Digestive Harmony: Gut Issues, the Vagus Nerve, and Living Clean

Digestive Harmony:

Gut Issues, the Vagus Nerve, and Living Clean

It might very well be Coeliac Awareness Week from the 9th to 15th September, but – like never before – gut health in general is at the top of people’s priorities these days. Ensuring a symbiotic balance of prebiotics and probiotics within our digestive system has become so much a focus due to scientific studies, discoveries from lengthy research into how much of a bacterial universe our gut microbiome actually is, affecting everything from weight to mental health, from immunity to everyday functioning.

Prebiotics, if you were wondering, are natural, nondigestible carbohydrates (or oligosaccharides) which are fermented by probiotics (being as they are the fuel for probiotics, bacteria that assist in maintaining that desired natural balance of microorganisms and microflora in our intestines). That fermentation results in a fatty acid known as butyric acid, which maintains the healthy lining of the intestines, promoting proper digestion and supporting the regularity of our bowel movements. Believed to also keep in equilibrium the amount of cortisol in our bodies as well, thereby not allowing our stress levels to become overwhelming – for those who suffer from Crohn’s disease, leaky gut syndrome, or ulcerative colitis, focussing on the importance of prebiotics can be a lifesaver. According to Dr Anton Emmanuel, around 4 in 10 people in the UK suffer from a digestive complaint at any one time. The group Core, meanwhile, reported in 2016 that over 10% of a GP’s working life is spent treating GI (Gastrointestinal) health issues: perhaps not surprising given that some 43% of us suffer digestive problems at some point. A shocking statistic when you realise that up to 90% of a person’s immunity is controlled by the gut. In these (hopefully) post-pandemic days, or at least in this brief reprieve from the frontline of battling the coronavirus (though such can’t be said for India), maintaining a healthy immune system is absolutely critical. Therefore, logic dictates we should look to our gut.

One individual’s microbiome contains trillions of microbes, which in turn consist of over 10,000 species of bacteria, yeasts, fungi, and parasites – and those microbiota are more unique than DNA. In order to keep this intestinal galaxy of microbial magic in tiptop condition, it is advised that we consume in excess of 50 different types of food each week (over seven days; equal to just over seven different foods per day) in order to provide the diversity of nutrients necessary to essentially feed all those species. Just as the ecoconscious are striving to return a full and thriving biodiversity to the world at large, consider your own personal gut microbiome as an environment which also needs to be kept vitally biodiverse.

Kefir:

From Mountain Milk to Modern Usage

Fermented foods are highly important for overall gut health. Fermentation being the anaerobic process whereby lactic acid bacteria convert sugar into lactic acid, which in turn acts as a preservative that also leaves alive the prebiotics and probiotics present. You’ll have heard of tempeh and miso, of sauerkraut and kimchi, but in addition to drinks like kombucha (a superstar of the holistic lifestyle movement, and frequently in the positive social media spotlight) there exists kefir.

The history of kefir dates back thousands of years, some say 4,000 years ago to China, but the grains recognisable today are just like those used by nomadic mountain peoples in the northern Caucasus over 2,000 years ago, when they utilised the milk from their goats and cows. The people there fermented their stocks of the liquid in order to save any spoiling, replenishing the leather skins containing the kefir grains with fresh milk as and when the liquid had been diminished (just like one feeds a sourdough starter in breadmaking). The grains were so valuable that they were passed down as heirlooms.

Kefir came to be more widely known when Russian scientists in the 14th century began to want to understand how the mountain peoples of the Caucasus lived as long as they did, despite the inclement climate and harsh natural conditions. Even early research noted the beneficial effect on the digestive system. Yet, it wasn’t until the 20th century that kefir grains were able to be obtained (by cheesemaker, Irina Sakharova, according to a very nice legend involving Tsar Nicholas II) and actually brought back to Russia, where they were used initially to treat tuberculosis with kefir. Given the lengthy history of its appropriation, it speaks volumes that kefir became as mainstream as milk and eggs in the country as quickly as by the 1930s.

The kefir found today on shelves beside yogurts and other probiotic dairy drinks is often made from powdered cultures, rather than grains. That said, vegan alternatives have been formed from coconut milk and other nut milks.

Our intestines have an equal number of neuroreceptors to our spinal cord, and the vagus nerve directly communicates messages both ways between the gut and brain: if our mental wellbeing is imbalanced, our stomach will let us know; if our digestion is in turmoil, our mood will be affected also (and, by extension, our behaviour). This is where the microbiota in the gut come into play. For instance, the neurotransmitters GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid, serotonin, catecholamines, and acetylcholine are all macrobiotically influenced. Similarly, lactobacilli and bifidobacteria affect inflammation levels and immune responses in the body. Nonetheless, if you are living through a period of unending stress (perhaps exacerbated from WFH living and all the juggling of multiple roles within work and the domestic set-up that that involved) – then your gut will most certainly be suffering.

Psychobiotics, such as lactobacillus helveticus R0052 and Bifidobacterium longum R0175, act as support to the total body stress-response system (otherwise known as the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal, or HPA, axis) and control levels of tryptophan and serotonin. Studies have shown that, by supplementing these, anxiety and sleep disturbances can be decreased and depressive symptoms lessened. One 2011 study published in the British Journal of Nutrition noted the “psychotropic-like” effect of the combination of these two probiotics in particular, which have additionally been found to also reduce abdominal pain. This is thought to be due to their function in reducing LPS (or gut-derived lipopolysaccharides). They further protect against the ill effects of food-borne pathogens.

Of course, when stress is mentioned in conjunction with digestive disorders, these days most of us think, “It must be IBS!” (that is to say, Irritable Bowel Syndrome). Although 1 in 5 of us will suffer from this condition at some point in our lives, the first instance normally being between the ages of 20 and 30, IBS should not become a go-to diagnosis for symptoms such as:

stomach cramps and bloating;

bloating and/or constipation;

wanting to but unable to make further bowel movements;

excessive flatulence;

fatigue and lack of energy;

backache;

a frequent need to urinate.

sudden and unexplained weight-loss;

blood in the stools or bleeding from the anus;

a noticeable-to-the-touch hard lump or swelling in the stomach area;

shortness of breath, heart palpitations, and pale skin.

There might be a more serious cause, such as undiagnosed diverticular disorder, IBD (or Inflammatory Bowel Disease), and even bowel cancer, from which over 16,000 people die annually. You should definitely see your GP straight away if you begin to experience any of the following:

Coeliac Disease:

Gluten-Free Living

Some 25% of people diagnosed with IBS actually have Coeliac disease and 1% of Britons are thought to have it. An autoimmune disease, it is believed that only 30% of sufferers are correctly diagnosed, of which there three times as many women as men afflicted.

Neither an allergy nor an intolerance, Coeliac disease is a genetic mutation of the HLA-DQ genes that are responsible for our immune system. As a result, the lining of the small intestine becomes inflamed in reaction to the protein gluten. This inflammation in turn prevents proper absorption of nutrients from our food and by extension ill health.

Diagnosis is by blood test and biopsy and if Coeliac disease is confirmed, then gluten must be avoided for life. No ands, ifs, or buts. Clearing the digestive system of remnants of gluten can be a 2-year process. People most prone to developing Coeliac disease are Type-I diabetes sufferers, those with ulcerative colitis, and those with autoimmune thyroid disease. For infants, doctors recommend not introducing gluten into the diet before 6 months (the usual weaning age) and only if still breastfeeding as the breastmilk lends added immune support.

The symptoms of Coeliac disease are similar to IBS, but if left unattended, other signs such as frequent mouth ulcers, skin rashes, oedema, and anaemia occur, and eventually sufferers can develop osteoporosis, infertility, neuropathy, gluten ataxia, and even bowel cancer and intestinal lymphoma due to the malabsorption of nutrients and diminished immune system.

Found in the cereals wheat, rye, and barley, gluten is also prevalent in convenience foods like pasta, pizza, biscuits, cake, breakfast cereals, ready meals, sauces, beer – the list goes on. Some people with Coeliac disease find oats cause a flare-up as well, as they can be sensitive to the protein avenin, which is similar to gluten. Happily, the choice of Gluten-Free products is much, much wider than only a few years ago, so one doesn’t have to wave a last goodbye to bread, per se. For further advice, consult your doctor. Coeliac UK is also able to provide extensive guidance and information sheets. While you wait, though, it might be useful to be aware that the GAPS (or Gut And Psychology Syndrome) diet is renowned for its linking of the health of the gut microbiome to symptoms such as digestive disorders and depression. The GAPS menu includes a large proportion of fermented foods in order to “fix” or rebalance gut dysbiosis, aiming to detoxify the body, healing the gut lining and thereby prohibiting toxins reaching the brain via the blood. Formed by Dr Natasha Campbell-McBride in 2004 from the founding SC (or Specific Carbohydrate) diet of Dr Sidney Valentin Haas – the GAPS diet was conceived early in the 20th century as a means to treat coeliac and Crohn’s sufferers and is well worth a try.

Hippocrates declared back in 375 BC, “Let food be thy medicine” – advice heeded by multitudes since, but sometimes we all need a little extra guidance. After all, if we go through each day ingesting a poor diet, over time the effects of those nutritionally deficient and perhaps toxin-loaded meals can accumulate to cause serious problems. Smoking and alcohol-use are a given as being harmful. Yet, add to that any antibiotic use, environmental pollutants (such as pesticides, additives, heavy metals, even chlorinated tap water), and a natural decline in bacteria as we age, and the prognosis for our gut isn’t great. Even the way you are delivered at birth affects your gut microbiome. Happily, though, Covid-19’s silver-lining was one that sent us eagerly out of doors to get exposure to sunlight and soil and animals and the general germy mess that is Nature, but if behind (now very much open) doors we’re still consuming the average Western diet of processed foods, high in sugar and salt and bad fats and refined carbohydrates, then we are not helping matters. Meat consumption, especially, can diminish the number of bacterial species in the intestine. In very basic terms, toxins create acidity and the quickest and simplest step to adjusting the pH balance for the good of your gut microbiome is to start eating “living” foods. Beyond the general rainbow suggested by medical practitioners for decades, to say start including living foods in your diet isn’t to advise switching instantly to total raw food veganism or a fruitarian ethos of “only what falls from the tree”. Rather, although most raw foodists state 75% of the diet should be plant foods raw, or dehydrated below 48C, or sprouted or soaked, or juiced and/ or blended – living foods can comprise as low as 50% of the diet. They key is kickstarting an acidic environment, a system overloaded with toxins, and then settling into a manageable day-byday routine wherein a “synergy with nature” is established As Leslie Kenton wrote in The Raw Energy Bible, you want to enjoy the forest, not just a singular tree alone, but she does suggest that initiating change is best served by a 36-hour juice fast.

The 3 Stages of Digestion 1

APPROPRIATION

Eating and Digestion

2

ASSIMILATION

Taking in Nutrients

3

ELIMINATION

Expulsion of Waste Products

Raw juice provides alkalinity, an opportunity to balance out the acidity of a polluted body. In the 36-hour cleanse, from a Friday night to a Sunday lunchtime one weekend, if you’re wanting to rid your intestine of built up pollutants, to press the restart button, and be done with gut issues – then, freshly pressing juice from whole fruit (no cartons of concentrate here) in the mornings, switching to a blended fruit and vegetable juice for lunch, and having a vegetable-only juice for supper (as well as water during the day to quench thirst) could be the very thing that resets your system.

Fruit-only juices are recommended for the mornings as they are especially detoxifying, yet also provide fuel for the brain. After that, vegetable juices allow for nutritional content intake and the continuance of metabolic building block processes. Summer, of course, is the ideal season to undertake such a detox. Carrots and apples go with most combinations and the quantity of juice is up to you and your appetite, but do be aware of the detoxifying effects that will ensue. It is suggested, also, that the weekend be spent quietly and gently in regard to self-care. Think good sleep, listening to the radio, watching some films, reading that novel you’ve been meaning to get to for ages – and think only gentle stretching and a spa-type bathing routine both evenings, assisting further the process of elimination. Nākd makes nutritious, healthy snacks without compromising on taste by simply smooshing fruit and nuts together. Our bars are gluten, wheat and dairy-free, with no added sugar and are vegan friendly.

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Acids and Alkalis:

Your Body is a Chemistry Set

Gut health as a general rule will be adversely affected by factors such as coffee and alcohol, chocolate and fizzy drinks, and of course wheat and dairy. All these (setting aside the potential probiotic benefits of yogurt) will not help a digestive system already in distress. By contrast, plant foods, such as bananas for excessive hydrochloric acid production in the stomach or conversely pineapple and papaya for hypochlorhydria (a lack of hydrochloric acid), can be effective “medicine” – functional nutrition – in the search for better all-round health. And this is due to the consideration of the equilibrium between acids and alkalis.

When we’re born, our bodies have a pH of around 7.4, a fragile balance which is tipped in favour of alkalinity. When the pH fluctuates outside of the bounds of between a more acidic 7.2 to a more alkaline 7.45, though, a range of problems can occur. The more acidic our bodies, the greater the risk of premature ageing from impaired cell and tissue renewal, as well as weight gain and a general accumulation of other toxins.

What we eat plays a vitally important role in this management of the pH balance. A diet chock full of meat and dairy and processed foods high in sugar and salt will send the acidity level of the body skyrocketing. A Whole Foods Plant-Based lifestyle, on the other hand, is the most alkalinising diet there is, one which studies have shown can reduce cardiovascular disease, Type-II diabetes, obesity, and potentially even cancer. The reason? Disease likes acidity; immunity likes alkalinity. Particularly alkalinising plant-based foods include legumes, nuts and seeds, quinoa, and soybeans. Although it might seem to go against logic, citrus actually enhance alkalinity in our bodies too and, together with other certain fresh fruit, are an important inclusion in any diet looking to increase the pH balance to one more alkaline:

Apples pH 8

Pineapple pH 8.5

Avocado pH 15

Grapes pH 8.5

Lemons pH 9

Mango pH 8.5

Watermelon

pH 9 Why not try our recipe for... Elderflower Cordial

Ingredients: Makes 10 servings 2 ½ kg white sugar (granulated or caster)

2 ¾ pints water

2 lemons, unwaxed

20 elderflower heads, fresh and stems trimmed

85g Just Natural citric acid (food grade)

Method:

1. In a very large saucepan, heat the sugar and 2¾ pints of water. Be careful not to bring it to the boil, but instead heat gently only until all the sugar has dissolved.

2.

In the meantime, peel the zest from the lemons using a vegetable peeler and slice the body of the lemons into rounds.

3.

Once the sugar has fully dissolved, then bring the saucepan of syrup to the boil and turn off the heat.

4.

Fill a washing up bowl with cold water and rinse the flowers in this to clean off dirt or bugs. Shake off the flowers when lifted out of the water.

5.

Add the flowers and the lemons, zest, and the citric acid to the syrup. Stir well and cover and set aside for 24 hrs.

6.

Line a colander with a clean tea towel. Place this over a large bowl or pan and ladle in the syrup. Let it drip slowly through and do away with the remainders in the cloth.

7.

Funnel into sterilised bottles and enjoy.

Walking Women and Stepping Off the Treadmill into Nature

t is a truth now universally acknowledged that each and every single person in need of pandemic reprieve must be in want of a walk in the open air. As we approach the end of an extended period of curbs on our liberty for the good of the health of all, it seems timely that we have now come to the season for sunny striding, for revelling in a warmer semblance of the usually wintry Norwegian friluftsliv (“honouring the beauty of the outdoors”).

We might these days be well aware of the benefits – both mental and physical – that walking offers, but it wasn’t always so easy to simply don a pair of comfortable shoes or boots and step outside if one was of the fairer sex. There were female pilgrims in the Middle Ages, yes, but the male saints they tended to make their journeys to weren’t particularly, um, fondly receptive of their travels of admiration. One academic whose professional focus is precisely on such perambulations is Kerri Andrews, of Edge Hill University. Her book, Wanderers, explored the crucial part that walking played in a selection of women, finding themselves both “as people and as writers”.

From Dorothy Wordsworth to Cheryl Strayed and from Sarah Stoddart Hazlitt to Virginia Wolf, the walking woman (her urban sister otherwise referred to as the “flanêuse”) has for some time now determinedly set her steps to freedom. And that’s precisely what walking has afforded everyone – sex irrelevant – during the pandemic. Nonetheless, for the matriarchs of households for over the past year, surviving multiple lockdowns has been a question of retaining sanity – something which only daily escapes into the fresh air of the outdoors have afforded.

For, as mundane as it might seem, walking is an adventure. One doesn’t have to be a daring soul taking on the highest peaks and sheerest drops; rather, even the humblest amble can permit adrenaline-sparking explorations of the imagination: a therapy of activity.

Of course, in the Victorian era women took to walking as a sport for a while: not just a stroll around the civilised streets, parasol in hand, but veritable endurance walking, seemingly dismissing entirely the previously patriarchally implemented public perception of the female of the species as being too weak for vigorous exercise. Referred to as “pedestriennes” (a bizarre appellation given the nature, or its lack, of these walks…), women like one “Mrs. Dunne” became celebrities of sorts, walking hundreds of miles, while a lady known as “C.C. Cushman” reportedly clocked up 500 miles. However, these were not hikes across open countryside à la Austen, but in constructed ovals and on indoor tracks (mainly on the East Coast of America), eventually leading to accusations of exploitation of these females in the 1880s. Not such a liberating moment, then. Yet, perhaps we can see the beginnings of our modern love affair with the treadmill – dismissing the 1st century Roman engineering feat of the tread-wheel as man-powered crane for lifting heavy objects, dismissing also the exercise-for-energy machines developed for powering by prisoners’ exertions (invention of Sir William Cubitt), but finding a parallel with earlier horse treadmills of the 19th century (jarringly equating the equine position with the feminine…). Nonetheless, it was one Claude Lauraine Hagen who developed the belt-based machine in 1911, of a shape and function more familiar to us today (though it was manually propelled and one had to move slats for momentum).

It was in 1952, though, that the first motorised treadmill came into being, coinvention of cardiologist Dr Robert A Bruce. Its purpose was to diagnose conditions of the heart and lungs, earning Bruce the unofficial title of “Father of Exercise Cardiology”. And by the late 1960s, William Staub brought to the domestic front an updated version able to be produced on the mass market. The concept took a little while to snowball, sales increasing from just 2,000 per year in the 1980s to approximately 35,000 a year by the mid-1990s. Now, it is estimated that the global fitness equipment market could be worth £11bn by next year. Indeed, a survey carried out by

ONS found that while of Britons critically crave exercise outside in order to cope with lockdown restrictions, by contrast a third of the population found indoor exercise just as beneficial to their physical and mental health.

This, despite on the face of it Britain once again rekindling its love affair with the great outdoors, flocking (when, really, one should not have so flocked, social distancing measures in place and all that) to breathe en plein air and upon occasion even absorb some vitamin D from that particular golden orb around which we all orbit. With gyms only recently reopened, it could very well be that people remain poised to return to the treadmill in their own homes in case of any further lockdowns when winter returns.

Before Covid-19, in fact, the Environmental Protection Agency estimated that 90% of our life – adults and young people alike – was spent indoors. Now, that’s some very stale air and stagnant bodies, indeed. So, while you’re out there in that glorious summer sun, feet to the ground, flow of steps a rhythm for the journey, eyes lifted to take in the beauty of the skies and surrounding greenery, spare a thought for the bees – without them, we wouldn’t be here very long at all. From the power of an insect, a flower; from a singular flower, the entire natural world.

And sorry, urbanites: research has shown that where one spends time out of doors actually does count, studies finding that exercise taken in the forest (for a nicely verdant example) results in a lower heart rate and reduced levels of cortisol than those participants who were strolling and running through the city streets. Greenery is also a boon for mental health (without any of the negative side effects of prescription meds). A stepping into ART (Attention Restoration Therapy), it is far easier to recover from mental exhaustion and overload in nature than in a bustling metropolis, one study finding a 50% better result in aptitude testing after a 4-day immersion in a natural environment (no smartphones allowed, either).

Perhaps this is why The Times reported in January that there’s been an upsurge in purchases of woodland recently. A private patch of nature, unmanicured and offering space in which to picnic safely away from others and let children play outside within Covid parameters (which include allowances for maintenance of one’s land, a crucial part of such ownership and for which grants exist, e.g. EWGS (the English Woodland Grant Scheme)) – personal parcels of wild natural space which are cheaper to acquire than holiday homes, too. Priceless, one might say. Be sure to do your due diligence beforehand, though: be crystal clear about boundaries, for one thing; you also don’t want to be buying a piece of land populated by diseased trees.

Bodies, just like trees, of course, are not all hewn from the same clay. We are each of us unique and therefore each require a mindful attention to how our entire body responds to different forms and intensities of exercise. For instance, you might be someone who enjoys running very much indeed, but you always notice that after a certain point you start to feel a numb and/or tingly feeling in your hands. This is because of paraesthesia, or blood flow to the nerves being blocked – but why? Most likely, the positioning of your arms and hands while you run (or even when walking vigorously). If the arm is bent at the elbow, the ulnar nerve (better known as the “funny bone”) is stretched across the bone of the elbow, blocking blood flow to the forearm and pinky and ring fingers. Some people are more afflicted than others and those who clench their fists or pump their arms during walking and running are more prone (though one shouldn’t really clench one’s fists at all; relaxation and a nicely gentle swinging action is key).

If the sensation is in your feet, that’s because increased blood flow to the muscles during exercise causes them to swell and gravity sends that fluid to the legs and feet, pressing against laced trainers and blocking further blood flow. This normally happens with gym equipment, where the foot is in one position on a machine (such as an elliptical trainer or stationary bike). If the feeling occurs while you’re out running or walking, it could simply be that you tied your shoes too tight. With both extremities, be sure that shaking things out at the end of exercise does get the blood flowing again: if not, see your GP as soon as possible, as it could be a symptom of something more serious, such as a pinched nerve, carpal tunnel syndrome, or diabetes, or a neurological disorder if accompanied by muscle weakness.

Nevertheless, if you’re still struggling to find the impetus to get off the sofa and step outside: a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found a higher risk of cardiovascular mortality in both men and women who sat for long periods without moving. Conducted over a period of nearly nine years, those who were sedentary for over six hours a day had an increased risk of dying of a heart attack, whereas all such risk was voided by exercising approximately 45 minutes a day. The established minimum of 150 minutes of exercise per week was reasserted.

Veganism, Tea & Olympic Sports:

A Chat with Unstoppable Team GB Athletes

It was a sad day for sports last year when Japan had to postpone the Tokyo Olympics due to the pandemic. As we go to press, breath is still bated as to whether July will see the historic sporting event go ahead, but in the meantime the outstanding athletes who take part in such global sporting events and those a little closer to home in Europe aren’t resting on their laurels (or, like the rest us, sitting too much upon our rears), but instead keeping very much alive the momentum needed to train in all conditions. Success is a frame of mind, most say; if so, then the minds of a certain two female Team GB competitors are hewn from undentable steel.

Lisa Worthington

Triathlete

Speaking with Lisa Worthington one blueskied morning in late April, the 52-yearold triathlete was fresh and invigorated from her daily swim in the sea. Head of Marketing at Keith Spicer, the company behind such brands as Dorset Teas and Tea India, Lisa had previously been a self-described “coffee fiend” who might occasionally have perhaps one cup of tea. Now, the beans are out the window and it’s all about the leaves. Starting each day with a pot of Dorset Tea for warmth (Lisa swims in the cold British sea every morning), by 11am she switches to chai, but goes herbal in the evenings (either chamomile or peppermint). The key, though, is hydration and no tea, Lisa says, can replace the importance of water, which as a triathlete she also “guzzles down”.

For Lisa Worthington has qualified for the European Championships with Team GB. To be held in September, if she does well there, she will qualify for the World Championships. No small success for a woman who only last year was diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer.

Having completed the Half Iron Ironman (70.3) in September 2019, Lisa was buoyed, pumped with the adrenalin of having completed something so physically incredible. Her training had helped, yes, but there comes a point when to carry on, the mind must be strong enough to take over, and having succeeded, she felt almost invincible. Then she went for a routine mammogram: a 4mm spot of Stage 3 breast cancer was picked up and two rounds of surgery ensued. Lisa was lucky that it had been found and she was also fortunate that only a lumpectomy had to be carried out, with only radiotherapy alongside, rather than any chemo. However, surgeons had had to go in through her right armpit and, for a swimmer, this made things very difficult indeed.

Two weeks out of the water recuperating, and then Lisa tried to dive into a simple 1km gentle front crawl with her friend, Jamie, but she couldn’t even lift her right arm. Nonetheless, wanting desperately to go to the Team GB qualifier in Scotland, not wanting to live with regret, it was a case of setting her mind determinedly to the task. And it paid off: Lisa made it to Scotland and she also qualified.

The Worthingtons are a sporty family all round. Lisa’s 18-year-old daughter is also a keen triathlete and they occasionally train together, or her husband (a keen cyclist and runner) has been known to cycle to Paris with the eldest in order to watch the Tour de France and then cycle home. Lisa has not yet joined them on one of these trips, cycling being something the natural-born swimmer has had to learn to love (though her coach is a pro-cyclist). She and her betrothed do enjoy the occasional weekend couples’ cycle, though. Indeed, as a child Lisa swam competitively and loved running 800m and 1500m, but as with many teenage girls, she suffered from self-consciousness over her body, particularly when in sports shorts. So it was that she drifted away from sports for a while. She still swam at university and each morning before work in London after graduating, but it wasn’t until the age of 27 that she took up running seriously again and only while she was working in France after that did she take up biking.

What is astounding, however, is that Lisa didn’t come to sea-swimming until the family moved to their current residence in Dorset. Just 5km from the beach, early on Lisa dreamt of cycling to the water and back each day, but she was at first afraid of those chill depths. That was in her early 40s; now, almost a decade later, the triathlete rises at 6.30am and by 7am is happily wrapped up in wetsuit and swimming hat and boots (not for her the bare flesh of those few souls merely in trunks: “They’re the real Ironmen,” Lisa jests not without sincerity) and in the sea, one of her two-disciplines-a-day training sessions – one of which is always a swim. Also a yoga enthusiast, this link between the physical and the mental is clearly something central to Lisa’s philosophy, believing as she does in honouring the body, stretching it out after pummelling it as an athlete does. Yoga helps to ease pre-race nerves, as well. In total, she probably trains 10 hours each week and sets aside one day for rest and repair. Interestingly Covid-19 had little effect on Lisa’s training, able to cycle on turbo in all weathers and run no matter the forecast (treadmills fill her with horror). In fact, without it, she wouldn’t have completed her first entire year of seaswimming. Normally stopping the first week in October, lockdown restrictions meant Lisa had to go fully wild in her aquatic training. Although speed work can really only be done in a pool, what she won’t forget are the dark mornings in the sea, being with and in nature in all its guises. The seaside town of Weymouth seems to attract athletes, including Linda Ashmore, a 72-year-old Ironwoman (in more senses than one). The triathlon community, Lisa says, despite perceptions to the contrary, is not aggressive, it is healthily competitive. Without such competition, one wouldn’t push oneself to the limits to go further. Competitors guide one another and Lisa has generally found the triathlon community is a “big up for the sisterhood”, full of support; a lifeline social bubble in unusual and trying times. Mondays especially benefitted from that first morning swim of the week, a setting up for the WFH day ahead and a chance to see a friendly face and have a chat at social (and watery) remove before returning to the home office. She cited a chapter from ROAR: How to Match Your Food and Fitness to Your Unique Female Physiology for Optimum Performance, Great Health, and a Strong, Lean Body for Life by Stacy T. Sims as having been enlightening during her journey to where she is now.

Speaking with the Team GB triathlete, it’s hard to believe that before she rediscovered her passion for sports in her late 20s, Lisa was a stone heavier, a smoker, so much a meat eater that she was “verging on carnivore”, and a self-described “big boozer”. Now, although she’ll permit herself the occasional glass of wine, her body is very much more temple-like. After watching The Game Changers during her recovery from breast cancer surgery late last year, Lisa tried to go vegan, but found that the return to work and its commute she was very tired and “fantasising about parmesan”. Following a brief spell of pescatarianism after that, it was another documentary – you guessed it, Seaspiracy – that saw the sportswoman settle into what is now a comfortable vegetarianism (but no milk). As Lisa says, “I’ve eaten so much meat in my life; one less person eating meat will help the planet”. Indeed, the Worthingtons as a family unit have pretty much all become vegetarian.

As our interview came to a close, Lisa revealed that she will be leaving her position at Keith Spicer in June in order to go freelance and permit more time for training. In the future, she is also passionately considering motivational speaking for female athletes and overcoming self-set limitations. She wants to talk to the people who want to run, but who think they can’t; the people who can only swim breast-stroke and don’t push themselves, don’t let time have a chance to develop an awesome front crawl. Without sounding like an ad campaign, Lisa wants people to “just dive in and feel it; just do it; just believe”.

For some, it seems, competitive sport, taking one’s body to its limits, really is the “natural progression” they say it is. Inspirational, certainly, for tomorrow’s generation – whether male or female – in a post-pandemic “new normal” world where health and longevity are key concerns. Now, where did I put that wetsuit..?

Lisa Gawthorne

Duathlete

One only has to type Lisa Gawthorne’s name into Google to easily discover pages upon pages about a woman with a vision, driven to succeed from a young age – and ethically at that. A vegetarian from the age of six after a PETA leaflet on the brutal realities of animal agriculture was popped through the letterbox of the family home, Lisa went through her school days and into the university environment perceived as a bit of a hippy solely because of her non-meateating ways. But that’s not all there is to the entrepreneur and Team GB duathlete at all. Her supervisor at Sir John Moores University joking with foresight that she would start her own business before 30, Lisa actually opened the vegan food distribution company Bravura Foods with Karl Morris in 2011, when she was 29.

In approaching an interview with the unstoppable athlete and businesswoman, then, there are three angles one can take: Lisa the Team GB duathlete, Lisa the vegan author (of Gone in 60 Minutes, on the vegan diet, supplements, workouts, and motivation – the entirety of which can be read in an hour), and Lisa the vegan CEO. Indeed, Lisa switched to veganism in 2003, really only at that point having milk and butter left to give up. She had only waited for so long in order to make sure she could transition properly, given the crucial place of nutrition in a sportswoman’s – or anyone keen on exercise’s – daily life. It’s a quotidian fuelled, quite literally, by savvy nutrition. Lisa admits she eats most of the day (“3 meals and 3 snacks”) in order to satisfy hunger and keep her metabolism moving quickly.

Vegan food being less caloriedense than animal products, she uses the My Fitness Pal app to keep an eye on her output:input ratio, an easy means of focusing on functional nutrition and testing out what balance works best for the individual. It provides a deeper macronutrient analysis than other similar platforms and takes into account the time of year and the type of competition Lisa is in training for. As a general rule, though, the duathlete will opt for clean carbohydrates (quinoa, brown rice, oats, sweet potatoes) and protein such as tofu, tempeh, seitan, and mixed nuts, turning to avocados and seed oils for essential fats. Every day, the minimum fruit she’ll consume is one apple, one banana, and a handful of blueberries, and no 24-hour period passes without eating kale, spinach, and broccoli (for iron and plentiful antioxidants). On her busiest days, she’ll allow herself a protein shake or protein bar in the afternoon to keep going, unable to have caffeine since 2007 when she underwent an operation for heart palpitations. And as for Saturdays? That’s her treat day for a “vegan cookie sandwich” from her local health store.

Aside from certain argumentative detractors in friendship groups, in the gym environment Lisa is so familiar with – training six days a week as she does (a combination of not just running and cycling, but weight-training as well) – there are various “characters” who will insist one “needs meat”, that veganism is “a fad”, and that plant-based eaters eventually become “weak”. Lisa thinks it must be because meat has become so entrenched in society’s eating “traditions”, that it’s almost a form of identity. Even when The Game Changers was released, although 70% of the people Lisa knows were positive (“My phone has never been so busy!” She exclaimed.), on social media platforms the remaining 30% focussed on the more controversial side of the unsatisfactory depth to the studies and the lack of keener scientific insight into certain areas mentioned only in passing. To any negativity, Lisa only ever replies, (1) it’s better for the animals, (2) it’s better for the planet, and (3) it’s better for our health. Furthermore, there are now more vegans in the world of sport and fitness than ever before.

On the topic of cellular agriculture, if wide eyes can be heard over a telephone line, one imagines they were thus opened when Lisa admitted it’s “really strange”. For “old-school vegans”, it doesn’t do much to address animal exploitation, and for those who’ve been vegan for a while, like Lisa, they don’t even recall the taste of meat. That said, she admits fewer livestock will be slaughtered and animal agriculture diminish; that it’s “very clever, very futuristic”, but ultimately not for her. It is, however, a “fantastic move forward to reductarianism”, an important “stepping-stone” to a “golden bridge”.

Asked if there’s anything she would tell her younger self, that determined soul who turned to running at university in order to combat anxiety and who now holds a Gold Medal, Lisa admitted she would advise her to take on less, to not say yes to everything, and to not give free advice to those who would never turn into a meaningful partnership. Also, to stay true to self and to one’s goals and have a clear strategic focus. As for the future of Bravura Foods, operating very healthily indeed, the effects of the pandemic were actually beneficial for business, people re-evaluating their lifestyle choices and having more time on their hands to “shop vegan”. Lisa believes this trend will continue and curve upwards, certainly if the some 570,000 Veganuary participants in 2021 are anything to go by. Over the next 18 months, her company will be bringing some exciting new products to market and identifying any gaps and expanding existing ranges. Indeed, Bravura Foods was also previously invited to undertake the Goldman Sachs 4-month intensive professional training Small Business Certificate at Oxford University, a rigorous business plan development course with panel reviews, off the back of completing which Lisa was subsequently invited onto their 2020 Imagining Business Certificate, which took those futureplanning skills and adapted them for times of adversity, such as our ongoing pandemic. Now a Goldman Sachs alumni and public speaker, Lisa found the experience invaluable.

What Covid-19 did affect was Lisa’s training. From previously competing in some 40 to 50 races over a 12-month period, there were suddenly none. “Week in, week out; no races for 15 months,” she lamented. Instead, though, it gave her time to focus on her training and adapt her training needs. Believing it important not just physically, but mentally to have “a goal”, Lisa resorted to time trials and virtual runs against the clock. Training six days a week and on four days doing two different disciplines, one of which is always weight-training, Lisa swears that it only serves to build power for her cycling and running. As she said, “ask any Olympian” and they will admit to a massive amount of weight-training, as it increases endurance. Often overlooked, working with weights provides for a functional physique, which is incredibly important specifically in the female fitness world, where competitors are afraid to develop “bulky muscles” and acquire a “macho look”. Nonetheless, when one goes from competing all the time to not competing at all, the risk of injury increases greatly. It becomes a task to just maintain a pre-race level of fitness. Fortunately, Lisa was able to compete in Madeira in October 2020 and brought home a Gold Medal for the 10km for Team GB. So, how does one get started on such a successful sporting path? The answer is not so straightforward, perhaps. As a girl, Lisa attended a grammar school where the only options were tennis, netball, and hockey. It left her with a “bad taste for sport”. Rather, during the stresses of life as an undergraduate, she took to “military-style” training, in addition to running for anxiety. Yet, it wasn’t until 2007 that she was invited by a running coach to join the Liverpool Pembroke Sefton club, where she became “fitter and faster” than ever before, running 5km and 10km at speed, winning County Best in 2014 for the Merseyside County Cross-Country. However, in 2016 she had to undergo a knee operation and it was while rehabilitating on a bike post-op that she thought of combining the two. Joining the Merseyside Tri club for duathlon once she was fully healed, Lisa qualified for Team GB the first time she entered a qualifier.

Never having considered the triathlon due to being “a terrible swimmer”, she has nevertheless come 8th in the World Championship Duathlon and 6th in the European Championships. Now 40, age is no limit: she becomes only “quicker and quicker” and can work with “heavier and heavier” weights. What is important is enjoyment and “increasing serotonin”, increasing “happiness”: placing great onus on the mental health benefits of exercise, to find no enjoyment in what one does “would otherwise be destructive”, she thinks.

Finally, asked if she has time to sleep, with a laugh the indomitable vegan duathlete businesswoman admitted she gets a minimum of eight hours a night (“I sleep like a baby”). Putting it down to her vegan diet – animal products, especially meat, are known to take far longer to digest than fruit and veg and in turn lead to sluggishness – Lisa firmly believes a good night’s sleep is crucial for cell repair and renewal and being the best one can be in the gym and on the track. She’s so refreshed from her slumber, in fact, that most days she’s “a spring lamb” of boundless energy – bounding successfully into a future of vitality and velocity, no doubt (interspersed with cuddles from her gorgeous green-eyed Bengal cat, Yoshi).

Heeding a Vegan Hamilton:

Ahimsa for Today and Tomorrow

When a world-class racing driver gets in on the act, you know it’s going to trend. British racing legend Sir Lewis Hamilton – no shy user of Instagram – has been vegan for some time now, but it was perhaps the plant-based diet he put his beloved dog, Roscoe, onto that drew the most press attention.

A voice raised yet calm, speaking for the voiceless, Hamilton has become a role model for the younger generation, a guiding figure who mucked in and cleared beachfronts of plastic waste pre the pandemic; a man with much to say and so very rightly criticise about the illegal wildlife trade, supporting Space for Giants in their work against that trade’s barbaric treatment of nonhuman animals.

Not afraid to share the graphic truth of the livestock industry, Hamilton’s online advocacy began in 2018, a year after the sportsman changed his diet for the good of the planet, and the good of his health. In January 2020, just before Covid-19 changed the world, it was revealed he had donated $500,000 [c. £358,000] to aid recovery from the horrific bushfires on Australia’s east coast in which over one billion animals perished. So heartbroken was he, that Hamilton visited New South Wales to raise public awareness over the crucial rehabilitative efforts of wildlife organisations there.

During a previous stay in Japan in 2019, in fact, the F1 racing driver had shared footage filmed by the dolphin welfare organisation, Dolphin Project, urging his followers and fans not to attend cruel dolphin shows – just one instance of the suffering inflicted on marine mammals for profit, dolphins stolen from the wild and thrown into captivity just like the orca whales of Seaworld infamy (see also our article, “Fishing for Constructive Oceanic Compassion & Taking the Conspiracy out of Seafood”, p.8).

Furthermore, Hamilton has recently condemned the shark fin trade, aghast after learning that 1,400lb of shark fin had been seized at a Miami port. His social media post last year was a no-holds-barred reveal, also, of the resultant finless shark sinking to the bottom of the ocean, unable to swim, and dying. What all this serves to show here is a figure opening the eyes of those who need someone in the spotlight to follow, and to act. On a planet fading (not so slowly at all) as a direct cause of human beings’ selfish actions, it is laudable that Hamilton won’t let rest the mistaken belief that a non-human animal life is of any less value. As he requested his followers, “Please don’t turn away”, so he doesn’t seem to be either. In fact, he’s running towards the problems with fury, trailing an army of supporters in his wake.

What this also illuminates is the hope that such teaching of the concept of ahimsa (or “nonviolence”, towards both self and others) can hold for the future. If the youth of today can latch onto the idea of compassion, learn about the truth of the critical environmental predicament, learn also about the incredibly easy health benefits of leading a plant-based lifestyle – all through a celebrity, whether Hamilton or other likeminded star – then all for the better, as such words spread further and their echoes resonate longer, particularly in this digital age.

For, the tide is certainly turning, reaching beyond the bounds of school climate strikes. Late last year, The Guardian reported that young activists (four children and two young adults) in Portugal had filed a climate change case at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, the first ever of its kind. Represented by environmental and climate change expert barrister Marc Willers QC, and others, the case was crowdfunded with the help of NGO Glan (Global legal action network). The activists sued for countries – a list of 33 was provided, on which the UK was named as one – to be more ambitious in emissions targets to offset climate change (seeking “a minimum 65% emissions reduction target by 2030”), so as to protect the mental and physical wellbeing of the young in the near future: a generation currently anxious about the health effects of exercising outdoors in a polluted world, and one which is becoming increasingly warmer. Initiated after the terrible forest fires in Portugal of 2017, that country has seen hotter and hotter summers each year since. Indeed, scientists predict that between the years 2071 and 2100, there could be a “thirty-fold increase in deaths from heatwaves in [the whole of] western Europe” if nothing is done to arrest and lower global warming. As it stands, there are periods of time when youngsters cannot exercise outside due to the sheer intensity of the heat. That’s to say nothing of the water shortages and ill effects on food production that such heatwaves cause.

As Just Natural Health & Beauty has reported extensively, a leading cause of the climate disaster we are currently living through is animal agriculture, specifically the methane produced by livestock and the deforestation undertaken on an unfathomable scale in order to clear land both for the creatures’ monoculture feed and for their enforced keeping before slaughter.

So, while Hamilton and others like him bring ever more awareness to the ecological situation as it stands, while urban centres like New York City see the concept of a “communal vegan fridge” implemented (a plant-based step-up on the brilliance of the foodbank, needed more than ever as a result of widespread pandemic job-loss), and while vegan food overall becomes fabulously mainstream and deliciously desirable – it is heartwarming to think we are perhaps not leaving the youth of today a dying tomorrow. Rather, it can be rainbow-hued and nourishing, diversely animal-filled and flourishing: there is still time to make it a planet of harmonious balance, as it once was; not the exploited and polluted living hell of today. Let’s leave our children dreams, not nightmares. And if that process begins with the example of a Formula One racing driver, so much the better.

A Balanced

Approachto racing

he argument correctly stands that motorcycles are largely still fuelled by petrol, but the incredible fuel efficiency of urban two-wheelers (up to 150mpg) and ultra-low emissions from their four-stroke engines means using much less fuel and producing far less carbon on the daily commute. Of course, the motorcycle industry now heads towards electrification, and as technology continues to develop rapidly we look forward to seeing greater uptake in alternative forms of cost-effective transport.

In the current climate, many of us can only focus on the steps we can take as individuals and small companies to facilitate change. So in a day-to-day sense, my responsibility is to ensure personal support and the human performance of the entire Yamaha WorldSBK team. In 2021, this includes regular Covid-19 PCR testing and provision of high quality PPE equipment. Equally, the pandemic has highlighted a greater drive towards individual health and immune system support and as such, both the team and riders use Balanced Vitamin C Complex, Zinc and Vitamin D3 to further shore up their health through the rigours of international travel and fierce competition.

It isn’t one supplement to fix every challenge that faces us, but it’s a step in the right direction and creates an increased awareness of the benefits of taking responsibility for our own wellbeing. Please do follow our progress in the World Superbike Championship this season via crescentyamahaworldsbk.com or @PataYamahaBRIXX on social media and check out the races live on Eurosport – thank you and all the best to you and your families for a great rest of the year.

You may ask yourself what a motorsport-related column is doing in Just Natural’s Health & Beauty magazine this quarter. On the face of it, racing motorcycles at speeds of over 200mph is far from a lifestyle focused on consideration for the planet through making better choices in our everyday life, but as we know from the global turmoil seen in the past year alone, things are far more nuanced than at first glance.

As Yamaha’s official World Superbikes Team, last year we had to reassess how we could continue to operate in the Covid-19 era, looking at every aspect of our operations prior to a return to race circuits around Europe in June of 2020. Our partnership with Balanced was born from a desire to do everything in our power to support the health of our 30-strong workforce, and to allow them to operate at the highest level no matter where we are. The combination of travel, alongside long working days in pursuit of winning on track, can take its toll on the body and mind.

While my personal family at home focuses on a largely sugar, dairy and meat-free diet, it’s a fact that my race team family, in a traditional motorsport environment, do not all commit to similar choices. However, we do our best to support and encourage lifestyle changes wherever possible, not only for the health and wellbeing of the team itself, but to make a conscious effort to offset the environmental elements of the racing activity.

Yamaha, as one of the largest motorcycle manufacturers in the world, has a clear commitment to urban mobility and to producing low-carbon solutions for the future – be it in its forthcoming power assist bicycles (or “e-bikes”), fully electric scooters or in developing and popularising its easily manoeuvrable threewheel motorcycles which can be ridden on a car licence in order to reduce emissions and congestion caused by larger motor vehicles. As a manufacturer, the company can deliver these intentions to a wider audience through traditional platforms such as the World Superbike programme – excitement and performance on track that drives greater awareness to the brand’s broader range of transport solutions for everyday use. You may not be able to ride like our extremely talented young athletes (Turkish ‘wunderkind’ Toprak Razgatlioglu or reigning World Supersport Champion, Italian Andrea Locatelli) but you can very easily discover the personal freedom of two or three-wheel mobility yourself!

Author: Paul Denning, Team Principal – Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK

Yoga for Children:

Learning Compassion, Laughing Through Lion

t was International Yoga Day on the 21st June this year.

Proposed by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and conceived at the United Nations General Assembly in September 2014, it aligned with the longest day of the year, permitting a wide temporal window for a celebratory practice that day (whether one was an early bird or a night owl, or indeed our children were).

The inaugural celebration of International Yoga Day in 2015 saw nearly 36,000 people (including PM Modi and dignitaries from 84 nations) perform some 21 yoga postures (asanas) in Rajpath, New Delhi. The class lasted 35 minutes.

Modi reasoned that yoga creates “harmony between man and nature”, that it “is not about exercise but to discover the sense of oneness with yourself, the world and nature”. Such sentiments could not have been more apt this year, as pandemic restrictions came to an end. We most of us are currently stepping into the future very much aware of the delicate balance between Man and the natural world that keeps everything functioning fluidly. We certainly do not need to be dealing with further zoonotic viruses: the future is an enlightened and (largely) plant-based one, and we must educate the next generation in those teachings. As Modi stated, “by changing our lifestyle and creating consciousness” the wellbeing of all will be ameliorated no end.

Whether it’s raising our kiddies vegetarian or vegan, or simply making our children aware of animal suffering and living compassionately – home-schooling (whether full-time or in between the lessons delivered by teachers) ever extends beyond the traditional school curriculum of core subjects and it is a parent’s responsibility to broaden their offspring’s minds to the lived experience of others, non-human animals included.

Yoga is not just reserved for adults. Where we might strive for perfection and worry about wearing the right gear, finding the best teacher, and remaining consistent on the path to loving to learn our own thoughts – yoga for children is a different matter entirely. It is about joyful release and connecting with their growing bodies, as well as connecting with the planet.

Whether suffering from hyperactivity or in need of energising, our young can benefit from the breathwork and postures that yoga has to offer, too. A boon for giving them something else to do other than sticking their faces in front of a screen for hours upon hours upon end – in children, a yogic practice has been found to eventually improve the way they socially interact with their peers, as well as increase academic performance after only 10 weeks.

Children are, after all, sponges: if parents are chilling out and connecting with themselves through a yogic routine, logic dictates that offspring moving through the same flow of asanas are going to benefit similarly. Giving the established asanas wild animal names helps spark the imagination of young minds and allows them vocal release when yoga can seem an all too silent practice. It also serves to concentrate young minds on the physical experience of those creatures.

At the end of the day, really, a home yoga practice for all the family is bound to lead to healthier, happier Brits all round. From the physical to the mental and even the spiritual: just be sure to make it fun. Aum to that, we say.

Mountain

(Tadasana) There is strength in stillness and stability. This pose requests of youngsters a silence at the beginning of the practice.

Yoga for Children

Tree (Vrkasana) Visualisation is the key to making this interesting: arms become branches, fingers become leaves, and feet and toes solid roots for balance.

Giraffe

(Parsva Urdhva Tadasana) Oh, to be as tall as a giraffe. Bending to the side as slowly and gracefully as these gentle animals gradually connects children with their bodies, building up to the more active asanas to follow.

Camel (Ustrasana) There’s no hump like a camel’s hump – a wonderful stretch for little backs sat too long at screens this year.

Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana) Only the fittest of dogs can bring their heels to the floor. If they can’t, though, be sure to reassure them that they can bend their knees if they need to. Mouse (Balasana) The mouse is shy, the mouse is sleepy, and this little mouse is oh so squeaky!

Lion (Marjaryasana) How like a cat the lion rounds his back and stretches, but beware his roar when he brings his face up once again…

Kangeroo

(Utkatasana) The key to this is, of course, bouncing back up to standing!

Whale Pose

(Setu Bandhasana) Slow and secure, use this last (underwater) back and quad stretch before the wind down in Savasana.

Zebra

(Eka Pada Adha Mukha Svanasana) Zebras are impatient creatures, kicking out their legs when bored. But what do they sound like?

Cow Face

(Gomukhasana) A fun twist of a tongue-out pose that works on nearly every part of the body. Was that a moo that escaped just then..? Butterfly (Badhakonasana) The butterfly beats its wings, opening up the hips. The importance is in the reps.