Do you suffer from sitting disease? Frequent breaks and standing are key

Do you eat a healthy diet and exercise regularly but sit long hours each day at work? If so, you could be undoing all your good work.

Sitting, even if you otherwise practice healthy habits, is associated with poor cardiovascular health, higher inflammation, and more belly fat, according to a 2011 Australian study. This is bad news for the millions of Americans who must work at a desk. In fact, it can feel downright insulting to learn that all our healthful efforts are being thwarted by our jobs.

Studies link prolonged sitting with compromised metabolic health, higher risk of disease, and shorter life span. Witness this cascade of ill effects:

• Electrical activity in muscles goes silent
• Calorie burning plummets
• Insulin sensitivity drops, raising the risk of obesity and Type 2 diabetes
• Enzymes responsible for clearing fat and triglycerides from the bloodstream plunge, lowering the levels of HDL (good) cholesterol

Sadly, these risks remain regardless of our physical activity level outside of work. Worst of all, these metabolic changes don’t happen gradually, but instead swiftly, within 24 hours.

Antidotes to sitting long hours

The results of your good exercise and diet habits needn’t be lost to your office chair. Sitting disease antidotes can be as simple as moving around more or working while standing.

Create a treadmill desk

A treadmill desk is just what it sounds like, a desktop built over a treadmill. Users walk very slowly on the treadmill and can easily talk, type, and perform other desk work while burning 100 calories an hour and staving off metabolic risks. Treadmill desks can be homemade, purchased to fit over an existing treadmill, or ordered, all inclusive, for up to $4,400.

Stand at your desk

A quicker and less cumbersome fix is a standing desk. To make one, try stacking something tall on your desk on which to set your computer. If you work at home, you might choose to work on your laptop while standing at the kitchen counter. Standing burns more calories than sitting and engages more muscles, enhancing metabolic activity.

Frequent breaks are key

If you do choose to sit, you can mitigate the effects of sitting disease with frequent breaks and lots of movement throughout the day. Australian researchers found those who took frequent breaks had lower levels of C-reactive protein, an important marker of inflammation, and smaller waists as well. Waist size, like excess belly fat, is a marker for increased risk for heart disease, Alzheimer’s, and other inflammation-related disorders. High-risk waist circumference is over 40 inches for men and over 35 inches for women.

Take a stand against excessive sitting. Get up every half hour. Move about in your chair. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Park at the outer reaches of the parking lot. Go ahead and fidget and bustle, and trot between the computer and the printer, or to the bathroom. Research shows not only will you combat sitting disease, but you’ll also be less likely to gain weight compared to your more sedentary coworkers.

So just how stressed out are you? An adrenal saliva test can show you

It’s a constant refrain: We’re too stressed out. But how stressed out are we really? An adrenal saliva test can tell you whether your cortisol (the stress hormone) is too high or too low, whether your circadian rhythm (the sleep-wake cycle) is normal, and also pin point the cause of your symptoms: adrenal fatigue or high adrenal hormones.

Symptoms of adrenal fatigue

• Fatigue
• Slow to get going in the morning
• Energy crash in the afternoon
• Craving sweets, caffeine, or nicotine
• Unstable behavior; moodiness
• Shaky, light-headed, or irritable if meals are delayed
• Inability to stay asleep
• Dizziness when moving from sitting to standing

Symptoms of high adrenal hormones

• Excess belly fat
• Insulin resistance (high blood sugar)
• Insomnia
• Not feeling rested in the morning
• Women grow facial hair; men grow breasts
• PCOS in women (polycystic ovarian syndrome).

How to do the adrenal saliva test

The adrenal saliva test requires you to collect a small vial of saliva several times throughout the day. Adrenal stress is always caused by something else, such as unstable blood sugar, a chronic infection, or an autoimmune disease. So the importance of the adrenal saliva test is that it allows us to track the progress of a protocol.

One test is a good place to start, but the second and third tests tell us if we’re on the right track with a protocol; adrenal health should improve as conditions resolve. If things do not improve, it means we must dig deeper to find out what is taxing the body.

Measuring the circadian rhythm

An abnormal sleep-wake cycle, or circadian rhythm, is one symptom of adrenal stress. A normal circadian rhythm shows high cortisol in the morning and low cortisol at night. This makes us alert when we wake up and tired before bed. For many, this rhythm is backwards, causing fatigue in the morning and insomnia at night. In addition, instead of the usual gradual decline throughout the day, cortisol may suddenly drop in the afternoon, causing an energy crash.

The stages of stress

By measuring circadian rhythm, precursor hormones (DHEA and 17 hydroxyprogesterone), and cortisol levels, the adrenal saliva test can tell you whether you are in the “alarm reaction” of high adrenal hormones, in adrenal exhaustion, or somewhere in between. Contrary to popular belief, one does not necessarily progress from alarm reaction to adrenal fatigue; adrenal function can jump around between phases, or stay in one phase for years.

The adrenal saliva test also measures total SIgA (secretory antibodies). SIgA levels measure the impact of stress on the immune system. When SIgA is low, it means a person is more susceptible to food intolerances, infections, and other assaults on the immune system.

A variety of herbal and nutritional compounds can profoundly influence adrenal function, but they are not the first line of defense. You and your doctor must first ferret out what is causing your adrenal stress and make addressing that a priority. Only then is adrenal support appropriate.

Ask my office how you can support your adrenal health.

Under attack from toxin chemicals? Learn how to protect yourself

Do you feel toxic chemicals are out to get you? Studies link many chronic illnesses with toxic chemicals in our everyday environment. Man-made chemicals, pesticides, pollution, plastics, heavy metals, and artificial food additives are a normal part of life now. Even radiation fallout from the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan is now on the list of health concerns for many Americans.

Toxic chemicals are associated with such conditions as autoimmune disease, obesity and insulin resistance, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, cancer, migraines, depression, and hormonal imbalances.

Although we can minimize our exposure to toxic chemicals, we cannot completely escape them. So, short of wearing a non-toxic spacesuit (living in a plastic bubble is out because it will off-gas toxic chemicals), how can we protect ourselves?

Good toxic chemical defense starts with the diet

A variety of herbs and nutrients have been shown to protect the body from toxic chemicals and boost the liver’s detoxification abilities. However, those compounds can’t do their job if your diet is even more toxic than your environment. You can kick-start your defense system with an anti-inflammatory diet that cuts out sweet, starchy, and pro-inflammatory foods.

Also, ditching food intolerances is vital for boosting your defenses against toxic chemicals, so take this issue seriously. Going gluten-free is necessary for many, and you may find you need to eliminate other foods as well.

Beyond that, studies have found a number of natural compounds that buffer the damage caused by environmental chemicals. These compounds work to tame inflammation, boost our antioxidant status, and support liver detoxification.

Resveratrol and curcumin for toxic inflammation

Toxins do their damage by setting off inflammatory cascades throughout the body that can be difficult to unwind. Studies have shown high doses of trans-resveratrol and curcumin, especially when taken together, can put the brakes on toxin-induced inflammation. Ask my office about a high-dose, liposomal form of these compounds, which have been shown to be highly effective.

Boost your body’s defenses against toxic chemicals

Glutathione is our master antioxidant, taking the bullet from toxins to protect cells from damage. When your glutathione levels drop, you open yourself up to toxin-induced health problems. Nutrients that boost glutathione levels in your cells include n-acetyl-cysteine, cordyceps, Gotu Kola, milk thistle, L-glutamine, and alpha lipoic acid.

Turn your body into a detox machine

Another defense is to turn your body into an efficient detoxing machine. Although the liver was not designed to process many man-made chemicals, it still needs support in the face of toxic chemicals. When toxic chemicals overburden the body, they create inflammation and damage, which taxes the liver. As a result, it may not be able to properly metabolize many compounds from both inside and outside the body. This adds to the body’s toxic load and makes it more vulnerable to environmental chemicals.

In addition to taming inflammation and boosting your antioxidant status, you may also need to support the different detoxification pathways in your liver. Nutrients that support these pathways include methyl B12, selenium, molybdenum, dandelion root, milk thistle, trimethylglycine, Panax ginseng, and MSM. Be sure to also ask my office about effective liver support.

Seasonal allergy relief starts with the gut

Do beautiful spring days have you cooped up inside, sneezing and sniffing miserably? Before reaching for the antihistamines, consider the role your gut health plays in allergy symptoms.

Allergies actually begin long before the hallmark symptoms of sniffling, sneezing, and itchy eyes manifest. How?

An estimated 80 percent of the immune system resides in the gut, and when digestive problems set in, immune problems are sure to follow. A chronically inflamed gut—which causes indigestion, heartburn, bloating, pain, diarrhea, constipation, irritable bowel disorders, and more—sends the immune system into overdrive.

As a result, the body becomes hypersensitive and overreacts to stuff it shouldn’t, including pollen, grass, and other triggers associated with spring.

Because allergy symptoms frequently start with poor digestive function, the gut is a great place to start for relief.

What causes allergy symptoms?

Several factors contribute to the digestive problems that give rise to allergy symptoms, including:

• Dysbiosis: This is a very common scenario in which bad bacteria in the gut overwhelm the beneficial bacteria. Processed foods, a diet lacking in cultured and fermented foods, and antibiotic use contribute to dysbiosis.
• Gluten and other food intolerances: Gluten has been shown to damage the lining of the intestines. Also, many people have an immune reaction to gluten and other foods, such as dairy or soy. Eating these foods constantly provokes the immune system and damages the lining of the intestines.
• Low stomach acid: This may seem counter-intuitive as so many people complain of an acidic stomach, but, in fact, low stomach acid often underlies heartburn and acid reflux. When stomach acid is low, undigested food backwashes into the esophagus (heartburn), opportunistic bacteria overtake the stomach, improperly digested food degrades the intestinal lining, and bacteria and other pathogens are able enter into the intestines. Sufficient stomach acid is also necessary to trigger the gallbladder to release bile and the pancreas to release enzymes, two important processes for digestion.
• Poor liver detoxification: Gut damage causes chronic inflammation, which keeps the immune system on red alert and overburdens the liver. As a result, the liver can’t adequately detoxify pathogens that escaped through the damaged intestinal lining into the bloodstream. This is another factor that triggers the immune system and leads to allergies.

Fix the gut to fix allergies

Repairing gut health involves addressing the various factors above. The exact protocol may vary from person to person depending on his or her individual needs. However, a great place to start is with an anti-inflammatory diet that removes food intolerances and calms inflammation, helping to restore balance to an overactive immune system. We can also use lab tests to gain insight into the specific nature of your intestinal problems. Probiotics, and nutritional compounds to improve digestion, support detoxification, and tame an overstimulated immune system can also help repair the gut and hence the immune system.

Ask my office for ideas on how you can get to the root of your seasonal allergy symptoms this year.

Are you sure you can eat wheat? Gluten tests often wrong

Gluten intolerance is not as straightforward as once believed. Many people test negative for gluten intolerance when, in fact, they have celiac disease or should be on a gluten-free diet. This is because standard tests are incomplete and fail to account for gluten cross-reactivity.

Fortunately, revolutionary breakthroughs in gluten testing are now available from Cyrex Labs. Cyrex tests for immune reactions to 12 different compounds of the gluten protein, foods the body mistakes for gluten, and other food sensitivities.

People can react to 12 different components of wheat

Wheat is made up of more than 100 different components that can cause an immune reaction in people. Cyrex Labs used extensive research to pinpoint the 12 most common and screens for an immune reaction to one or more of them. These include peptides, proteins, and enzymes associated with wheat.

Until now, testing for gluten intolerance has only been against one of those components, alpha gliadin.

This new test catches those with celiac disease or those who should be gluten-free because they react to a component other than alpha gliadin.

Testing for foods that cross-react with gluten

It’s frustrating for both the practitioner and the patient when a gluten-free diet fails to help remedy health issues in a person who is clearly gluten-intolerant or has celiac disease. In fact, studies show that many people with celiac disease don’t recover gut health on a gluten-free diet. Research by scientists at Cyrex shows this may be due to cross-reactivity and food sensitivities.

Cross-reactivity is a situation in which the body mistakes another food for gluten and reacts accordingly, causing symptoms of gluten intolerance. Cyrex Labs tests for foods that may cross-react with gluten and for foods that are most often the source of sensitivities.

Oats and yeast cross-react with gluten, as does dairy, which has a structure that closely resembles that of gluten. In fact, 50 percent of people who are sensitive to gluten are also sensitive to dairy. A person with celiac disease or a gluten intolerance may need to give up dairy and other foods to regain health.

Coffee cross-reacts with gluten in many people

Cyrex researchers were surprised to find coffee has the highest rate of cross-reaction with gluten. In other words, some people’s immune system mistakes coffee for gluten, triggering a reaction. This test informs people whether one needs to give up coffee to prevent gluten cross-reactivity.

The most common foods the gluten-free person may need to avoid:

• Cow dairy
• American cheese
• Milk chocolate
• Sesame
• Hemp
• Rye
• Barley
• Polish wheat
• Buckwheat
• Sorghum
• Millet
• Spelt
• Amaranth
• Quinoa
• Yeast
• Tapioca
• Oats
• Coffee
• Corn
• Rice
• Potato

This panel can help explain why people with celiac disease or a gluten intolerance still react to foods after going gluten-free and even dairy-free.

Gluten linked to 55 diseases, most autoimmune

Gluten has been linked in studies to 55 diseases so far, most of them autoimmune. The effect of gluten on brain and nervous tissue is significantly worse and more far-reaching than researchers once thought. Yet, due to poor lab testing and general misinformation, many people continue to eat gluten, unaware it is harming them.

Thanks to more advanced testing, we can now better catch celiac disease and gluten intolerance and go beyond a gluten-free diet to restore health.

Not just for children—adults need play for stress relief

While the importance of play for children is well understood, many don’t realize it’s a necessary form of stress relief for adults. One also could argue it’s the most enjoyable part of a wellness plan—say compared to giving up donuts or eating more broccoli—but can take just as much thought and practice to implement.

Scientists have found ample play is necessary for the proper development of children and young animals. Crows, for instance, have been observed playing tug-of-war, ganging up together on a cat, or swinging upside down from a branch. Dolphins, chimpanzees, otters, and even octopus play throughout their lives.

Play develops motor skills, socialization, problem solving, creativity, conflict resolution, and mental and physical health. In fact, studies show that preventing play causes dysfunction in animals, and one researcher even found that most serial killers did not play as children.

Grown-ups have forgotten how to play

Unfortunately, we Americans, who lead the industrialized nations with the longest work hours, have lost touch with the importance of play and the stress relief it can bring. A life of all work and no play (or all television and no play) makes us more vulnerable to stress-related diseases, depression, interpersonal violence, and addiction, according to Stuart Brown, MD, author of Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination and Invigorates the Soul, and founder of The National Institute of Play. Brown has conducted more than 6,000 play studies on a wide range of people, and says play is a particularly important form of stress relief in down times, such as the current economic situation.

Have you forgotten how to play? To stoke the dormant play pathways in your brain, Brown says to recall how you played as a child, and then experiment with what sounds fun. It could be roller skating, horse riding, basketball, crafting, storytelling, or even playing fetch with the dog. The objective is to forget you’re engaging in a powerful form of stress relief because you’re having so much fun.

The elements of successful play

Successful play is more a state of mind than a specific activity, and the health benefits go beyond stress relief. Regular play will make you feel better about yourself, stimulate brain activity, enable you to transform negative experiences, boost creativity and imagination, and help you connect with others.

Bottom line: Regular play simply makes people happier, and happiness is a great antidote to stress.

According to Brown, and Diane Ackerman, author of Deep Play, genuine play has the following qualities:

• Play is purposeless, all-consuming, and fun
• It is not about improving a time or score, or winning at all costs
• Play has its own place, separate from the rest of life (a basketball court, the roller rink, a favorite trail, or even your back yard)
• Play has a prearranged time—it’s important to make time to play
• Play is about exuberance, license, and abandon
• Play requires freedom—you do it because it is enjoyable, not because you’re supposed to
• Play involves a “make believe” element
• Play is enjoyed for its own sake

 

More than half of all cancers preventable

You never know when those chronic migraines, persistent hypothyroid symptoms, or that flaring arthritis pain might actually save your life. These are warning signals that your system is out of balance. By tending to your body’s health with nutritional and lifestyle interventions, you may prevent cancer as well.

Carrying the genes for cancer doesn’t make it a sure thing—a recent study found more than half of all cancers are preventable. In functional medicine, we have long known certain diet and lifestyle practices, as well as various nutritional and botanical compounds, can reduce the risk of cancer.

Not only can nutritional therapy help prevent cancer, but it also can aid in the management of chronic autoimmune and inflammatory disorders so common today.

Cancer risk factors also increase risks for common diseases today

Many of the same factors that raise the risk of cancer are also linked with many chronic immune disorders common today:

• Neurological disorders—memory loss, Alzheimer’s, dementia, Parkinson’s
• Autoimmune disease—Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, Graves’ disease, vitiglio, type 1 diabetes
• Mood disorders—Anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorders
• Other health issues—Chronic pain, migraines, fatigue, obesity, type 2 diabetes

People’s diet and lifestyle choices significantly influence their chance of getting cancer or one of the other immune disorders listed above. For instance, smoking alone is a responsible for 30 percent of cancers (and 75 percent of lung cancer) in the United States, and obesity for another 20 percent.

Cancer prevention falling on deaf ears

Although an enormous amount of data on the causes and preventability of cancer already exist, little of it has been put into practice on a larger scale, according to researchers. Instead, people, and their doctors, remain skeptical that cancer can be prevented.

Obstacles to more widespread cancer prevention cited by the researchers include:

• The short-term focus of cancer research. The benefits of preventions take decades to be realized.
• Intervening too late. It may be too late to implement preventive strategies after a lifetime of cancer-causing habits.
• The focus of research on treatment instead of prevention. Research focuses on a single organ affected. Focusing on behavioral changes to prevent cancer might save more lives.
• Societal factors that affect health. Many of the factors that increase the risk of cancer and other diseases, such as fast foods, high-carb diets, and addictions to sedentary forms of entertainment (television, video games, the Internet), are accepted as normal in our society.

Cancer education and awareness are still possible

It’s possible to change social norms and thus affect health, say the researchers. The anti-smoking campaigns have led to a decline in lung cancer rates. Media attention on the dangers of trans fats has led to more awareness and less use of hydrogenated oils in food processing and the restaurant industry.

In functional medicine, we often don’t see people willing to make the necessary lifestyle changes until the “pain of the problem is worse than the pain of the solution.” Adopting a healthier diet and incorporating herbal and nutritional supplements into daily life can be challenging at first, but such changes significantly ease symptoms, restore well-being, and reduce the risk of cancer for many people.

Can’t sleep? Turn the lights off earlier

Can’t fall asleep? You may need to turn the lights off earlier. Studies show exposure to light after dusk, particularly light from computer screens, iPads, iPhones, televisions, and other electronic items, significantly inhibits the production of melatonin, your body’s sleep hormone.

Insomnia is a national problem, affecting about 30 percent of Americans and fueling a $2 billion sleep medication industry. Although prescription sleep medications are common, they also come with troubling side effects and a four times higher risk of death.

While the natural sleep aid melatonin may be safer, it can disrupt your body’s delicate balance of hormones and create a dependency. Research shows it also stimulates inflammation, which could worsen autoimmune disorders, such as arthritis or Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism, in some people.

The best natural sleep aid may be to change your lighting after dusk. Although going light-free in the evening is too much to ask, you can boost melatonin production by reconfiguring the kind of light to which you expose yourself.

LED lights suppress melatonin

Although any kind of light can suppress melatonin, research shows the worst offender is light with blue wavelengths. LED bulbs, though hailed for their energy efficiency, are dominant in blue light and suppress melatonin five times more than orange-yellow light bulbs. One study showed that exposure to room light (compared to dim light) before bedtime shortened melatonin duration by about 90 minutes, and that exposure to light during usual sleep hours suppressed melatonin by greater than 50 percent.

Examples of light sources high in melatonin-suppressing blue light include:

• LED light bulbs
• Computer monitors
• Laptop computers
• iPads, iPhones and similar devices
• Hand-held video games
• Electronic gadgets
• LED televisions
• LED digital clocks

Melatonin helps prevent dementia, cancer, obesity, and autoimmune disease

Melatonin does more than deliver a good night’s sleep. Numerous studies have linked poor melatonin activity and a disrupted sleep-wake cycle with an increased risk of cancer, an increased risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s, more autoimmune flare-ups, obesity, and other health issues.

Creating a sleep-friendly environment to boost melatonin

A sleep-friendly solution is to configure your lighting so that it mimics the light of a fire, which is rich in red and yellow wavelengths. This could mean shutting off the overhead lights and using floor and table lamps with orange and yellow bulbs in the evening. Of course, it also means forgoing computer and television use, especially just before bedtime. It may sound drastic, but for the person with persistent insomnia, these changes can help.

Other ideas to simulate our pre-industrial light-dark cycles include:

• Adjust your sleep schedule to more closely mimic the sun’s
• Install Flux, a free download that reduces blue light emissions from your computer screen
• Wear orange safety glasses at night
• Check out the melatonin-friendly bulbs and glasses at Low Blue Lights
• Enhance melatonin production during the night by blacking out your windows or wearing a sleep mask
• Balance blood sugar—insulin resistance (high blood sugar) typically makes it harder to fall asleep, while hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) will have you jolting awake at 3 a.m., wide-eyed and anxious—when this happens, eating a little protein may help you fall back asleep. Ask my office how to balance blood sugar.
• Address chronic stress issues that may elevate the stress hormone cortisol and suppress melatonin during the night. Ask my office for more information.

 

When a gluten-free diet is not enough

For many people, a gluten-free diet erases all their chronic health problems like a magic wand. For others, it doesn’t make a dent, despite a proven gluten intolerance. What gives? A diet that also eliminates dairy, grains, and other foods may be necessary, along with nutritional compounds to restore gut health.

Gluten damages the small intestines and causes chronic inflammation. This inflammation extends to other parts of the body and helps explain why gluten triggers so many disorders, including joint pain, skin disorders (eczema, psoriasis, rosacea, etc.), fatigue, depression, or mood disorders from inflammation in the brain. It even increases the risk of death for people with celiac disease.

A gluten-free diet reduces inflammation and allows the gut to recover, which often alleviates symptoms elsewhere in the body.

However, newer research showed that the small intestines of up to 60 percent of adults in one study never completely healed on a gluten-free diet, especially in those who didn’t adhere to the diet fully.

In another study, only 8 percent of subjects fully recovered gut health on a gluten-free diet for 16 months, and only 34 percent recovered after a gluten-free diet for two years in yet another study.

These are pretty grim numbers for a diet that has taken the natural health world by storm. Does this mean a gluten-free diet is not worth the effort?

Absolutely not.

Going beyond a gluten-free diet for gut healing

These studies shed light on the fact that a gluten-free diet often is not enough to recover gut health. One may still suffer from gut inflammation, poor absorption of nutrients due to damage of the intestinal lining, and leaky gut (leaky gut allows undigested food and pathogens to escape into the bloodstream, where they cause more inflammation).

This explains why some continue to suffer from chronic inflammatory disorders and autoimmune disease despite a gluten-free diet.

So what’s the solution? One is to look for other food intolerances. Because gluten causes leaky gut, undigested food escapes into the bloodstream and provoke an immune reaction. This leads to allergies and sensitivities to many other foods. Ferreting out these foods with a strict anti-inflammatory elimination diet is an important first step. Many people find they feel and function better eliminating all grains, as well as dairy and even legumes.

Using nutritional therapy to unwind gut inflammation

In functional medicine we have also identified nutritional and botanical compounds that can help unwind the chronic inflammation in the gut and, thus, elsewhere in the body. These include nutrients to support glutathione, the body’s main antioxidant, as well as nutrients that dampen inflammation through nitric oxide modulation. Glutathione in particular is essential to repairing and protecting intestinal health.

The botanical compounds resveratrol and curcumin have also been shown to dampen inflammation. Resveratrol is a compound derived from Japanese knotweed, and curcumin is derived from the popular curry spice turmeric. Both are well known for their antioxidant qualities.

Research shows that taking them together creates a synergistic effect, making them potent tools for quenching the inflammation and damage in the small intestines and elsewhere in the body.

Enhancing the gluten-free diet goes the distance

Although a gluten-free diet is vital to restoring health for people with celiac disease or a gluten intolerance, it might not go the whole distance. Removing other foods and using nutritional therapy to quench inflammation are also important steps to restoring gut health.

Fight inflammation with glutathione recycling

The term “antioxidant” has become popular in a multitude of products from acai to dark chocolate, but the most important antioxidant is the one made by your body: glutathione. Sufficient glutathione is vital for good health.

Glutathione is a molecule that protects the body in many ways. It shields cells from damage caused by oxidation and inflammation, it aids in detoxification, and it helps the immune system function at its best.

When glutathione production drops, you are more vulnerable to:

• autoimmune disease
• chemical sensitivities
• heavy metal sensitivities
• inflammatory disorders
• intestinal permeability (leaky gut)
• other immune issues

Chronic stress depletes glutathione

When we are healthy, our bodies make enough glutathione to protect us. However, chronic stress, whether it is from toxins, poor diet, sleep deprivation, smoking, excess sugar, or other stressors, eventually exhausts glutathione levels. Glutathione levels also decrease gradually as a result of aging.

A glutathione supplement is not effective taken orally. Instead, people can boost glutathione levels through a liposomal cream, nebulizer, suppository, or IV drip. These methods will help raise glutathione levels and your general antioxidant status, which can reduce inflammation and improve health. However, they do not raise glutathione inside the cells.

Glutathione recycling raises levels inside cells

To raise glutathione levels inside the cells, where it can protect the cells’ energy-producing factories called “mitochondria,” you must enhance your body’s ability to recycle glutathione. Recycling glutathione means taking glutathione that has already been used to protect the cells, and rebuilding it so it’s ready for action again.

Studies show a correlation between the inability to recycle glutathione and increased autoimmune disease. Glutathione recycling helps balance the immune system, protect body tissue from damage caused by inflammation, and also helps repair damage. Good glutathione recycling is an important tool in managing autoimmune disease.

Glutathione recycling helps repair leaky gut

Glutathione recycling also helps protect and repair the gut. It’s common for people with autoimmune disease and inflammatory disorders to have leaky gut, which exacerbates their immune condition. Poor glutathione recycling weakens gut integrity, making a person more prone to multiple food sensitivities and chronic gut issues. Good glutathione recycling is a vital part of restoring and protecting gut health.

Boosting glutathione recycling

One of the most important steps to enhance glutathione recycling is to remove stressors depleting glutathione levels. These may include lack of sleep, smoking, food intolerances, diets high in sugars and processed foods, excess alcohol intake, and metabolic imbalances, such as with the hormones or immune system.

Beyond that, a variety of nutritional and botanical compounds have been shown to support glutathione recycling. They include:

• N-acetyl-cysteine
• Alpha-lipoic acid
• L-glutamine
• Selenium
• Cordyceps
• Gotu kola
• Milk thistle

Booting your glutathione levels with a glutathione liposomal cream and then supporting glutathione recycling can profoundly enhance the management of autoimmune disease, inflammatory disorders, chemical sensitivities, food sensitivities, and more.

Contact my office for advice on how you can support your glutathione recycling system.