Giving: It Goes Both Ways

I love this time of year. I love the cooler weather. (I can do without the ice!) I love getting to use my fireplace. I love the memories I have of being with my family around my fireplace during the Christmas season. I love the smells that come from our kitchen! There is so much to love about this time of year.

I think one of the things I love the most is giving gifts. I must confess my wife does most all of the work shopping for the gifts, but I enjoy watching others receive gifts. I really enjoy giving gifts anonymously. We have all heard it is better to give than to receive. Now, don’t get me wrong, I enjoying receiving too. But there is something else that happens when we give.

The root word in Hebrew for the word give is a palindrome. It’s spelled the same both ways: NaTaN. So, no matter which side of the give/receive equation you are on, the blessings just flow through. It goes both ways!

One of the spiritual truths about giving is that when we give something to someone or something, we are imparting some of our value to that person or thing. The more we give of our time or resources or even our love, the more value we are placing on that person or thing. The more we give, the more we value or love the object of our gift.

I think this is one of the main reasons God wants us to give of our “first fruits” not because He needs the gifts, but because we desperately need God to be in the center of our lives. By giving to Him, it helps us keep Him in the center of our hearts.

Here is a quick brain hack on dealing with people in your life you might find annoying. Yes, we all have them and if you don’t, you probably are that someone! But if you have someone in your life that is slightly tough to tolerate, try giving them small gifts. When they start to annoy you, just say a little prayer for them and ask God to bless them. With time, you will find your heart changing toward them. I dare you to try it for a couple of months and see what happens!

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas as we celebrate the greatest Gift of all!

Dr. Curtis Brown

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Dealing with Loneliness during the Holidays

The longest night of the year is coming up soon! Dec 21st is the December solstice for us who live in the northern hemisphere.

While this coming 21st is definitely a long night, many people have long nights every night of the year. And the long nights frequently turn into long days, months, and even years. There are many people who suffer alone through long days and nights.

Loneliness seems to be increasing at a rapid rate. Maybe I am simply more aware of it and notice it more. Maybe it is all of the so-called devices that are stealing time away from people. You would think with all of the ways to connect with each other, we would be less lonely.

I do think loneliness is tough on just about anybody. If you think about Jesus who existed for eternity with God the Father and with the Holy Spirit, he suffered tremendously from loneliness when he was on the cross. It was the first time he was ever separated from God the Father and the Holy Spirit. Not only was he experiencing wrath for all of humanity’s sins, he was experiencing extreme loneliness—perhaps for the first and only time.

If you are experiencing loneliness, you are not ALONE! There are many others feeling the exact same way. It is often worse around the holidays. Don’t be afraid to reach out to someone. Ask them to meet you for coffee or breakfast. Join a gym or a civic club. Do something to put yourself into contact with others—physical contact not electronic!

Psalm 68:6 states, “God sets the lonely in families.” I am not sure how this worked in the Old Testament times, but today I think he places us in our church families as well as our biological families.

If you are struggling with loneliness, I would encourage you to get more involved with your church. I may not know where you go to church, but I can promise you they need more help in the children’s area! Getting more involved and being around people is very therapeutic. I believe you will get more back than you give.

We were created to be in a community. We need others around us to thrive. If you have a family member or friend you might think is lonely, drop in on them this week and say howdy!

Wishing You an Amazing Life,

Dr. Curtis Brown

What Is the Best Diet Ever?

I am frequently asked this question: “What is the best diet?” After all, there are some many diet plans available and all of them claim to be the best or have some scientific explanation as to why they are better than the other diets. Stop and think how many different diet plans you have heard of, or better yet, you have tried. I bet you can think of at least a half dozen or so.

Honestly, I do not even like the word diet. It’s a four-letter word! The word itself has painful or limiting connotations associated with it. I prefer to think of it more of a lifestyle of eating, something that I stick with long-term. Not a short-term fix.

So which diet or lifestyle is best? My answer is . . . wait for it, wait for it . . . it depends!

What do I mean by it depends?

The reason most people want to talk about a diet is they want a plan to lose weight. At the very core of weight loss is a simple formula:

Weight loss = Calories in – Calories out.

If you want to lose weight, you have to burn more calories than you consume. If you are not able to lose weight, you are consuming more calories than you are burning up.

Weight loss is obviously more difficult than this simple formula, but the formula is never the less true. (Our bodies are extremely complicated, and there are many hormones that influence our appetites and metabolism.) I have patients tell me all the time that they “feel” like they do not overeat. Something else must be wrong, like their thyroid or their metabolism. Yet, the underlying truth is they eat more than they burn off. It is a hard but simple truth.

If you are struggling with losing weight, you either must eat less (maybe different) or burn up more calories. I believe weight loss is about 80% what we eat and about 20% what we do. It is easier to lose weight by controlling the input than by increasing the output.

Now, the secret answer to which diet is the best is simply the diet that works for you! We all have different histories, different preferences, different sleep cycles, different exercise preferences, and different metabolic rates. So in the end, the best “diet” for you is the one that works.

So when you are reading an article that claims the latest diet to be the “best diet ever,” it is probably true for the person penning the article. But it may not be the best diet for you.

I personally try to limit high glycemic carbs from my lifestyle. (I prefer not to call it a diet!) I will try to live my Ten-Day Diet Challenge throughout the week and splurge some on the weekends. About every 6–8 weeks, I will do the Ten-Day Diet Challenge for 7–10 days. This seems to work for me.

I know a lot of people love the Paleo Diet. They tend to love meat. It works for them. Others go vegan and seem to do well. You have to find what works for you. I would encourage you to think of it more of a lifestyle than a temporary diet.

So the best diet for you is the one that works and one you can live with long-term. No matter what “plan” you go with, you will need to burn up more calories than you consume if your desire is to lose weight.

Wishing You an Amazing Life,

Dr. Curtis Brown

Visiting Our Clinic in Guatemala

My good friend Brian Banks and I have just returned from a trip to Livingston, Guatemala. Several of our friends (our small group from church) have helped this small church in Livingston start and operate a clinic.

The clinic is not a free clinic. Our desire is for it to become self-sustaining. The local doctor, Dr. Juan Louis Rosales, is doing an outstanding job of ministering to these people. His charge per visit is about three dollars!

He provides primary care to all who come there. The clinic is located on the property of the church and the patients are getting connected to the church. The local church through the leadership of Pastor Enrique Blanco is thriving. Many are coming to the church, and it is experiencing amazing growth!

The clinic has many needs, and I am amazed at how well Dr. Juan does with so little. Our desire is to continue to support the clinic. We will have another trip in January or February of next year to do an outreach clinic. It is hard work, but the rewards are always worth it.

The clinic can use just about anything one might think of. We are planning on taking some supplies with us on our next trip. They need a computer and a printer. Currently, they have paper and pencil only. With better record keeping, we hope to get a better idea on the overall cost but also improve care and outreach. We are also looking for a portable ultrasound machine to provide better OB care.

If you have any desire to help support the clinic, please drop me a note. Brian is the owner of Providence Home Health and has a nonprofit set up through his company called “Everybody Matters.” On his website at http://www.providencehcare.com, there is a link for Everybody Matters at the bottom of the page. If you make a donation, just indicate it is for the clinic in Livingston. I can promise you 100% of the donations will go directly to the clinic.

I always make new friends on these trips, and on this trip I met Wilmer. He was an inquisitive young man who quickly showed me things on my phone that I had no idea about! His story unfortunately is fairly common. He has five siblings and is being raised by his mother. She has trouble finding work and the father is absent. His smile was contagious and he had lots of energy!

Have you ever been to Guatemala? Why did you go? Tell me in the comments!

Wishing You an Amazing Life,

Dr. Curtis Brown

Can You Trust Your Fitness Device?

Technology is very cool and has amazing applications as it relates to our health and fitness. Fitbits and other devices are used to measure heart rate, steps, calorie expenditure, and other biometrics. Plus, they are extremely popular. But can you trust them? How accurate are they?

There are several studies out recently, and they all seem to agree. They are generally pretty accurate when used to measure heart rate and steps or distance. Most popular devices such as the Fitbit and the Apple Watch were within about 5% of heart rate and distance. That is pretty good!

Calorie expenditure is another matter. In various studies, it seems they are often as much as 30% off and some even much more. There are several reasons for this, but ultimately you should not rely on them to get an accurate reading of your calorie expenditures. There are many resources you can use along with your device to help get an idea or an estimate of your calorie burn.

If you simply do a search, you will find programs that will help you. If you want to get as good a number as you can, find an online program and use it and your device together. It should get you quite close and give you a general idea about how many calories you are burning.

Counting calories can be critical when trying to lose weight. You will lose weight when you burn up more calories than you consume. If you read about calories and weight loss, it is generally reported that one pound of fat is equal to 3,500 calories. In order to lose one pound then, you would want to burn up or decrease your input by 3,500 calories.

The problem with the 3,500-calorie number is that it is just way more complicated than that! If we are in a controlled setting (such as a laboratory), this number is probably really accurate. But counting calories or estimating how many you consume is at best an educated guess. Even the professionals are off as much as 25% and our devices may be off as much as 30%!

I believe it is still a good idea to try to understand how many calories you are consuming and/or burning up, but it is a guessing game. Hopefully, you can get to within about 10% to 20% with some education and help from your device. Chances are your device is really close on the distance and heart rate, but not so much on calories.

Do you have a Fitbit or Apple Watch? Do you think they’re accurate?

Wishing You an Amazing Life,

Dr. Curtis Brown

So What Are Mitochondria and Why Should I Care?

Mitochondria are very important to our health and cellular energy. They are the engines that provide energy for our cells. In general, the more of these you have, the more energy you have.

Mitochondria health has been confusing at best, but we are learning much more about it. If you read about mitochondria on the Internet, you can find a lot of interesting information about their origin. One of the more interesting things is that all of our mitochondria come from our mothers. Fathers pass on nada! Mitochondria DNA is also very similar to bacterial DNA. Many evolutionists point to this as being evidence of evolutionary development. I personally do not ascribe to that theory but find it interesting nonetheless.

Endurance athletes can improve their performance by improving their energy production in the mitochondria. Training improves not only the mitochondria’s individual abilities to make more energy but also encourages the muscle cells to make more mitochondria. More mitochondria per muscle cells equates to more energy production.

Our brain cells have more mitochondria per cell than any other cells. The brain requires lots of energy for it to perform at peak levels. Better and healthier mitochondria should improve cognitive function and may help prevent Alzheimer’s. There is lots of current research around supporting the brain cells’ mitochondria.

It seems to make sense that if you can keep your mitochondria healthy and active, that it will translate into health and improved energy. Once again, sugar and refined carbohydrates seem to hurt our mitochondria. There are various theories about this, but most of it seems to come back to an increase in inflammation. More inflammation is BAD, less inflammation is GOOD!

Thorne Research has several products that promote mitochondria health. I am currently trying one called Neurochondria. It is early, but I think I can tell a slight difference in my energy, especially for workouts. (It is perhaps the worst-smelling supplement I have ever taken!)

It has most all of the basic nutrients that are recommended for optimum mitochondria support. This includes Acytel-L-Carnitine, folate, B12, glutathione, Coenzyme Q10, R-Lipoc acid, to name a few.

I am only taking about a third of the recommended dosage. It is fairly expensive. If you want to learn more, go to their website and search for it. They have tremendous amounts of research and information available for free. I am affiliated with them and if you purchase from them, I receive a dividend. You will need to use my HCP number (HCP 1050950) to be able to order any of their products. (They only allow products to be sold through healthcare providers.) You can also use their site for research and see what product your local health store might have that is very similar.

Mitochondria are extremely important to our well-being, and we go as our mitochondria go! Eating a clean, healthy diet, getting plenty of sleep, and getting regular amounts of exercise can make a big difference in your mitochondria’s health and your overall energy.

Wishing You an Amazing Life,

Dr. Curtis Brown

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The Midsummer Five-Day Diet Challenge

It’s midsummer and the Fourth of July is behind us! If you’re like me, you’ve let your diet slip a little. It’s so easy to cheat, especially around the Fourth. I’ve found challenges like this one (even if it’s relatively short) help me reset my mindset and appetite and improve my success with eating clean.

My goal with this five-day challenge is to lose about 2.5 pounds. Perhaps more importantly, I want to improve my healthy eating moving forward for the rest of the summer. I firmly believe we become what we eat and if we are not eating a healthy diet, we will not like the ultimate results.

This is a simple challenge I am starting on July 17 and ending the evening of July 21. It’s a Monday through Friday challenge. For five days, I am going to avoid any bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, sugar, and milk. Wednesday, I am going to do at least a 12-hour fast from any calories. (I will drink water and maybe tea or coffee.) I might do a 24-hour fast, but this will be a game day decision.

I am going to try to eat around 1,750 calories a day except on Wednesday when I will be fasting. If you do this challenge with me, I would suggest you pick your ideal body weight (whatever it is you want to weigh) and then add a zero to it. This number will be the number of calories to eat daily. I want to weigh around 175 pounds so I’m going to limit my total calories for the day to 1,750.

It is my hope many of you will join me on this short challenge and post comments and/or questions of my Facebook! It is always more fun and seems easier when doing these challenges with friends and family. I do have some good recipes for smoothies and meals on the blog.

Let me know if you are in!

Wishing You an Amazing Life,

Dr. Curtis Brown

What Are the Benefits of Fasting?

Fasting is almost a four-letter word! F-A-S-T(ing)! It is an ancient ritual that is not practiced much in our culture. In ancient times, it was mainly a spiritual practice to draw one closer to their Creator and to practice self-denial. (Obesity was not much of a problem in the ancient world.)

Today, I want to review some physical benefits our bodies have to fasting. One of the major ones is to reduce our insulin levels. Insulin is a pro-growth hormone that slows our basic metabolic rate down and promotes fat storage in our liver and abdomen. Lower levels of insulin facilitate fat burning. (Who doesn’t want that?)

Chronic high levels of insulin can cause many problems we face in our society today. Insulin-resistant diabetes is the most common form of diabetes and is the result of long-standing elevated insulin levels.

Fasting also promotes elevated levels of human growth hormone, which improves fat burning and increases muscle mass. Fasting improves cellular repair through reducing oxidative stress. This can have several positive effects on our bodies to include better overall immune function.

Fasting also positively affects gene expression. This is an area of great possibilities, and we are really just now unraveling some of the secrets of our DNA.

Fasting, if practiced regularly, has been shown to increase basic metabolic rate from 3 to 14%. It has also been shown to decrease abdominal fat by 4 to 7%. The abdominal fat is particularly inflammatory.

As mentioned earlier, fasting decreases insulin. It has been shown to decrease it as much as 20 to 30%. This will improve insulin resistance and can lower the overall blood sugar by 3 to 6%. Fasting has been shown to improve blood pressure, lipids, and inflammatory markers as well.

So, as you can see, there are many benefits to fasting. There are also many ways to fast. I am not an advocate of fasting from everything. I think we can do harm to our bodies if we fast from liquids and get dehydrated. I am an advocate of fasting for 12 to 24 hours from anything with calories.

I must confess: it has been a while since I have fasted. But I am going to remedy that problem. I am going to start a new ten-day weight loss challenge this coming July. Part of the challenge will include a fast for 24 hours!

One of my main goals is to lead us into the practice of fasting. I also want to bring back fasting in my own life and use it to draw me closer to God. I believe fasting will improve our physical health and can also improve our spiritual health. I will be posting more details about the next ten-day challenge. It will be some time after the Fourth.

Until then,

Wishing You an Amazing Life,

Dr. Curtis Brown

Fathers: What Does It Mean to Be a Real Man?

I am writing this blog the day before Father’s Day and I have naturally been thinking about fathers. I believe one of the major reasons we live in such a great country is because of some great fathers we have had. Fathers tend to set the tone for our families and our culture. This is not to diminish anything from our mothers. There is a reason there are far more cards sold on Mother’s Day than on Father’s Day!

But if we fathers are to take credit for the successes in our culture, we must also take responsibility for our problems. I believe many of our societal problems can be laid at the feet of absent fathers.

Fathering children is a full-time job that some days can simply just wear you out. One of the predominant memories I have of raising our kids (especially when they were young) is fatigue. I was constantly physically and emotionally fatigued! I understand why many men have trouble fathering. I am not excusing them, but I get it. It is hard. But I also know the rewards of sacrificially loving and providing for your family greatly outweigh any cost!

One of the most influential books I have read on fathering is by Robert Lewis, Raising a Modern-Day Knight. If you are a father of young children, I strongly encourage you to read this book. It is filled with practical wisdom for raising your children, especially your young boys. (He is also the author of a program, “The Quest for Authentic Manhood,” another strong recommendation!)

Raising your family is your primary calling in this stage of your life. If you fail at this, you will have many regrets and major disappointments. Live with no regrets.

Unfortunately, I see many men who are putting their career and even hobbies (hunting, fishing, golf, etc.) ahead of their families. They are rejecting one of the major callings in their lives or putting it down the list of their priorities. Trust me, you will have time for a career and all of your favorite hobbies when your kids are grown. Your time with them is ever so short.

Real men do not reject responsibility. Real men will take the responsibility of providing love and protection for their families. Real men will lead their families courageously. Real men will reject being passive. Real men look to God for direction and reward. Men, let’s get real!

I strongly want to encourage young fathers in our culture to stay strong. You are shaping our futures with the work and love you put into fathering and caring for your family. You will never regret sacrificing any career or financial goals for your family. Your family should be first on your list.

Stop and think about your father. What kind of relationship did you have with your dad? Most people of faith will view their heavenly Father in the same way they view their earthly Father. If you had a cold and distant dad, there will be a strong tendency for you to view our heavenly Father the same way. The opposite is also true.

I was very fortunate to have a dad who worked lots of hours but somehow managed to be there for the important times in my life. He was faithful. I could count on him. I knew he would be there for me.

Today, from a spiritual perspective, I find having faith in my heavenly Father to come easy. I have no doubts about God being there for me and even for my family. I am convinced that faith comes relatively easy for me because my dad was faithful to me and our family.

So, dads, how are you doing with this most important job in the world? Be strong and courageous! Live with no regrets, lead courageously, reject passivity, accept responsibility, and look to God for direction.

Wishing You an Amazing Life,

Dr. Curtis Brown

Attitude of Gratitude

 Last week, I had tried to get you to try a simple experiment. It was to simply stand in front of a mirror and get you to smile for three minutes a day. I know it sounds silly and I am not promising to cure you of all ailments, but if you did the challenge, I bet you felt a little better.

Motion leads to emotion. If you act a certain way, you will eventually feel that way. Something as simple as smiling can change your current mental state. I dare you to try it!

Another key to feeling less stressed (code word for fear) is to change your focus. Focus will lead to feelings. We become a summation of our thoughts. If you have a bunch of depressed or stressed thoughts, you will feel depressed or stressed. Every thought has some emotion tagged to it. If you change your focus, which is simply controlling your thoughts, you can change your emotional state.

Do a quick inventory of your emotional state for the week. Write down every emotion you had this week. Try not to edit it—just write them down as they come to mind. Hopefully, you have had a good week, but go ahead and do this little exercise. Try to determine what your primary emotion for the week has been. Honestly, I think mine has been frustration.

Now, the primary reason we feel frustrated or stressed is because our current situation doesn’t match up with our expectations or our blueprint for life. If we are feeling good, chances are our current situation matches up with our blueprint for life.

If things are not matching up with our blueprint for life, we can either change our blueprint (our expectations) or change our situation. Often, our situation can change simply by changing our focus. If we remained focused on the negative outcome or negative possibilities, chances are that our emotions well be negative. If, however, we focus on the positive things or possibilities (the glass is half full), we will tend to have positive emotions.

We all have a tendency to take a negative thought and go to the darkest corners in our minds with them. This is why solitary confinement is the worst punishment for prisoners. They are left alone with their thoughts.

You have to learn to control your thoughts. Most of the things people tend to worry over are outside of their control. They really have no influence over the outcomes. Take captive every thought you have and dwell on the good, the pure, the noble.

If you are having repetitive thoughts in your life that you really cannot control the outcome of, discipline your mind not to think about it. I have no control over the changes coming in healthcare. I can worry about it all, but it will not change the outcome. Now, I need to be aware of changes, but it will not help me to worry about Obamacare or Trumpcare. I have no control. So, when I am tempted to worry about it, I try to take control of my thoughts and focus on something else.

Focus will lead to feelings. Control what you focus on! If you want to take a deeper dive into this subject and other ideas for healthy living, take a look at my e-book, The Caleb Journey.

Wishing You an Amazing Life,

Dr. Curtis Brown