Inflammation Can Affect Every Part of Health

Inflammation is an essential part of the bodys healing. Aging, physical stressors, exposure to environmental irritants, and poor-quality sleep are also factors that can contribute to chronic inflammation and lead to the early stages of disease development. Although an inflammatory immune response is an essential, protective response, it can give rise to chronic inflammation if left unresolved. 

We have recently come to understand that there are two phases of inflammation, the initiation and the

resolution phase. It is important for inflammation to be completely resolved to help the body heal. Traditional approaches for the management of inflammation have focused on blocking the initiation phase. However, we now know that inflammation doesn't simply fade away. Recent studies have indicated that natural substances produced by the body called specialized pro-resolving lipid mediators, also known as SPMs, support the completion of the inflammatory response. Once inflammation is resolved, the affected part of the body can return to a normal state.

Could You Benefit from SPMs?

Our bodies produce SPMs via a multi-step process; however, different health conditions can influence the body's ability to produce SPMs. SPMs work by assisting inflammation resolution, which is important for the body to repair and heal itself. Revolutionary fractionation technology has allowed research and development to isolate active marine lipids in a concentrated form so that we may now supplement the body's natural production of SPMs.

Chronic inflammation doesnt have to be a part of your life. Schedule an appointment with one of our healthcare practitioner's at Advanced Health Clinic to discover solutions that are right for you and your individual health needs.

7 Steps to Healthy Hormones - Step 5: Eat Good Fats

When it comes to Healthy Hormonal Balancing, eating good fats is an absolute must. Eating a variety of foods high in short, medium and long chain fatty acid is key to keeping your hormones in check. Not only are these essential fats fundamental building blocks for hormone production, they speed up your metabolism and promote weight loss. Healthy foods that are packed with healthy fats that are good for healthy hormonal balance include: flaxseed, chia seeds, coconut oil, avocados, grass-fed butter and wild caught salmon.

Some people try to eliminate fats from their diet altogether. But that's not the answer to obtaining optimal health. Our bodies need nutritious and fatty foods as an essential part of our diet. 

To learn why, let's start with a quick summary of the basic types of fat:

·        Saturated: These are the fats we love, but should hate. They're found in animal products including dairy products and eggs. They are also found in some vegetable oils such as coconut and palm. Saturated fats can make the body produce excess cholesterol and, as a result, are often associated with an increased risk of heart disease, cancer and other disorders. These fats are usually solid at room temperature and get even harder when chilled. In general, we're better off without them.

·        Monounsaturated: These fats are a bit better for you. They're found in almond, peanut, sesame, canola and olive oils and avocados. Monounsaturated fats, especially olive oil, actually help decrease blood cholesterol levels. These fats usually harden at cold temperatures or become cloudy when refrigerated.

·        Polyunsaturated: These fats are good for you in moderation. They're found in corn, safflower, sunflower and soybean oils as well as in walnuts, pecans and hazelnuts. Polyunsaturated fats have a long history of being healthy for the heart. These fats are liquid at room temperature and stay liquid when chilled. But be careful in storing them: polyunsaturated oils go rancid more easily than other oils, so keep them refrigerated.

·        Transfatty acids: These fats, found in products such as margarine, are made through the process of hydrogenation -- converting polyunsaturated oils into saturated fat. They are harmful substances that can increase cholesterol levels as much as saturated fats do. Trans fatty acids are also found in processed foods such as chips, cookies, prepared salads and anything else made with hydrogenated oils.

·        Essential fatty acids: EFAs are the best type of fats -- and since your body doesn't make them naturally, you must get them from your diet. Omega-3 fatty acids are found in fish and flaxseed oils. Omega-6 fatty acids are found in beans, nuts, seeds and some vegetable oils including flaxseed, corn, soybean and safflower. In either case, the benefits are immeasurable: EFAs are important for the regulation of cholesterol production, hormonal balance and immune function. They're necessary for healthy skin, hair, nails, mucous membranes, nerves and arteries. An inadequate amount of EFAs can contribute to skin and menstrual disorders, diarrhea and weak nails. EFAs have also been proven to guard against heart disease, cancer and arthritis.

Nutritionally Essential

Quality fats and oils are nutritionally essential. The body uses fatty acids to store energy. Also, polyunsaturated fats contain fatty acids that are necessary for synthesizing hormones, making fat-soluble vitamins available to the body, and maintaining the flexibility of cell membranes. Stored fat, as much as we want to get rid of it, provides a source of energy for the body, protects organs and insulates the body to keep it warm.

Nutritionists now know that if you don't get enough good fats in your diet, your body will store fat in order to perform its daily functions. So, if you're trying to lose weight, maintaining a low-fat or fat-free diet can actually defeat the purpose: EFAs are necessary to ensure normal burning of stored fat by muscle tissue. They also help the body burn calories more efficiently.

Healthy Fat Choices

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The ideal amount: No more than 30% of your total daily calories should come from fat, and definitely no more than 10% should come from saturated fats.

By eating a diet high in vegetables, fruits, grains and beans, you'll automatically tend toward the healthiest ratio of fats in your diet. If you're going to eat animal products, eat mostly fish, seafood, skinless poultry and small portions of beef. Use oils sparingly, stick to the monounsaturated and polyunsaturated varieties and choose ones that are unrefined and cold-pressed. To get your EFAs, use flaxseed oil for salad dressing, or drizzle some lightly on steamed vegetables.

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When it comes to cooking, be aware that different oils respond better to different temperatures. Some have lower smoking points and are appropriate for sauteeing. I personally prefer butter or coconut oil if I am going to heat a fat.

Rule of Thumb:

Be sure to steer clear from oils high in Omega-6s (safflower, sunflower, corn, cottonseed, canola, soybean and peanut) and load up on rich sources of natural Omega-3s (wild fish, flaxseed, chia seeds, walnuts and grass-fed animal products). There is a type of Omega-6 fat you want to try and get in your diet called GLA.  GLA (gamma-linoleic acid) can be taken in supplement form by using evening primrose oil or borage oil and it’s also found in hemp seeds.  Studies have shown supplementing with GLA can support healthy progesterone levels.

Resolving Emotions to Resolve Dis-Ease 3

Another tool I think is useful in resolving emotions is reframing. Reframing of your limitations is one of the keys to living your life on a higher level than you are now experiencing. Everything you do has an impact. Everything. Hard to believe I know, but think about it. We all give off an energy that plays a type of "energetic dance" with each other every moment of every day.  We are all connected. So all negatives, all positives, everything has an impact on outcomes. 

Why does this matter? Because you not only owe it to yourself, you owe it to the world to live to your fullest potential. Nothing less will do. That's why when your sense of intuition, your inner-knowing, speaks to you, you have to listen.  It will hurt far more if you ignore that inner voice! That's why when you see the signposts of your wisdom in daily events and circumstances, you must heed them.

Reframing something can be as simple as changing your picture of your own limitations. If you are unsure of how to reframe your limitations, use affirmations. They work! Take the thing you are struggling with and put a positive spin to it (don't lie - just turn it into something better). For example, if you have pain when you move, you could reframe that into a statement like this, "Everyday, in every way, I move with greater ease and mobility."

You never know from moment to moment who will be impacted by your decisions, so it's crucial for you to make each one count; for yourself, and for others. 

SUPPLEMENT PRICES ABOUT TO EXPLODE

From our friend, Frank Shallenberger, MD, Finding your Real Cures

As you may know, the FDA isn't here to protect you, the American taxpayer. It's here to protect the pharmaceutical industry and other large corporate interests. It protects anyone with enough money to pad the pockets of the FDA. Recently, the powers at the FDA (Faster Drug Approval) decided that the supplement industry is starting to cut into the bottom line of the pharmaceutical industry. Less money for Big Pharma means less money for the FDA.

As a result, the FDA has come up with a set of guidelines that will make it extremely expensive and difficult for the nutritional industry to keep manufacturing supplements. So expensive and difficult, in fact, that it will put most of them out of business.

Why is the FDA doing this? It must be because nutritional supplements are dangerous, right? Not exactly. Back in 2008, one panel of scientists reviewed the dangers of nutritional supplements. They examined the data in the 174-page annual report of the American Association of Poison Control Centers. They published their report in the journal Clinical Toxicology. It specifically looks at the death rates from drugs, foods, and nutritional supplements.

Guess how many deaths there were from vitamins - zero. Guess how many from herbs - zero. Guess how many from those nasty, dangerous amino acids - zero. OK, how about minerals and all other nutritional supplements - zero. That's right, in 2008 nobody died in the entire country from any nutritional supplement of any kind! But let's put this into perspective.

The panel duly noted that, "Over half of the U.S. population takes daily nutritional supplements. Even if each of those people took only one single tablet daily, that makes 154,000,000 individual doses per day, for a total of over 56 billion doses annually. Since many persons take more than just one vitamin or mineral tablet, actual consumption is considerably higher, and the safety of nutritional supplements is all the more remarkable."

So if nutritional substances are safer than water (yes, water kills people every year), why in the world would the FDA decide to initiate oppressive Big Brother regulations that would essentially make them unavailable to you?

Here's why: Nutritional therapies are eliminating the need for most medications. And as more and more doctors learn how to use them, nutraceuticals are going to cut more and more into Big Pharma profits. Just last week, I was able to discontinue a total of 13 different prescriptions in my patients. That's just one doctor in one week. Imagine what happens when thousands of doctors are doing this routinely. "Something has to be done," says the FDA.

Marcia Angell a reporter for the Boston Globe put it this way. "For too long the FDA has behaved as though its job is to speed brand-name drugs to market, not to ensure that they are safe." According to Ms. Angell's scathing report, the FDA is simply a lap dog for the pharmaceutical industry. "It's time to take the Food and Drug Administration back from the drug companies," she says.

Well, I agree, and I think this might be just the time to start. If we don't do something quickly and effectively, I won't be able to take my patients off their drugs anymore. I won't have the supplements I need. If I can find them, they will cost 100 times more than they do now.

Can you stop this intrusion by Big Brother? Yes, you can. Public pressure works. It worked back in 1994 when the FDA and Congress tried to outlaw supplements. Instead, Congress passed a law that not only protected supplements, but opened the door for incredible innovation in the supplement industry. We can do it again. But only with your help.

Here's what you have to do:

First, go to www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml This web address is case sensitive. So type it exactly as it appears or follow the link. On the website, look up the phone numbers of your U.S. Senators and your Representative in the House. Then call them and tell them how you feel.

Please, do it right now. Don't wait.

The deadline for comments is December 1st. That's not far away.

Second, send this to all of your friends who take supplements and ask them to do the same thing. This is so important it could mean life or death for millions of people. Please, do this right now!

PS. If you would like to read more about this, please follow this link: 

CLICK HERE

REF:

Bronstein AC, Spyker DA, Cantilena LR Jr, Green JL, Rumack BH, Giffin SL. 2008 Annual Report of the American Association of Poison Control Centers' National Poison Data System (NPDS): 26th Annual Report. Clinical Toxicology (2009). 47, 911-1084. The full text article is available for free download at http://www.aapcc.org/dnn/Portals/0/2008annualreport.pdf