Addi Strasser, Holistic Healer

07/21/2025

Just another Magic Monday...

06/25/2025

About once a year I get a nudge to do another post about the so-called "clean protein" diet. I speak with so many clients all over the world who have lost weight on keto-style diets, but who tend to not feel well if they stay on them in the long-term.

There are reasons for this.

This kind of eating can have benefits for some people; specifically the triggering of ketogenesis is necessary for the loss of excess fat, a thing quite epidemic in our culture. However, I find that in the avoidance of carbs (as if they aren't essential to life) people have a tendency to start eating like the French aristocracy, thinking this is somehow "healthy".

It is very easy to get too much protein, and more is not better!

I spoke with a client just last week who feeling low energy, sluggish, and getting depressed. He was eating "clean protein" - a term which actually means nothing whatsoever - 3X a day. When I calculated the person's total protein intake, it was nearly 4 times in excess of his body's needs! No wonder he was not feeling well!

Any protein intake in excess of reasonably immediate needs will have to be broken down by the body into storable components (fats and carbs). Any excess can present both an energetic and toxin load on the body.

The average North American gets more than 300% of their actual protein needs daily. Even in older age and while healing, a person will need only about 1 g of protein per kg (2.5 lbs.) of body weight, maybe a little bit more. And remember that the body can and will synthesize needed protein from available essential amino acids present in nearly all natural foods.

So... If the digestive "ask" of a person's diet is too extreme for the system (digestion and brain function are the two biggest energy takes in the body) then energy which otherwise may be left over for healing tissue, hormone replacement, etc. is depleted by the intake of and need to digest, reconfigure and store protein. Just so you're aware.

How much protein does a person need?
Here is one quick example:

Female, age 55, 150 lbs.
Exercises 3X per week
She will need around 75 g of protein per day.

2 slices multigrain toast with peanut butter = 17g of protein
1 egg = 13 g

In this sample breakfast, close to half of the day's protein needs are met already.

After-walk snack is a protein bar. Another 20 g of protein.
We are now at 50 g by 10:30 am! So 2/3 of daily "need" is already met.

You don't need to "have a protein" at lunch if you are going to eat protein at dinner.
The body does NOT require constant input of protein. Protein is NOT a source of food energy, except very long-term and at significant cost to the body. For energy, eat carbs and fats.
Protein is not a separate entity which can only be got through specific foods. Protein is merely the configuration of fats and carbohydrates together, creating specific chains of amino acids. That's it. There is no magic!

A peanut butter and banana sandwich has as much protein as a 1.5 oz of meat or fish, and it takes far less energy to digest.

And genuinely, the human body is simply not designed to uptake large quantities of protein at one time. So I run into this scenario again and again with clients. "I've lost 40 lbs. and I feel like crap!"

Every human is different. But I often recommend, "Just back off on the protein intake by about 40% and see what happens!"

Within 14 to 30 days, my clients are nearly always feeling better.

"I had this constant ache in my right side. After I stopped eating all that protein, the pain stopped!"

"Yeah. That was your liver yelling, 'Enough with the damn protein, buddy!' I'm glad it's resolved for you.

Excess protein, particularly in the form of animal products, is noted by some of the largest cohort studies conducted to date (eg. China Study, Harvard Nurse's Study) to relate directly to shorter lifespan and higher incidence of several diseases, including cancer and heart disease.

Protein should be a supplement to a diet with plenty of fiber, colourful fruits and veggies, a good intake of anti-oxidants, and sufficient fat and carbs for energy. Protein is necessary, but an excess of it can rob you of vitality and put you at risk in the long-term.

Need more info or would like some insight into your own diet? I do FREE 15-minute consults and you can message me here or through my website at addistrasser.com

05/22/2025

15% off all services today thru May 27th.
Just message me to get yours!

05/15/2025

Speaking with many women each week, I get asked a lot of questions about weight management.

From what I see, the #1 issue that women (and men!) who are 50+ have is high cortisol and/or adrenal fatigue. That means you are running on stress hormones! This equals sleep trouble, waking insomnia, weight that just won't go away, and increased desire to eat an entire box of crackers at bedtime. Poor daytime energy means you don't want to walk in the sun or work out at the gym.

I often recommend an adrenal support protocol to get the adrenal glands working normally again. This can take some time, but it's well worth the effort! And here are some simple tips to help build muscles and tone while you reduce your body's Emergency-Storing every calorie you take in.

05/14/2025

Got questions about Holistic Health?
I do free 15-minute consults by phone or Zoom!
Message me to book yours!

05/06/2025

An entirely fat-free little article about how to replenish the gut biome. Fascinating findings for maximum recovery!

For decades, f***l microbiota transplants (FMTs) have been hailed as a quick-fix solution to gut dysbiosis — the microbial imbalance associated with everything from chronic inflammation to obesity. But a groundbreaking new study published in Nature upends this narrative, showing that a diet rich i...

04/17/2025

Anna Halprin... One of what are by now countless people who have not only survived dire diagnoses and death, itself, but created lives of great significance and fine example.

"At 51 years old, Anna Halprin was slowly dying. Doctors had diagnosed her with severe, incurable bowel cancer. All she had to do was resign herself to the approaching end. Instead, Halprin took up dance and, as fantastic as it sounds, defeated the cancer. Since then, for more than 40 years, she has danced – not for the sake of art, but for the sake of health. At 92, Anna Halprin frequently performs and teaches others how to heal. There is no magic or anything supernatural in her story. 'The natural self-healing mechanism is built into every cell of the body.'
A wonderful way to trigger this mechanism, says Halprin, is to start dancing. Not just any way, but to connect the movements with your feelings and experiences.
That's what happened to Anna. After learning about the illness, she took some paints and on a large canvas drew her cancer as she imagined it. The result was a threatening abstract blot. Anna hung the painting on the wall, invited a dozen friends, and performed the Dance of Cancer in front of the painting. The idea was to use the language of dance to 'speak out' fears and doubts. It looked quite unusual, and sometimes even frightening: while dancing, Halprin spread her arms, made sharp movements, squatted, hissed, and moaned. There was something almost religious about it.
'One day, when I was a child, I saw my uncle praying and swaying as he prayed,' says Anna Halprin. 'Then I thought that God must be a dancer.'
Surprisingly, the dance of cancer helped. Anna Halprin is completely cured. 'My struggle with the disease was an incredible gift for me,' she admits. 'Before the cancer, I lived to dance. After that, I dance to live.' This is the art of dancing to live that Halprin has been teaching her students ever since. Her method is to establish a deep connection between the mind, the unconscious, and the physical body itself. For example, she asks students to take a piece of paper and draw their fears, worries – whatever comes to mind. And then, improvising, 'dance' that drawing. That is, to talk about the same experiences, but in the language of movement. 'I teach people to listen to their bodies,' explains Anna Halprin. 'They heal themselves, I just guide them to resources. But that still makes me very happy.'
Now, on the eve of her 93rd birthday, Anna Halprin holds three-hour classes twice a week in her studio and also leads author's workshops.
For 40 years, Anna Halprin has been healing people through dance – one might say she dances with God.
God, it seems, is quite a good dancer." From the book "I Wanted It and I Could" / Cynthia Cynthia. TAT TVAM ASI/