! Calories are calories, and they aren't a great measurement tool, what about all that sweat doesn't sweat translate to fat burning? Dr. Cedric Bryant, chief science officer of the American Council on Exercise said: 'The benefits (of hot yoga) are largely perceptual. For some reason Dr. Bryant notes "People think the degree of sweat is equal to the quality of the workout, but that's not reality." In fact evidence suggests that Bikram, and other types of hot yoga, are no better for you than normal yoga, and worse, for hot yoga's many fans who believe it helps them lose weight, it doesn't burn any more fat than yoga in a traditional room. 

Ok sure maybe I'm not burning extra fat, but sweating is good for me because I'm releasing toxins from my body right? Well, this is not 100% true. When we sweat most of what we are sweating out is water (99%), there are other chemicals that make up sweat including salt, potassium, ammonia, and urea. In reality physician Dr. Charles Smith, states "Sweat is not made up of toxins from your body, and the belief that sweat can cleanse the body is a myth you cannot sweat toxins out of the body,” Dr. Smith says. “Toxins such as mercury, alcohol and most drugs are eliminated by your liver, intestines or kidneys.” True toxin elimination comes from the kidneys and liver, and some from the colon which all actually need water to function. Doing a ninety-minute hot yoga session and sweating to death is not really releasing toxins, you really are just dehydrating yourself and losing water weight.

Conclusion:

In the end we agree with Dr. Karen Sherman, Ph.D., MPH, a researcher on alternative approaches to health at Group Health Research Institute when she says “I do not recommend that people seeking yoga for health use hot yoga,” Dr. Sherman believes there is an additional risk from the heat in super-hot yoga, and there is no evidence of benefits in hot yoga that don’t exist in conventional yoga.

Joint pain? Put down the NSAIDs! There is a Natural Way To Heal, Check out Celadrin.

Joint pain? You're not alone, nearly 60 million US adults live with a joint disorder but before you grab that bottle of pills, put down the NSAIDs! There is a natural way to heal your body. If you haven't yet heard of Celadrin, its time to take a look at how it might benefit you. Celadrin is made from a patented complex blend of special esterified fatty acids, derived from bovine tallow oil. Medically and clinically proven, Celadrin is a joint health compound that enhances cell membranes throughout the body, resulting in greater body mobility and more normalized joint function.

Celadrin's specially arranged cetylated esterfied oils, are very similar to those found in fish oil, although they are significantly more effective at reducing inflammation and reducing joint discomfort. The oils in Celadrin work at a ‘cellular level’ affecting the actual membrane's of the cells that make up our joints. Celadrin creates an incredible joint lubricant, which not only allows for more flexibility and ease of physical movement, but also a creates a reduction in inflammation (the cause of most pain) and allows our body's cells to repair and rebuild themselves. Generally the cause of wear on the joint areas in our bodies can be attributable to inflammation and insufficient lubrication of our  joint tissue. The actual cell membranes are one of the most important areas to keep lubricated in our bodies. The membranes around our cells are organized structures that separate and protect components in the cell from neighboring cells and the outside world. A major component of the cell membranes are structural lipids. These lipids regulate the nutrients, minerals, electrolytes, and other compounds that cross the cell membrane. This regulation is very critical to the adequate function and health of the individual cell.
Celadrin provides the cell membrane with an ideal blend of lipids to ensure our cells can function optimally. Countless internal and external stressors are constantly working against our cells to impair our cell membrane lipids.  

Applying Celadrin enables the cell membrane to protect our cells and repel external stressors. Celadrin also assists in perfecting the functioning capabilities of the cell membrane. The result is a more efficient, fluid, permeable and a youthful cell membrane. Loss of cell membrane integrity from internal and external stressors begins a number of rapid aging processes in our body including uncontrolled or imbalanced inflammation. Inflammation can occur with age, dietary conditions, free radicals, stress or injury which stimulate or stiffen cell membranes. This could lead to one or more forms of arthritis (bursitis and tendonitis included); periodontal disease, wrinkles, cardiovascular disease (CVD), rapid aging and many other related issues.

Celadrin is a special blend of fatty acids that are stable and so they won't react (oxidate) with they come into contact with oxygen. Its this stability that helps to make Celadrin one of the most effective, natural antiinflammatories ever discovered. In studies (Study 1, Study 2, Study 3) both humans and animals have experienced remarkable benefits of reduced swelling, decreased pain, increased movement and reduction of inflammatory factors when using Celadrin for as little as 60 days.

Celadrin works in a way that is very similar to the essential fatty acids EPA and DHA found in fish oils, but its much more effective. Fatty acids provide many vital beneficial effects to the body’s immune and inflammatory responses. Various fatty acids induce changes in cell membranes and the responsiveness of the membrane to certain immune factors. They also play a role in suppressing inflammatory cell functions, and decreasing cartilage breakdown.

4 Tips to Keep Your Zen During the Holidays

As fall rolls in, guess what most of us are looking most forward to? Holidays, cookies, parties, treats, sweets and gatherings. In short yes, yes, yes, yes, yes and yes.

Probably the biggest struggle most of us have with the holidays is “falling off the wagon” of taking care of ourselves when our bodies need us the most. One important point of note here, taking care of ourselves is not equal to counting calories, not having fun, not attending our parties, or gatherings and isn’t even about skipping the treats. It's about making sure we feel good, and making sure our bodies are supported during what can be a biologically stressful time of the year. When there is more stress in our lives, it's important to add more support to our lives, not less. Unfortunately this is an easy ideal to forget in the chaos of baking, shopping, visiting family, etc.

However when these seasonal stressors make life particularly hectic, a regular Vibetality practice can not only be especially grounding and nurturing, it can also often provide the much needed space, clarity and support our body’s need to get you through. 

Here are a few of our favorite tips for keeping our practice consistent throughout the holidays:

Treat yourself to a restorative class! Ask anyone who has attended a restorative yoga class and they'll tell you all about its stress-reducing superpowers. Restorative yoga can serve as an especially calming and centering option during this stressful time of the year. Restorative yoga at Vibetality happens every Wednesday night at 7:00 PM, and Vibetality also offers an extra restorative class once a month on Sundays too! This is the perfect opportunity to reset our bodies and our minds.

Don’t cut yourself out of your budget! We all feel it, the holidays put pressure on our pocket books, but taking care of ourselves isn’t something we should be willing to sacrifice from our lives. A Vibetality membership currently costs $3.91 a day! We think it’s safe to assume that taking care of our body is more than worth the cost of a cup of coffee.  

Build Up Your Immunity! Whole Body Vibration offers a one-of-kind immune system support. Spending just 15 minutes a day in a vibe class gives our lymphatic system a full cycle which keeps us healthy and on the go when colds, and flus are floating around. Vibration classes stimulates lymph drainage to promote detoxification and strengthen the immune system.

Take Advantage of the fact that you are part of the VibeTribe! Vibetality is a unique studio, offering 3 different styles of 15 minute classes! Take advantage of this! There isn’t another studio on the planet where we can come to class for 15 minutes and leave knowing our body is taken care of.