There is something called Metabolic Syndrome. And while you may or may not have heard of it, about one third of the US population has it.

And almost 90% of us are somewhere on our way to it.

It's a group of symptoms occurring together that show a lowered functioning in the overall processes within our body that keep us alive, healthy and doing well.

And it can lead to:

• Aches and pains
• Weight gain
• Poor recovery
• Lowered immune function
• Weakness
• Low energy
• Depression
• Heart disease
• Insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes
• Stroke
• Liver and kidney disease
• Sleep trouble or apnea and much more.

As only about 12% of the population of the US are metabolically healthy as of ten years ago… it’s something that is important for us to understand so we know both what is happening, and also what to do about it.

There is an idea that saturated fats raise cholesterol and so blood pressure, and this isn’t the case.

Your body needs saturated fats. About 25% of each of your cells are made from saturated fat. And they wouldn’t function without it.

Even more, it’s necessary if we want soft, healthy skin.

But there is another type of fat which has been confused with saturated fats, and which is very destructive: Trans Fats.

We aren’t hearing as much about them today, but they exist in many processed foods and we need to check for them as they cause inflammation in the blood vessels that does lead to high blood pressure.

So let’s see what these are and what they do.

It’s summer time, and if you plan on getting out into the woods or into the mountains, then it’s important you know how to spot ticks and remove them, or prevent them from getting onto you in the first place.

Because their bite can potentially carry harmful bacteria that causes Lyme Disease, Spotted Fever, and a series of other illnesses.

This doesn’t mean you need to be scared at all. Far from it. 

It just means that you need to be informed.

You need to know what they look like, where to look for them, and what to do if you find one.

Or, better yet, how to prevent them from getting onto you in the first place so you can have a safe adventure and enjoy the outdoors without worry.

In this article we're going to refresh on what we've learned, and then go over the Longevity Protocol to help reverse Biological Aging, and increase Lifespan and Healthspan.

To summarize, your body is made of 10’s of trillions of cells. It’s nothing but cells.

And the health and longevity of these individual cells determines how long you will live healthy, strong, with high energy and doing the things you want to do.

The effect that energy drinks and high levels of caffeine have on our bodies, our health, our sleep, our stress levels, our mood, our anxiety levels and our hormones is much more than most people think.

When continued over time, these can have a very significant impact on our long-term health and our body’s ability to function at optimal levels, not to mention our ability to lose fat and gain muscle.

And considering many people who drink these are in their teens or twenties, when their bodies are still developing, the damage they do there can be far worse, leading to acute or even chronic health conditions in the future.

When our digestive ability is weak, we don’t get all of the nutrition from foods we eat. This is because food, including proteins and minerals, must be fully broken down by stomach acid in order for our body to be able to use it.

In fact, poor digestion of protein is one of the largest causes of muscle loss as we age: our digestive system isn’t working as well as it was when we were younger, and so not enough protein is being broken down for our body to use.

But it’s not just our cells that need this nutrition.

Specific bacteria in our colon are responsible, in whole or in part, for the creation of the neurotransmitters serotonin and GABA, the happy, calming neurotransmitters.

We know that toxins are harmful to our bodies.

They stress our nervous system, raise inflammation and cortisol in the body, mess up our hormones, damage or kill cells, contribute to many diseases including cancer, and even cause trouble for our unborn children, disrupting the process by which both their nervous systems and immune systems form.

But how do toxins stress the body? How do they raise inflammation? And how can we prevent this?

Stress levels in our society have never been as high as they are right now. And, while there has been a lot of upheaval in the last few years, there's more here than meets the eye.

Depression and anxiety have never been higher, physical stress in the form of inflammation, auto-immune disease, heart disease and cortisol levels have never been higher.

But this isn’t a recent occurrence. Stress levels have been rising for decades.

And, while some stress is emotional or mental, and some physical, it's all tied together, each aspect affecting the other, pushing each other to new heights.

How do we lower physical stress levels and inflammation?

How do we achieve a more even-keeled mood, more able to calmly face the challenges life presents?

How do we become the most alert and competent we can be mentally, while at the same time being able to relax when we need or want to, or when it's time to sleep?

Over the next few weeks we're going to cover this from every angle, see how it all fits together, and find out what you can do to lower stress levels in your life.

Environmental toxins are getting worse.

And I don’t mean that as a generality. I mean it on a very real, very personal level.

We’ve passed the point where taking “reasonable caution” or “buying all organic” is enough.

We’re exposed to too many chemicals every day. They’re in our personal care products, the clothes we buy, the fabric of our car seats, and our dishwashing liquids. We even have toxic heavy metals in our baby foods.

But we’ve heard all of this before, seen all the stats and figures.

What does it really mean? How does this work, how do these things actually harm us? And is it really that bad?

Let’s have a real example and you tell me.

There are about 500 different species of bacteria. And between them, they ether produce or help to produce neurotransmitters in our body, such as Serotonin and GABA, which calm and relax us, de-stress us, allow us to fall asleep, and help to keep our hormones in balance so we can lose weight and add muscle.

Some of these bacteria eat the foods coming in such as amino acids, vitamins and other nutrients, and some actually produce amino acids, or vitamins, or other nutrients that the body can use or that other bacteria feed off of.

There is something called “Leaky Gut”, and this is not just a funny name. It’s probably one of the most accurate labels there are, actually.

When food comes into your small intestine from your stomach it’s already mostly broken down. Here, more enzymes (bodily chemicals) are released to break it down further into truly microscopic pieces.

The digestive tract is arguably the most important pathway in the body for overall health, fat loss, muscle-building, hormones, energy, and immune system function.

Now we’re going to dive more into one aspect of it affecting a majority of the people in the US right now whether they know it or not: SIBO or Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth.