Integrative Health Blog

Bob Johnson DMD

Glutathione, the Great Antioxidant

Glutathione is  known as the Great antioxidant and the Great detoxifier.

Glutathione is a critically important molecule composed of 3 amino acids but is unique in that it is made by the body and exists inside all cells.

Why is Glutathione so important?

Glutathione is a great detoxifier and critical in prevention of chronic diseases.

Oxidation of cells contributes to degenerative diseases such as cancer, arthritis, heart disease, diabetes, dementia, and Alzheimer’s. Oxidation is also involved in the aging process with the body’s exposure to pollutants, chemicals and in regular metabolism.

Glutathione is the most important antioxidant and the body needs it for detoxification, to clean up the stressed and damaged cells, and to help the body repair itself.

Most patients with chronic illness have low levels of glutathione.

It has been clearly established that for the prevention of asthma, inflammation, arthritis, muscle weakness, cancer, cataracts, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and more, glutathione is critical.

Glutathione also helps to maintain all other antioxidants such as vitamins C and E, the nitric oxide cycle and is indispensable in DNA and protein synthesis.  As such glutathione is a critical element in the body.  Most chronic illness patients have glutathione deficiency and would be effectively treated with glutathione.

Glutathione, although made in the body can be supplemented.  Oral glutathione supplementation has been shown to be ineffective due to the digestion process but consuming the precursors especially alpha lipoic and N acetyl cysteine have been shown more effective.

 

Pain is one of the biggest motivators to go get healthcare.

Most people think they can deal with sharp pain, muscles that ache, a body that gets achy and tired at the end of a day. But when it gets to a point that you can’t handle it anymore, you call the doctor. 

As a chiropractor, my job is to discover what is causing your pain.  Sometimes we get lucky and  it is just a sore muscle that goes away after a treatment, but what if it is more complicated?  There are no easy cases for doctors; patients present with individual problems that get solved uniquely based on how they present. 

The Sources of Pain

Lowell Weiner DDS

Do you ever wake up with a headache, or get one by the end of the day?

Are they associated with neck pain or do you have a separate neck pain?

Headaches, Neckaches and Sleep Apnea

A new study from the University of Kansas Medical Center has shown that these symptoms are strongly associate with sleep apnea.  This is a new association. Non supine sleep provoked by sleep disordered breathing (as with sleep apnea) may play a previously unrecognized role in headache and cervical radiculopathy, or neck problems of the upper spine.

This information comes on top of the body's continued accomodation of postural changes that occur daily- everything that surrounds the throat- all muscles, etc. have to work to keep the throat and airway open. We know that jaw position pays a critical role in Jaw joint or TMJ problems, as it acts like a lever to the cervical spine and thus impacts the throat. This can decrease the space in the throat which can lead to decreased oxygen to the whole body and trigger headaches and sleep apnea. These headaches can occur in the early morning when getting up or throughout the day, and may be treated  by well-meaning physicians with drugs- but this does not address the cause of the problem because physicians are not trained in the biomechanics of the jaw. Many times a dentist's treatment of a jaw problem by way of the teeth can improve or contribute to the dysfunction of the jaw, which then acts like dominoes, affecting other areas to create a headache, neck ache or sleep problem. To further compound the problem, every time we swallow, which is over 2000 times a day, the effect is magnified.

Anita's Healthy Tips                       

 

Summer officially starts this week, on Friday, June 21. Most of us have air conditioning these days, but many of us can remember sleeping on sticky sheets with the fan in the window during the summer! Which never worked, by the way!! When it gets hot, who wants to be in the kitchen using the oven or the stove? Now is the time to try all those recipes that don’t require cooking!!

 

Salads of all types - green salads, fruit salads, raw kale salads, gazpacho soups, cold cucumber or melon soups, and caprese salad - taste wonderful and don't heat up the kitchen.

Know Your Fruits and Veggies: The "Dirty Dozen" and The "Clean 15"

Why do we need antioxidants?

One of the 4 pillars of nutritional supplementation, antioxidants prevent our bodies from “burning up” (anti- against, oxidation – burning); oxidation from free radicals also causes aging, loss of cellular energy and function, premature cell death, degeneration, cancer, and more. Consider these biological truths about anti-oxidants:

• Antioxidants come from our food (and supplements) but more importantly our body’s antioxidant enzyme systems (all requiring nutritional building blocks).
• Cellular systems of detox and antioxidants always work together, are under genetic control and are inhibited whenever chronic inflammation is dominant. So if you have a chronic inflammatory health condition you also have an oxidation and toxic problem! Note that all chronic health conditions involve chronic inflammation.
• Our toxic world has greatly increased our need for all types of antioxidants to heal or remain healthy.

Antioxidants are key to:

• Anti-aging
• Overcoming illnesses
• Regaining health from any chronic or acute health issue
• Restoring health of the neuro-immune system compromised through heavy metal and chemical toxicity, overgrowth of bowel toxins and chronic infections
• All detoxification strategies should include anti-oxidants

How antioxidants are best delivered to the body:

Eve Colantoni CHC

Many people are aware that they have food allergies due to the severe and sudden reaction they experience when consuming these foods.  But food sensitivities can be much more difficult to determine and often with symptoms that could seem completely unrelated.

Lowell Weiner DDS

Do you feel like you are not getting enough sleep?

If so, you may find that you experience a wide variety of health problems.

These medical problems tend to become additive over time-and according to a new study at the University of Surrey in England reported in the March 23 Science News, even a small deficit in sleep may affect your circadian rhythm, immune system,  and lead to health problems.

Sleep Loss May Change Your Genes

The volunteers in the study slept at least 8 hours a night for the first week. Then they were only allowed to sleep for up to 6 hours in the second week.  According to the Science News article, Sleep Loss Affects Gene Activity, “People were sleepy and sluggish after that week, and blood tests showed that the activity of 711 of their genes had changed,” researchers reported. In just 2 weeks and going from 8 hours of sleep to just under 6 hours of sleep- caused a change in over 700 genes including those that govern the immune system!

Better Sleep for Better Health

Is it any wonder that people who have lived the longest and have experienced the increased additive effect of lost sleep, have more illnesses? While it’s true that there are many causes for decreased sleep, sleep apnea and snoring will decrease the oxygen supply and thus decreases sleep. We tend to push on with less sleep and accommodate as best we can with an inefficient system, but this adds up over time to create health problems.  

Make restful sleep a priority. Get help for sleep apnea or snoring, which inhibits good quality sleep.

Sleep is not a luxury- our genes require it.