After spending 16 years as a professional baseball player (5 years in KC with the Royals), I really enjoyed the 2012 post-season baseball games, especially the World Series. To me, the end of the World Series signals the beginning of the wretched winter months in KC. This article may help you deal with “baseball withdrawal” and the cold, grey winter months ahead.
When I was a player, I never imagined that, in 2012, I would be writing tips for readers on how to use certain nutrients to help the brain deal with life in the Midwest. Having spent my high school and college years in Florida, I couldn’t believe that people would live in a climate where the sun was absent for weeks at a time. Now, as a full-time Kansas resident since ’87, a father of 3 grown daughters, and a small-business owner since ’94, I know why we live here.
I wish that I knew about the value of using phenylalanine when I was playing in the major leagues. Sometimes I was mentally exhausted before many games but I still had to perform in front of thousands of people. I didn’t find out about phenylalanine until 1991, 4 years after I retired. I would have used it before every game I played if I had to do it all over again.
What is Phenylalanine?
Phenylalanine a nutritional supplement that can help curb your appetite and elevates your mood
Phenylalanine is an essential amino acid that acts as an appetite suppressant by promoting the release of intestinal hormone-cholecystokinin-which signals the brain to feel satiated after eating.
Here’s how appetite control works: cholecystokinin (CCK) is released as food enters the stomach. It tells the digestion to slow down and then gives the message to the brain that you are ‘full’… so your appetite naturally decreases. This takes time – usually around 20 minutes. If you take Phenylalanine in 30 minutes to one hour before eating a meal, you’ll notice that you’ll feel full faster- so you don’t fill up on extra calories that you don’t need! And not only that, you’ll stay full longer so you don’t get that late afternoon or after-dinner snack attack. Before you know it, those extra pounds you’ve been carrying around will start to melt away-safely and effortlessly.
Lose weight and stay positive!
Once you have made up your mind to lose weight, you should make that commitment and go into it with a positive attitude. Think like a winner, and envision yourself the way you want to look and feel. Don’t get discouraged if you slip now and then, and eat something you know you shouldn’t have. We’re all human. If you eat something you know isn’t good for you, enjoy it without feeling guilty. You don’t have to be perfect! It’s not what you do occasionally that counts, it’s what you do consistently on a daily basis.
Stay Mentally Sharp
Phenylalanine also helps boost mental awareness and energy by stimulating the brain using “natural” caffeine. So instead of reaching for an energy drink that will only leave you with a sugar high, I choose to use a more natural approach. If I’m more alert and have more energy, I feel ready to take on the various challenges of the day and am more apt to stay true with my dietary regiment.
According to Priscilla Slagle, M.D., author of The Way Up From Down, “Diet changes and natural supplements an alter your brain chemistry so that you can think and perceive positively.” Phenylalanine is found in a variety of foods, including almonds, avocados, bananas, brown rice, cheese, corn, eggs, fish, lima beans, peanuts, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, and soy products. Problem is, you’d have to eat lots of extra calories in order to get an effective amount. Taking a supplement of phenylalanine is much easier.
Lastly, there is a concept called cognitive reserve. It explains why some peoples’ brains have the physical changes of disease but none of the symptoms. Those without the extra connections and without healthy brain tissue are more likely to suffer the symptoms earlier. Vitamin D plays an important role in the creation of and integration of new brain cells. Personally, I use 4,000 iu of vitamin D-3 per day (2,000 iu 2 times a day) through my Life Priority product, Sunlife, available at www.lifepriority.com.
Make a good Joint Decision!-Keep your Body Moving Make the right decision for your Joints
Nutrition and Exercise are so important to staying healthy. I strongly suggest using a glucosamine supplement to keep the joints and cartridge healthy. My favorite is joint Decision or Total Joint Complex. The daily supplementing of glucosamine has been well establish in the last 15 years!