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…
NSAIDs: A Pain in the Gut
The gut-protective effects of curcumin and probiotics Millions of people use non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to alleviate the pain of arthritis, headaches, and other painful conditions.[1] Well-known NSAIDs include ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) naproxen (Aleve), and aspirin. Many other NSAIDs (diclofenac, etc.) are available by prescription. Although NSAIDs may relieve pain, their use is associated…
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…
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…
Ways to Ease Inflammation and Depression
Smart lifestyle choices for a happy brain and healthy mood In last week’s post we explored the ways in which inflammation can cause depression. The science shows that we cannot blame genetics alone for depression. That’s a good thing: it means there is a lot we can do to heal our brains. Here are…
Inflammation Drives Depression
Move over serotonin, inflammation is the new target of depression treatment Is inflammation a bad thing? Not necessarily: Inflammation helps the cells of the immune system fight infections and repair injuries. Like many things, however, the key to inflammation is balance – not too much, and not too little. Too little inflammation allows infections…
Multiple Sclerosis, Asthma, and Fasting
The effects of calorie restriction on immune function and inflammation Move over mustache wax, craft beer, and fixed-gear bicycles: fasting is making a comeback. By no means a new therapy, fasting has its roots in religion and medicine alike. In fact, the Greek physician Hippocrates, who lived from about 460 to 375 BCE, prescribed…
Melatonin, Immune Function, and Inflammation
The many levels on which melatonin regulates inflammation and immune function Although we primarily think of melatonin as a regulator of the circadian rhythm and our most primitive protective antioxidant,[1],[2] the role it plays in the body is far more encompassing than this. In addition to regulating the sleep cycle, melatonin impacts reproductive function,[3]…
Vitamin E and Immunity, Part 2 of 2
The role that tocotrienols play in inflammation, immunity, and lung health In addition to the tocopherol members of the vitamin E family, of which α-tocopherol dominates research, α-, β-, γ- and δ-tocotrienols also exist. Numerous studies suggest that tocotrienols have superior antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. However, they account for less than 5% of vitamin…
Botanicals for Asthma and Lung Health
Herbal tools to help you beat asthma and lung infections As we’ve learned all too well recently, we can’t take lung health for granted. Severe respiratory infections are on the rise, in addition to the chronic burdens of asthma, allergies, and air pollution.[1],[2] On top of that, many of us are experiencing smoke and…
Molecular Hydrogen and Autoimmune Disease
Multiple clinical studies report improvements in autoimmune disease with hydrogen treatment Although hydrogen (H2) is well known as an alternative fuel, recognized as such in the Energy Policy Act of 1992, only in 2007 did it begin to really make the scene in medicine. Although used for the purpose of preventing decompression sickness in…
Molecular Hydrogen as a Neuroprotectant
A potential new treatment for neurodegenerative diseases Neurodegenerative diseases, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson’s disease (PD), Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and Huntington’s disease (HD), among others, are often associated with oxidative stress and neuroinflammation.[1],[2] In each of these diseases, there are similarities in the role of genetics, neurotransmitters, accumulation of toxic proteins, membrane…
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