A mother's hand is the finest-gauged instrument available when it comes to assessing the presence of a fever in her child. When I felt my daughter's head this morning, I knew her body was in a state of inner turmoil, and my mind leapt to my pantry of herbs, homeopathy, and nutrients.
As soon as flu vaccinations start next month, some people getting them will drop dead of heart attacks or strokes, some children will have seizures and some pregnant women will miscarry. ~ New York Times 2009
Crohn's disease, a form of inflammatory bowel disease, presents significant challenges for patients and clinicians alike. Characterized by chronic inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract, it can cause debilitating symptoms such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, and fatigue. Recent research has turned attention to vitamin D as a potential adjunct in managing this complex condition.
Cholesterol is a lipid molecule vital for life. It is required to build the membrane of each cell in our bodies and also for the synthesis of vitamin D and a number of very important steroid hormones.
Vitamin D is an essential vitamin that boosts the immune system and plays vital roles in human metabolism. Did you know that tasty mushrooms are one source for vitamin D, and that you can naturally multiply their levels by exposing them to sunlight?
Just because you consume a particular food or drink, doesn't mean all the nutrients make their way into the body, to the locations where they end up being used or stored. Sometimes they just pass right out of your gastrointestinal tract without being absorbed and other times they are broken-down immediately by the liver and excreted by the kidneys.
Nutrients have to make it through a variety of obstacles, starting from the moment they enter your mouth to the moment they are used or stored. The bioavailability of a particular nutrient refers to the ability of the nutrient to pass through some or all of these obstacles, so that they are absorbed into your body and become available for use or storage [1].
In the realm of digestive disorders, Crohn's disease has long been a formidable foe. But what if the key to taming this inflammatory beast was hiding in plain sight, in the very vitamin we get from sunshine?
The Invisible Struggle: Understanding Crohn's Disease
Every fall we are urged to get flu shots and wash our hands, that's it. One would think we would receive more comprehensive information than these constant reminders? Aside from questions over flu shot effectiveness, the glaring omission of proven preventive measures is a black mark on our health department, healthcare system and medical reportage.
The latest, and most likely, program theory of aging is the telomere shortening theory. Telomeres are the end-cap segments of DNA (our genetic material). Each time a cell replicates, a small piece of DNA is taken off the end of each chromosome. The shorter the telomere gets, the more it affects gene expression. The result is cellular aging and an increased risk for immune dysfunction, heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer's disease, and other degenerative diseases.
Angelika Tritscher, the World Health Organization representative to Codex Alimentarius meetings, aptly posed a question to the Codex delegates assembled at a Food Contaminants meeting in Moscow in 2013, "How can we keep Codex relevant?" In posing this question, Dr. Tritscher quickly cut to the heart of the potential downfall of Codex. My response to Dr. Tritscher's question was, "If Codex wants to remain relevant to consumers, then it must create food standards that are truly healthy and make sense."
A groundbreaking study has uncovered vitamin D's potential to regulate a key immune system protein and dramatically reduce the risk of death in a subset of digestive tract cancer patients. The findings suggest vitamin D supplements could be selectively employed as a natural, low-cost way to improve survival based on patients' PD-L1 levels.
Today, healthy fatty acid deficiency is epidemic. This deficiency leads to cardiovascular and immune issues and other disorders. What do you do if you're HFA deficient?
[Note: Melanie Christner is leading an upcoming 12-week GAPS™ Protocol course which is still open for enrollment. Learn more here.]