Category: Podcast Episodes

In this week’s episode of The ZecoHealth Show I sit with Lumen Metabolic Coach Maria Fox.

In this episode we discuss metabolic flexibility, keto diet, fatloss, weight training and much more!

Maria Fox is senior policing leader in the UK having served as a police officer since 1994 in two police forces in the UK.  During that time she has undertaken many challenging roles but finds her work incredibly rewarding and has enjoyed leading teams to serve their local communities.  

Maria holds a BA Honours degree in Theology and Religious Studies from Manchester University and a public service MBA.  She spent many of her formative years playing a number of competitive sports at club and county level – netball, hockey, football, tennis were particular favourites and into adulthood added ski ing and cycling to her repertoire.  During her early 40s Maria qualified as a registered exercise professional in the fitness industry specialising in indoor cycle programmes eg Stages power, flight, Les Mills RPM and Sprint and ICG My ride. Despite being very sporty, Maria unashamedly shares about her battle with weight gain from her teenage years and how this had been a source of great frustration to her.  Genetics certainly have played a role in this with sensitivities to fats, carbs, slow metabolic response, and a propensity for stress related obesity and low appetite control.  

During 2020 Maria suffered a combination of physical and mental health symptoms [thrombophlebitis, DVT, ECG irregularities, acute peri menopausal stress and obesity] which led to a “burn out” episode and chronic fatigue symptoms in October 2020.  

It was at this point that Maria had invested in a lumen device to try and navigate her health back on track.  Lumen provided Maria with the necessary structure to plot a course with small daily decisions based on metabolic feedback as she sought to recover mentally and physically.   

Fast forward 7 months and Maria had lost 50lb, returned to work in policing and was supporting others in the Lumen community with their own health journeys.  By September Maria, now on the fitness performance track within Lumen, had lost a total of 60lb since starting her journey.  She enrolled on Lumen’s metabolic coaching course and was certified as a Lumen metabolic coach during October 2021.  She has recently been appointed as a lead group expert in the Lumen community which has over 17000 members currently and Lumen recently published a guide she developed over Christmas  2021 to help new users on their health journey.  

Maria is developing her expertise in health and wellbeing as she studies to become a qualified personal trainer with level 4 nutrition and specialising in obesity in order to help others who find themselves with the weight gain/loss battle.  She hopes to pursue a second career, beyond policing, in health and wellbeing, as she inspires others on their health and fitness journeys.  Since she discovered Lumen, the battle with weight gain appears to be over as she now experiences what she describes a “transformed” metabolism.   

You can follow Maria on instagram @mariafoxwellness 

Subscribe to her on you tube: 

https://www.youtube.com/c/MariaFoxWellness

Use code FOX for 15% off Lumen @ https://lumen.me/

Welcome to a other weekend episode of The ZecoHealth Show 

This is Weight Management Expert, Narado Zeco Powell 

As promised I will release a short & sweet episode every weekend, addressing any topic that is important for you to understand going into the coming week. 

Today, I will talk about genes & weight management 

In the last episode, I sat with the CEO of Self Decode Joe Cohen

His software gives you personalized health recommendations based on your genes 

Today, I am going to dip a little deeper to explain why this is important 

It really comes down to a newer branch of science called Epigenetics. 

Even now, I get comments like, “you do not understand,  you have never been my weight” 

Or

“You were raised in Jamaica & you were skinny as a kid”

I will not lie to you, yes, I was a skinny kid, in fact I was malnourished & serverly underweight 

When I was 16 I weighed 113 pounds at 5 foot 11.

For everyone, weight management looks different, by the way you should recognize that I say weight management,  not weight loss. 

Here, we focus on long term solutions to manage & maintain a healthy bodyweight 

According to the dictionary

“In biology, a gene is a basic unit of heredity and a sequence of nucleotides in DNA that encodes the synthesis of a gene product, either RNA or protein.”

What does that mean?

Simply put, a gene is unit in your DNA that takes instruction.

I am reading a fantastic book right now by Dr. Catherine Shannahan called Deep Nutrition: Why Your Genes Need Traditional Food.

This book is a great read if you really want to understand the roles your genes play in your health. 

She goes further with this definition:

She states that you genes make up only 2% of your DNA.

Think about that? What about the other 98?

Well that is where Epigenetics come in.

Epigenetics explains how our lifestyle & nutrition impacts the instruction given to our genes  

So yeah, you can turn some genes on or off based on your decisions.

The next time you think, well, I am overweight because everyone in my family is. 

Please stop & ask yourself  “do you & ppl in your family eat similar foods? Were you active as a child or even now? Do you take medicine? When I say medicine that includes over the counter”

I am not saying you should not take over the counter medicines, but caution, there are reasons why they have side effects.

To sum up: the habits you learn in the ZecoHealth Show are designed to help you provide the right instructions to your genes so you are healthier and are better at managing your bodyweight. 

Do not forget to subscribe because this Tuesday, I will release the interview with Lumen Metabolic Coach Maria Fox.

At age 51, she lost 70 pounds through the magic of Metabolic Flexibility.

This is a another branch of Epigenetics. Giving your genes instruction to promote fatloss.

Subscribe, share this show & enjoy the rest of your weekend. 

In this episode of The ZecoHealth Show I sit with the CEO of Self Decode Joe Cohen. His company uses a software that gives you personalized health recommendations based on your genes & labs. In this episode we discuss how this software works, the impact our genes have on our health, weight-loss, energy levels & much more!

Joe Cohen won the genetic lottery of bad genes. Frustrated by the lack of good information and tools, he decided to embark on a journey of self-experimentation and self-learning to improve his health – something that has since become known as “biohacking”.

Joe developed a biohacker’s ultimate resource website, http://www.selfhacked.com, he then moved on to successfully create SelfDecode, a fundamental biotech software platform for DNA and lab-based health recommendations.

Today, Joe leads a team of trained scientists, MDs, PhDs and skilled engineers at SelfDecode to help thousands of people take their health into their own hands with holistic and natural recommendations based on their own health data.

You can contact Joe on his Instagram

http://www.instagram.com/mrbiohacker

The website for Self Decode is

https://selfdecode.com/

Happy New Year & welcome to The ZecoHealth Show

This Weight Management Expert Narado Zeco Powell

Going forward I will release 2 episodes a week. 

An interview every Tuesday

And a solo show every Saturday

This is the first solo show in that rotation

These solos will be short, recap the highlights of the last interview, address a particular hot topic & more.

In this week’s short, I will get into gut enzymes & body weight because I mentioned it in the last episode.

Weight management often comes down to having the right enzymes

Let me explain.

I will discuss three enzymes here

Protease- Breaking down protein

Lipase- Breaking down fats 

Amylase- Breaking down carbs

If you do not have adequate enzymes, instead of breaking down certain nutrients for fuel, your body may store it, deposit it in your organs, etc.

When it comes to losing fat, lipase and amylase are probably the most important players.

If you have enough of these enzymes, your metabolism will be able to break down fats and carbs as needed. 

This is the magic of metabolic flexibility.

How do you have the right enzymes?

Well, step 1 is knowing what gut enzymes you primarily have?

You do not have to take a test to figure that out.

Here is a simple guide:

1. What foods did your parents primarily eat? 

High carbs, then there is a chance you have high Amylase

High fat, then there is a chance you have high Lipase

2. What foods do you primarily eat? 

Same idea, fats- Lipase

Carbs- Amylase

3. How do you feel when you eat fats or carbs?

If fats make you uncomfortable, then you may lack adequate enzymes to break them down

If carbs, make you uncomfortable, well, you get the idea

Also keep in mind there may be allergies like gluten, nuts, etc. 

I will not get deeper into gut enzymes, but want to give you a taste. I  will discuss more in future episodes, in fact I will release an episode in 2 weeks with Lumen Metabolic Coach Maria Fox. 

In that episode we will discuss gut enzymes, metabolic flexibility & more

In the coming episode, I sit with the CEO of Self Decode, Joe Cohen.

His software gives you personalized health recommendations based on your genes

Subscribe because you do not want to miss that one. 

Enjoy your weekend fam.

In this episode of The ZecoHealth Show, I sit with Heart Nutritionist, Michelle Routhenstein.

In this episode we discuss, Non- Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD), Keto Diet, habits that lead to fat accumulation & much more

Michelle Routhenstein is a Preventive Cardiology Dietitian, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist, and Certified Diabetes Educator who specializes in heart disease management and prevention. She holds a Master of Science Degree in Clinical Nutrition, and has completed her nutrition dietetic training residency at New York University.

She has over 10 years of experience counseling individuals and families on chronic disease prevention and management through personalized, science based nutrition and lifestyle medicine. She has a thriving nutrition counseling and consulting private practice, in which she sees clients in her New York City office and virtually. She is also the Chief Medical Officer for Lapis Health, overseeing science based behavior change on a digital therapeutics designed for reversing heart disease in the black community. She published a cookbook called the Truly Easy Heart Healthy Cookbook.

To contact Michelle, you can visit her at www.entirelynourished.com, or on Instagram at Heart.Health.Nutritionist. 

She is a registered Nutritionist & Certified Health Coach. She is passionate about helping women and men transform their weight, health and life by focusing on nutrition, coaching, fitness and gut health.

Her mission in life is to change the way people view food and to help then break away from constant yo-yo dieting. She wants to change people’s focus from eating for weight to eating for health, helping them become the person they most want to be and be confident in their own skin. She believes if you take the time to take care of yourself from within, it will set you on a path to optimal health

In this episode, we talk about the connection with guthealth and weight-loss, foods that can improve guthealth and much more!

Emily Cornelius is a Registered Dietitian and owner of Emily Cornelius Nutrition. She help exhausted dieters lose weight by taking control of their insulin resistance while still eating the carbs that they LOVE!  

Having been a yo-yo dieter for years before losing 20 pounds and finally keeping it off, she has been through her fair share of ups and downs when it comes to losing weight.

When she became a Dietitian she learned about blood sugar and hormone balance and how it impacts weight loss totally transformed my mindset around food. 

She has helped hundreds of people lose weight by balancing blood sugar, hormones, and reducing excess inflammation. 

When she is not coaching nutrition I love to spend my time hiking, relaxing with friends, and traveling!  

Here is the link to the grain study mentioned in the show.

https://medicaldialogues.in/diet-nutrition/news/increased-whole-grain-consumption-reduces-diabetes-incidence-and-associated-economic-burden-study-83635

The Real Food Dietitians (Recipes for IR)

Home

Contact Information:

https://www.instagram.com/emilycorneliusnutrition/

https://www.tiktok.com/@emilycorneliusnutrition

Sam Led is the host of the amazing podcast, The Fearless Now. Combining his studies from the University of South Florida & Nova Southeastern University, Sam shares a groundbreaking new understanding that has helped thousands of people tap into thier natural innate health & resilience so they can overcome anxiety, fear & unhealthy habits without strategies, techniques & willpower.

In this episode we discuss:

1. ADHD
2. How to see mental health in everyone
3. The Superpower within you
4. Much more!

You can get in touch with Sam on his website http://www.samledconsulting.com

or

his email sam@samledconsulting.com

In today’s episode I am going to talk about joint pain

I thought about this topic because as we are moving into colder months, our joints start to stiffen and hurt

In today’s episode, I am going to explain:

1. Why we experience joint pain
2. Why it tends to be worse in colder times
3. The role that nutrition plays in improving joint pain 
4. Other habits that relieve those achy joints

1. Why we experience joint pain

An article in LCR Health  explains this very well

It lists 7 common causes of joint pain

They are: Ankylosing Spondylitis, Osteoarthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Bone Infection, Bursitis, Fibromyalgia & Sprains and Strains.

Guess what all these have in common?

Excess Inflammation, not just inflammation , but excess

We tend to miss is that pain is a symptom of excess inflammation

In addition, many experts state that the issues mentioned above are are related to autoimmune conditions, which of course is connected to excess inflammation and poor gut health 

In fact, that is why when we continue to take pills to deal with the pain, we have to continue taking more and more or increasing the strength

We have to address the sickness, which is inflammation

As we get deeper into the episode, we will get into ways to reduce inflammation related to joint pain

2. Why it tends to be worse in colder times

It is no secret that we experience stiff and achy joints more in colder weather

Cold weather means tighter, more constricted muscles.

Low temperatures may also make joints feel stiffer and more sensitive to pain, by increasing the viscosity or thickness of synovial fluid.

If you did not know, Synovial fluid, also known as joint fluid, is a thick liquid located between your joints.

It is a thick liquid that helps lubricate your joints as they slide against one another. It’s found in all joints in your body. As you age, the amount of synovial fluid in your joints may decrease. As a result, your joint movement becomes stiff.

Another article featured expert insight from Dr. Bryan McNally, an associate professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Emory, and Dr. Michael B. Gottschalk, a surgeon who specializes in upper extremity at the Emory Sports Medicine Clinic.

Indicates “that pain receptors in the hands and feet are especially sensitive to extremely cold weather, which makes joint pain more pronounced in wintery climates. As blood flows to your core to keep you warm, your hands and feet (especially your fingers and toes) may feel colder and much more sore.”

If you are already experiencing pain going into cold months, then you are already experiencing inflammation before these start to happen.

Yeah, I want to highlight the importance of addressing the entire issue.

3. The role that nutrition plays in improving joint pain 

I am going to start here by painting a picture

Let’s go back to the dawn of time

Before we have refrigerators, microwave ovens and fastfood

Imagine you live in the A.D., in the summer months, what food do you think you would have access to mostly?

In warmer climates, fruits grow more, especially sugary fruits.

Most sugary fruits cannot grow in cold weather, because we should not eat them in cold weather.

Our bodies burn carbs, especially simple carbs better in warm weather.

In addition, we tend to be more active in warm weather, which begs to state that we burn better

Now, in cold times, what foods do you think you would have access to?

Fish and plants that can survive cold climates 

Well, fish, primarily wild caught fatty fish, are rich in omega3.

So are most plants that can survive colder climates 

Especially real nuts like walnuts, almonds, pistachios and so on

Do you see the trend here?

Oh, and less of course you may want to minimize if not, eliminate dairy and red meat this time of year.

The moral of the story is , eat in a way to get more Omega3 to lower inflammation in your joints

You can also supplement with fish oil.

I take fish oil daily , and I am more diligent this time of year.

Others ways to get Omega 3 into your diet-

Use oils like Avocado, Olive and Coconut Oil and it goes without saying to avoid seeds oils like Vegetable Oils and Canola

BTW, the name Vegetable Oil is misleading, they are not actually made with vegetables

Use more turmeric and ginger in your diet

These herbs are great for healing. 

A turmeric ginger tea is great for healing while keeping you warm.

4. Other habits that relieve those achy joints

I am going to listen these out:

First- sauna practice, preferably a redlight sauna.

If you do not have access to a gym with a sauna, there are some saunas you can buy from amazon that are not very large and do not cost as much.

Redlight light saunas as more healing than regular saunas

It gives you the benefits of saunas, plus the healing of redlight.

Second- watch your posture

Yeah, sit up straight.

Bad posture puts stress on your lower back and joints.

Especially if you carry excess weight

Third- If you work at a desk, make sure to always type with your arm to elbow resting on a surface.

Never keep your arms held up in the air.

Trust me, you will feel the difference

Especially if you type alot or work in an office, get an ergonomic set up

Mouse, keyboard and chair. 

This works like gangbusters

Lastly-  Move! Move! Move!

Staying in 1 spot for too long will contribute to stiff achy joints

Get up at least once every hour and generate some heat

Even if it is just for couple minutes

I forgot to add, the other way to generate heat in your joints, you can wear elbow sleeves, especially while training. 

CopperFit Compression Sleeves come to mind and I consider them the best compression sleeves on the market .

PHD Weight loss Founder, Dr Ashley Lucas, holds a PhD in sports nutrition and chronic disease and is also a registered dietitian. She comes to the field of nutrition and weight management as an ex-professional ballet dancer. Once retired from ballet, she started along her path to becoming an expert in the field of nutrition and wellness, with a wealth of first hand experience.  

Following 15+ years of research and clinical practice, Dr. Lucas developed PHD’s science-based approach that revolutionized the science of weight loss. Her approach focuses on metabolic wellness, inflammation reduction, and behavioral/emotional support that creates profound sustainable transformation in the body and mind.

Dr. Lucas recently released her new groundbreaking e-book, The Ultimate Weight Loss secrets.  She helps those who have failed over and over again with previous weight loss attempts to finally find long term success!  

You can get in touch with Dr. Lucas @ https://myphdweightloss.com/

Her Instagram handle is @dr_ashleylucas where she provides alot of science backed weight-loss advice