Did you know your gut can talk to your brain? By Michal Cooling CNT Highly underestimated in its impact on health, the brain-gut axis is imbalanced in most of our chronic patients. In simple terms, the brain talks to the gut, and the gut talks to the brain. In fact, several parts of the brain are responsible directly for normal gut function. The gut also sends messages to the brain through gut peptides (protein molecules). Immune cells in the gut and brain also produce and react with molecules between each other. Imbalances can be from gut to brain, brain to gut, or a vicious cycle of the combination of the two. If the brain doesn’t work, neither will the gut, in fact that is one of the first symptoms of brain imbalance. If the gut doesn’t work, neither will the brain. This means therapy needs to go beyond a specific diet or anti-infection protocol, but to support the mechanisms involved in the brain-gut axis. The brain controls movement of food through the digestive tract, digestive enzymes, and parts of the autonomic nervous system which delivers blood carrying nutrients that support the intestines to name a few. Poor brain health is reflected by: poor memory the inability to find words difficulty learning new things brain fatigue, etc Poor brain health leads to: yeast and bacteria fermentation and overgrowth inability to eliminate waste products (constipation) increased load on the liver difficulty digesting food (protein, starches, fats) constant episodes of bloating and gas alternating constipation and diarrhea gallstone formation irritable bowel syndrome other bowel disorders leaky gut that causes inflammation in the brain and body...
Renew Vitality with Paleo this Spring! Why Paleo? Before the dawn of the Agricultural Revolution, our ancestors lived a life virtually free of obesity, cardiovascular disease, cancer, Type 2 Diabetes and autoimmune disease among others. The secret to their health is believed to be their diet known as the Paleolithic diet. Our upcoming 21 Day Spring Detox will be focused around the Paleo Diet. It is not just a diet but a way of life that revolves around eating whole foods full of veggies, protein, healthy fats, vitamins and minerals. By following the Paleo diet, common food allergens such as gluten, dairy and soy are naturally avoided along with processed foods and excess sugar known to compromise the gut and immune system. Avoiding these triggers, in most cases, allows the gut to heal re-establishing the gut barrier which allows the absorption of vitamins and minerals your body needs to function optimally. Benefits of a Paleo Diet: Reduces inflammation Reduces allergies Stabilizes blood sugar Improves sleep Improves and stabilizes energy Clears skin Decreases brain fog Stabilizes mood Decreases bloating Sustained weight loss Increases nutrient absorption Anatomy of the Paleo Diet: In Vegetables Fruits Lean Meats – grass-fed/pastured raised Fish/Seafood Nuts and Seeds Healthy oils Eggs Out Grains Dairy Processed Foods and Sugars Legumes Starches Alcohol You can learn even more at: The Paleo Diet.TM Robb Wolf: What Is The Paleo Diet? Contact Us Connect with your Functional Medicine team at The Healing Center Denver to learn about services related to the Paleo Diet in Denver. CONTACT US
New Year Repair Protocol for Renewed Vitality A Systemic Nutritional and Detoxification Support Program is an essential part of the nutritional programdesigned for your health concerns. This includes RepairVite and ClearVite programs. The benefits are many. The results are quickly reflected in improved lab work and assessment results, disappearance of many minor aches and pains, decrease in the level of major physical discomforts, and most importantly, a change toward a better and more positive mood. All of this really means: Improved Body Chemistry! Alkalizes the body Biosynthesis of ascorbic acid Stabilizes blood sugar Stimulate & Balance Metabolism Support and regulate adrenals Allow intestines to heal Decrease antigen load Decrease inflammation Detox poisonous substances Destroy yeast / Anti-fungal Improve mood & energy Promote Weight Loss Transport hormones and other important Substances and release at target location Help pinpoint and eliminate food allergies It also includes our Ultimate Body Applicator body wrap that: Tightens, tones, & firms Minimizes cellulite appearance Improves skin texture & tightness Detoxification Support Program Everyday, millions of molecules from different compounds enter our bodies through voluntary or involuntary ingestion. These chemicals come from foods, beverages, medicines, food additives, personal care, and numerous other sources. Whenever a system, whether it is a living (humans, animals) or a mechanical (different machines) system becomes polluted, normal functioning becomes affected. Excessive pollution in a system may result in malfunctioning or serious degeneration of the system. You might have experienced this occurrence with the mechanics of your car. Every so often you need to change the oil, air filter, etc. in order to keep the system clean so the car will run more efficiently and last longer. That is why when your car’s engine needs...
12 Hormone-Altering Chemicals and How to Avoid Them by EWG As much as we try to avoid environmental toxins, they are present in our everyday lives. They are in the food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe and in the personal care products we use. Today we are sharing a link from Environmental Working Group about a particularly dangerous type of toxin, hormone disruptors and how to avoid them.Our body has the ability to detoxify itself however it is not uncommon for these detox pathways to become blocked and need clearing 1-2 times a year. Common symptoms of blocked detox pathways are fatigue, muscle and joint pain, digestive issues, brain fog, congestion and skin issues. Stay tuned for our upcoming blog in which we will outline a detox plan for the new year. We at The Healing Center Denver can also customize a detox plan based on your body’s individual needs. 12 Hormone-Altering Chemicals and How to Avoid Them MONDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2013 There is no end to the tricks that endocrine disruptors can play on our bodies: increasing production of certain hormones; decreasing production of others; imitating hormones; turning one hormone into another; interfering with hormone signaling; telling cells to die prematurely; competing with essential nutrients; binding to essential hormones; accumulating in organs that produce hormones. Here are 12 of the worst hormone disrupters, how they do their dirty deeds, and some tips on how to avoid them. BPA Some may say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but do you really want a chemical used in plastics imitating the sex hormone estrogen in your body?...
Get your Vitamin D Today! Our Vitamin D Winter is over here in Denver, go out and get your Vitamin D today! By now we are all aware of the importance of Vitamin D in many aspects of our health from healthy bones to protection from cancer, heart disease, and autoimmune diseases. Although it is known as the “Sunshine Vitamin” you are not always getting Vitamin D when the sun is shining. In fact it is estimated that 50% of the population in North America are Vitamin D deficient. Our mechanism for making Vitamin D depends on the availability of UVB rays and as you will read in this article from the Vitamin D Council, anyone above latitudes of 37° north of the equator and below latitudes of 37° south of the equator experience what is known as a “Vitamin D Winter” in which no UVB rays can penetrate the ozone and thus shuts down our ability to make our own Vitamin D. What you need to know: Your body is designed to make its own Vitamin D with exposure to the UVB rays of the sun. Just 10-15 minutes of sun exposure (chest, arms, legs, torso- think 40% of your body) between 10 AM-2 PM will give you 10,000 IUs of Vitamin D. When your skin is pink to the touch, you’ve made 10,000 IUs of Vitamin D, do not overexpose. Keep in mind sunscreen with as little as SPF 8 can block your Vitamin D production by 100%. Burning leads to skin cancer so be mindful of your time in the sun and when you do apply sunscreen be sure to refer to EWG’s...
If you are avoiding gluten, should you also be avoiding dairy? There are several reasons you may be avoiding gluten. You have: 1. Gluten allergy – an inappropriate response to gluten by part of your immune system. 2. Present gluten antibodies – positive testing on blood labs having a wide-range of effects across all organ systems including your brain, heart, joints, digestive tract, and more. 3. Gluten intolerance- you do not have the digestive enzymes to break down gluten. 4. Diagnosed with Celiac Disease – tissue transglutaminase antibodies. By failing to identify gluten sensitivity and celiac disease, we create needless suffering and death. Health problems caused by gluten sensitivity cannot be treated with better medication. It can only be resolved by eliminating 100 percent of the gluten from your diet. A gluten free diet is certainly becoming an easier lifestyle as the accessibility to gluten free packaged foods, gluten free cookbooks and gluten free menus at restaurants have increased.Many patients who have gone gluten free feel much better but can hit a plateau in their healing. When you have an immune reaction to gluten the antibodies your body makes bind to the gluten. The immune system can mistake other foods as gluten and react in the same way. To your immune system, the “cross-reacting” food is the same thing as eating gluten. Why Go Gluten And Dairy Free? So if you’re on a gluten-free diet BUT also consuming dairy, dairy is a known cross-reactor. Therefore, your immune system is still going to create the antibodies as it would if you were still eating gluten.Cyrex Labs, a new laboratory dedicated to gluten sensitivity, autoimmune disorders, and the overall topic of...
Effects Of Sugar On The Immune System Is Sugar Robbing You of Your Immunity? We are in the middle of cold and flu season and everyone is wondering how to boost their immune system so they don’t get sick. Many are reaching for extra vitamin C at the sign of the first sniffle, but is this an effective strategy? It can be if you cut out the sugar. So what is the relationship between sugar and your immune system? When exposed to bacteria, viruses and other foreign invaders, your body goes on attack. The white blood cells (WBC’s) of your immune system are called into action to gobble up these invaders otherwise known as phagocytosis. If your immune system is strong, your WBC’s will get their job done and the pathogen will never take hold, keeping you from getting sick! The Vitamin C Connection to Immunity It has been known since the 1970’s that vitamin C is critical to the function of our WBC’s through the work of Linus Pauling. Through his research he discovered that WBC’s must contain 50 times the concentration of vitamin C on the inside of the cell than the outside. Therefore it is critical for WBC’s to accumulate vitamin C to maintain their phagocytic function. The Problem with Sugar Here is where the problem with sugar arises when considering the relationship between sugar and your immune system. Sugar (glucose) and vitamin C have a similar chemical structure. They also share the same receptor sites for entry into the cells. This puts them into direct competition for absorption, so the more sugar available the less vitamin C can get into the...
Inflammation…..Good or Bad?Inflammation can be classified as either acute inflammation, which occurs over seconds, minutes, hours, and days, or chronic inflammation, which occurs over longer period of time.Inflammation is part of the body’s immune system. It is the body’s normal, biological response when something harmful or irritating affects a part of our body.Although acute inflammation is a healthy physiological response indicative of wound healing, chronic inflammation has been directly implicated in a wide range of degenerative human health disorders encompassing almost all present day diseases including autoimmune diseases, obesity, diabetes and atherosclerosis. In the book, Chronic Inflammation: Molecular Pathophysiology, Nutritional and Therapeutic Interventions by Sashwati Roy; Debasis Bagchi; Siba P. Raychaudhuri, University of California, Davis, USA and VA Medical Center Sacramento, California, USA, the authors cover several pathologies associated with inflammation, including aging, allergies, autoimmune disorders, atherosclerosis, cancer, chronic wounds, metabolic syndrome, and obesity. “For many years, chronic and acute inflammatory processes were thought to be driven by different causes, through the activity of different cells and inflammation mediators, and to result in quite different outcomes. However, a more modern view suggests that these processes are interlinked. Moreover, in the setting of acute inflammation, well regulated tissue healing can go awry and drive a chronic inflammation process intertwined with fibrosis and related processes. In hepatic, pancreatic, and gastrointestinal issues, among others, this pro inflammatory pro-fibrotic environment can stimulate carcinogenesis which in turn, can lead to an altered immune/inflammatory milieu.”Acute Inflammation (Good). Most immediate signs of acute inflammation are: Pain Heat Redness Swelling Loss of function These symptoms are due to the increased blood flow and increased permeability of the vasculature which are bringing the...
Types Of Allergies & Symptoms To Look Out For People can be allergic to many things, but most fall into four main allergy categories. Things that are inhaled Examples: pollen, dust, mold, mold spores and pet dander Things that are eaten Examples: dairy, eggs, shellfish, gluten, wheat, and nuts Things that are injected Examples: penicillin and other medications Things that are touched Examples: nickel in costume jewelry, dyes in nail polish and shampoos and latex Reactions to these allergies can be as mild as a stuffy nose or as severe as death. Allergic reactions are unique to you and reaction times to allergens can vary widely. Some may have an allergic reaction immediately and others may take time to develop.Different types of allergies. Immune reaction When the immune system involves either the Immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibody or T-cells. Once the immune system is triggered The white blood cells produce antibodies The antibodies detect and help destroy invaders by producing histamine Histamine triggers the inflammatory response Symptoms of the resulting immune reaction can include: breathing problems eye irritation rash nasal congestion nausea and vomiting headaches back aches joint pain Sensitivity – is a reaction to a substance. A sensitivity involves no immune system response, but it can still yield a multiplicity of symptoms, ranging from issues in the digestive tract to neurological problems.Some of the issues associated with sensitivities can become life threatening, especially if someone is exposed to a substance repeatedly. Symptoms of sensitivities can include: fatigue weight loss constant upper respiratory infection general feeling of being unwell brain fog Intolerance – is a digestive system response, or the inability to...
The Dangers of Refined Sugar Written by Christi Mintz-Lasher, M.N.T. Trick or Treat? With Halloween quickly approaching, it’s time to start thinking about the costumes, the parties and what most parents dread, the candy. The American Heart Association lists the following foods as containing high amounts of refined sugars, and they have a great graphic on the recommended amounts of sugar. carbonated soda candy cookies fruit juice drinks dairy desserts ice cream cereals waffles pies Watch your list of ingredients! Refined sugar will appear in product labels under other names, such as, brown sugar, corn sweetener, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, malt sugar, dextrose, lactose, cane sugar, and molasses. What are the dangers of refined sugar? Not only are sugary foods high in calories, but it also suppresses your immune system, can cause sleep problems, weight gain and feed the bad bacteria growth in your belly. The dangers of refined sugars can wreak havoc on your body. In the book, Sugar Shock, by Connie Bennett C.H.H.C., with Stephen T. Sinatra, M.D. defines this havoc: “A mood-altering, emotionally devastating, mentally damaging, physically destructive constellation of symptoms affecting million of people worldwide, who are caught in a cycle of overindulging in refined sweets and much-like-sugar carbohydrates like white bread, pasta and chips. Mounds of research reveal that repeatedly over consuming these nutrient deprived quickie carbohydrates and caloric sweeteners wreaks havoc on your blood sugar levels, over stimulates insulin release, triggers inflammation, and could contribute to 150-plus health concerns, including obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, polycystic ovary syndrome, failing memory, sexual dysfunction, and infertility. Victims of SUGAR SHOCK, May also experience depression, fatigue, headaches, dizziness, cold sweats, anxiety,...
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