Seasonal Allergies? Focus on Antioxidant Support
Vitamin C and quercetin may help Although spring brings the joys of warmer days and colorful flowers, it’s also the beginning of allergy season for many (over 19 million of us, to be exact!)[1]For some of us, allergies hit us worse in the fall. Unfortunately, if you have an allergic disposition, it may never…
What are Antioxidants?
How Do Antioxidants Support Healing? Certain foods – including beautifully-marketed “superfoods” – are celebrated for their antioxidant properties. But what does that even mean? What are antioxidants, and why are they important? What is oxidation? Oxidative stress? As the name implies, antioxidants fight oxidation. But what is oxidation? Let’s take a closer look: If…
What is autoimmune disease?
How a confused immune system can do harm. The immune system is brilliantly designed to protect us from the complications of infection, injury, and disease – but it isn’t perfect. In a condition known as autoimmunity, the immune system can cause harm by attacking the body’s own cells, tissues, and organs. Let’s take a closer…
NAD+: Health or Hype?
What the research says about nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide What is NAD+? NAD+, or nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, is a coenzyme – or enzyme “helper” that supports important reactions in the body. NAD+ is needed to help turn nutrients into energy, and is thus a key player in mitochondrial health. NAD+ also helps repair damaged…
Lyme Disease and Biofilm
A cause of persistent infections Tick-borne diseases pose a significant threat to human health, with the number of cases rising threefold in the U.S. in recent years.[1] The most common tick-borne illness is Lyme disease. According to a recent estimate, approximately 476,000 Americans are diagnosed and treated for Lyme disease each year.[2] Lyme disease…
What is Bowel Tolerance?
A guide to dosing vitamin C, magnesium, and other nutrients We often talk about taking vitamin C and magnesium to “bowel tolerance” – but what does that mean? Dosing a supplement to bowel tolerance means taking the highest dose of that supplement possible without causing loose, watery stools (diarrhea).[1] If you’re taking vitamin C…
Clinical Approaches to Herxheimer Reactions
Lyme disease is one of the fastest growing insect-borne infectious diseases in the United States. [1] The majority of infections occur following a bite from a deer tick carrying Borrelia burgdorferi, or one of its subspecies. Acute Lyme disease is often treated relatively easily when caught early, but newer research suggests that Lyme disease…
Enhancing Immunity with Glandulars
“Beasty bits” for autoimmunity, cancer recovery, and more The phrase “natural immune support” typically calls to mind vegetables, botanicals, probiotics, and fungi, but immune-enhancing therapies also come to us from the animal kingdom. While the meat of animals is rich in iron, vitamin B12, vitamin A, and protein,[1],[2],[3] the glands of these creatures may…
How Vitamin C Can Kick Addiction
The versatile vitamin’s mechanisms of action This article serves as Part 3 in our series on vitamin C, pain, and opioid use disorder. Check out Part 1 to learn about the vitamin’s use in the management of pain. In Part 2 we dive into its potential for easing opioid withdrawal symptoms and drug cravings….
Vitamin C for Opioid Addiction
What we know about ascorbate for withdrawal and cravings Part 2 in our three-part series on vitamin C, pain, and opioid use disorder. I first heard that vitamin C could help with opioid use disorder when I was asked to write an article on vitamin C, mood, and addiction for Nutrition in Focus. The…
Vitamin C to Ease the Pain
Nutritional support for acute, chronic, surgical, and cancer-related pain Part 1 in our three-part series on vitamin C, pain, and opioid addiction. What do humans have in common with other primates, bats, and guinea pigs? (No, not a love of cheese!) We cannot make L-gulonolactone oxidase (GLO), the enzyme needed to biosynthesize ascorbate (vitamin…
Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG: A Probiotic for All Ages
The benefits of L. rhamnosus GG for gut health and immunity Today’s probiotic story began in 1983, when Drs. Sherwood Gorbach and Barry Goldin, colleagues at Tufts University, were poring over stool specimens from healthy adults – a task few of us would envy. They managed to isolate “a strain of bacteria of a…
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