Our digestive tract’s ability to fully digest and absorb protein determines, in large part, our body's ability to build muscle and lose body fat.

It affects our energy levels, hormones, inflammatory responses, and overall health.

It affects our gut and our ability to repair intestinal lining that has been damaged by toxins and harmful bacteria.

And when protein isn’t properly digested, this triggers a sequence of actions involving our immune system that leads to higher levels of cortisol, the hormone that prevents fat loss and breaks down muscle.

It leads to lower energy and mood, hormone issues, Leaky Gut, and even to our immune system mistaking our own cells for harmful bacteria and toxins, and so attacking them.

Even more, without full digestion, our body receives less of the protein we consume in a form it can actually use.

So we get less protein for muscle, properly balanced hormones, cellular repair and upkeep, and overall health and energy, while at the same time we’re eating more that goes to waste.

This is a big deal. Due to processed foods and sugars, many of our digestive tracts don’t function at optimal levels, preventing a significant amount of the food we eat from being fully broken down so our body can use it.

Beyond this, improper digestion leads to not only heart burn, acid reflux, GERD, gas and a bloated stomach, but also allows for harmful bacteria, parasites, and fungi to take root, further causing us trouble.

Everything hinges on protein. Or, more specifically, the essential amino acids protein provides, which is what our body actually uses.

So, understanding exactly how digestion works and how to keep or get it working properly is very important.

Here is your very short, very simple schedule for use on the Gut Health 30-Day Challenge.

You can print this out and keep it with you or put it on the refrigerator to run your day.

Our digestive tract is very important for our overall health.

When it’s running smoothly we have good digestion without discomfort where the foods we eat are fully broken down into useable nutrients for our body.

Our stomach kills off most harmful microbes entering it, and if they aren’t killed off there, then they are in our small intestine where 80% of our immune system exists for this exact reason.

Once any of these microbes are neutralized, our intestine opens what are called tight junctions to let the nutrients from our food through and into our bloodstream.

Further down we have our colon, where trillions of bacteria live, consuming left over food and producing vitamins, amino acids, and neurotransmitters like GABA and serotonin which are then absorbed through the wall of our colon and sent to our brain or elsewhere. This is our microbiome.

And how well our digestive tract is doing, our gut, parallels fairly closely how well we are doing, both physically and mentally.

However, if harmful microbes do make it in and take root, evading our immune cells, along with toxins, these can cause real trouble.

This protocol aims to address these harmful microbes, ridding our digestive tract of them, while at the same time building all aspects of our digestive tract back up to optimal levels.

Welcome to the Gut Health Guide, Protocol & 30-Day Challenge!

Our gut is one of the most important aspects of our health.

If our gut is generally healthy, so are we. If our gut is not healthy, then neither are we. It really is that simple.

But about two thirds of Americans are living with gut issues.

Acid reflux, heart burn, and Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Gas and bloating, causing a protruding stomach that can’t be “exercised off.”

Leaky Gut, SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth), Candida, H. Pylori and C. Diff.

Gluten reactions.

An imbalanced microbiome causing higher stress levels, poor energy, and much more.

If we want the healthiest body we can have, with high energy levels, an easy time maintaining our figure, healthier skin, a calmer mood, hormonal balance, lean muscle, and good sleep — then we need to take control of our gut.

This is the third article in the Autoimmune series.

In the last two articles we covered what autoimmunity is and what causes it.

And in this article we’re going to talk about how to address it.

When we look at addressing some kind of physical condition, we can look at it from two different angles: addressing the symptoms and working to suppress those, or locating the root cause that is creating the condition, and keeping it created on a daily basis, and address that so that it is no longer being continually created.

We've spoken about what free radicals are, how they occur, how they affect our aging, stress levels, energy levels, hormones, skin, and much more.

And about what oxidative stress is, when free radicals reach a tipping point, causing gradual destruction throughout our body over time.

This causes high stress levels, both physically and mentally, poor sleep and recovery, lowered energy and mental focus, lowered health, and reduced longevity over time.

But there’s one free radical that’s worse than any other, and which not only causes more harm, but even the creation of new free radicals in a chain reaction of destruction in our body.

These are called hydroxyl radicals. And they speed aging and the development of many other conditions more than anything else.

They're caused by toxins and pollutants in our food, water, and air, cigarette smoke, chemicals in processed foods, and sun radiation.

If you’ve heard about hydrogen water and how good it is for you, this is why. It’s what neutralizes these. And it’s quite helpful.

But understanding what they are, what they do in our body, and what we can do about them is essential for optimum health and longevity.

Let's dive in.

There are certain things that accelerate aging, destroying our cells, far beyond anything else.

You’ve probably heard of them, but never gotten a real explanation for what they are or how they work.

They’re called free radicals.

These are incomplete molecules in our body, caused naturally or through toxins, harmful bacteria, radiation, and ingredients in many processed foods.

But while they do occur naturally on a lower level, when they’re too high, they cause destruction throughout our body.

They can affect our skin, creating dry or sagging skin over time, or lead to disruptions in our skin.

They affect our hormones and hormonal balance.

They lower our energy levels while raising immune activity.

They affect our cardiovascular system, injuring our blood vessels.

They can break down proteins in our cells, harm our DNA, and even cause mutations.

And they raise stress levels throughout our nervous system, making it harder to relax, recover from workouts or activity, or get good, deep sleep.

In short, they’re not good. And as they’re at an all time high with today’s environmental pollutants and chemicals in our foods, we need to take active steps to neutralize them to prevent damage in the body.

So let’s dive in.

In this article we want to give you a window into the life of an elite athlete and find out how they train on a daily basis, and how they ready themself for an international tournament.

Because, whether you’re training to elite level yourself, or just trying to stay fit and healthy, what they know and do could work wonders for you.

We want to know how they prepare, both physically and mentally, and even strategically.

What is their training cadence, diet, workout regimen, and mind set?

What is their recovery protocol and sleep routine, and what other tricks do they have?

In short — we want to know what it takes to become the best?

And to find out, we asked one of the best.

Meet Mitchell Saron, a Filipino American, right-handed saber fencer who is, quite literally, one of the best on the planet.

Let’s dive in.

If you’re reading this page, it’s likely that you’ve seen our claims for PerfectAmino Essential Amino Acids; and that you may have a few questions about them.

The first claim is that not all proteins are equal. That different proteins, once digested and absorbed, provide our bodies with different amounts of usable protein, gram for gram. 

The second claim is that the idea that we receive 4 calories for every gram of protein we consume is a misconception. And that it indicates a broader lack of understanding of what calories are outside of the scientific community, and what they have to do with muscle gain, energy, and body fat. 

We’ll do our best to answer those claims here.

Many people think of bodybuilding as just trying to build the biggest muscles we can. And that’s not quite true.

Bodybuilding is about building one’s ideal physique. And, while that includes achieving bigger muscles, it also means achieving balance, symmetry and aesthetics.

But there are those who do try for building the biggest muscles they can, which there is nothing wrong with.

Unfortunately, many of them employ substances which, while helping to achieve their goals faster, and in some cases achieve more than they could naturally, also result in serious health conditions such as Type 2 Diabetes, something which is becoming more and more prevalent amongst bodybuilders today.

In this article we’re going to cover the use of steroids and insulin injections, why they're used, how they work, and how these significantly increase the risk of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes down the road.

In this article we're going to cover something that is key to increasing the overall endurance, performance, and recovery ability of an athlete.

But while it's very important for an athlete, or anyone into fitness of any sort — it’s also important for anyone who is just wishing to raise their overall health and energy levels.

This is because, no matter where we're starting from, very high or very low, if we address it, we can significantly raise not just our energy production and performance abilities, but our overall health, across the spectrum, possibly even removing health troubles we thought were: "just they way it is."

It's called VO2 Max. V is for Volume, O2 is for Oxygen, and Max is for Maximum.

VO2 Max literally means the maximum amount, or volume, of oxygen that your cells are currently able to utilize during intense exercise, before you burn out.

Note the word currently.

Because when we raise the maximum amount of oxygen each cell can take in and use, so that they're able to and do use more, we end up raising energy production, performance, endurance, our ability to recover, and possibly even reverse conditions we thought would never go away.

And it's not hard to do.

So let’s dive in.

Most people, when they hit 50, and definitely when they hit 60 or 70, start to lose muscle mass and strength. And most of them think this is just a matter of aging.

But, while aging is definitely a factor here, there is much more going on that is speeding up this process.

I’m 74 years old and I still run in Ironman Triathlons.

I’m strong, I’m lean, and I have more energy than many people half my age. And I’m not alone in this.

So, obviously, age isn’t quite the factor most people think.

But there are key differences between those of us who still keep our muscle and strength, and those of us who don’t. And they’re not genetic.

They’re points that anyone can apply to themselves to start increasing strength and muscle mass again, no matter how old they are.