DR. DARYL GIOFFRE
Dr. Daryl Gioffre describes health as energy, and the energy he exudes is off the charts! A celebrated chiropractor and functional nutritionist, Dr. Gioffre is the founder of the Gioffre Chiropractic Wellness Center. He is a passionate motivational speaker, most recognized from his regular appearances on Live with Kelly And Ryan, and believes peak health and longevity come down to one simple concept… Get Off Your Acid! It is his mantra and the title of his first book, Get Off Your Acid, as well the goal behind his line of “Acid-Kicking” supplements. His follow up book, Get Off Your Sugar: Burn the Fat, Crush Your Cravings, and Go From Stress Eating to Strength Eating, recently debuted and picks up where Get Off Your Acid leaves off.
The pH balance of acidity and alkalinity in our bodies has become a popular health topic in recent months, one that we have written about in numerous posts, as well. Basically, our bodies function optimally at a blood level pH balance of 7.4 on a scale of 0 to 14, where 0 is the most acidic and 14 is the most alkaline. When the scale tips too far towards acidic it creates inflammation that causes fatigue, bloating, congestion, and a host of more serious symptoms. Dr. Gioffre, like many other health and wellness experts, believes the acidity in our bodies that comes from diet, stress, and lifestyle choices is at the heart of most chronic health issues.
Our bodies are designed to maintain a healthy pH balance but numerous factors can throw it off, most obviously what we eat, like rich, processed, and sugary foods. According to Dr. Gioffre however, stress is the primary cause of acidity and inflammation. And think of what we’ve been experiencing over the last year! “Our baseline stress level is so elevated right now”, says Dr. Gioffre, “that we are essentially marinating in our stress hormone cortisol, 24-7”.
This stress level often leads to food choices that only add to the acidity already in our systems. “When we’re stressed, it’s not a salad we crave”, he says. “Sugar is what we go for first, so called comfort foods, but these foods are not comforting to your body at all. Maybe in that moment you get a little comfort because of what it does to the dopamine levels. Sugar is 8 times more addictive than cocaine and heroin. Sugar is a drug, and it’s America’s drug of choice.” This is the focus of Dr. Gioffre’s latest book, Get Off Your Sugar: Burn the Fat, Crush Your Cravings, and Go From Stress Eating to Strength Eating.
Our bodies are designed to burn fat or sugar, but because we feed it sugar and carbohydrates so regularly, that’s what it becomes reliant on. When you eat sugar, your body burns sugar, and so you crave sugar. It’s like the kindling on a fire versus a log. Kindling burns fast, and this cycle of spikes and crashes sets off an overreaction when the body thinks it’s out of fuel. Despite its ability to burn its fat stores, to be metabolically flexible — burn sugar in an emergency (i.e. “fight or flight” mode) and fat when we’re out of danger — we’ve trained our bodies to stay in that state of physiological stress. This causes our adrenals to release more cortisol, which triggers the release of insulin… more sugar!
A self-professed former sugar addict, once 42 lbs. heavier, it was on his own quest to get healthy that Dr. Gioffre found a simple solution to kill his sugar cravings and reduce his correlating high acidity levels… plants! Green leafy vegetables are the most alkalizing foods we can eat. The number one tip he says, for creating alkalinity, lowering inflammation, and reducing acidity is to start your day off with a green juice.
Dr. Gioffre is as ardent about minerals, which also have a direct correlation with acidity levels. He believes it is a magnesium deficiency in particular that is the cause of sugar cravings. Green vegetables are loaded with minerals, especially magnesium. The more sugar we eat, the more depleted we become of this important mineral, making our cravings even that much greater. When you consume foods high in acidity, the body takes magnesium from the muscles to neutralize it. It also takes calcium from our bones, a deficiency in which he says is not the cause of osteoporosis, but the acidity in our bodies as well.
“One of the biggest lies we’ve been told is that the cause of osteoporosis is a calcium deficiency. Not true! You give people 1500mg of calcium and the reason their bones are still disintegrating is because the body is pulling calcium from the bones to deal with the inflammation and acidity in the blood. Both calcium and magnesium are acid buffers that mop up toxins in blood to maintain a healthy pH.”
So why then, if sugar creates a magnesium deficiency, do we crave what causes that deficiency? Dr. Gioffre explains that magnesium helps regulate blood sugar levels and is partially responsible for the levels of glucose in our body. It is also involved in the production of insulin, which is responsible for the regulation of blood sugar levels as well. When we are deficient in magnesium, our ability to regulate insulin and blood sugar levels drops. And so goes the sugar craving, magnesium depletion cycle.
I am often wary of doctors who prescribe medical advice, who also have a line of supplements to fix what ails. I did, however, have the opportunity to put him to the test. Dr. Gioffre’s Acid-Kicking Minerals are a blend of calcium citrate, magnesium glycinate, potassium bicarbonate, and sodium bicarbonate, what he considers the 4 most important alkaline minerals to neutralize acid. When I pointed out these are the same ingredients in my hydration tablets, he quickly showed me why in fact they were not.
Not all minerals, and certainly not calcium and magnesium, are created equal. Both the form and ratio of calcium to magnesium are critical. The calcium carbonate in my electrolyte tabs is in fact the worst form of calcium for bones. It’s great however, as an acid neutralizer, and is one of the ingredients in his Acid-Kicking Coffee Alkalizer. You also need a 1-1 ratio of calcium to magnesium to be able to absorb calcium. According to Dr. Gioffre, calcium citrate is best. It’s the form of calcium most easily absorbed by the body. Guess I’ll ditch the big bottle of calcium carbonate tablets in my medicine cabinet… or maybe start dropping them in my coffee!
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