Part 2 - “Sleep, Light & Stress- The Hidden Bone Thieves” In Part 1, we talked about your bones having a clock. Now let’s talk about the 3 sneaky bone thieves that quietly mess with that clock. 1. Messed-up sleep 2. Too much artificial light at night 3. Chronic stress Sleep - When Your Bones Do Night Shift Most of your deep repair work (including bone repair) happens at night. When you- - Go to bed at different times every night - Sleep 5–6 hours instead of 7–9 - Wake up multiple times - Or live on “revenge bedtime procrastination” (scrolling because it’s your “only me-time”) …your body clock gets confused. The result? - Your bone breakdown crew (osteoclasts) gets more active than it should - Your repair crew (osteoblasts) doesn’t get a clean, predictable window to rebuild You might think- “But I eat well and exercise, isn’t that enough?” For bones, the answer is often no if sleep is a mess. Light- The Signal That Tells Your Body What Time It Is Your brain reads light as a signal. - Bright morning light = “It’s daytime, let’s be alert!” - Darkness at night = “Time for melatonin, repair and rebuild.” What gets in the way? - Phone in your face in bed - TV on in the bedroom - Overhead bright LEDs at 10pm - Working late on a laptop in a bright room Blue light at night tells your brain- “It’s still daytime, keep melatonin low.” Low melatonin = weaker “night shift” repair signal for your bones (and your brain, gut, ovaries… everything). Stress- The Constant Alarm Bell High, chronic stress = high cortisol. Cortisol isn’t “bad,” but when it stays elevated- - It interferes with melatonin - It disrupts your circadian rhythm - It increases bone breakdown and slows repair - It makes belly fat, cravings, and poor sleep worse This is why in FitnHealthy Forever we work on nervous system regulation (breathwork, journaling, boundaries, etc.) - not just food rules. 3 Simple “Bone Clock” Fixes You Can Start This Week

You’re Not Overweight Because of Carbs — You’re Overweight Because of Stress. A big BUT - where does the stress come from? Maybe not where we commonly think. High Fat Intake + Low Carb = Temporary Insulin Resistance This is called physiological insulin resistance or “adaptive glucose sparing.” When carbs are low and fats are high- - Muscles switch to burning fat - They refuse glucose on purpose - So blood sugar rises when carbs are introduced or measured fasting This is not diabetes - but it looks like pre-diabetes on lab work. 6. Chronic Low-Carb = Reduced Glycogen Storage Low carb diets drain glycogen (your body’s stored carbs). Low glycogen signals the liver to keep pumping out glucose, raising blood sugar. 7. Poor Sleep / High Nighttime Cortisol Nighttime cortisol spikes (very common over 40) push fasting blood sugar up. Causes include, but are in no way limited to - - Stress - Inflammation - Hormone shifts - Eating too little - Overtraining - Going to bed hungry 8. Under-Eating Overall Eating too few calories increases- - Stress hormones - Gluconeogenesis in the liver - Insulin resistance Wanna find some solutions? Stop Blaming Carbs. It’s Your Hormones That Are Starving - Pt3

1. Cellular Energy Deficiency (Mitochondrial Stress — The #1 Root Cause) Your cells sense danger when they cannot produce enough ATP (Energy within the Cell). Low energy = threat = inflammation triggered to protect tissues. Primary causes of mitochondrial stress- - Chronic stress - Poor sleep or circadian disruption - Nutrient deficiencies (magnesium, B vitamins, CoQ10, carnitine) - Toxins (plastics, mold, heavy metals, xenoestrogens) - Seed oils (PUFAs causing oxidative stress) - Low thyroid function - Alcohol - Overtraining or under-eating - Viral or bacterial load - Aging + inflammation load When energy drops, inflammation rises. 2. Blood Sugar & Insulin Instability The body interprets unstable blood sugar as an emergency. Caused by- - Excess carbs without protein - Insulin resistance - Cortisol spikes - Skipping meals - Nighttime eating - Poor sleep - Chronic stress - Excessive snacking - High PUFA diet This is the fastest way to trigger chronic low-grade inflammation. 3. Gut Barrier Dysfunction (“Leaky Gut”) When the gut lining breaks down, food particles, toxins, and microbes leak into the bloodstream leading to immune activation leading to inflammation. Primary triggers- - Gluten - Alcohol - Seed oils - Artificial sweeteners - Food sensitivities - Antibiotics - Processed foods - Stress - Gut infections - Low stomach acid - Mold + environmental toxins About 70–80% of the immune system sits in the gut. If the gut is inflamed, everything becomes inflamed. 4. Chronic Psychological + Emotional Stress The nervous system controls the immune system. High stress leads to high cortisol leads to immune dysregulation which leads to inflammation. It's caused by- - Trauma - Grief - Chronic overwhelm - Perfectionism - Burnout - Work stress - Mother-load stress - Marriage or relationship pressures - Financial fear - Chronic fear/shame loops This root cause is massively underestimated in women over 40.

Here's the Big Picture Disease Progression Timeline Almost all inflammation-driven diseases follow this predictable pattern. Phase 1 - The Trigger - poor diet - chronic stress - lack of sleep - gut imbalances - toxins - smoking - sedentary lifestyle Phase 2- Immune Activation The Body sees these triggers as “threats” which leads to immune cells release inflammatory cytokines. Phase 3 - Constant Signaling Inflammation never shuts off which leads to tissues stop repairing which leads to oxidative stress building which leads to mitochondria weakening. Phase 4- Tissue Damage Organ-specific damage begins (arteries, liver, brain, gut, pancreas). Phase 5 - Dysfunction Cells can’t do their job which leads to energy dropping which leads to hormones weakening which leads to blood sugar rising then, early symptoms begin. Phase 6 - Disease Once the damage becomes measurable, now we call it - - diabetes - heart disease - dementia - fatty liver - autoimmunity - cancer But the disease started many years earlier - with inflammation. Let's get into the Diseases and their mechanisms. Pick one that you're familiar with or know of someone that has it.

6. HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE- Keeping Blood Flowing We were taught that “High blood pressure causes disease.” FitnHealthy Truth-High blood pressure is the body’s compensating mechanism to push oxygen through inflamed, stiff blood vessels. It is trying to maintain the process in which blood carries oxygen and nutrients to body tissues and organs and transports waste products of cellular metabolism away. to vital organs. 7. COPD - Inflammation as Defense Chronic irritation (smoke, pollution) leads to immune system ramps up defense leads to thickened airways, which creates mucus production which then leads to a protective attempt to trap toxins. Over time, the adaptation becomes clogged & broken. 8. AUTOIMMUNITY - An Overprotective Immune System There's over 100 Auto-Immune Diseases where the Body attacks it's own tissues. We were taught - “The immune system is attacking you.” FitnHealthy Truth- The immune system is trying to protect you from something it perceives as dangerous (toxins, microbes, viruses, implants, food particles). When the stressors persist, the immune system becomes confused and overreactive and attacks itself thinking it's an invader. 9. KIDNEY DISEASE - Scarring as Containment Inflammation damages filtration units leading to scarring where the body is trying to prevent further injury to delicate tissues. Then it can't filter poisons properly anymore. 10. OSTEOARTHRITIS- Joint Inflammation to Stabilize Weak Tissue Systemic Inflammation leading to Cartilage breakdown leading to more inflammation which increases to protect the joint leading to thickened bone and then fluid are added to the region in attempts to stabilize. Last 5 of the top 15 Diseases coming up.