Your gut and your immune system

You might be surprised to find out that there’s a deep-running connection between your immune system and your digestive system.

Turns out, three-quarters of your immune system resides in your digestive tract. And that entire immune system is protected from its external environment (your food) by a thin, fragile lining that’s only one cell thick. If that lining is damaged and the barrier that it creates is penetrated, crazy things happen. You become allergic to foods you could normally handle without a problem, you get sick much more easily, and your whole immune system becomes overactive, which can result in chronic inflammation.

And the things that punch holes in your digestive tract are things that you put there yourself – food.

Chronic Inflammation

Have you heard all the talk about inflammation in the health news? Chronic Inflammation can result in… -stubborn fat -painfully slow metabolism -undigested poop stuck in your colon (up to 15 pounds for many people) -Fatigue -Lack of motivation and focus -Joint pain -Weak immune system -Faster aging -Diseases and cancers Inflammation is our body’s way of saying it isn’t gonna take the affront of injury or illness lying down. That is GREAT in an acute injury/illness. When inflammation becomes chronic and systemic, when it ceases to be an acute response, when it becomes a constant low-level feature of your physiology that’s always on and always engaged, the big problems arise.The inflammatory response is supposed to be short and to the point. I’m going to fire off a few things that induce inflammation. Let me know if anything sounds familiar to you. ▪ Toxic diets: High-sugar, high-processed carb, high-industrial fat, high-gluten, high-CAFO meat, low-food is a pretty accurate descriptor of the modern Western diet. ▪ Insufficient omega-3 intake: Omega-3 fats form the precursors for anti-inflammatory eicosanoids, which are an integral part of the inflammatory response. Poor omega-3 status means insufficient production of anti-inflammatory eicosanoids and a lopsided inflammatory response to normal stimuli. ▪ Excessive omega-6 intake: Omega-6 fats form the precursors for inflammatory eicosanoids, which are an integral part of the inflammatory response. High omega-6 status (especially when combined with poor omega-3 status) means excessive production of inflammatory eicosanoids and a lopsided inflammatory response to normal stimuli. ▪ Lack of sleep: Poor sleep is linked to elevated inflammatory markers. Poor sleep is a chronic problem in developed nations. Either we go to bed too late, wake up too early, or we use too many electronics late at night and disrupt the quality of what little sleep we get. Or all three at once. ▪ Lack of movement: People lead sedentary lives, by and large, and a lack of activity is strongly linked to systemic, low-grade inflammation. People don’t have to walk to get places, they take escalators and elevators, they sit for hours on end, and they don’t have time for regular exercise. ▪ Chronic stress: Modern life is stressful. Bills, work, commuting, politics, exercise that you hate – it all adds up and it doesn’t seem to let up or go away. And if it becomes too much for you to handle (I know it’s too much for me at times), your body will have a physiological, inflammatory response to emotional stress. ▪ Lack of down time: When you’re always on the computer, always checking your email/Facebook/smartphone, you are always “on.” You may think you’re relaxing because your body is stationary, but you’re not relaxing. ▪ Lack of nature time: We spend too much time contained in cubicles, cars, trains, and cities, away from trees, leaves, and soft earth. ▪ Poor gut health: The gut houses the bulk of the human immune system. When it’s unhealthy, so is your inflammatory regulation. ▪ Poor acute stressor/chronic stress ratio: We respond far better to acute stressors than repeated, sustained stress – even if the latter is of a lower intensity.

Digital thermometer for Thyroid health

Digital thermometer is a great tool to get your basal temperature as a means of assessing thyroid hormone status. An immediately-upon rising oral temperature of 97.3°F suggests favorable thyroid status and how lower temperatures suggest common health- and weight loss-impairing hypothyroidism. Kinsa (kinsahealth.com) makes a smartphone-compatible device that allows you to store and track temperatures, although the device costs about twice the price of simple thermometers.

Lumbosacral Facet Syndrome

The facet joints are a pair of joints in the posterior aspect of the spine. The lumbosacral facet joint is reported to be the source of pain in 15-40% of patients with chronic low back pain.

Low back pain is the most common musculoskeletal disorder of industrialized society and the most common cause of disability in persons younger than 45 years. Given that 90% of adults experience low back pain sometime in their lives, the fact that it is the second leading cause for visits to chiropractors, primary care physicians and the most frequent reason for visits to orthopedic surgeons or neurosurgeons is not surprising.

Treatment
Spinal manipulation is being used for both short and long-term pain relief. Some evidence supports the use of spinal manipulative therapy combined with a trunk-strengthening program, which, over the course of a year, may actually reduce the need for pain medication.

Dr. Stacy has determined that the following (checked) supplements may speed your recovery time.

• Bio-Glycozyme Forte – 3 tablets, 3 times a day on an empty stomach
• Fibro-Ez – 1-2 tablets daily with food
• LI-Zyme Forte – 2 tablets, 3 times daily with food
• Optimal EFAs – 2 capsules, 3 times daily with food
• Intenzyme Forte – 4 tablets, 3 times daily on an empty stomach
• Bio-FCTS – 3 capsules, 2 times daily with food
• MSM – 1 capsule, 3 times daily with food

At Home
While nutritional changes will not usually produce immediate results, there can be no better way to make long term changes in the body than eating right. Some foods have properties which have been shown to change inflammatory levels. Acidic fruits can mildly block the body’s inflammation process, whereas red meat and shellfish increase arachidonic acid, which is known to increase inflammation levels.

Muscular strengthening exercises will be important once the back irritation has subsided. Back strengthening exercises help to build stability to weak tissue. It should be noted that irritated muscles can become further damaged with strengthening exercises that are premature to the healing of the area.

• Reverse Sit Up
• Sit Up
• Hamstring Stretch
• Gluteus Stretch
• Piriformis Stretch

Adrenal Function

The adrenals are hormone glands that sit above the kidneys. Among its many functions, one is to secrete epinephrine (better known to some as adrenalin) which provides us with energy. They also secrete cortisone when there is inflammation present in the body. When women get close to menopause, the adrenals replace the function of the ovaries in the production of the female hormones estrogen and progesterone.

What can interfere with healthy adrenal function? Stress first and foremost. Of any kind. When we’re stressed the adrenals secrete adrenalin as if we were preparing to fight tigers in the jungle. The physiological changes brought on by the adrenal glands during stress is called the fight or flight response. Your adrenals don’t know the difference between the stress of facing a tiger and the stress of facing an irate boss, a bouncing checkbook or rush-hour traffic. They just jump into gear and adrenalin flows. Many people in modern society do not have the luxury of a recovery period for their overworked adrenal glands. Stress is constant. The changes caused by the overproduction of adrenal hormones stay with them. The stimulation of the adrenal glands causes a decrease in the immune system function, so an individual under constant stress will tend to catch colds and have other immune system problems, including allergies.

Adrenal hypofunction is when the adrenals are not adequately responding to stress. People who have adrenal hypofunction may suffer from allergies, asthma, back pain, knee pain, muscle tightness (sometimes so severe as to be called “fibromyalgia”), fatigue and depression. People with weak adrenal glands frequently crave coffee and sugar because sugar and caffeine stimulate the adrenal glands.

To effectively treat the adrenal glands, you must eliminate as much stress from your life as possible. Emotional stress is the kind of stress most people think of when stress is mentioned, but there are many different kinds of stress. Thermal stress results from being exposed to extremes of temperature; physical stress from heavy physical work, poor posture, structural misalignments, lack of sleep and being overweight; and chemical stress from ingestion of food additives, exposure to pollutants and consumption of sugar and alcohol. Changes in blood sugar are also a form of chemical stress. Eating frequent, small meals is often very helpful, since people suffering from hypoadrenia are often hypoglycemic (having low blood sugar). Situations are not always controllable, but stress is. Stress is cumulative. Emotional, structural and chemical stresses all affect the body the same way. Your adrenal glands do not know the difference between an IRS audit, treading water, extremes in temperature or excessive sugar consumption.

Possible signs and symptoms:

• Fatigue
• Depression
• Joint pain (especially in the low back and knee)
• Food cravings (especially salt, sugar and caffeine).
• Hypoglycemia
• A tendency toward sports injuries
• Digestive disturbances

Patient Brochure from Standard Process