The Power of Anti-oxidants<\/p>\n
I was fortunate enough to spend a lot of my time with my family and friends on the 4th. It was a great time. My very first mentor, who is an integrative chiropractor, was a wonderful surprise addition to the family gathering. I was reminded about the power of anti-oxidants when my cousin had asked me how to treat a certain allergic\/chemical sensitivity skin reaction. Immediately, my mind jump started into biochemical pathways, the importance of liver detoxification and modulating phase two reactions, cleaning the diet up of triggering immune mediators such as sugar and gluten, balancing the inflammatory response with omega fatty acids, addressing blood sugar imbalances which trigger skin issues, making sure you support the body with antioxidants, etc<\/p>\n
Well, my cousin is 14. His eyes began to glaze over as I began to discuss the liver pathways and I stopped before I headed into phase II detoxification and glutathione. This kid wanted a simple solution and quick fix. My mentor came to my rescue. He giggled as he witnessed my working brain and placed his hand on my shoulder.<\/p>\n
“Well, with chemical sensitivities, you want to aid the body with anti-oxidants.” Snap. I was jolted back into the reality of how best to treat the patient at the moment they present to you!<\/p>\n
Although it’s true that eventually people will need to address all the above areas as the route cause of what is occurring in order, my cousin is a teenage boy!<\/p>\n
Using integrative and functional medicine in my practice, I’ve learned the importance of honoring the process of healing. For example, the steps to healing will be different for each person. For my cousin, a relatively young male, anti-oxidants and a basic supporting protocol would be the first step. The next step, once the body is supported and the symptom is addressed, it would be time to honor the healing response and work on preventing chronic disease later on. This is especially important for my younger patients. If someone at a young age is presenting with a chronic symptom, it is very important to make sure that the underlying mechanism and contributing factors are addressed so that it won’t progress to something more intense down the line.<\/p>\n
Although most people wait until the disease has progressed to do preventative work, it’s important to note that for every year a disease exists, it takes 1-3 months to heal. The younger one starts, the more quickly it can be corrected and more intensive protocols down the road can be prevented.<\/p>\n
Therefore, my lesson for the day was this-keep things simple first and takes baby steps in order to grow more healthy and strong. As I’m writing this, my beautiful baby niece just smiled in approval.<\/p>\n
Here’s some additional benefits of anti-oxidants from some of recent research- from skin to weight loss to blood sugar regulation:<\/p>\n
Weight Loss and Antioxidants:<\/p>\n
The researchers randomly assigned the subjects to one of four treatment groups. All groups ate a low-calorie, Mediterranean-type diet averaging 1,500 calories daily, containing only 25 percent from protein foods, with the rest made up of low-glycemic-index carbohydrates (carbs that do not raise blood sugar levels quickly or greatly, such as whole grains). Group A only ate this kind of diet, and group B ate the same diet plus took the drug metformin. For groups C and D, the researchers prescribed a diet enriched in antioxidant, with a calculated intake, 800 to 1,000 milligrams a day, coming from fruits and vegetables, but group D also took metformin.<\/p>\n
Despite similar weight loss in all the groups, only the two groups receiving the antioxidant diet (groups C and D) had a significant decrease in insulin resistance, the authors reported. Group D had the best improvement in insulin resistance on some measures of insulin response to an oral glucose tolerance test, according to the abstract.<\/p>\n
My comment: <\/p>\n
Of course, with weight loss you release toxins, and your body knows this. It needs support so it will work better with release!<\/p>\n
Antioxidants: In fish?<\/p>\n
Abstract<\/p>\n
Omega-3 (\u03c93) fatty acids, particularly eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), protect against cardiovascular disease. Despite these benefits, concern remains that \u03c93 fatty acids may increase lipid peroxidation. It has previously been shown that urinary F2-isoprostanes (F2-IsoPs) were reduced following \u03c93 fatty acid supplementation in humans. It is now determined whether EPA or DHA supplementation affects plasma F2-IsoPs. In two 6-week placebo-controlled interventions, Study A: overweight, dyslipidaemic men; and Study B: treated-hypertensive Type 2 diabetic, patients were randomized to 4 g daily EPA, DHA. Post-intervention plasma F2-IsoPs were significantly reduced by EPA (24% in Study A, 19% in Study B) and by DHA (14% in Study A, 23% in Study B) relative to the olive oil group. The fall in plasma F2-IsoPs was not altered in analyses that corrected for changes in plasma arachidonic acid, which was reduced with EPA and DHA supplementation. Neither F3- nor F4-IsoPs were observed in plasma in both studies. These results show that in humans, EPA and DHA reduce in vivo oxidant stress as measured in human plasma and urine.<\/p>\n