Forget “you’re only as old as you feel” or “age is just a number.” Soon, the saying on everyone’s lips might be “you’re only as old as your telomeres are short.”

As researchers learn how to naturally slow aging to keep us looking and feeling young, they’re looking at telomeres, the parts of chromosomes that control aging, for the answers. And with possible links to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and some types of cancer, the stakes are high.

What Are Telomeres?

Telomeres are segments of DNA at the end of our chromosomes. Scientists frequently compare them to the plastic tips of shoelaces that keep the laces together. Telomeres function similarly, preventing chromosomes from fraying or tangling with one another. When that happens, it can cause genetic information to get mixed up or destroyed, leading to cell malfunction, increasing the risk of disease or even shortening lifespans.

Each time a cell divides, its telomeres become shorter. After years of splicing and dicing, telomeres become too short for more divisions. At this point, cells are unable to divide further and become inactive, die or continue dividing anyway — an abnormal process that’s potentially dangerous.

Essentially, this is how our bodies age. As more of our cells lose their telomeres and go out of commission, without others to take their place, the body follows and begins breaking down. And telomeres don’t leave (or shorten) quietly. Their shortening process has been linked with aging, cancer and a higher risk of death.

Each telomere’s ticking biological clock (unfortunately, ladies, there is another one) has the potential to alter our lives in drastic ways but, interestingly, it’s not our age that determines when the clock will stop — it’s the length of our telomeres.

What Do Telomeres Have to Do with Health and Aging?

One of the largest studies to date on telomeres shed some light on telomeres’ effect on a person’s health, and how it related to one’s longevity. Researchers collected saliva samples and medical records of more than 100,000 participants. Their findings showed that shorter-than-average telomere length was associated with a boost in mortality risk — even after adjusting for lifestyle factors like smoking, alcohol consumption and education that are linked to telomere length.

The study found that individuals with the shortest telomeres, or about 10 percent of the study’s participants, were 23 percent more likely to die within three years than those with longer telomeres. The findings are trickier than expected, however. Researchers are still unsure whether telomere length is just a marker of aging, like gray hair or wrinkles, or if it’s an active factor in whether a person is more likely to have a disease like Alzheimer’s or even pass away.

There’s also another key player in the game: telomerase.

Telomerase is an enzyme that lengthens telomeres and keeps them from wearing out too fast or too early. But with constant cell division, telomerase levels are depleted, enabling telomeres to shorten. It stands to reason that if science found a way to increase telomerase production, telomeres would remain long, lengthening life spans and possibly reducing the risk of some diseases.

In fact, one 2010 study on aging published in Nature performed on rodents seems to confirm that theory. Mice engineered to lack telomerase aged prematurely and became decrepit. But when the enzyme was replaced, they bounced back to health. By reawakening telomerase in human cells where it’s stopped working, normal human aging could be slowed. “This has implications for thinking about telomerase as a serious anti-aging intervention,” said Ronald DePinho, a cancer geneticist who led the study.

However, there are still serious doubts about whether reversing or slowing down aging via telomerase activity is the answer. Because while telomerase does lengthen telomeres, in humans with cancer, the enzyme helps existing tumors grow faster. At this stage, it doesn’t seem we know enough about safely harnessing telomerase to ensure that it works only to lengthen telomeres and doesn’t actually stimulate cancer.

How to Lengthen Telomeres

While science still isn’t 100 percent sure how telomere length affects how we age, it’s clear that the longer our telomeres are, the better. Studies show that there are a variety of lifestyle changes you can make today to lengthen your telomeres.

1. Control and Reduce Stress

Several studies show that chronic stress is linked to shorter telomeres. A 2004 study compared healthy women who were mothers of healthy children (the control moms) and those who cared for chronically ill children (caregiving mothers). On average, the caregiving mothers had telomeres that were 10 years shorter than the control moms. That is, their cells behaved as if one decade older.

Another study that examined African-American boys found that those who came from stressful environments had telomeres that were about 40 percent shorter than peers from stable homes.

The takeaway? Chronic stress doesn’t just put you in a bad mood; it contributes to aging in a very real way. Exercising regularly, getting enough sleep and carving out time for yourself daily are all easy ways to help relieve stress.

2. Exercise Regularly

From boosting happiness to providing an energy boost, the benefits of exercise are well documented. Now there’s another reason to hit the gym.

A 2022 systematic review and meta-analysis of seven studies that qualified found that exercise is beneficial to telomere length — in particular, consistent aerobic exercise for over six months. Another study found that the more a person exercised, the longer their telomeres. The correlation between telomere length and exercise activity seemed to be strongest among those in middle age, suggesting that it’s never too late to start a fitness program and keep those telomeres from shortening.

All of this evidence does suggest that regularly engaging in intense exercise, like HIIT workouts, can keep telomeres long and happy.

3. Eat a Range of Foods for Antioxidant and Vitamin Benefits

Foods high in vitamins are believed to protect cells and their telomeres from oxidative damage. A diet high in antioxidant foods, like berries and artichokes, can slow down aging and help prevent or reduce cell damage.

Additionally, one 2023 cross-sectional study showed that vitamin C was positively correlated with telomere length, as greater dietary vitamin C intake was associated with longer telomeres. Also, taking a multivitamin supplement to bridge the gap between the foods you’re eating and what your body needs might lengthen telomeres as well. One study found that women who took a daily supplement had telomeres that were about 5 percent longer than nonusers.

But supplements still can’t mimic all the health benefits of eating real, wholesome foods. The same study found that, even after adjusting for supplement use, participants who ate foods high in vitamins C and E also had longer telomeres. Oranges, peppers and kale are among the top vitamin C foods. For vitamin E, turn to almonds, spinach and sweet potatoes.

As always, you should avoid sugary and ultra-processed foods. One study found an association between sugar-sweetened soda consumption and shorter telomeres.

4. Practice Meditation and Yoga

It’s time to unroll your mat and unwind. In a 2014 study among breast cancer survivors, those who participated in mindful meditation and practiced yoga kept their telomeres at the same length; the telomeres of the control group, who did neither activity, shortened during the study time.

A study among men found that, after three months of a vegan diet, aerobic exercise and stress management, including yoga, there was increased telomerase activity. A follow-up study found that those lifestyle changes are associated with longer telomeres.

Meditation comes in different forms for different people. It can be healing prayer and setting aside time to reflect. For others, it might be setting an intention for their day, attending a regular yoga class or spending time with loved ones without the distraction of technology or work. Whatever your meditation looks like, it’s clear it’s good for our minds and bodies.

While we wait for science to unravel all the mysteries of telomeres and how they work for ­— and against — us, we can make changes to lengthen them and positively affect the rest of our lives.

5. Consider a NAD Supplement

A group of proteins that are linked with anti-aging effects, called sirtuins, rely on NAD (Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) to function properly. Sirtuins have been found to play a role in regulating cellular and mitochondrial health.

Some animal studies show that they play a role in maintaining the length of telomeres.

The post How to Lengthen Your Telomeres & Unlock a Key to Longevity appeared first on Dr. Axe.

Studies over the past 20 years have shown that the majority of people in economic developing countries have blood pressure numbers that are higher than they should be, with many experiencing high blood pressure.

In fact, there are millions of people all over the world who are struggling with high blood pressure symptoms, or hypertension. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), nearly half of American adults have high blood pressure, with about 25 percent having their hypertension under control.

Nearly half of adults have hypertension (48.1%, 119.9 million), defined as a systolic blood pressure greater than 130 mmHg or a diastolic blood pressure greater than 80 mmHg or are taking medication for hypertension. About 1 in 4 adults with hypertension have their hypertension under control (22.5%, 27.0 million).

What Is High Blood Pressure?

High blood pressure is also known as hypertension. It’s defined as a systolic blood pressure greater than 130 mmHg or a diastolic blood pressure greater than 80 mmHg or are taking medication for hypertension.

What is blood pressure? It’s a combination of systolic and diastolic pressure. Systolic pressure represents blood force, or pressure, while the heart is beating and diastolic pressure stands for blood pressure when the heart is at rest.

Systolic pressure is always the first or top measurement in a blood pressure reading. In a reading of 130/80, 130 represents systolic pressure and 80 represents diastolic pressure. In prehypertension, systolic numbers range from 120–129 and diastolic numbers are less than 80.

Blood pressure ranges include:

• Normal blood pressure: Less than 120/80 mm Hg
• Prehypertension: Systolic between 120–129 and diastolic less than 80
• Stage 1 high blood pressure: Systolic between 130–139 or diastolic between 80–89
• Stage 2 high blood pressure: Systolic at least 140 or diastolic at least 90 mm Hg

Numbers for stage 1 hypertension vary from 130–139 for systolic values and/or 80–89 in diastolic numbers. With stage 2 hypertension, systolic readings are 140 or higher and/or diastolic readings measure 90 or higher.

Although both numbers are significant, after about age 50, the systolic number is most important. Only 10 percent of high blood pressure cases are due to secondary or identifiable causes such as medications, or conditions and diseases of other organs.

High blood pressure happens when the pressure on the arteries and blood vessels becomes too high and the arterial wall becomes distorted, causing extra stress on the heart.  Long term-high blood pressure increases the risk of stroke, heart attack and diabetes. Most Americans don’t even realize they have high blood pressure until serious problems arise.

Results of high blood pressure include:

• Arterial damage
• Aneurysm
• Heart failure
• Blocked or ruptured blood vessels
• Reduced kidney function
• Vision loss
• Loss of cognitive function: concentration, memory and ability to learn
• Metabolic syndrome: a cluster of metabolic disorders such as high cholesterol and insulin, atherosclerosis and increased waist size

Frequently, there are no symptoms as blood pressure increases, but warning signs for very high blood pressure can include chest pains, confusion, headaches, ear noise or buzzing, irregular heartbeat, nosebleeds, tiredness or vision changes.

Causes of high blood pressure include a high-salt diet, emotional stress, excessive alcohol and caffeine, smoking, obesity and inactivity.

How to Monitor

You can monitor your own blood pressure at home using a home blood pressure monitor. The American Heart Association recommends using an automatic, cuff-style bicep monitor. Make sure you buy a monitor that has been validated and with a cuff that fits properly around your upper arm. Then follow these simple steps:

• Don’t exercise, eat, drink caffeinated beverages, or smoke within 30 minutes of measuring your blood pressure.
• Sit still with your back straight and your feet flat on the floor. Follow your monitor’s instructions or ask your doctor how to use it correctly.
• Make sure you check your blood pressure at the same time each day.
• Check your blood pressure two or three times each time you sit down to measure it. Wait one minute in between each reading. Be sure to track your measurements, either writing them down in a journal or using an online tracker.

How to Lower Blood Pressure

So, what are some natural ways to lower blood pressure? There are foods that reduce blood pressure, as well as supplements to lower blood pressure and lifestyle changes you can make. By slowly making these changes to your daily habits, you can naturally lower blood pressure without medication.

1. Weight loss

According to studies, obese patients have higher rates of resistant hypertension and more comorbidities. Therefore, weight loss is needed because it “stabilizes neurohormonal activity and causes clinically significant reductions in blood pressure.”

In fact, a meta-analysis of 25 studies found a direct relationship between weight loss and blood pressure. It demonstrated that a decrease in weight by one kilogram (2.2 pounds) is associated with roughly 1 mmHg decline in systolic blood pressure.

In addition, the size of the waistline does matter. Excessive weight around the waist increases the risk of high blood pressure. Women should aim to have a waist measurement less than 35 inches (89 cm). Men should aim to have a waist measurement less than 40 inches (10 cm).

2. Exercise

Physical activity can help you maintain a healthy weight and lower your blood pressure. Ideally, you should engage in some form of physical activity and/or exercise for at least 20 minutes per day to unlock the benefits of exercise. Children and adolescents should get one hour of physical activity every day.

In particular, some studies indicate that aerobic exercise leads to a significant reduction of blood pressure in resistant hypertension. Walking daily is a great option. Strength training at least twice a week is also recommended.

3. Eat more of these foods

One of the best things you can do to lower your blood pressure is to eat a healthy diet for high blood pressure. Read on below to find out more about what foods can help reduce high blood pressure.

High-fiber foods — such as vegetables, fruits and seeds — can decrease levels of total and LDL cholesterol, both of which are important for promoting blood flow through the arteries by reducing the buildup of fatty plaque. Research also suggests that it helps lower blood pressure levels, which can prevent hypertension and ease added stress on the heart muscle.

Low-sodium foods are also recommended. Excess salt consumption raises blood pressure. A systematic review and meta-analyses conducted in Switzerland found that lower sodium intake was associated with a reduced blood pressure and a reduced risk of stroke and fatal coronary heart disease in adults.  Limit your consumption to no more than 1,500–2,000 milligrams of sodium daily.

Potassium-rich foods help counteract the effects of sodium and helps lower blood pressure. Include foods like melons, avocados and bananas.

Omega-3 foods like grass-fed beef, wild caught salmon, chia and flax seeds help reduce inflammation and high blood pressure. A 2021 meta-analysis showed how omega 3 fatty acids prevent cardiovascular disease by lowering blood pressure, blood lipids/cholesterol and plaque buildup in the arteries.

Eating a variety of vegetables is a staple for basically every diet that exists, considering veggies are high-antioxidant foods packed with protective nutrients like fiber, vitamin C, vitamin K and various electrolytes (yet very low in calories). A report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that people who ate a mostly plant-based diet reported lower blood pressure readings than meat eaters who were likely to consume less fresh produce.

In terms of specific foods that lower blood pressure, check out the following. Pomegranate juice possesses blood pressure-lowering ability, both in short- and long-term studies, including from 2013, 2009, 2014 and 2016.

Spinach helps reduce disease-causing inflammation, and studies show who it can naturally reduce blood pressure.

Researchers have found that coriander exhibits a hypotensive (blood-pressure lowering) effect. (17)

Studies reveal that beetroot juice reduces both systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Interestingly, beetroot juice had a more immediate hypotensive effect than cooked beets.

Olive oil has been regarded as one of the healthiest staple foods, including in the Mediterranean Diet, a well-known diet associated with longer life spans and less instances of common diseases (like heart disease). A scientific review conducted in Spain found that “virgin olive oil significantly reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease clinical events.”

4. Avoid these foods

• High-sodium foods: Sodium raises blood pressure; avoid high sodium processed foods, pickles, olives or canned foods.
• Trans fats and omega-6 fats: These fats increase inflammation and blood pressure and are found in packaged foods and conventional meats.
• Sugar: High sugar consumption is connected to high blood pressure.
• Caffeine: Too much caffeine can cause an increase in blood pressure.
• Alcohol: Narrows arteries and can increase blood pressure.

5. Consider using these supplements

One of the main causes of high blood pressure is inflammation in the arteries over time. Studies show that consuming fish oil, which is high in EPA and DHA forms of omega-3 fatty acids, reduces inflammation in the body.

The mineral magnesium helps relax your blood vessels and can have an immediate impact on naturally lowering blood pressure (and many people have a magnesium deficiency).

A study with 241,378 participants published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that a diet high in magnesium foods could reduce the risk of a stroke by 8 percent. This is profound considering that hypertension causes 50 percent of ischemic strokes in the world. Therefore, a magnesium supplement may help address your blood pressure issues.

6. Reduce sodium

A low-sodium diet is the recommended approach to controlling high blood pressure because high amounts of sodium, found in basically all processed and packaged foods, is known to worsen high blood pressure by impacting fluid retention and how arteries dilate.

Sodium is a type of  electrolyte that’s balanced by other beneficial electrolytes like potassium and magnesium in order to keep blood pressure within a healthy range. The problem is that most people eating a “Standard American Diet” consume far too much sodium and far too little potassium and magnesium, leading to electrolyte imbalances.

7. Limit alcohol intake

It’s also recommended to reduce alcohol to less than one drink a day for women or two drinks a day for men for lowering blood pressure. One drink equates to 12 ounces of beer, five ounces of wine or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof liquor.

If you do drink alcohol, make that one drink red wine. Quercetin, one of the most important flavonoids present in red wine, has proved to promote heart health by regulating blood pressure levels, reducing inflammation and preventing oxidative stress.

8. Reduce stress

Yet another reason to reduce stress is its ability to raise blood pressure. But don’t relax by eating more or using tobacco or alcohol. These activities only increase the problem.

For high blood pressure symptoms and good health in general, it’s a great idea to practice daily relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, healing prayer and/or meditation. These natural stress relievers help you relax and reduce your blood pressure.

Also, you can raise your blood pressure to alarming levels just by thinking or stressing about events. Imagined events have as much physiological effect as real ones. In fact, this is the basis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

9. Get enough sleep

Many people have difficulty sleeping, including being diagnosed with insomnia, and that can cause high blood pressure. Sleep apnea and restless leg syndrome can also prevent sound sleep. Studies show how blood pressure naturally decreases during sleep, and when those dips in blood pressure during sleep don’t occur, it increases cardiovascular risk.

Good sleep habits including exercising daily, healthy diet, supplements, stress relief and essential oils can all help make it easier for you to fall asleep and stay asleep.

10. Quit smoking

Smoking damages your blood vessels and raises the risk for various heart problems. It will also worsen complications and make it harder to reverse the problem. It’s imperative to quit smoking in order to reduce your blood pressure.

11. Consistently monitor your blood pressure

Blood pressure levels tend to go up as someone get’s older, which is why prevention, early detection and management through a healthy lifestyle are so crucial for lowering blood pressure. Remember that you likely won’t have any noticeable signs or symptom of high blood pressure, so you can’t just assume that everything is normal and okay because you don’t feel any differently.

If you’re at a high risk for various forms of heart disease, make sure to have your blood pressure checked professionally at least once every six to 12 months. If your blood pressure is normal, great — you can work on keeping it that way as you get older.

But if it’s high, you’ll need to make some changes and work with your healthcare professional to manage the condition, possibly by changing your medications and helping you lose weight. Keep in mind that high blood pressure is a chronic disease and ultimately needs lifelong treatment, so support is helpful to make it easier to stick to a healthy lifestyle plan.

If you already have high blood pressure, some evidence shows that measuring levels at home can help you manage symptoms better. This will give you an early warning sign if you start to see numbers creep up slowly. You’ll also be able to monitor how you react to different meals, circumstances, sleep routines, exercises, etc.

You can buy several different types of home blood pressure monitors without a prescription from pharmacies or online. If you feel more comfortable visiting your doctor regularly or working with a nurse to control your blood pressure, the same benefits apply. Research suggests people who have some kind of ongoing support from their doctor or health clinic improve blood pressure better than without support.

Final Thoughts

• Blood pressure is a combination of systolic and diastolic pressure.
• High blood pressure happens when the pressure on the arteries and blood vessels becomes too high and the arterial wall becomes distorted causing extra stress on the heart.
• You can monitor your own blood pressure by measuring your pulse rate.
• Try natural ways to lower blood pressure like dietary changes, stress relievers and exercise.
• Check with your healthcare professional before making any major diet or exercise changes or trying new supplements.

The post How to Lower Blood Pressure: 11 Natural Ways appeared first on Dr. Axe.

You may not be familiar with hyperlipidemia, but chances are you know someone who’s been affected by this condition — even if that person doesn’t know it. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), this disorder affects approximately 25 million Americans, and less than half receive treatment for the condition.

Hyperlipidemia often means very high levels of cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood — aka lipids (fat) — but because high cholesterol often presents without symptoms, many people don’t know that their cholesterol is too high. This makes is a frightening “silent killer.”

But while it’s a chronic condition, it can be reversed in most cases through healthy eating and regular exercise. Learn what you can do naturally to avoid or improve hyperlipidemia.

What Is Hyperlipidemia?

Hyperlipidemia is the medical term for having elevated lipid (fat) levels in the blood, specifically having total cholesterol levels above 240 mg/dL as well as high triglycerides.

Hyperlipidemia, or ICD-9 hyperlipidemia as it’s known to many medical professionals, can be classified as either familial or primary hyperlipidemia, which is caused by specific genetic abnormalities, or acquired or secondary hyperlipidemia when it results from another underlying factor, including metabolic syndrome, diet, physical inactivity and/or medication.

A diagnosis of hyperlipidemia is not the same as high cholesterol. Both involve too much fat in the bloodstream, but high cholesterol does not necessarily mean you have high triglyceride levels. Hyperlipidemia means that both your overall cholesterol and your triglycerides are high.

Cholesterol helps build cells and produce hormones in the body. Triglycerides are a type of fat the body utilizes to store energy as well as provide energy to your muscles. Having a high triglyceride level along with a high LDL cholesterol as one has with hyperlipidemia increases your chances of having heart disease more than having only a high LDL cholesterol level. Indeed, having high levels of lipids in your blood can narrow or block your arteries. The lipids can stick to and harden the walls of your arteries, as well.

Therefore, hyperlipidemia is a common condition associated with metabolic syndrome, diabetes and obesity, as well as being a cause of coronary artery disease, peripheral arterial disease and stroke. Having hyperlipidemia increases your risk for cardiovascular diseases, such as heart attack, stroke and peripheral vascular disease (having fatty deposits in your blood vessels).

Similarly to hypertension or high blood pressure symptoms, hyperlipidemia can be a “silent killer” with no known signs or symptoms until you’re in serious trouble. Having both hyperlipidemia and hypertension increases risk of metabolic syndrome. If you have hyperlipidemia and hypertension and low HDL cholesterol, then you also have metabolic syndrome.

Symptoms

• Hyperlipidemia typically shows no symptoms and can only be detected by a blood test.
• Some people experience chest pain, especially if the hyperlipidemia is advanced and seriously affecting the arteries.
• Some symptoms that may occur in rare cases of hyperlipidemia can cause heart attack or stroke.

Risk Factors and Causes

Hyperlipidemia is usually the result of unhealthy lifestyle habits like smoking, poor diet and physical inactivity. Women older than 55 and men older than 45 are also more likely to be diagnosed with hyperlipidemia.

Some other things that can cause hyperlipidemia include:

• alcoholism
• diabetes
• hypothyroidism
• kidney disease

Familial combined hyperlipidemia is an inherited disorder that causes high cholesterol and high levels of triglycerides in the blood. According to a study published in Human Molecular Genetics, familial combined hyperlipidemia affects 1 percent to 2 percent of the population.

A family history of high cholesterol and early heart disease are risk factors for developing familial hyperlipidemia. Although familial combined hyperlipidemia is inherited, there are some factors that make it worse:

• alcoholism
• diabetes
• obesity
• hypothyroidism

In general, to be considered low-risk for hyperlipidemia, your blood work should show the following results:

• HDL greater than 40 milligrams per deciliter
• LDL less than 130 milligrams per deciliter
• Triglycerides less than 200 milligrams per deciliter
• Total cholesterol less than 200 milligrams per deciliter

Conventional Treatment

Hyperlipidemia can be inherited and increases the risk of disease of the blood vessels, which can lead to stroke and heart disease. Doctors most frequently and very quickly prescribe statins for anyone who has hyperlipidemia or high cholesterol.

But statins are not without very serious risks, including increasing your chances of developing diabetes — with studies finding that people who took statins were 71 percent more likely to develop type 2 diabetes.

Medical doctors and healthcare professionals acknowledge that lifestyle changes are by far the best way to prevent and manage hyperlipidemia. So why are statins so commonly prescribed? It’s a simple yet sad answer: Most people aren’t willing to make significant (yet nonetheless possible) lifestyle changes that could replace the need for cholesterol-lowering drugs.

Natural Remedies

There’s no question that natural and controllable lifestyle changes are the best way to fight hyperlipidemia. Here’s what you can do to avoid or treat this condition today.

1. Change Your Diet

A high-fat diet full of inflammatory foods can worsen or increase your risk for hyperlipidemia. That’s why you want to eat anti-inflammatory foods and limited your consumption of damaging processed foods and ultra-processed foods.

Foods that Make Hyperlipidemia Worse

Avoid consumption of this list to prevent and/or overcome hyperlipidemia:

• Sugar and refined grain products — Both stimulate the liver to produce more cholesterol and increase inflammation.
• Packaged and processed foods of all kinds — Typically high in salt, sugar and unhealthy fats, you definitely want to stay clear of packaged and highly processed foods, which are consider high cholesterol foods.
• Hydrogenated fats — Vegetable oils are pro-inflammatory and may increase cholesterol.
• Trans fats — These increase LDL cholesterol, inflammation and risk of cardiovascular disease.
• Conventional dairy products (non-organic, homogenized and pasteurized) — Pasteurization and homogenization of dairy products alter their chemical structure, make fats rancid, destroy nutrients and result in the formation of free radicals in the body.
• Factory-farmed animal products — Industrial farming provides us with cheap but dangerously unhealthy animal meats and products.
• Too much caffeine — Too much caffeine can increase cholesterol levels. Limit coffee or tea to no more than one to two cups per day.
• Too much alcohol — Alcohol stimulates the liver to produce more cholesterol, increasing cholesterol levels and inflammation. For people with high triglycerides alcohol can be particularly dangerous. A glass of red wine per day may be cardioprotective, but anything more than that may increase your cholesterol.

Foods to Eat

• Omega-3 fats — Omega-3 foods can help increase good cholesterol and reduce risk of cardiovascular disease. Fish rich in heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids include sardines, tuna, salmon, herring and mackerel.
• Foods high in soluble fiber — Soluble fiber binds cholesterol in the digestive system, causing it to be excreted by the body. Aim to consume plenty of fruits, vegetables, sprouted nuts and seeds, and other high-fiber foods.
• Olive oil — Real, high-quality extra virgin olive oil has well-researched anti-inflammatory compounds, antioxidants and numerous heart-healthy macronutrients. It also boosts “good” HDL cholesterol.
• Garlic and onions — These two cholesterol-lowering foods help reduce LDL cholesterol because of their sulfur-containing compounds that help cleanse the arteries.
• Apple cider vinegar — Consuming just one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar per day can naturally lower your cholesterol. Apple cider vinegar has been shown to increase bile production and support your liver, which is responsible for processing cholesterol.
• Herbs — Add a variety of spices to your daily diet, such as basil, rosemary and turmeric, which all contain antioxidants that are cardioprotective and help lower cholesterol naturally.

2. Fish Oil

EPA and DHA (omega-3 fatty acids) found in fish oil help reduce overall cholesterol levels, which in turn can help stave off this condition.

A 2015 study examined 80 people to determine if fish oil benefits people with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) associated with hyperlipidemia. The participants were randomly assigned to take fish oil or corn oil daily for three months. Of the 80 original participants, 70 completed the trial, and researchers found “that fish oil can benefit metabolic abnormalities associated with NAFLD treatment.”

3. Red Yeast Rice

Red yeast rice is a substance that’s extracted from rice that’s been fermented with a type of yeast called Monascus purpureus. It contains the naturally occurring chemical monacolins, which block the production of cholesterol. It’s been used in China and other Asian countries for centuries as a traditional medicine.

Scientific studies have demonstrated that supplementing with red yeast rice can lower overall as well as LDL cholesterol, aka “bad cholesterol.”

4. Niacin

Niacin (vitamin B3) reduces LDL cholesterol by 25 percent and increases good cholesterol by 35 percent, which is why you want to include niacin foods in your diet.

Duke University’s Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology found that niacin helped improved diabetic conditions in people with new-onset diabetes resulting from hyperlipidemia, showing it can treat this condition and also treat diabetes.

5.  Chromium

Chromium is needed for normal metabolism of fats, including cholesterol. Research shows a link between higher chromium intake and healthier arteries and levels of blood cholesterol. Some studies even show that people who die from heart disease tend to have lower levels of chromium in the blood at the time of death.

One animal study out of Turkey published in Human & Experimental Toxicology found that chromium combined with niacin treatment improved the condition of hyperlipidemic rats, concluding chromium along with niacin may “induce a protective effect on heart tissue.”

6. Milk Thistle

Milk thistle benefits heart health and helps lower high cholesterol levels by lowering inflammation, cleaning the blood and preventing oxidative stress damage within the arteries. Studies show that milk thistle appears to be especially beneficial to diabetics suffering from hyperlipidemia.

7.  Garlic

If you have a hard time consuming garlic in your diet, you can also take garlic in supplement form. It increases HDL cholesterol and lowers total cholesterol.

A 1993 meta-analysis of controlled trials using garlic to reduce cholesterol levels found that garlic does, indeed lower total cholesterol. Researchers concluded that, “The best available evidence suggests that garlic, in an amount approximating one half to one clove per day, decreased total serum cholesterol levels by about 9 percent in the groups of patients studied.”

Follow-up research has discovered that this effect may be due, in part, to garlic’s ability to slow down cholesterol synthesis and re-circulation in the liver and also to garlic’s antioxidant potential.

8. Exercise

A top and crucial way to keep your blood lipid profile in a healthy state is to exercise. Exercise with weight training and high-intensity interval training can boost human growth hormone, which can improve HDL (good) cholesterol and lower LDL (bad) cholesterol.

9. Lose Weight

If you carry extra weight around, you’ll want to work on losing weight. A weight loss of just 10 percent can go a long way to lowering your risk of or reversing hyperlipidemia. One study indicated that patients who lost 5 percent to 10 percent of their starting weight also saw significant reductions in total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and triglycerides.

10. Quit Smoking

Smoking cigarettes is directly related to an increase in bad cholesterol and triglycerides, therefore quitting is key to improving hyperlipidemia.

Final Thoughts

• Hyperlipidemia is a common condition associated with metabolic syndrome, diabetes and obesity, as well as being a cause of coronary artery disease, peripheral arterial disease and stroke. Like hypertension or high blood pressure, hyperlipidemia can be a “silent killer” with no known signs or symptoms until you’re in serious trouble.
• Hyperlipidemia is usually the result of unhealthy lifestyle habits like smoking, poor diet and physical inactivity. Women older than 55 and men older than 45 are also more likely to be diagnosed with hyperlipidemia.
• Some of the lifestyle changes that decrease the chances of and reduce hyperlipidemia include losing weight, quitting smoking, reducing/avoiding alcohol and caffeine, increasing healthy foods, decreasing unhealthy foods, and exercising more.

The post Hyperlipidemia Causes & 10 Natural Remedies Instead of Statins appeared first on Dr. Axe.

If you’ve ever had a toothache or you have a young child or a teething baby who has a toothache, you know that it can be painful and make things miserable. Thankfully there are several natural ways to achieve toothache relief.

Read on to learn how to achieve toothache relief, along with more info on this uncomfortable oral issue.

Natural Toothache Relief Options

1. Clove Essential Oil

Essential oils are known to help with toothache relief, and the best essential oil for toothaches, according to research, is benefit-rich clove oil. The Journal of Immunotoxicology published the first study proving that the eugenol in clove oil is indeed a powerful anti-inflammatory.

Clove is widely accepted as a reliable solution for dry socket and for relieving the pain and discomfort associated with various dental disorders. The Journal of Dentistry, for instance, published a study in 2006 that revealed clove essential oil had the same numbing effect as benzocaine, a topical agent commonly used before needle insertion.

Once you get a small bottle of clove oil, simply take just one drop, and rub it right on the toothache area. For teething babies, mix the clove oil with an equal amount of coconut oil, and then use that mixture to rub it right on the area.

2. Sea Salt

The benefits of sea salt include its natural antibacterial activities, so using sea salt in the painful area by gargling and swishing with water can actually have an analgesic effect.

Rather than using table salt, however, I strongly encourage you to use sea salt or Himalayan salt, which has more than 60 trace minerals and can aid in toothache relief.

To do a sea salt water rinse, mix a teaspoon of salt in a cup of warm water. Gargle the solution in your mouth for about 30 seconds, and then spit it out. This can help reduce inflammation and provide some toothache relief.

3. Peppermint Oil

If you really want to soothe or numb the area, use peppermint oil. Peppermint oil contains menthol, which can help numb that area. In addition, a 2013 study concluded that “peppermint, tea tree and thyme oil can act as an effective intracanal antiseptic solution against oral pathogens.”

Simply mix peppermint oil with coconut oil at a 1:1 ratio and rub on the gum area.

4. Garlic

Garlic has antimicrobial properties that can help fight infection, and research shows that thanks to its active ingredient allicin, it can help alleviate oral pathologies.

Crush a garlic clove, mix it with a bit of salt and apply it to the affected tooth. Be careful as garlic can be strong and may cause a burning sensation.

5. Vanilla Extract

Research shows that vanilla extract “demonstrates the presence of essential anti-microbial agents in it, making it a potent, potential dental biomaterial with a positive and benefitting effect on the oral micro-environment.” In addition, vanilloid, found in vanilla extract, is used to treat dental pain, helping provide toothache relief.

Soak a cotton ball in pure vanilla extract, and apply it to the painful area. Vanilla contains alcohol, which can numb the pain.

6. Onion

Chewing raw onion can help kill germs and provide some pain relief due to its antimicrobial properties. It’s also been used traditionally to help treat oral health problems.

7. Cold Compress

Applying a cold compress to the outside of your cheek for about 15 minutes can help reduce pain and swelling and provide toothache relief.

8. Turmeric

Turmeric has natural anti-inflammatory and analgesic properties that make it a great option for natural toothache relief. Curcumin, its active ingredient, is especially beneficial for oral health and can inhibit oral bacteria growth.

Make a paste using turmeric powder and water, and apply it to the affected area.

9. Ginger

Ginger has anti-inflammatory properties that give it a pain-lowering effect. In fact, researchers noted that it “may be effective in the improvement of inflammation, oxidative, and periodontal status in [type 2 diabetes mellitus patients] with [chronic periodontitis].”

Chew on a small piece of fresh ginger, or apply ginger juice to the affected area.

10. Cucumber

Cucumber nutrition makes it an analgesic that can help provide toothache relief, and it’s long been used to soothe pain and provide other therapeutic benefits.

Place a cold slice of cucumber on the affected area. This can help reduce inflammation and numb the pain.

11. Thyme Oil

Research relays that “thyme oil exhibits antibacterial activity and has been useful in dental practice. A component of thyme, known as thymol, appears to inhibit growth of oral pathogens in the mouth and in combination with other essential oils, may reduce dental caries.”

Further studies show that thyme oil can fight against tooth bacteria decay.

You can use it along with other essential oils as a mouth rinse to help relieve tooth pain and fight bacteria.

12. Aloe Vera

Aloe vera benefits oral health in many ways, which is why it has been used quite a bit in dentistry. In fact, aloe vera mouthwash has been confirmed as a natural alternative to chemical mouthwashes.

Thanks to the antiplaque and antibacterial efficacy of aloe vera, it can both prevent and help treat tooth pain.

When to See a Dentist

Remember that these remedies are not a substitute for proper dental care. If your toothache persists or worsens, it’s important to see a dentist to identify and treat the underlying issue causing the pain.

The post Home Remedies for Toothache Relief appeared first on Dr. Axe.

Even in a healthy human body, cells are constantly becoming damaged as a normal part of metabolic processes. However, as we age, experience stress, and deal with more and more free radical damage, our cells become damaged at an increased rate.

This is where autophagy comes in: It helps to clear damaged cells from the body, including senescent cells that serve no functional purpose but still linger inside tissues and organs. The reason it’s so important to remove senescent and damaged cells is because they can trigger inflammatory pathways and contribute to various diseases.

The word ‘autophagy’ was coined more than four decades ago and is derived from the Greek words “auto” (meaning self) and “phagy” (meaning eating). Only very recently in animal studies have researchers have been able to observe how autophagy can promote longevity and benefit the nervous system, immune system, heart and metabolism.

As you’ll learn more about below, the best way to induce autophagy is through practicing fasting.

What Is Autophagy?

The definition of autophagy is “consumption of the body’s own tissue as a metabolic process occurring in starvation and certain diseases.” Researchers believe that autophagy is a survival mechanism, or a way that the body cleverly responds to stress in order to protect itself.

Is autophagy good or bad for your health? It’s definitely good! As mentioned above, you can think of autophagy as a form of “self-eating,” which might sound pretty scary but is actually your body’s normal way of carrying out cellular renewal processes. In fact, autophagy is so beneficial that it’s now being called a “key in preventing diseases such as cancer, neurodegeneration, cardiomyopathy, diabetes, liver disease, autoimmune diseases and infections.”

Autophagy has many anti-aging benefits because it helps destroy and reuse damaged components occurring in vacuoles (spaces) within cells. In other words, the autophagy process basically works by using waste produced inside cells to create new “building materials” that aid in repair and regeneration.

Thanks to recent studies, we now know that autophagy is important for “cleaning up” the body and defending against the negative effects of stress. However, scientists still emphasize that the exact way that autophagy processes work are just beginning to be understood.

There are several steps involved in autophagic processes. Lysosomes are a part or cells that can destroy large damaged structures, like mitochondria, and then help to transport these damaged parts so they are used to generate fuel. To sum up a complex process: damaged material must first be transported to a lysosome, then deconstructed, then spit back out to be repurposed.

Benefits

Research suggests that some of the most important autophagy benefits include:

• Providing cells with molecular building blocks and energy
• Recycling damaged proteins, organelles and aggregates
• Regulating functions of cells’ mitochondria, which help produce energy but can be damaged by oxidative stress
• Clearing damaged endoplasmic reticulum and peroxisomes
• Protecting the nervous system and encouraging growth of brain and nerve cells. Autophagy seems to improve cognitive function, brain structure and neuroplasticity.
• Supporting growth of heart cells and protecting against heart disease
• Enhancing the immune system by eliminating intracellular pathogens
• Defending against misfolded, toxic proteins that contribute to a number of amyloid diseases
• Protecting stability of DNA
• Preventing damage to healthy tissues and organs (known as necrosis)
• Potentially fighting cancer, neurodegenerative disease and other illnesses

There are several different types of autophagy, including macroautophagy, microautophagy and chaperone-mediated autophagy. Macroautophagy is “an evolutionarily conserved catabolic process involving the formation of vesicles (autophagosomes) that engulf cellular macromolecules and organelles.” This is usually the type we hear the most about.

Humans are not the only species to benefit from autophagy. In fact, autophagy has been observed in yeast, mold, plants, worms, flies and mammals. Much of the research to date on autophagy has involved rats and yeast. At least 32 different autophagy-related genes (Atg) have been identified by genetic screening studies. Research continues to show that autophagic process are very important responses to starvation and stress across many species.

How to Induce Autophagy

When does autophagy occur? Autophagy is active in all cells but is increased in response to stress or nutrient deprivation (fasting or starvation). This means you can utilize “good stressors” like exercise and temporary calorie-restriction (fasting) to boost autophagic processes. Both of these strategies have been linked with benefits like weight control, longevity and inhibition of many age-associated diseases.

1. Practice Fasting

When it comes to diet and lifestyle habits that are in your control, the thing that triggers autophagy most is fasting, including the dietary strategy known as intermittent fasting (or IMF). Fasting is a pretty simple concept: You abstain from eating for a certain period of time (you can still drink water and liquids like coffee or tea).

If you’re not yet familiar with intermittent fasting, this is a type of cyclic fasting that involves time-restricted eating. There are many different forms of IMF that you can practice to promote autophagy, such as Alternate Day Fasting or limiting your daily “eating window” to somewhere between just 4 to 8 days per day.

How long do you have to fast for autophagy? Studies suggest that fasts between 24–48 hours probably have the strongest effects, but this isn’t always doable for many people. Try to at least fast for 12 to 36 hours at a time.

An easy way to accomplish this is to eat just one or two meals per day, rather than grazing on many small meals and snacks. If you usually finish dinner at 6 or 7 p.m, then try to fast until at least 7 a.m the next morning — or even better, don’t eat until 11 a.m. or 12 p.m.

You might choose to occasionally do a 2–3 day fast, or even longer once you’re more experienced with fasting. If you prefer alternate day fasting, then you will severely restrict the amount of calories you eat during fasting days (eating only 1 or 2 meals of about 500 calories), then eating to your stomach’s content on non-fasting days.

2. Consider the Ketogenic Diet

The ketogenic (“keto”) diet is a very high-fat, very low-carb diet that works in similar ways to fasting. The keto diet involves getting about 75 percent or more of your daily calories from fat, and no more than 5–10 percent of calories from carbs. This forces your body to go through some major changes, as metabolic pathways are shifted so that you start using fat for fuel instead of glucose from carbs.

What types of keto foods are most beneficial if you plan to follow the keto diet? High-fat, whole foods like coconut oil, olive oil, eggs, grass-fed butter, ghee, grass-fed meat, fermented cheeses, avocado, seeds and nuts. Vegetables are also included for fiber, vitamins and antioxidants.

In response to such severe carb restriction, you’ll begin to start producing ketone bodies that have many protective effects. Studies suggest that ketosis can also cause starvation-induced autophagy, which has neuroprotective functions. For example, in animal studies when rats are put on the ketogenic diet, the keto diet has been shown to start autophagic pathways that reduces brain injury during and after seizures.

3. Exercise

Another “good stress” that can induce autophagy is exercising. Research has shown that “Exercise induces autophagy in multiple organs involved in metabolic regulation, such as muscle, liver, pancreas and adipose tissue.”

While exercise has many benefits, it’s actually a form of stress because it breaks down tissues, causing them to be repaired and grow back stronger. It’s not exactly clear yet how much exercise is needed to boost autophagy, but research does suggest that intense exercise is probably most beneficial.

In skeletal and cardiac muscle tissue, as little as 30 minutes of exercise can be sufficient to induce autophagy. Can you exercise while fasting? Most people can. You might even find that you feel energetic once you get the hang of fasting, giving you more motivation for exercise.

4. Citrus Bergamot

Studies indicate that the main compound, limonene, of citrus bergamot can help jumpstart autophagy and is most abundant in the peel, so a supplement version will likely yield the best results.

Autophagy vs. Apoptosis

How is autophagy related to apoptosis (or the death of cells that occurs as a normal and controlled part of an organism’s growth or development)?

Researchers believe that autophagy is “selective” about removing specific organelles, ribosomes and protein aggregates from the body. As of now, there is not clear evidence that autophagy or apoptosis controls the other process. But some studies have indicated that autophagy is a mechanism of apoptosis-independent cell death.

One of the reasons that the relationship between apoptosis and autophagy is of such interest to researchers is because they believe autophagy may help treat cancer and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease due to its ability to modulate cell death. Autophagy may act as a therapeutic target, protecting healthy cells and removing harmful ones.

In the future, we may be able to use autophagy processes to both protect cells we don’t want to die and to cause diseased cells to be destroyed and removed.

Precautions

There’s still a lot we have to learn about autophagy and how to best induce it. Beginning to induce autophagy by incorporating fasting and regular exercise into your routine is a great place to start.

However, if you are taking certain medications to control any health conditions, it’s best to consult your doctor about introducing fasting. People who suffer from hypoglycemia or diabetes, and women who are pregnant or breastfeeding, should not fast. Anyone being treated for a disease like cancer should always discuss treatment options wand interventions with their doctor.

Final Thoughts

• Autophagy translates to “self-eating.” It’s a beneficial process that describes consumption and recycling of the body’s own tissue as a metabolic process.
• Researchers believe that autophagy is a survival mechanism that has anti-aging benefits. It helps cleanse waste from the body, provides energy and potentially fights cancer, neurodegenerative disease and other chronic illnesses.
• Autophagy is induced through starvation, fasting and other “stressors.” You can increase autophagic processes by doing some type intermittent or alternate day fasting, exercising and/or following the ketogenic diet.

The post Benefits of Autophagy, Plus How to Induce It appeared first on Dr. Axe.

It’s no secret that sugar isn’t exactly the best thing to consume for your health. Sure, natural sugars in fruits and healthy carbohydrates can be part of a balanced, healthy diet, but added sugars coupled with excessive sugar intake can lead to whole host of health issues, including:

• heart disease
• fatty liver disease
• leaky gut
• metabolic syndrome
• diabetes
• cancer
• and more

New research shows you can add an increased risk for developing kidney stones to the list.

Study: Added Sugar Intake Associated with Kidney Stones

Researchers out of China and Sweden sought to determine if added sugar intake had an effect on kidney stone formation and published their findings on Aug. 4, 2023, in the journal Frontiers in Nutrition. To do this, they evaluated National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) datasets from 2007 to 2018. Specifically, they analyzed people who were at least 20 years old who reported a history of kidney stones and who provided dietary recall data on added sugars.

According to the study authors, “Weighted proportions, multivariable logistic regression analysis and stratified logistic regression were used to evaluate the associations between added sugars and kidney stones by adjusting potential confounders.”

In all, 28,303 adults were part of the analysis with a mean age of 48 years old with a relatively equal distribution between males and females.

What did the researchers find? The greater the percentage of calories consumed from added sugars correlated with a higher prevalence of kidney stone formation.

Ultimately, the authors concluded: “A higher percentage of energy intake from added sugars is significantly associated with a higher prevalence of kidney stones. This study provides cross-sectional evidence for the relationship between added sugars and health outcomes.”

“Ours is the first study to report an association between added sugar consumption and kidney stones,” said lead author Dr. Shan Yin, a researcher at the Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, China. “It suggests that limiting added sugar intake may help to prevent the formation of kidney stones.”

However, there is still more to learn.

“Further studies are needed to explore the association between added sugar and various diseases or pathological conditions in detail,” cautioned Yin. “For example, what types of kidney stones are most associated with added sugar intake? How much should we reduce our consumption of added sugars to lower the risk of kidney stone formation? Nevertheless, our findings already offer valuable insights for decision-makers.”

How to Limit Sugar Consumption

Given this data, you may be wondering how much sugar you should consume daily. The answer isn’t so simple, but the American Heart Association recommends consuming no more than 100 to 150 calories from sugar, which is about six to nine teaspoons or 20 to 36 grams.

How can you help curb your sugar intake? First, limit or avoid consuming the following foods with added sugar:

• soda, energy drinks and sports drinks
• dairy desserts, such as ice cream
• candy
• sweetened teas and fruit drinks
• snacks like cakes, cookies, pies, etc.
• refined carbs
• many restaurant foods
• cereals and packaged oatmeal
• dried fruit and fruit snacks
• packaged breads
• bottle sauces, dressing, condiments and marinades
• snack or granola bars
• frozen waffles and pancakes
• “low-calorie” drinks
• sweetened yogurts and dairy

In addition, when sweetening foods, opt for sugar substitutes and natural sweeteners over artificial sweeteners and sugar, such as:

• raw honey
• stevia
• dates
• coconut sugar
• maple syrup
• blackstrap molasses
• balsamic glaze
• banana puree
• brown rice syrup
• real fruit jam
• monk fruit

Of course, be sure to consume even natural sweeteners in moderation, as they still provide some sugar and calories. You don’t want to overdue it.

The post Study: Consuming Added Sugars Could Increase Risk for Kidney Stones appeared first on Dr. Axe.

New to spinning? Diving headfirst into a half-marathon with little training? Sedentary all week long and then jump into all-out exercise on the weekends? Then there’s a 14-letter word that needs to be on your radar: rhabdomyolysis.

Often referred to as “rhabdo,” this serious syndrome can occur by overtraining beyond your body’s current ability. And although considered rare and more often associated with “crush” injuries like car accidents and building collapses, reports exist of kidney-damaging rhabdo after a single spinning class.

Studies featuring case reports of spinners developing exertional rhabdomyolysis, many after taking their first class, highlights the fact that going too hard too fast can lead to serious side effects. This is especially true for a subset of people who are often beginners and/or out of shape.

Reports show that active-duty soldiers, firefighters and others with particularly taxing professions and training protocols face a risk of rhabdomyolysis; research also suggests that CrossFit workouts, running and P90X workouts are other among other reasons people land in the hospital for rhabdomyolysis.

You do not have to push to the point of rhabdo to get incredible fitness results. Given the incredible (and sometimes even surprising) benefits of exercise, including high-intensity interval training HIIT workouts, exercise is highly recommended for all. But it’s important to take some simple precautions to avoid this kidney-damaging ailment.

Anyone taking up exercise for the first time or training hard outside in the heat should take extra precaution to understand the risk factors, causes and symptoms of rhabdomyolysis.

What Is Rhabdomyolysis?

When it comes to the history of rhabdomyolysis, it surprisingly appears the condition was first described in the Bible’s Book of Numbers in the Old Testament. In this instance, the Jews suffered a “plague” while consuming large amounts of quail during the exodus from Egypt. The belief is that the quails ingested poisonous hemlock, which triggered rhabdomyolysis in the humans feasting on the game bird.

But it wasn’t until doctors published literature on “crush syndrome” that we started to really understand the link between muscle damage and acute kidney damage. This research was the result of understanding how World War II-era bombing in London crushed victims’ muscles and triggered acute kidney impairment. Today, we know rhabdomyolysis is major cause of acute-onset kidney failure.

What is rhabdo in medical terms? It’s a complex condition involving the rapid breakdown of skeletal muscle that causes muscle proteins and other muscle constituents to leak outside of cells and into the bloodstream. This damaged muscle and subsequent leakage includes:

• Myoglobin (The term myoglobinuria refers to myoglobin present in urine.)
• Creatine kinase (CK)
• Aldolase
• Lactate dehydrogenase
• Electrolytes

A rise in free ionized calcium inside cells is a classic trait of the syndrome. Researchers say this can be triggered by:

• Energy depletion
• Direct plasma membrane rupture

This increase in cell calcium levels sets off a series of cellular side effects, including mitochondrial dysfunction and abnormal reactive oxygen species. Ultimately, this results in muscle cell death.

Diagnosis

Doctors use a combination of clinical symptoms plus tests to look for myoglobin and excess creatine phosphokinase (CK) levels to diagnose the serious syndrome.

Rhabdomyolysis CK levels vary, but generally levels above 5,000 U/l reveal serious muscle injury. For comparison, normal levels fall in the range of 45–260 U/l.

In severe cases, CK levels in rhabdomyolysis labs can rise over 100,000 U/l. Often, these “worst case” exertional rhabdomyolysis cases involve a de-conditioned person excessively training while dehydrated and/or under heat stress. Not being properly acclimated to a particular climate and lack of a proper diet can also contribute.

Is rhabdomyolysis permanent? While overtraining beyond one’s capability is one common cause of exercise-induced rhabdomyolysis, there are actually more than 100 different triggers.

It’s also possible to experience rhabdo with or without acute renal failure. Quick identification and treatment can often eradicate long-term problems, although recovering may take several weeks even in cases of severe muscle damage and muscle weakness without kidney damage.

Symptoms

Rhabdomyolysis can cause a wide range of impacts on your body. On one end of the spectrum, someone may experience no symptoms of illness but have elevated creatine kinase levels.

On the other hand, some people experience life-threatening symptoms linked to extreme elevations in creatine kinase, electrolyte imbalance, acute renal failure and disseminated intravascular coagulation.

The exact symptoms one experiences sometimes depend on the causes of rhabdo. Still, here are some of the hallmark signs of the condition. Note: Not all symptoms are always present in each case of rhabdomyolysis.

Symptoms of rhabdo include:

• Peeing brown or cola/tea-colored urine
• Muscle pain in the limbs (present in about 50 percent of cases)
• Weakness
• Vomiting
• Confusion
• Irregular heartbeat
• Swelling
• Nausea
• Bruising/muscle tenderness
• Fever
• Agitation
• Decreased (or completely absent) urine production, typically 12 to 24 hours after the rhabdo-triggering incident

Complications

Rhabdomyolysis complications can be broken down into “early” and “late” categories:

Early complications

• Hyperkalemia
• Hypocalcemia
• Hepatic inflammation
• Cardiac arrhythmia
• Cardiac arrest

Late complications

• Acute renal failure
• Disseminated intravascular coagulation
• Early or late complication
• Compartment syndrome

Risk Factors

The condition impacts roughly 26,000 people a year in the U.S., although many experts believe it’s much higher than that, with milder, more asymptomatic cases unreported.

While some people show no symptoms and simply have elevated creatine kinase levels, others experience life-threatening complications like cardiac arrest, arrhythmias, compartment syndrome, disseminated intravascular clotting and acute kidney injury.

The following can increase your risk of suffering from exertional rhabdomyolysis:

• Overtraining, especially when you’re de-conditioned, training beyond your ability too fast or returning to heavy workouts after time off (examples: after an injury, vacation or winter/spring break)
• Strenuous workouts in hot, humid weather
• Training in full gear (think two-a-day football practices with full pads and helmets or firefighters in full-gear trainings)
• Being a large football player — the National Academy of Sports Medicine points out a study identifying the sweat rates of certain football players, and sweat rates in large lineman can hit 3.9 liters an hour and up to 14 liters per day. Due to high intensity activity and abundant fluid loss, football players run a high risk of dehydration and subsequent exertional rhabdomyolysis
• Performing exercise to muscle failure during the eccentric phase — an example of this would be the quadriceps eccentrically lengthening during the downward phase of a squat

Exercise isn’t the only cause of rhabdo. In fact, rhabdomyolysis and statins drugs are linked. Other rhabdomyolysis risk factors include:

• Certain prescription and illegal drugs (see the list of drugs that could contribute to the development of rhabdo)
• Heavy alcohol or drug use
• Prolonged bed rest

Causes

How do you get rhabdomyolysis? In the case of the spinning-rhabdo cases we highlighted earlier, the culprit is overtraining that leads to catastrophic muscle breakdown. This is known as exertional rhabdomyolysis.

A study published in the American Family Physician lists the following as physical causes of rhabdo:

• Physical overexertion in untrained athletes
• Intense exercise, such as marathon running
• Heat-related causes, including heat stroke
• Malignant hyperthermia, a disease triggered when someone experiences a fast rise in body temperature and severe muscle contractions when given general anesthesia
• Crush injury (car accident, earthquake or war injuries, for example)
• Getting struck by lightening
• Immobilization
• Extensive third-degree burn
• Neuroleptic malignant syndrome
• Ischemic causes
• Ischemic limb injury
• Exertional causes
• Pathologic muscle exertion
• Heat dissipation impairment
• Physical overexertion in persons with sickle cell disease

As you can see, there’s not just one cause of rhabdomyolysis, but the most common include:

• “Crush” injury, such as those seen in vehicle accidents, war-time bombings or earthquakes
• Strenuous exercise
• Certain medications (this is just one of the many dangers of statins)
• Drug/alcohol abuse

Some causes of the condition have roots in infectious, inflammatory, metabolic or endocrine sources, including:

• Infections (According to the American Family Physician study, some viral and bacterial infections that can trigger rhabdo include but aren’t limited to influenza virus B, parainfluenza virus, adenovirus, coxsackievirus, echovirus, herpes simplex virus, cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus, HIV, Streptococcus, Salmonella, Legionella, Staphyloccus and Listeria species)
• Snake bites
• Electrolyte imbalances, including hyponatremia, hypokalemia, hypophosphatemia, hypocalcemia and hypernatremia
• Diabetic ketoacidosis

Some cases arise from genetic conditions that lead to metabolism issues related to fats, carbohydrates or purine-rich foods.

Treatment

When a rhabdomyolysis diagnosis is suspected, the main focus is to avoid damage to the kidneys or “kidney impairment.” Patients tend to have much better outcomes when the syndrome is identified and properly treated fast.

Rhabdomyolysis treatment involves:

• Large quantities of IV fluids
• Dialysis, if necessary
• Once urine starts flowing again with rhabdo treatment, doctors routinely use sodium bicarbonate and mannitol. Even though these are commonly used, they are poorly supported by the latest evidence.
• Rhabdomyolysis recovery, including getting over muscle tenderness and weakness, can last several weeks, even in milder cases. The same goes for a trainer taking on a new fitness client. Mild cases of this syndrome do not require medical treatment and recovery time is usually about a week.

How to Prevent

Okay, so how do you prevent rhabdomyolysis? The list of what to do and what not to do isn’t that long, fortunately. Some advice is of the common sense variety, but to prevent rhabdo, it’s also key to pay close attention to fluid intake and the kind of nutrition you’re taking in.

• Avoid strenuous workouts in hot, humid weather unless you are acclimated to do so.
• Trainers and coaches should consider removing full-gear workouts during hot, humid weather.
• Maintain proper hydration and rest periods when you are training. Don’t just drink water, but electrolyte-rich drinks, too.
• If you are on statin drugs, regularly get your CK levels tested. And eat more cholesterol-lowering foods to try to normalize your cholesterol levels without drugs.
• Athletes can help avoid hyponatremia (low sodium levels) by consuming enough top sodium foods and practicing proper hydration/fluid replacement.
• When working out, drink water and use electrolyte replacement fluids for workouts lasting more than an hour or workouts in very hot weather.
• If you’re in the market for a personal trainer, make sure the trainer understands rhabdo. Look for trainers with at least a bachelor’s degree in exercise science and with certifications from organizations like the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM), National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) or the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM).
• Coaches should not start a training season using strenuous, repetitive exercises the trainees aren’t used to.

Precautions

Rhabdomyolysis symptoms warrant an ER visit and should be taken seriously. Even those presenting symptoms without cola-colored “brown pee” could be suffering from rhabdo.

The good news is quick identification and treatment (usually involving higher levels of IV fluids) can often bring the body back into balance without long-term damage.

Rhabdo complications can be very serious and sometimes fatal, though, so proper prevention and identification of the symptoms is important. More common “early” complications involve severe hyperkalemia, which can trigger cardiac arrest. Acute renal failure is considered the most serious “late” complication. It occurs in about 15 percent of rhabdo patients.

Final Thoughts

• Rhabdomyolysis, also known as “rhabdo,” is a life-threatening, sometimes fatal condition that requires immediate medical attention.
• Rhabdomyolysis is the result of catastrophic muscle damage that can result from a number of factors, including but not limited to drug and alcohol abuse, statin medications, overtraining, heat stress, dehydration, snake bites, prolonged bed rest, infections, and metabolic and endocrine issues.
• When overtraining triggers rhabo, it’s known as exertional or exercise-induced rhabdomyolysis.
• Diagnosing the condition usually involves a doctor taking clinical symptoms into account, recent events and lab work to look for elevated CK levels and the presence of myoglobin from major muscle breakdown.
• Standard treatment partially depends on the cause and severity of the syndrome, but large amounts of intravenous fluids are generally included in treatment.
• Symptoms of the rhabdo include muscle pain and weakness, particularly in the shoulders, legs and/or back, cola/tea-colored urine, irregular heartbeat, weakness, vomiting, confusion, and low-level urine output (or none at all).
• There are many ways to prevent this condition, including proper hydration, electrolyte drinks, avoiding training in full gear in hot, humid weather, easing into exercise and getting your CK levels checked when you’re on statin drugs.
• If you anticipate more strenuous exercise, weigh yourself just before you start workout out and right after. Make sure you replace any lost fluids with electrolyte-rich drinks.

The post Rhabdomyolysis “Rhabdo”: How to Avoid This Serious Weekend Warrior Condition appeared first on Dr. Axe.

More people have a sedentary lifestyle than most think. If you don’t believe it, does this sound familar?

Wake up. Get ready for work. Sit in the car during traffic for 45 minutes.

Arrive at work. Sit at desk, check emails and do some work. Move to conference room, and yawn your way through an hour-long meeting.

Order lunch from your computer without getting up. Lunch arrives. Eat at your desk while simultaneously browsing the Internet and preparing that memo.

Sit for another few hours.

Get back in the car. Drive half hour to the gym. Spend an hour working out.

Drive home. Prepare dinner. Grab a snack, and sit on the couch to catch up on your favorite series.

Head to bed. Repeat.

It’s startling to discover that Americans spend more than 90 percent of their lifetimes indoors and 70 percent of time awake each day sitting. When you reflect on the average day for most people, it’s just as startling how accurate it is and how sedentary our lifestyles have become.

While it might feel more comfortable to kick back in an armchair than take a walk around the neighborhood, living a sedentary lifestyle has a direct, negative effect on our health and wellness. It’s why we’re seemingly always tired, always stressed and always struggling to maintain healthy weight as a society.

Dangers of a Sedentary Lifestyle

The human body was designed to move. For thousands of years, that’s exactly what humans did.

Much of it was for survival: We moved to gather food, escape predators and migrate to more forgiving land.

Even as humans advanced, our bodies were in motion. Long days of farm work, trudging into town for school or supplies, and other factors of everyday living meant there was little time for our ancestors to rest on their laurels. In the mid-20^th century, however, technological advances, a rise in car culture and a shift from physically demanding work to office jobs began chipping away at our physical activity.

Today, at a time when we have more choices than ever in almost every aspect of our lives, most of us choose to be stationary.

How does not moving regularly take a toll on our health? The World Health Organization estimates that a lack of physical activity is associated with 3.2 million deaths a year.

A 2017 study of 3,141 adults over the age of 50 concluded that the effects of not moving vary based on your level of frailty. Researchers found the highest level of frailty experienced the most severe impact.

Let us count the ways living a sedentary lifestyle takes a toll on our bodies.

1. Heart Disease

Sitting for too long means your muscles aren’t burning as much fat as they could be and your blood is flowing through your body at a slower pace, giving fatty acids a better chance of clogging your heart — which can lead to coronary heart disease.

One study published in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise found that the more time men spent sitting in cars and watching television, the more likely they were to have some type of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Another study published in 2022 concluded that “long-term [sedentary behavior] increases the risk of CVD in healthy adults, whereas [physical activity] reduces the risk of CVD and improves indicators associated with CVD.”

2. Diabetes Risk

When you’re not moving, your body isn’t using as much blood sugar, and that’s not a good thing. A study of more than 80,000 people found each hour they spent watching TV increased their risk of developing diabetes by 3.4 percent.

“Netflix and chill” doesn’t sound so fun now, does it?

That’s why exercise is one of the best natural treatments for diabetes, while a lack of physical activity is one of the leading causes for developing diabetes.

3. Reduced Circulation

Remaining stationary for too long slows blood circulation to the legs, which can lead to swollen ankles, blood clots, swelling and pain. At the scarier end is deep vein thrombosis, when a blood clot forms in your legs. The clot can eventually break free and obstruct other parts of your body, including your lungs.

Meanwhile, reduced sitting has been found to help with circulation. For instance, researchers in the Netherlands examined the effects of less sitting on blood flow and determined that “long-term reduction in sedentary behavior improves peripheral vascular function and cerebral blood flow and acutely prevents impaired vascular function and decreased cerebral blood flow. These results highlight the potential benefits of reducing sedentary behavior to acutely and chronically improve cardio- or cerebrovascular risk.”

4. Fuzzy Thinking

Ironically, sitting down to work can actually lead to trouble concentrating. When we’re not moving, there’s less blood being pumped throughout our bodies, including our brains. This slows down our cognitive functions and leads to brain fog.

Meanwhile, regular exercise can boost brain performance, while sedentary lifestyles can impair cognition.

5. Loss of Muscle and Bone Strength

Forget flexing: We need our bodies to maintain lean muscle tissue so we can perform our daily tasks without hurting or taxing our bodies. With a sedentary lifestyle, that all changes. Ordinary events, like grocery shopping or picking things up, become much more difficult.

This becomes especially important in older adults, who are already losing muscle mass and bone strength.

6. Increased Risk of Cancer

The kicker with a sedentary lifestyle is that even if you exercise regularly, it might not be enough to combat all those hours you spend sitting at work or in the car. A review in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute analyzed 43 studies, totaling about 4 million people, that dealt with people’s sitting behavior and their incidences of cancer.

Researchers found that adjusting for physical activity didn’t budge the link between a sedentary lifestyle and cancer. We spend so much time not moving that even those 30 minutes at the gym aren’t enough to counteract all those hours at our desks.

That’s not the only link between being sedentary and an increased risk of cancer. For instance, a meta-analysis relayed that “the results from this meta‐analysis suggest that sedentary behavior within the occupational domain was associated with a 15.5% increased risk of breast cancer. It is essential to reduce the sedentary time spent at work and to secure time for leisure‐time physical activity among sedentary workers as a primary preventive measure.”

Several other studies have confirmed a link between being inactive and a risk of different cancers.

Are you standing yet? The good news is that you can prevent the effects of a sedentary lifestyle, even if you do work in an office environment — and none of them include exercising more.

Related: What Exactly Does It Mean to Be Immunocompromised?

How to Not Be a Couch Potato and Get Moving

1. Set an Alarm

Use your smartphone for good, not evil. Set an alarm to remind you to get up and move, ideally about five to eight times throughout your workday.

Whether it’s simply getting up and stretching, working on your feet for 10 minutes, taking a walk around the office or going for a quick stroll outside, it’ll do your body good.

2. Have Walking Meetings

Keep your brain engaged and your legs moving by scheduling walking meetings with your team. If the weather and/or your co-workers aren’t cooperating, try heading outdoors solo the next time you need to brainstorm or be creative.

Being up on your feet and not slumped in a chair can spark your creativity as your body sends blood to the brain. Plus, you can walk to lose weight at the same time!

3. Walk and Talk Instead of Sending Emails

How many emails do you send to co-workers a day? Cut back on the electronic clutter, and walk over to your colleagues’ desks to hammer out details instead. It’ll cut down on all the back-and-forth messages while keeping your body active.

Need more inspiration? Try these:

• Gossip on the phone while walking around the house instead of sitting on the couch.
• Pick up your lunch instead of ordering delivery.
• Do calisthenics instead of lounging while watching TV.
• Get up and dance the next time your favorite song is on the radio.

You might have to sit on your bum several hours a day, but you still can take stand and change your sedentary lifestyle.

Final Thoughts

• Americans spend more than 90 percent of their lifetimes indoors — and 70 percent of each day sitting.
• The World Health Organization estimates that a lack of physical activity is associated with 3.2 million deaths a year.
• A sedentary lifestyle increases the risk of heart disease and diabetes, reduces circulation, and leads to fuzzy thinking and loss of muscle and bone strength.
• You can combat a sedentary lifestyle by setting an alarm clock, having walking meetings, walking and talking instead of sending emails, walking around when you’re on phone as opposed to sitting, picking up your lunch instead of ordering delivery, doing calisthenics instead of lounging while watching TV, and getting up and dancing when your favorite song comes on, to name a few.

The post The Dangers of a Sedentary Lifestyle & How to Overcome It appeared first on Dr. Axe.

Everyone sweats, and it is an absolutely necessary bodily function that cools the body down and prevents overheating. When your body is striving to maintain a normal body temperature, sweating may occur. Excessive sweating associated with hyperhidrosis, on the other hand, occurs without physical, mental, physiological, thermal or emotional stimuli or triggers.

Individuals with this condition sweat excessively when the body does not need to be cooled. Hyperhidrosis is estimated to affect more than 15 million people in the United States, according to a report published in the Archives of Dermatological Research.

This condition can adversely affect your overall quality of life. The severity of sweating can range from mild dampness to simply dripping wet.

Strangely enough, even when the symptoms are severe, the vast majority of those affected by hyperhidrosis and excessive sweating never seek medical care. In fact, a study published in the journal Dermatology found that only 27 percent of those surveyed had sought treatment.

Hyperhidrosis can be due to an underlying medical condition, a medicine, a supplement or genetics. According to the American Academy of Dermatology Association, when excessive sweating occurs in one or two areas of the body, it is a condition that most likely runs in the family.

Researchers are still studying this condition and looking for answers, but there are some natural ways that appear to help.

What Is Excessive Sweating?

Hyperhidrosis, or excessive sweating, can cause mild to severe sweating without normal triggers. We sweat to help keep our bodies at the proper temperature and avoid overheating, but those with this condition sweat excessively without the normal thermal, physical, mental or emotional conditions associated with sweating.

When broken down, hyperhidrosis actually translates to “too much sweating.” This medical condition is relatively common, affecting more than 15 million people in the United States.

Symptoms can range from mild to severe, and it may only affect one or two areas of the body, leaving the rest of the body dry.

There are two identified types of hyperhidrosis: primary and secondary.

Primary Hyperhidrosis  

With this type, one or more areas of the body experiences excessive sweating, and the condition generally starts during childhood or adolescence. While it can occur anywhere, it often affects the underarms, hands, feet and forehead.

Interestingly, sweating often begins after waking up, and nighttime sweating is not generally associated with primary hyperhidrosis unless the room is too hot.

Secondary Hyperhidrosis

With this classification, the excessive sweating often occurs in all areas of the body, not just a couple, and you may experience symptoms while you sleep. Secondary hyperhidrosis is a result of an underlying health condition or is a side effect of a medication or supplement.

Excessive sweating can dramatically affect the quality of life and make day-to-day tasks difficult. When hands are affected, it can be difficult to open a door or hold the steering wheel of a vehicle properly without slipping. If the excessive sweating occurs under the arms, it can be unsightly and embarrassing in both professional and personal situations.

Related: What Are Meat Sweats? Plus How to Prevent Them

Signs and Symptoms

Recognized signs and symptoms include:

• Visible sweating
• Uncomfortable wetness in hands, feet, the scalp, groin and underarms
• Sweating actually interferes with daily tasks
• Skin in areas that sweat can peel or turn white
• Skin infections like athlete’s foot
• Night sweats

Causes and Risk Factors

The actual physiological reaction that causes excessive sweating happens when certain nerves communicate the need to sweat. These nerves can overreact, causing the troublesome symptoms.

Recognized causes and risk factors for hyperhidrosis include:

• Overactive sympathetic nerves
• Diabetes
• Gout
• Frostbite
• Infections
• Mercury poisoning
• Head trauma
• Hyperpituitarism
• Menopause
• Pregnancy
• Hodgkin’s disease
• Social anxiety disorder
• Obesity
• Hyperthyroidism and Graves’ disease
• Tumor
• Hypoglycemia
• Certain medications and supplements
• Having a family member with hyperhidrosis symptoms
• Monosodium glutamate (MSG)
• Caffeine
• Chocolate
• Hot sauce
• Curry
• Cumin
• Alcohol
• Withdrawal from alcohol or other substances

Conventional Treatment

To diagnosis hyperhidrosis, you may be referred to a dermatologist who will conduct a physical examination while asking specific questions about your specific symptoms. A sweat test may be ordered, and if your symptoms are believed to be due to an underlying health concern, additional tests and other specialists may be required.

For secondary hyperhidrosis, treatment of the underlying condition, or changing the medication or supplement that is causing the excessive sweating, may relieve symptoms. When symptoms persist, or for those with primary hyperhidrosis, your medical team may recommend:

Antiperspirants

Either over-the-counter or prescription antiperspirants may be recommended. You will be instructed to apply antiperspirants to the areas where sweating is a problem, like your hands, feet, neck, hairline or underarms. When you sweat, the antiperspirant is absorbed and plugs the sweat glands so you don’t produce so much sweat.

Prescription Medicines

Certain medications can be prescribed to prevent sweat glands from producing sweat across the entire body. This treatment is not without risk, and certain individuals, including those who live or work in a warm environment and athletes, should use extreme caution, as these medications may make it very difficult for your body to naturally cool itself.

Iontophoresis

This is a medical device that sends a low-voltage current through water you are soaking your hands or feet in. The electrical current causes the sweat glands to temporarily shut down, resulting in less sweat.

It can take six to 10 treatments that last 20 to 40 minutes each before you see results. You may need additional sessions — either weekly or monthly — to keep symptoms at bay.

Botulinum Toxin Injections

Botox injections may reduce sweating for anywhere from four months to six months. The botulinum toxin temporarily blocks a naturally occurring chemical that stimulates the sweat glands. It may take several days to experience the benefit.

Muscle weakness at the injection site can occur. Use caution if excessive sweating affects the palms of your hands.

Surgical Options

In severe and debilitating cases, your medical team may recommend surgery to remove the sweat glands from under your arms. A dermatologist may use liposuction, laser surgery, excision or may scrape out the sweat glands.

Another surgical option, sympathectomy, requires anesthesia and an operating room. In this surgery, your surgeon will manipulate the nerves that send messages to the sweat glands. This procedure is typically used on the palms of the hands.

Electromagnetic Energy Treatments

If your excessive sweating is experienced in your armpits, this treatment may be an option. In your physician’s office, your doctor will use a hand-held medical device that destroys sweat glands with electromagnetic energy. This treatment is newly approved by the FDA, and long-term side effects and long-term results aren’t known.

Natural Treatments

1. Practice Good Hygiene

For stinky feet, sweaty underarms and other areas of the body affected, wash and dry areas thoroughly, several times a day if necessary. As skin infections are common when the skin is continually moist, using a body wash or soap that is made from apple cider vinegar, witch hazel or tea tree oil may help prevent a bacterial or fungal infection.

2. Acupuncture

This ancient practice may be effective for treating excessive sweating. Your acupuncturist will start by determining what part of your body is causing the sweating. For example, heat accumulation in the stomach is thought to be linked to excessive sweating in the hands and feet, while a dampness and spleen deficiency may be associated with night sweats.

A case report published in the journal Acupuncture in Medicine points to successful use of acupuncture specifically for primary hyperhidrosis. Just three cases are highlighted in the report. In each case, acupuncture improved symptoms.

It is important to note that in two of the cases, 20 sessions were conducted, and in the other case, 25 sessions were done.

The points targeted during an acupuncture treatment will determine your specific diagnosis and needs. It is vital that you choose your acupuncturist wisely. Ask for recommendations from friends and family, and ask each practitioner you are considering about specific experiences treating hyperhidrosis.

3. Schisandra

Known for supporting adrenal function, lowering inflammation and improving liver function, schisandra may help stop excessive perspiration and night sweats, according to Traditional Chinese Medicine theory. (13)

In a study published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology, researchers state that schisandra may be an effective candidate for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, spontaneous sweating, night sweating and other conditions as a result of a successful study of mice and schisandra.

Today, schisandra is available as a dried fruit extract, tincture, teas and pills. Start by taking the recommended dose of the product you select, and increase slowly until you experience an improvement in your symptoms. Do not consume in excess of three grams of this powerful medicinal berry daily.

4. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Hyperhidrosis can cause significant embarrassment and distress. In addition, it is considered a symptom of social anxiety.

For people who sweat profusely as a result of fears and anxiety, cognitive behavioral therapy may help relieve symptoms. With the assistance of a therapist, you can learn to change your reactions to stressors and change your thought patterns to help you manage stress and reduce anxiety.

5. Black Cohosh

For excessive sweating caused by menopause, take 80 milligrams of black cohosh one to two times a day. According to a systematic review of randomized, placebo-controlled trials published in the journal Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, black cohosh improved menopausal symptoms by 26 percent. The researchers encourage more studies to determine effectiveness and safety.

6. Practice Stress-Relieving Techniques Daily

Use stress-relieving techniques to combat the stress of excessive sweating and any underlying health condition. Add stress-busting activities like yoga, meditation and journaling to your daily routine, and start to find activities that help boost confidence and keep you connected to friends and family.

Related: Tips for Working Out in the Heat Safely (Plus Its Benefits)

Precautions

Hyperhidrosis is not a serious health condition, but it can disrupt daily activities and cause significant stress.

In addition, in some cases, excessive sweating can be caused by serious underlying health conditions, including:

• Diabetes
• Mercury poisoning
• Head trauma
• Hodgkin’s disease
• Certain types of cancer
• Tumor
• Frostbite

When using conventional treatments be sure to consider side effects of the medications and surgical options before proceeding.

Final Thoughts

• Hyperhidrosis, or excessive sweating, is considered a skin condition and is often treated by dermatologists.
• Causes of hyperhidrosis include nerve communication problems and certain underlying health conditions, including diabetes, obesity, menopause, gout, certain types of cancers, hypoglycemia and others.
• Symptoms can range from mild to severe, and sweating can occur in one or more areas of the body.
• Excessive sweating commonly occurs in the armpits, feet, palms of the hands and around the hairline.
• Conventional treatments including medications, antiperspirants, medical devices and surgeries, but they all come with certain side effects and risks.
• Natural ways to help deal with excessive sweating include practicing good hygiene, acupuncture, schisandra, cognitive behavioral therapy, black cohosh and practicing stress-relieving techniques.

The post Excessive Sweating: What Causes Hyperhidrosis? + 6 Natural Treatments appeared first on Dr. Axe.

Any guess at what disorder affects 40 percent of people over the age of 60? It’s called metabolic syndrome, which unfortunately does not simply mean that your metabolism is slow or out of whack.

Metabolic syndrome is a metabolic disorder that involves not one, but a combination of three or more of the following health issues: abdominal obesity, high blood sugar, high triglyceride levels, high blood pressure or low HDL (“good”) cholesterol.

The term “metabolic” refers to the biochemical processes involved in the body’s normal functioning. When you have metabolic syndrome, your body is in a state of serious malfunction. Metabolic syndrome increases your risk for some very concerning and possibly deadly health issues, including heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

But there’s good news. There’s hope for getting your body metabolically back on track as well as keeping it on track throughout your entire life. Some of the best ways to avoid metabolic syndrome include maintaining a healthy weight, regularly exercising and eating a plant-centric diet while avoiding foods that may slow the metabolism.

In fact, a loss of just 3 percent to 5 percent of your current body weight can lower your triglycerides, blood glucose and the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Greater amounts of weight loss can also improve blood pressure readings, lower LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and increase HDL cholesterol.

Along with the common metabolic syndrome symptoms, risk factors and causes that you need to be aware of, learn about the foods, supplements and lifestyle changes that can help prevent or recover from this dangerous syndrome.

What Is Metabolic Syndrome?

Metabolic syndrome is also sometimes called dysmetabolic syndrome, metabolic disease, insulin resistance syndrome or even syndrome X. What is metabolic syndrome exactly? It’s actually the term for a cluster of conditions, including abdominal obesity, high triglyceride levels, high fasting blood sugar levels, high blood pressure or low “good” HDL cholesterol. When a person has three or more of these metabolic risk factors occurring together, then he or she is diagnosed as having metabolic syndrome.

About 85 percent of people who have type 2 diabetes also have metabolic syndrome. These individuals have a much higher risk for heart disease than the 15 percent of people who have type 2 diabetes without metabolic syndrome.

Symptoms

It’s scary but true that most of the disorders associated with metabolic syndrome are symptomless. However, there are multiple metabolic syndrome symptoms that can be identified.

1. Large waist circumference

One very common visible sign of metabolic syndrome is a large waist circumference: at least 40 inches for men and 35 inches for women. If most of your fat is around your waist rather than at your hips, you’re at a higher risk for heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

2. High Fasting Blood Sugar

If you have very high blood sugar, then you might experience the signs and symptoms of diabetes like increased thirst, increased urination, fatigue and blurred vision.

A normal fasting blood sugar level is less than 100 mg/dL. A fasting blood sugar level between 100–125 mg/dL is considered prediabetes. A fasting blood sugar level of 126 mg/dL or higher is considered diabetes. A fasting blood sugar level of 100 mg/dL or higher (or being on medicine to treat high blood sugar) is considered a metabolic risk factor.

3. High Blood Pressure

High blood pressure is another symptom and risk factor for metabolic syndrome, which can go unnoticed unless you check your blood pressure regularly. A blood pressure of 130/85 mmHg or higher (or being on medicine to treat high blood pressure) is considered a metabolic risk factor.

4. High Triglycerides

Another possible sign of metabolic syndrome is a high triglyceride level. Triglycerides are a type of fat or lipid found in your blood. When you eat, your body converts any calories it doesn’t need to use right away into triglycerides. A triglyceride level of 150 mg/dL or higher (or being on medicine to treat high triglycerides) is a metabolic risk factor for metabolic syndrome.

5. Low HDL Cholesterol

HDL cholesterol is often referred to as “good” cholesterol because it helps remove cholesterol from your arteries. A HDL cholesterol level of less than 50 mg/dL for women and less than 40 mg/dL for men (or being on medicine to treat low HDL cholesterol) is risk factor for metabolic syndrome.

A doctor can diagnose metabolic syndrome based on the results of a physical exam and blood tests.

Causes

The two main causes of metabolic syndrome are being overweight or obese and a lack of physical activity. A 2017 study highlighted that an hour of weekly resistance exercise was associated with 29 percent lower risk of developing metabolic syndrome, compared to no resistance exercising. Participants who coupled aerobic exercise with their resistance exercise showcased a 25 percent lower risk. Metabolic syndrome is a metabolic disease that’s directly linked with insulin resistance, which is more common in obese and inactive people.

A healthy digestive system breaks down food into glucose. Next, insulin, a hormone made by the pancreas, helps the glucose enter your cells to be used as fuel. However, if you experience insulin resistance, your cells won’t respond in a typical fashion to insulin, and hence, the glucose cannot enter your cells as easily. This phenomenon results in increased glucose levels in your bloodstream despite your body’s efforts to manage the glucose by producing more and more insulin.

If this goes on long enough, then your body is unable to make enough insulin to maintain normal blood glucose levels and you can develop diabetes. Since about 85 percent of people who have type 2 diabetes also have metabolic syndrome, if you develop diabetes then your likelihood of having metabolic syndrome is increased by a very large margin.

Additional risk factors, most of which are unfortunately out of your control, that increase your chances of having metabolic syndrome include:

• Age — Your risk of metabolic syndrome increases with age, affecting 40 percent of people over the age of 60.
• Race — Hispanics and Asians seem to be at greater risk of metabolic syndrome than are people of other races.
• Family history of diabetes — You’re more likely to have metabolic syndrome if you have a family history of type 2 diabetes or if you had diabetes during pregnancy (gestational diabetes).
• Other diseases — Your risk of metabolic syndrome is higher if you’ve ever had cardiovascular disease, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease or polycystic ovary syndrome.

In addition, researchers continue to study other health conditions that may play a role in metabolic syndrome, including:

• Gallstones
• Breathing problems during sleep (such as sleep apnea)

Conventional Treatment

Aggressive and heart-healthy lifestyle changes are typically the main treatment for metabolic syndrome, as they get to the root causes of the disorder. Recommended lifestyle changes typically include heart-healthy eating, good stress management, losing and maintaining a healthy weight, more physical activity, and quitting smoking.

If lifestyle changes aren’t effective, then your doctor will likely prescribe medications to treat and control your risk factors, such as high blood pressure, high triglycerides, low HDL (“good”) cholesterol and high blood sugar.

A doctor’s main goal when treating metabolic syndrome is to reduce the risk of coronary heart disease. The second goal of treatment is to prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes symptoms, if it hasn’t already developed.

Foods that Make Metabolic Syndrome Worse

1. Fake and Processed Foods

Avoid processed foods as much as possible. These frozen, bagged and boxed items are typically devoid of nutrients and loaded with unhealthy additives and preservatives that do nothing good for your health.

In fact, a study found that fast food consumption, some of the most unhealthy processed food on the planet, increases the incidence of metabolic syndrome in both children and adults. In addition, researchers in Brazil found that high consumption of ultra-processed foods was associated with metabolic syndrome in adolescents.

2. Artificial Sweeteners

Artificial sweeteners have been directly linked with the occurrence of diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Accumulating evidence suggests that frequent consumers of sugar substitutes containing aspartame, sucralose and saccharin may also be at an increased risk of excessive weight gain as well as development of metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

3. Diet Sodas

Since diet sodas contain artificial sweeteners as well as other unhealthy ingredients, you will want to avoid these drinks. Studies show that the consumption of diet soda is associated with significantly greater risks of select incident metabolic syndrome components and type 2 diabetes.

According to one 2009 study, daily consumption of diet soda was associated with a 36 percent greater risk of metabolic syndrome and a 67 percent greater risk of having type 2 diabetes.

4. Trans Fats (Trans Fatty Acids)

Trans fats are found in foods made with hydrogenated oils and fats, such as margarine; baked goods like cookies, cakes and pies; crackers; frostings; and coffee creamers. They raise LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels, which is bad news for your waistline, heart health and metabolic disorders.

5. Refined Carbohydrates and Sugar

Consumption of these two are major culprits when it comes to high blood sugar levels, insulin resistance, and the development of diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Sugar, especially when used to sweeten beverages, is a major culprit, as are refined carbs.

A study conducted in Korea, where metabolic syndrome incidence is high, looked at the effects of refined carbohydrates on this metabolic disorder. What the researchers found was that “the percentage of energy from carbohydrates in men and intake of refined grains, including white rice, in women were associated with metabolic syndrome.”

6. Alcohol

Limit alcohol intake is key to metabolic syndrome and good health in general. Too much alcohol can raise your blood pressure and triglyceride levels. Alcohol also adds extra calories to your diet, which can cause weight gain.

However, limited consumption of alcohol can actually be good for you (such as red wine), as a meta-analysis published in Clinical Nutrition found that while heavy alcohol consumption indeed increases the risk of metabolic syndrome, “very light alcohol consumption seemed to be associated with a reduced risk of metabolic syndrome.”

Men should have no more than two drinks containing alcohol a day, while women should have no more than one drink containing alcohol a day. One drink is considered 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine or 1.5 ounces of liquor.

Foods that Help Prevent Metabolic Syndrome

When it comes to metabolic syndrome and encouraging good health in general, you want to focus on consuming whole, real, high-quality food and drinks. Some of the top foods to help prevent or recover from metabolic syndrome include:

1. Fish & Omega-3 Foods

The omega-3 fatty acids found in wild-caught, cold-water fish have been found to help regulate heartbeat, reduce blood pressure, decrease blood clot formation and reduce overall inflammation, all of which decrease the risk for heart attacks and strokes.

Omega-3 foods are also cholesterol-lowering foods that help reduce triglycerides and LDL cholesterol. Other omega-3 foods include walnuts, flaxseeds, natto and grass-fed beef.

2. Vegetables

Dark leafy greens like kale and spinach, avocado, broccoli, cabbage, and carrots are a just a few of the many options when it comes to your daily intake of vegetables, which are loaded with disease-fighting and anti-inflammatory antioxidants and phytonutrients.

Eating avocados in particular has been found to be clinically associated with lower metabolic syndrome in U.S. adults because avocado benefits your gut. Think of a rainbow as you make your daily vegetable choices (red bell peppers to pumpkin to yellow squash to arugula to purple eggplant). This way, not only do you keep your meals interesting, but you obtain all of the great vitamins and nutrients vegetables can offer you.

3. Fruits

Similar to vegetables, there are so many options that not only taste good, but help you ward off metabolic syndrome. You can opt for apples, bananas, oranges, pears or prunes if you need some ideas that are easy to consume quickly or on the go. In moderation (so you don’t overdo it on natural sugar), daily fruit consumption is an easy and therapeutic habit to develop if you haven’t already.

Pomegranate and pomegranate seeds in particular have been shown to help ameliorate metabolic syndrome. Research published in Food & Nutrition concluded that pomegranate creates hypoglycemic effects, including increased insulin sensitivity, inhibition of glucose, lowered total cholesterol, improvement of blood lipid profiles, plus anti-inflammatory effects.

4. Legumes

Some delicious and tasty legumes to try include kidney beans, lentils, chickpeas, black-eyed peas and lima beans. Rich in fiber and protein, legumes are an excellent daily choice for keeping blood sugar stable and your waistline trim. And they’re particularly useful in preventing metabolic syndrome.

A study examined the effects of legumes on metabolic syndrome. A validated 48-item food frequency questionnaire was used to assess dietary behaviors of 2,027 individuals pulled from the Isfahan Healthy Heart Program. Researchers found that “all MetS components were less prevalent among subjects with regular legume intake.”

5. Whole Grains

High-fiber foods, like quality whole grains including oatmeal and brown rice, not only have proven benefits for diabetes and heart health, but studies indicate that they also help keep your waistline in check and help prevent metabolic syndrome. As such, whole grains are a part of a balanced, healthy metabolic syndrome diet treatment plan.

Recommended Supplements

1. Ginseng, Berberine & Bitter Melon

Research published in 2009 showed that ginseng, berberine and bitter melon, which are commonly used in Chinese medicine, are potent natural remedies when it comes to metabolic syndrome. They help regulate glucose and lipid metabolism, which directly and positively affect weight management.

2. Holy Basil

When researchers from the Department of Home Science at Azad University of Agriculture and Technology in India investigated the effects of holy basil leaves on blood glucose and serum cholesterol levels in humans through double-blind clinical trials, the outcomes showed that holy basil caused significant improvements in blood glucose control and mild improvements in cholesterol levels.

This suggests that basil supplementation can be a useful and safe way to help control diabetes and complications that result from the disease like metabolic syndrome.

3. Spirulina

Spirulina contains phycocyanin, a pigment that scientists have discovered possesses antihypertensive effects, meaning it lowers blood pressure. Japanese researchers claim that this is because consuming the blue-green algae reverses endothelial dysfunction in metabolic syndrome.

4. Maca Root

Maca root increases the glutathione levels in the body, which not only improves your immune system and disease resistance, but also helps balance proper levels of cholesterol in the body.

In addition, an animal study shows that it significantly improves glucose tolerance by lowering levels of glucose in the blood, which improves heart health and conditions like diabetes or metabolic syndrome.

5. Red Yeast Rice

A study featured 50 patients with metabolic syndrome and the effects of a supplement containing both red yeast rice and olive extract. This trial found that supplementing with red yeast rice and olive extract greatly decreased lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 as well as oxidized low-density lipoprotein.

Recommended Lifestyle Changes

1. Exercise

Getting rid of belly fat is key when it comes to treating metabolic syndrome. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) helps your body become a fat-burning machine. It can consist of exercising at 90 percent or higher of your maximum effort for 30 to 60 seconds, slowing it down to low-impact for a recovery period of just 30 to 60 seconds, and then bumping it back up again.

If you’ve been spending hours on the treadmill without results, it’s because long-distance cardiovascular exercise can decrease testosterone and raise cortisol, the stress hormone. Increased levels of cortisol stimulate the appetite, increase fat storing, and slow down or inhibit exercise recovery. If HIIT training isn’t for you, then aim for at least 30 minutes per day of moderate-intensity exercise, such as brisk walking, to lower your risk for metabolic syndrome.

2. Lose Weight

Through diet and exercise, losing weight can reduce insulin resistance and blood pressure, helping to get your metabolic syndrome under control.

3. Stop Smoking

Smoking cigarettes can lead to and worsen the health consequences of metabolic syndrome as well as increase your likelihood for heart problems and stroke, among other major health concerns.

Final Thoughts

• Metabolic syndrome is a metabolic disorder that involves not one, but a combination of three or more of the following health issues: abdominal obesity, high blood sugar, high triglyceride levels, high blood pressure or low HDL (“good”) cholesterol.
• Metabolic syndrome is becoming more and more prevalent due to a rise in obesity rates among children and adults. In the not so distant future, metabolic syndrome may even overtake smoking as the leading risk factor for heart disease.
• Thankfully, there is realistic hope for naturally preventing metabolic disorders in the body. You can prevent or delay metabolic syndrome mainly with something that is very much in your control: lifestyle and diet changes.

The post Metabolic Syndrome: Diet, Supplements & Lifestyle Changes to Make appeared first on Dr. Axe.

There are tons of natural remedies out there for how to lower cholesterol levels, in particular how to lower LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol, often promising quick results with next to no effort required on your part.

But while it’s true that there are tons of options to keep cholesterol levels in check, it can actually be as simple as swapping out a few foods in your diet for healthier options, switching up your workout routine or adding a supplement or two into the mix.

Ready to get started? Let’s take a look at 28 simple methods for how to lower cholesterol and how it can impact your health.

Healthy Cholesterol Levels

The lipid profile blood test reports the levels of cholesterol and triglycerides in the bloodstream. Healthcare organizations have established a set range for total, bad LDL and good HDL (high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol as well as triglycerides, but the most important thing to consider when looking for how to lower cholesterol naturally is the ratio of LDL to HDL cholesterol, which should be around 2:1.

Here are the recommended ranges to help maintain optimal cholesterol levels:

Total cholesterol

LDL cholesterol

HDL cholesterol

Triglycerides

Dangers of High Cholesterol

Cholesterol is a naturally occurring substance made by the liver and required by the body for the proper function of cells, nerves and hormones.

Although your body needs cholesterol, excess cholesterol can build up and form a fatty plaque on the walls of the arteries, decreasing the flow of blood to vital areas of the body. If plaque continues to build long-term, it can significantly increase the risk of having a heart attack or stroke.

So what causes high cholesterol? Believe it or not, the answer goes way beyond a high cholesterol diet.

While cholesterol is normally kept in balance, an unhealthy diet high in hydrogenated fats and refined carbohydrates can disrupt this delicate balance, leading to increased cholesterol levels. This imbalance is manifested in elevated LDL (bad cholesterol) and low HDL (good cholesterol), which increases the risk of heart attack or stroke. Other causes can include physical inactivity, diabetes, stress and hypothyroidism.

But keep in mind that not all cholesterol is created equally. LDL cholesterol, also known as “bad cholesterol,” is the form that can build up on the artery walls and increase your risk of heart disease. HDL cholesterol, on the other hand, is often dubbed “good cholesterol” because it travels through the bloodstream, removing harmful cholesterol from the arteries to help enhance heart health.

So how can cut down on your levels of LDL cholesterol down while increasing HDL cholesterol to keep your heart in tip-top shape? Here are some simple ways for how to lower LDL cholesterol and total cholesterol to promote better heart health.

How to Lower Cholesterol Naturally

1. Foods to Eat

There’s no need to follow a low cholesterol diet to stay within the healthy LDL cholesterol range. Simply incorporating a few servings of foods that lower cholesterol in your diet per day can help decrease cholesterol levels and high triglycerides to optimize the health of your heart.

Here are a few of the top cholesterol-lowering foods that you may want to consider stocking up on:

• Olive Oil: Loaded with heart-healthy unsaturated fats, extra-virgin olive oil has been shown to drop bad LDL cholesterol levels to enhance heart health.
• Vegetables: Vegetables are one of the top nutrient-dense foods, meaning they’re high in vitamins, minerals and fiber to support heart health, yet low in calories. Not surprisingly, studies have found that eating more vegetables is linked to lower LDL cholesterol levels in both men and women.
• Nuts: Nuts are rich in fiber and healthy fats, making them an excellent dietary addition if you’re looking for how to lower cholesterol. One review of 25 studies showed that eating more healthy nuts was associated with lower levels of total and LDL cholesterol, plus decreased triglycerides as well.
• Seeds: Nutritious seed varieties like flaxseeds have been shown to reduce both total and LDL cholesterol levels to keep your heart healthy.
• Salmon: Fatty fish like salmon are packed with beneficial omega-3 fatty acids, which can help decrease cholesterol levels and relieve inflammation to enhance heart health.
• Turmeric: Thanks to the presence of a powerful compound called curcumin, turmeric has been shown to reduce levels of total and LDL cholesterol in the blood.
• Garlic: Well-known for its wealth of health-promoting properties, research shows that garlic could even benefit cholesterol levels as well. According to one review of 39 studies, consuming garlic regularly for at least two months can lower cholesterol levels to reduce the risk of heart disease.
• Okra: This popular plant is high in fiber, potassium and antioxidants and can help promote better heart health. One animal study showed that okra extract was able to effectively decrease cholesterol and blood sugar levels in obese mice.
• Beans and Legumes: Adding legumes to your diet can have a big impact on heart health. Studies show that a diet rich in legumes such as lentils, beans and peas is linked to lower levels of cholesterol in the blood.
• Sweet Potatoes: This tasty tuber contains several health-promoting proteins and compounds that have been shown to decrease cholesterol in animal models.
• Green Tea: Rich in antioxidants and catechins, green tea is one of the healthiest beverages that you can add to your routine. Studies show that drinking green tea can decrease levels of total and LDL cholesterol. Studies have also shown that drinking yerba mate tea can naturally improve serum lipid levels, thereby lowering cholesterol levels.
• Persimmon: Incorporating a few servings of this nutritious citrus fruit into your daily diet could have a major impact on heart health. One study found that consuming fiber extracted from persimmon fruit was effective at lowering cholesterol levels in adults.
• Avocados: Avocados are high in fiber, potassium and healthy fats, all of which can aid in keeping cholesterol under control. Not only have avocados been shown to increase levels of good HDL cholesterol, but they can also reduce total and bad LDL cholesterol as well.
• Gluten-Free Whole Grains: Whole grains have been associated with lower levels of cholesterol and improved heart health. But because gluten can be inflammatory, it’s best to opt for gluten-free whole grains instead, such as buckwheat, quinoa and brown rice.

2. Foods to Avoid

Cleaning up your diet is one of the most effective ways to reduce your LDL levels and enhance heart health. But there’s no reason to nix high cholesterol foods from your diet altogether; in fact, there is cholesterol in eggs, red meat, dairy products and other foods that can be included in moderation as part of a healthy diet.

Instead, focus on nixing these foods from your diet as a simple method for how to lower cholesterol:

• Sugar and Refined Carbohydrates: Added sugar and refined carbs from ultra-processed foods can throw off your cholesterol ratio by decreasing good cholesterol levels in the blood.
• Trans Fats: Frequently found in processed foods and pre-packaged baked goods, trans fats can increase LDL cholesterol, decrease HDL cholesterol and boost the risk of coronary heart disease. It’s best to cut these unhealthy fats out of your diet altogether by minimizing your intake of processed foods.

3. Lower Consumption of These Types of Drinks

Although a glass of red wine per day can actually be beneficial for heart health, heavy drinking of alcohol can have detrimental effects on cholesterol levels. Keep alcohol consumption in moderation by sticking to 1–2 servings per day to help optimize heart health.

Overdoing it on the caffeinated beverages like coffee, soda or energy drinks may cause an increase in cholesterol levels for some people. Limit coffee and tea to 1–2 cups daily to keep cholesterol in check.

4. Consider These Supplements

While switching up your diet is often an effective method for reducing cholesterol levels all on its own, adding a few cholesterol-lowering supplements can boost the effects even more. Here are some of the supplements you can try using to get started:

• Fish Oil: Packed with heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids, fish oil can be especially beneficial if fish doesn’t always make it into your weekly dinner rotation. Fish oil is effective at increasing levels of good HDL cholesterol in the blood to clear out LDL cholesterol from the arteries. Aim for 1,000–2,000 milligrams daily.
• CoQ10: Coenzyme Q10 is a coenzyme that has been shown to be useful in lowering cholesterol levels. It works by removing excess cholesterol and preventing atherosclerosis to keep your arteries clear. Aim for 200–300 milligrams daily.
• Niacin: Niacin, also known as vitamin B3, is commonly used in the treatment of high cholesterol. In fact, niacin has been shown to reduce triglycerides and lower levels of LDL cholesterol while also increasing beneficial HDL cholesterol levels as well. Aim for 1,500 milligrams daily.
• Red Yeast Rice: Derived from white rice that has undergone fermentation, one analysis of 13 studies showed that red yeast rice was effective at decreasing both triglycerides and LDL cholesterol. Aim for 1,200 milligrams twice daily.
• Berberine: A study published in the journal Metabolism showed that berberine reduced serum cholesterol along with triglyceride levels in type 2 diabetic patients.
• Garlic: In addition to adding garlic to your diet, you may also want to consider adding a garlic extract to your natural medicine cabinet as well. Aged garlic extract, in particular, has been shown to have cholesterol-lowering properties in both human and animal studies. Aim for 500 milligrams daily.

5. Increase Certain Types of Exercise

When it comes to reducing cholesterol levels, getting in plenty of physical activity is just as essential as making modifications to your diet. There are two types of exercise that can make a big impact on heart health.

Aerobic exercise, or cardio workouts, is a form of exercise that helps strengthen your heart and lungs. And besides keeping you trim, studies show that aerobic exercise can also help lower cholesterol levels.

Walking, running and cycling are just a few easy ways to get in your daily dose of cardio.

Meanwhile, resistance training is a form of physical activity that forces your muscles to contract, building up strength and endurance. Some research also shows that resistance training could have beneficial effects on heart health as well and may decrease total and LDL cholesterol.

Weight lifting and bodyweight exercises like squats or lunges are some examples of resistance training that you can add to your routine.

Precautions

Although these are all effective methods for how to lower cholesterol levels, keep in mind that they should be combined and paired with other healthy habits to maximize their effectiveness. The cholesterol-lowering effects of a healthy diet, for example, can be amplified when coupled with regular exercise and a set sleep schedule.

Be sure to consult with your doctor before beginning any form of supplementation, especially if you have any underlying health conditions or are currently taking any medications. Additionally, it’s important to always work with a trusted healthcare practitioner to determine the best course of treatment for you.

Final Thoughts

• When it comes to how to lower cholesterol, using a mix of diet and lifestyle modifications can be most effective.
• Switching out unhealthy foods for heart-healthy options, squeezing in more exercise and trying out a few cholesterol-lowering supplements and essential oils can all keep cholesterol levels down to enhance heart health.
• Take it slow and try making a few small changes each week to help lower cholesterol levels and optimize your overall health.
• As always, be sure to consult with your doctor if you have any underlying health conditions or are taking any medications to find the best course of treatment for you.

The post How to Lower Cholesterol Naturally: Best Foods & Supplements appeared first on Dr. Axe.

Apps that provide guided meditations have quickly become some of the most downloaded apps in the world. In fact, the meditation industry, largely focused on mindfulness meditation, is worth billions annually and continues to climb, spent on studio classes, workshops, books, online courses and apps.

Considering that mindfulness meditation has been linked to dozens of health benefits — such as reduced stress and chronic pain, protection against chronic diseases, and better sleep — there’s a reason so many people are interested in starting a regular meditation practice.

For example, a 2019 study found that, “Mindfulness Training using a smartphone app may provide immediate effects on mood and stress, while also providing long-term benefits for attentional control.”

Mindfulness has definitely become a huge buzzword, yet many people are still confused about what exactly it means to “be mindful.” Below we’ll cover the basics of what mindfulness meditation entails, the ways it can help enhance your health both physically and mentally, as well as tips for getting started.

What Is Mindfulness Meditation?

While there are many definitions of mindfulness, one that encompasses the basic idea is “a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment.” Being fully present involves acknowledging and accepting your feelings, thoughts, internal monologue and bodily sensations, while not being overly reactive or overwhelmed by them.

What is the difference between mindfulness and meditation? Meditation is an ancient practice, and there are many ways to meditate, mindfulness being only one of them.

You can meditate while seated, standing, walking or laying down.

Mindfulness means maintaining a moment-by-moment awareness, which is easier to do when meditating. However, there are many ways to be mindful, as you can intentionally be more aware at various points in your day.

“You can practice mindfulness anytime, anywhere, and with anyone by showing up and being fully engaged in the here and now,” explains the Chopra Center.

The Basics of Mindfulness

Many people credit Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., with the creation of modern-day mindfulness meditation as we’ve come to think of it. Zin created the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in 1979 to help patients dealing with a wide range of problems, such as chronic pain and addictions.

What happens during mindfulness meditation exactly?

People practice mindfulness meditation in order to become more intentional and aware of their thoughts and surroundings. While mindfulness meditation can be a formal practice in which you sit down in silence with your eyes closed, you can also practice in many other ways — such as by paying closer attention to the things you do each day, rather than multitasking or being distracted.

“Nearly every task we perform in a day — be it brushing our teeth, eating lunch, talking with friends or exercising — can be done more mindfully,” say writers at Mindful.org.

Here is what you can expect when practicing mindfulness:

• Rather than completing tasks while “going through the motions,” day dreaming or zoning out, instead you practice focusing on what you’re actually doing and feeling. You notice your thoughts and emotions, rather than letting your mind wander.
• The idea is to be aware of what you’re experiencing right now, rather than reviewing the past or planning for the future.
• During a guided mindfulness meditation you typically keep your focus on something constant, such as your breath or sounds in your environment. Your exact focal point varies depending on the meditation techniques you’re using.
• You may choose to focus on a prayer, chant, a certain image in your mind, a candle flame or a religious image. For example, in transcendental meditation you repeat a mantra to yourself silently, which serves as your focal point, while in Vipassana meditation (one of the oldest Buddhist meditation practices) you usually fixate your attention on your breath.
• While trying to pay attention to the object in focus, you listen to our own thoughts without being caught up in them. You notice how thoughts continuously pop up but then leave or change if you don’t follow them.
• You use the practice to gain self-awareness. Rather than trying to stop your thoughts or judge them, you approach them with curiosity and compassion.

Health Benefits

What is mindfulness meditation capable of doing when it comes to improving your physical and mental health? Based on hundreds of research studies conducted over the past several decades, here’s what we know:

1. Helps Reduce Anxiety

According to a 2016 article published in the journal BJ Psych Bulletin, “Mindfulness-based interventions have been tried out in a wide range of mental disorders, with the strongest evidence for use in depression and anxiety.”

When you meditate, you give your mind a break from jumping back and forth between the past and future, which can trigger feelings like worry, regret, guilt, anxiety symptoms and panic. You notice where your mind “has gone off to” when it wanders and take note of habitual patterns, and then you practice returning to your breath (or another object) and not getting caught up in mental distractions.

A 2013 randomized, controlled trial found that mindfulness has a beneficial effect on anxiety symptoms in those with generalized anxiety disorder, while a 2019 study found that it can reduce risk for clinical depression. When you resist taking all of your negative thoughts seriously, you experience less self-criticism and more self-compassion, plus usually more empathy for others as well.

2. Can Lower the Risk for Health Problems Related to Stress

Mindfulness meditation benefits include lowering secretion of stress hormones, helping treat insomnia, supporting recovery from addictions and much more, say writers at Harvard University: “Eight in 10 Americans experience stress in their daily lives and have a hard time relaxing their bodies and calming their minds, which puts them at high risk of heart disease, stroke, and other illnesses.”

Mindfulness is now considered as effective at protecting your health as exercise, yoga and even eating a healthy diet. It may also reduce chronic pain, thanks to its positive effects on stress hormone production, such as cortisol levels, and the immune system.

Research shows that meditation stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for making you feel calmer and overcoming stressful situations, and turns down the flight or fight response. This can lead to physical health improvements, such as lowered blood pressure, less muscle tension, fewer tension headaches and improved digestion.

3. May Help Improve Sleep

A growing number of studies suggest that mindful meditation can improve sleep quality. The reason it can assist you in falling and staying asleep is because it decreases ruminating and worrying, plus relaxes your body.

A 2018 study compared the effects of a seven-week mindfulness treatment to no treatment among a waiting list control group. Findings showed that those trained in mindfulness experienced less subjective insomnia and sleep impairment and improved sleep quality and sleepiness.

Individuals in the mindfulness group demonstrated significant improvements across all outcome measures that were maintained at a three-month follow-up assessment.

4. Can Help Kids Feel Calmer and More Focused

Children and teens who practice mindfulness activities may benefit from improved concentration, communication, coping skills and self-esteem.

A 2019 article published in the journal Current Opinion in Pediatrics explains that mindfulness-based interventions can reduce a number of problems commonly experienced by adolescents, including:

• symptoms of anxiety and depression
• binge eating/overeating
• restrictive eating disorders
• lack of emotion regulation
• ADHD
• sleep problems
• chronic illness and pain
• stress related to performance in school and sports

5. Can Improve Recovery from Addictions and Destructive Habits

Because mindfulness helps people bounce back from emotionally upsetting events more quickly, plus increases the flexibility through which one can respond to stressful events, it’s useful for overcoming a variety of addictions.

Research findings suggest that it works to decrease unwanted behaviors because it trains individuals to first notice their thoughts/cravings and then to practice different strategies to distance themselves from these thoughts, without giving in to them.

A 2018 article published in Addiction Science and Clinical Practice states:

Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have been studied as a treatment for an array addictive behaviors, including drinking, smoking, opioid misuse, and use of illicit substances like cocaine and heroin … MBIs reduce substance misuse and craving by modulating cognitive, affective, and psychophysiological processes integral to self-regulation and reward processing.

How to Start

Now that you know the many reasons to adopt a meditation practice, you’re probably wondering, “How do you do mindfulness meditation?” Here’s how to practice mindfulness if you’re a beginner, using a basic meditation technique that focuses your awareness on your breath:

1. Start by deciding how long you want to practice for. In the beginning it’s recommended that you stick to short but consistent sessions, such as five or 10 minutes per day, in order to build a habit. As you advance, you may want to meditate for as long as 2o to 60 minutes daily.
2. Choose a location where you’re comfortable and undistracted. This can be inside or outside, depending on your preference.
3. Decide which posture works best for you, choosing one that allows you to feel comfortable but alert. You may want to sit with crossed legs and a straight spine or lay down, but keep in mind that the goal isn’t to fall asleep. You can also use a chair, a meditation cushion, bolster, blanket, etc., if it helps you.
4. Keep your body relaxed, eyes either closed or slightly open but soft, and arms loosely dangled by your side. Try to relax your muscles but not to hunch or stiffen your back or neck.
5. Bring your attention to your breath, focusing on the sounds, feelings in your body or anything else that grabs your attention regarding your breath.
6. This is when your mind will start to wander, which is expected and normal. Gently return your attention to your breath. Your mind will likely keep generating thoughts that distract you, but the whole point of the meditation is to practice observing your thoughts without needing to react.
7. No matter how much your attention keeps drifting away from your breath, try not to judge yourself or give up. When time is up, take a moment to notice how your body feels and any change in your emotions. Pause for a few moments and notice if you feel any more clarity or calmness.

Incorporating Into Daily Life

What are some mindfulness exercises you can start implementing each day? Whether you prefer meditating while sitting, walking or laying down, here are some ways you can start practicing today:

• Find a quiet place at home where you can sit and listen to your favorite mindfulness meditation YouTube videos, apps or podcasts. There are now hundreds of free guided mindfulness meditations available online, so keep searching until you find a teacher who resonates with you.
• Commit to trying a meditation app for 10 days in a row, which may be enough to make the habit stick.
• If an active meditation appeals to you more, experiment with yoga or other ways of using exercise as active meditation. You can do this by focusing on your breath while moving, noticing how different parts of your body feel, and tuning in to the rhythm of your movements.
• If you’re interested in taking your practice to the next level, consider learning advanced meditation techniques at a training center or retreat. You may even be brave enough to try a silent retreat, in which you don’t talk out loud to anyone else for several days.

Other ways to incorporate mindfulness and/or calm the mind include:

• Sleep meditation
• Singing bowls and sound baths
• Body scan meditation
• Progressive muscle relaxation
• Vision board

Conclusion

• What is mindfulness meditation? It’s a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment.
• Benefits of meditation include decreasing the risk for stress, anxiety, depression, sleep problems, eating disorders, chronic pain, ADHD among adolescents and much more.
• There are various mindfulness exercises that can help improve your physical and mental health, including sitting, walking and moving meditations. You can choose to focus on your breath, sounds, your body, images, mantras and more.
• In order to get started, consider trying mindfulness training apps or videos or attending a class or retreat. With as little as 10 minutes per day you can lower your risk for many health problems related to stress, while improving your overall well-being.

The post Benefits of Mindfulness Meditation + How to Get Started appeared first on Dr. Axe.

Heat stroke is a medical emergency that occurs when the body can no longer cool itself. The body suffers from dehydration because it can’t release internal heat into the environment, resulting in core temperatures of over 104 degrees Fahrenheit.

The scary part is that most people aren’t aware that they are in danger of heat stroke — the most severe heat-related illness — until it’s too late. By then, they have become confused and delirious as a result of nerve damage.

To ensure that your health is never put in harm’s way because of hot weather, take preventative measures to keep yourself cool and stay hydrated. It’s also important to avoid actions that increase your risk of developing heat stroke, like engaging in physical activity that ups your chances of heat illness, such as hot yoga and exercising in the direct sun.

Heat Stroke vs. Heat Exhaustion

Heat stroke occurs when your body’s natural processes to regulate your core temperature begin to fail as you become overheated. It is the most serious phase of heat illness, when you become at risk of life-threatening symptoms.

Heat exhaustion is the phase right before heat stroke, when you begin to feel signs of heat illness, such as muscle weakness and fatigue.

The body regulates core temperature to maintain a constant temperature of 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit — even in the hottest or coldest environmental conditions. For this to be possible, the thermoregulatory system uses different physiological mechanisms in order to balance the heat produced inside the body and the amount of heat lost to the environment. When these mechanisms break down, heat stroke symptoms occur.

How exactly do we fight heat illness? Here’s what occurs naturally to prevent life-threatening symptoms of heat stroke:

• When the temperature outside becomes too high, temperature receptors in the skin send messages to the hypothalamus, which is the processing center in the brain.
• When you become overheated, you release heat by sweating and activating the muscles in your skin. Your blood vessels also begin to swell or dilate, causing noticeable redness. More warm blood then flows close to the surface of your skin so heat is lost through the skin and into the air.
• Muscles in your skin work to increase heat loss by causing hairs to lay down flat, as opposed to raising them up in order to trap more warmth. Your skin glands also secrete sweat onto the surface of your skin in order to increase heat loss by evaporation. Your body will keep sweating, releasing internal heat, until your body temperature returns to normal.

Once your body’s core temperature rises, all of your innate processes that are in place to regulate your internal temperature break down, creating serious, even life-threatening problems, like organ damage and loss of consciousness.

Heat Stroke Symptoms

Before heat stroke symptoms develop, you will experience a few warning signs. Generally, heat-related illnesses occur in four stages, beginning with muscle cramping, leading to heat exhaustion and ending with heat stroke.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides a breakdown of these four stages:

1. Heat Syncope (Fainting)

Heat syncope, or fainting, occurs when your body tries to cool itself, which causes your blood vessels to dilate so much that blood flow to your brain is reduced. This usually occurs when a person has been working outside or has been physically active in a hot environment.

Besides fainting, a person experiencing heat syncope may feel dizzy, restless and nauseous.

2. Heat Cramps

Heat cramps, also known as muscle cramping, are one of the first sign of heat-related illness. You may feel like you pulled a muscle, even though you weren’t doing anything strenuous.

Muscle aches and cramping are huge warning signs that you are dehydrated and need to get somewhere cool and drink water before your symptoms worsen.

3. Heat Exhaustion

Heat exhaustion happens when the heat begins to make you feel uncomfortable and ill, leading to symptoms, such as:

• heavy sweating
• weakness
• headache
• changes in pulse
• cold, pale and clammy skin
• nausea
• vomiting
• fainting

If left untreated, heat exhaustion can advance to heat stroke.

4. Heat Stroke

Heat stroke is the most serious of all heat-related illnesses. It is a medical emergency because it can lead to serious brain damage, organ failure and even death.

The most common heat stroke symptoms include:

• body temperature above 103 degrees Fahrenheit
• rapid and strong pulse
• shallow breathing
• hot, red, dry or moist skin
• severe headache
• fatigue
• minimal or no sweating, despite the heat
• nausea and vomiting
• muscle weakness
• muscle cramps
• dark-colored urine (even rhabdomyolysis)
• delirium
• confusion
• seizures
• unconsciousness

Heat stroke is so serious because it can lead to organ failure and even death. It immediately affects your cognitive function and can lead to impairment.

In fact, research shows that approximately 20 percent of patients who suffer from heat stroke have long-term, irreversible brain damage as a result.

That’s why some of the most common heat stroke symptoms are delirium and confusion. Your nerve cells are particularly vulnerable when the body becomes overheated, and your brain is made up of these nerve cells.

When you experience heat illness, the blood vessels dilate, and blood flow increases. This strains the heart as well.

Causes and Risk Factors

Data shows that when the heat index is higher than 95 degrees Fahrenheit, the number of deaths caused by heat illness increases. As you sweat in hot weather, you lose fluids and become dehydrated. If you aren’t drinking plenty of water to replace these fluids, you can develop heat stroke symptoms.

There are also factors that slow down the body’s ability to release heat into the environment in its attempt to regulate its core temperature. Aside from being in very high temperatures, wearing dark or heavy clothing, being in direct sunlight, and engaging in physical activity are all contributing factors.

Here are more risk factors:

• People aged 65 years or older: Elderly people, aged 65 years or older, have a harder time sensing that their bodies are overheated, so they don’t respond quickly to signs of heat stroke. Older adults also have higher rates of medications that can increase the risk of heat-related illness because they interfere with the way the body reacts to stress and proper hydration.
• Infants and children: Infants and children rely on adults to keep them cool and hydrated. Plus, they are more prone to heat stroke and other heat-related illnesses because of their greater surface area to body mass ratio. This allows for more heat transfer from the environment to the body. Researchers report that children can’t evaporate heat as well as adults because little ones have slower sweat rates, and it takes more time for them to start sweating. Children also have less of a thirst response so they may not realize that they are becoming dehydrated.
• People with chronic medical conditions: Research indicates that prevalence of heat stroke and other heat illness is higher among people with ongoing medical conditions, including obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and respiratory disease. These conditions don’t allow the body to adapt to changes in environmental conditions as easily or quickly. People with mental illness are also at a higher risk of heat stroke because they may not realize when the body is becoming overheated and dehydrated. Social isolation is associated with adverse health effects from heat so people who are often home alone may be more likely to develop heat stroke symptoms.
• People without access to air conditioning: Research shows that associations between heat and mortality are reduced or even absent in communities with high access to, or use of, air conditioning. Data also shows that individuals who own air conditioners have a reduced risk of heat-related illness.
• Athletes: The CDC reports that the leading cause of death or disability among athletes who train or compete in high temperatures during the late summer and early fall months is heat-related illness. Research suggests that the risk is particularly high in the month of August.
• People who work outdoors: Heat stroke and illness caused by hot weather are very common among people who work outdoors in hot climates. An epidemiological review published by the National Institute of Occupational Safely and Health found that at-risk workers include fire fighters, construction workers, farmers, soldiers and manufacturing workers who work around process-generated heat.

Related: Tips for Working Out in the Heat Safely (Plus Its Benefits)

Diagnosis (When Is It an Emergency?)

If you’re with someone who is displaying signs and symptoms of heat stroke, such as trouble breathing, dry skin, fatigue, muscle weakness and delirium, call 911 immediately. Then move the person to a cool place.

Try to cool him down by applying a cold compress or ice pack to his forehead or even pouring cool water over his body. Then wait until medical professionals take over.

Don’t hesitate to call for help, as heat stroke is a serious medical emergency. Immediate treatment is vital.

Treatment and Prevention

Studies show that when cooling is quickly initiated, and both the body temperature and brain function return to normal within an hour of symptom onset, most patients recover fully.

For patients suffering from heat stroke, cold water immersion is one of the most common ways to cool the patient’s core temperature quickly. The patient must be exposed to cold temperatures immediately in order to prevent organ breakdown and death.

The patient also may be given intravenous (IV) hydration and be transported to a hospital if he’s not already at one. Intravenous hydration is continued for 24 to 72 hours. In severe cases, medical professionals will administer IV magnesium sulphate to relieve muscle cramping.

To prevent heat stroke, take the following precautions when exposed to hot temperatures:

1. Drink Plenty of Water

The most important thing you can do to avoid heat stroke is to drink more water than you usually do because you are losing fluids through sweat. Drink two to four cups every hour when you are outside or exercising.

Don’t wait until you are thirsty to start drinking fluids. By then, you are already becoming dehydrated and putting yourself at risk of heat stroke.

Also, make sure that your children and others at a higher risk of heat stroke drink enough water throughout the day.

If you’re not a fan of drinking water all day, there are other beverages that will help you to stay hydrated, such as fruit smoothies, veggie juice, seltzer, lemon or lime water, and kombucha.

2. Eat Hydrating Foods

In order to avoid dehydration and the possibility of heat stroke, eat fruits and vegetables that are hydrating. They have a high water content and contain valuable electrolytes, which help you maintain fluid balance, keep blood pressure levels stable and help with nerve signaling, just to name a few roles of these vital nutrients.

Some of the best hydrating foods to beat heat stroke symptoms include:

• coconut water
• watermelon
• oranges
• grapefruits
• pineapple
• berries
• bananas
• grapes
• kiwi
• cucumber
• bell peppers
• carrots
• zucchini
• avocado
• tomatoes
• radishes
• iceberg lettuce
• broccoli

3. Avoid Sugary Drinks, Alcohol and Caffeine

It’s important to prevent dehydration by avoiding the consumption of sugary, sweetened drinks, alcohol and caffeine. All of these dehydrating beverages cause increased urination and electrolyte loss.

Plus, consuming too much sugar can lead to inflammation. This makes the symptoms of heat stroke even worse.

Although sports drinks are marketed to keep you hydrated during physical activity, many of these products contain a ton of added sugars and synthetic flavorings, so opt for natural electrolytes instead.

4. Avoid Direct Sunlight

To avoid developing heat stroke or other heat-related illnesses, limit your time outdoors on those hot days, especially midday when the sun is at its hottest. If you’re outside on a very hot day, stay in the shade. If you’re in an open space, bring an umbrella for protection.

For athletes who train outdoors, schedule your workouts earlier or later in the day when there are cooler temperatures.

5. Stay in an Air-Conditioned Building

You have to keep your body temperature cool during times of extreme heat. Using a fan alone as your cooling device isn’t going to be enough on those really hot days. You are going to need to stay in an air-conditioned home or building for as long as possible.

If you don’t have access to an air conditioner in your home, find an air-conditioned shelter in your community, and get some relief there for a few hours. Examples include shopping malls, movie theaters, local libraries, community centers and restaurants.

Studies also show that opening windows and using fans at the same time can offer protection against heat stroke during a heat wave. Just make sure you aren’t just circulating hot air, which can be dangerous.

Other ways to reduce your body temperature include:

• taking a cool shower or bath
• applying a cool compress to your head or the back of your neck
• wearing lightweight and light-colored clothing
• avoiding strenuous activity

6. Check your Medications

Some medications can increase your risk of heat stroke because they affect how your body reacts to the heat or they interfere with your salt and water balance. Medications that may alter your ability to deal with high temperatures include:

• antibiotics
• antidepressants
• antipsychotics
• antihistamines
• drugs for heart disease, blood pressure and cholesterol
• laxatives
• diuretics
• medications for seizures

If you’re taking any of these kinds of medications, talk to your doctor about your increased risk of heat stroke.

7. Check on Those at Risk

On those really hot days, make sure to check on people who are at a greater risk of developing heat stroke symptoms. These include people over the age of 65, people with chronic medical conditions, infants and children, and people who don’t have air conditioning in their homes.

Research also shows that social isolation is associated with an increased risk of heat-related illness. This includes people who are unmarried or widowed, living alone, or those who tend to stay home all day.

Make sure your loved ones have access to a cool place and that they’re drinking enough hydrating fluids. Never leave infants or children in a parked car. Also, make sure to dress them in loose, light clothes.

Don’t forget your pets, too! They can develop heat-related illnesses from being left outside in the heat for too long and not having access to liquids.

Conclusion

• Heat stroke is a medical emergency that occurs when the body’s core temperature reaches above 103 degrees Fahrenheit and puts you at risk of organ failure and death.
• The four stages of heat illness are heat syncope, heat cramps, heat exhaustion and, the most severe stage, heat stroke.
• The people at the greatest risk of developing heat stroke include the elderly, infants and children, people with chronic medical conditions, people without access to air conditioning, athletes, and people who work outdoors.
• When someone suffers from heat stroke, her body temperature most be reduced immediately, and she must be hydrated intravenously until her fluid levels return to normal.
• To prevent heat stroke naturally, drink plenty of water throughout the day, avoid dehydrating beverages, stay in an air-conditioned place, wear loose and light clothing, avoid direct sunlight, check that your medications aren’t interfering with your hydration, and check on loved ones who are at risk of heat-related illness.

The post 7 Ways to Stay Cool & Prevent Heat Stroke Symptoms appeared first on Dr. Axe.

With the growing epidemic of childhood and adult obesity, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease remains the leading cause of death and disability in the U.S. It’s estimated in 2020 study that 25 percent of the U.S population has high triglycerides, a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

A 2007 meta-analysis involving a total of 3,582 incident cases of fatal and nonfatal coronary heart disease indicates that there is a significant association between triglyceride values and coronary heart disease risk.

Thankfully, there are natural ways to lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels with diet and lifestyle changes.

What Are Triglycerides?

Triglycerides are a type of lipid, or fat, in the your blood. Any calories that aren’t needed when you eat are converted into triglycerides and stored in your fat cells. Then your hormones release triglycerides for energy in between meals.

This cycle only becomes problematic when you eat more calories than you burn, which leads to high triglycerides, also called hypertriglyceridemia.

The National Cholesterol Education Program labels triglyceride levels in the following way:

• Normal — less than 150 milligrams per deciliter
• Borderline high — 150–199 milligrams per deciliter
• High — 200–499 milligrams per deciliter
• Very high — 500 milligrams per deciliter or higher

Triglycerides and cholesterol are different types of lipids that circulate in the blood. When both are hight, it’s called hyperlipidemia. While triglycerides store calories that aren’t used and provide the body with energy, cholesterol is used to build cells and produce certain hormones.

High-density lipoprotein (HDL) helps remove fat from the body by binding with it in the bloodstream and carrying it back to the liver for disposal. Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) carries mostly fats and only a small amount of protein from the liver to other parts of the body.

Although elevated LDL cholesterol is well-established as a major predictor of coronary heart disease, evidence suggests that an elevated triglyceride level is also an independent risk factor.

Until recently, researchers believed that high triglyceride levels were not as significant as cholesterol at predicting plaque buildup and heart disease, but that perspective has changed. Most experts now consider triglycerides a third important risk factor for plaque buildup in the arteries, along with levels of “good” HDL cholesterol and “bad” LDL cholesterol.

In fact, in studies where LDL cholesterol levels were significantly reduced with the use of statin medications, many patients still had elevated triglyceride levels, putting them at continued risk of developing cardiovascular disease. This proves that in addition to the critical role that LDL cholesterol plays in the buildup of plaque inside the arteries, which is called atherosclerosis, high triglycerides also play a significant role.

Causes

High triglycerides may be caused by the following conditions:

• obesity
• eating more calories than are being burned/used for energy
• lack of exercise/sedentary lifestyle
• type 2 diabetes
• hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid)
• kidney disease
• excessive alcohol consumption
• smoking
• medication side effects

Research published in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology reviewed data on the associations of triglycerides, HDL and LDL cholesterol with coronary artery disease risk factors. Researchers found that among men or women with low HDL cholesterol and high triglyceride levels, smoking, diabetes, sedentariness, hypertension and obesity were much more prevalent than among those at low risk with high HDL cholesterol and low triglyceride levels.

Hypertriglyceridemia is often observed in patients with type 2 diabetes because insulin plays an important role in the regulation of lipid homeostasis. When the body is resistant to insulin, the organs that are sensitive to insulin regulation — like the adipose tissue, liver and skeletal muscle — are unable to function properly.

Risk Factors

Research shows that triglyceride levels help predict cardiovascular disease, a principal cause of morbidity and mortality in Western society. People with high triglycerides may be at significant risk for cardiovascular disease even if their LDL cholesterol levels are at goal.

A 2010 study conducted at Harvard Medical School evaluated the relative contributions of triglycerides and HDL cholesterol in the risk of coronary heart disease after LDL cholesterol levels were reduced. The study, involving 170 cases and 175 controls, suggests that high triglycerides and low HDL cholesterol levels were associated with coronary heart disease even in patients with lower LDL cholesterol levels. The odds of coronary heart disease increased by approximately 20 percent per 23 milligrams per deciliter increase in triglycerides.

Having high triglycerides also makes you more likely to develop type 2 diabetes. It’s not that high triglycerides actually cause diabetes, but it shows that the body isn’t turning food into energy properly.

Normally, the body makes insulin, which escorts glucose into the cells, where it’s used for energy. The insulin allows the body to use triglycerides for energy, but when someone is insulin-resistant, the cells won’t let insulin or glucose in, thereby causing both glucose and triglycerides to build up in the blood.

A 2011 study published in Oman Medical Journal showed that there is a strong relationship between serum triglyceride elevation and increased levels of high blood glucose, but high cholesterol did not have the same effect.

Samples were collected from 438 males and females, both non-diabetic and non-insulin dependent type 2 diabetic patients. The patients’ serum glucose, cholesterol and triglyceride levels were measured simultaneously.

The results showed that the elevation in triglycerides, but not cholesterol, has the same effects of both triglyceride and cholesterol elevation on increasing levels of high glucose in blood.

Hypertriglyceridemia plays an increasingly important role in the current obesity epidemic as well. Research shows that triglyceride levels correlate more closely with waist circumference, and weight loss significantly improves hypertriglyceridemia.

In a trial study that involved randomized individuals with diabetes, those who underwent intensive lifestyle intervention lost 8.6 percent of their initial weight (compared with 0.7 percent in the control group) and lowered their triglyceride levels by more than twice as much as the control group, despite receiving fewer lipid-lowering medications. The study demonstrates that weight loss can achieve major metabolic improvements, and there is indeed a correlation between weight loss and decreased triglycerides.

How to Lower Triglycerides Naturally

1. Cut Back on Calories

Because of the relationship between increased weight circumference and high triglycerides, cutting back on calories and losing weight can have a big impact on triglyceride levels. Stick to cholesterol-lowering foods, such as vegetables, nuts, seeds, garlic and sweet potatoes.

In a study conducted at the Metabolic Research Centre’s School of Medicine and Pharmacology at the University of Western Australia, compared with weight maintenance, weight loss significantly decreased body weight, plasma insulin, triglycerides, total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels.

To lose weight fast, begin by avoiding the consumption of empty calories throughout the day. This means cutting back on sweetened beverages, refined carbohydrates and baked goods.

2. Avoid Sugary Foods

A study published in the American Journal of Physiology found that when fructose was given to rats, there was a 20 percent increase in triglyceride production. The results suggest that dietary fructose not only increases triglyceride production, but also impairs triglyceride removal.

Fructose is a natural simple sugar found in fruits, vegetables and honey. Instead of consuming too many of these high-fructose foods, focus on bringing complex carbs and healthy fats into your diet. Also, always avoid high fructose corn syrup, one of the worst ingredients out there.

3. Stick to Complex Carbohydrates

A 2000 study conducted at the Rogosin Institute in New York found that a very low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet enriched in simple sugars increased the fraction of newly synthesized fatty acids, along with an increase in the concentration of plasma triglycerides.

Complex carbohydrates that are high in soluble fiber make you feel full for a longer period of time, helping you lose weight and lower triglycerides naturally. Stick to sprouted seeds and nuts, quinoa, and other high-fiber foods.

4. Choose Healthy Fats

Foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids reduce serum triglyceride levels by decreasing free fatty acid delivery to the liver and activity of triglyceride-synthesizing enzymes. Eat omega-3 foods, such as wild salmon and mackerel, chia seeds, flaxseeds, grass-fed beef and bison, and free-range eggs.

The keto diet, high in healthy fats, can actually reduce the risk of heart disease markers, including high cholesterol and triglycerides. Learn about what high-cholesterol foods to avoid versus eat.

5. Reduce Alcohol

According to research published in Current Opinion in Lipidology, high alcohol intake can be harmful because it’s associated with elevated plasma triglycerides, along with with cardiovascular disease, alcoholic fatty liver disease and the development of pancreatitis.

Although light to moderate alcohol consumption may be associated with decreased plasma triglycerides, patients who already have high triglyceride levels benefit from reducing or stopping alcohol consumption altogether.

6. Exercise Regularly

A study published in Medicine and Science in Exercise and Sports evaluated 11 healthy women who underwent a single workout that involved a brisk walk at 60 percent of peak oxygen consumption for about two hours. The results showed that triglyceride concentration was approximately 30 percent lower after the exercise trial compared with the control trial that involved no exercise.

These benefits of exercise can result from at least one hour of walking, running, weight training, yoga and any other type of movement you like.

7. Fish Oil

According to researchers at the Cardiovascular Health Research Center in South Dakota, long-chain omega-3 fatty acids are effective for reducing plasma triglyceride levels. At the pharmaceutical dose of 3.4 grams per day, omega-3s reduce triglycerides by about 25 percent to 50 percent after one month of treatment, resulting primarily from the decline in very low density lipoprotein (VLDL ) production and secondarily from the increase in VLDL clearance.

Fish oil effectively suppresses adipose tissue inflammation and controls metabolic pathways in a tissue-specific manner, regulating nutrient traffic and reducing plasma triglycerides.

8. Niacin

Research shows that niacin (vitamin B3) consumption can lower triglyceride levels by 30 percent to 50 percent, raise HDL cholesterol levels by 20 percent to 30 percent and lower LDL cholesterol by 5 percent to 25 percent.

According to research published in Archives of Internal Medicine, therapy with niacin is unique in that it improves all lipoprotein abnormalities. It significantly reduces LDL cholesterol, triglyceride and lipoprotein levels, while increasing HDL cholesterol levels.

Researchers found that niacin-induced changes in serum lipid levels produce significant improvements in both coronary artery disease and clinical outcomes. Niacin use does come with a risk of side effects, such as elevated liver enzyme levels, but low-dose niacin combined with a statin has been associated with a decrease in cardiovascular events.

9. Lipoic Acid

Researchers found that lipoic acid supplementation actually increased the rate of disappearance of triglycerides in the bloodstream after eating.

A 2009 study published in Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics tested the triglyceride levels of diabetic rats that were fed a diet containing lipoic acid for five weeks. Researchers found that the livers from lipoic acid-treated rats exhibited elevated glycogen content, which suggests that dietary carbohydrates were stored as glycogen (glucose for animals) instead of becoming fatty acids, thereby lowering triglyceride levels.

10. Garlic

There are a number of garlic benefits, including its ability to help prevent heart disease.

A meta-analysis conducted at the University of Oxford found that dried garlic powder preparations significantly lowered serum triglyceride levels when compared to placebo. This analysis included 17 trials and 952 subjects.

Garlic treatment not only lowered triglyceride levels, but it also reduced total cholesterol levels.

Another study published in the Journal of Nutrition found that when rats received raw garlic orally or as an injection, there was a 38 percent reduction in triglyceride levels.

Conventional Treatment

The two most common conventional treatments for high triglycerides are statins and fibrates, which both come with their own side effects.

1. Statins

These prescriptions drugs, like Lipitor or Zocor, are used by people who also have low HDL cholesterol and high LDL cholesterol. A study published in the American Journal of Cardiology found that statins are effective in treating high triglycerides but only in patients with hypertriglyceridemia. Data indicates that the more statins are effective in lowering LDL cholesterol levels, the more effective they will be in lowering triglycerides.

One of the most common side effects of statin use is muscle pain, and occasionally patients suffer from liver damage, increased blood sugar levels and neurological issues, such as memory loss and confusion.

2. Fibrates

Fibrates are used to lower triglyceride levels. Studies show that in patients with cardiovascular disease, modestly elevated triglyceride levels and low HDL cholesterol levels, fibrates have been shown to decrease the risk of cardiovascular events.

The side effects of fibrates include nausea, upset stomach and diarrhea. Fibrate use can also irritate the liver and cause gallstones when used for several years.

Sometimes fibrates and statins are used together in combination therapy, but this raises safety concerns and should be used with caution.

Final Thoughts

• Research shows that triglyceride levels help predict cardiovascular disease, a principal cause of morbidity and mortality in Western society.
• Triglycerides are a type of fat in your blood. Any calories that aren’t needed when you eat are converted into triglycerides and stored in your fat cells. Then your hormones release triglycerides for energy in between meals. When you eat more calories than you burn, this leads to high triglycerides.
• Some major causes of high triglycerides include obesity, lack of exercise, eating more calories than you burn, type 2 diabetes, kidney disease, excessive alcohol consumption and smoking.
• The best way to prevent or reduce high triglyceride levels is to change your diet and lifestyle. Cutting back on calories, sticking to complex carbohydrates instead of refined carbs, eating healthy fats with omega-3 fatty acids and reducing your sugar intake are the best ways to naturally reduce triglyceride levels. Exercise is also important and helps decrease triglyceride and LDL cholesterol levels.
• Use supplements like fish oil, garlic, niacin and lipoic acid in combination with diet and lifestyle changes to reduce high triglycerides. Essential oils, such as lavender, holy basil and lemongrass, can also be used to help treat hypertriglyceridemia.

The post What High Triglycerides Mean for Your Heart & How to Lower Naturally appeared first on Dr. Axe.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States, with roughly one in three Americans dying of heart disease or stroke. According to the CDC, elevated blood cholesterol is considered a major risk factor for CVD, and statin therapy has been strongly associated with a reduced risk of atherosclerotic CVD.

Cholesterol-lowering medication use increases with age, from 17 percent of adults aged 40–59 to nearly 50 percent of adults aged 75 and over.

In other words, normal cholesterol levels are important to maintain because high cholesterol is a sign that something is wrong — or could go very wrong in the future (read: heart disease). These risks are amplified when you also have high triglycerides; together, these are referred to as hyperlipidemia. Sometimes, it’s important to lower cholesterol — naturally.

Let’s unravel the truth: What is cholesterol? Does it really need to be as low as you’ve been told? Are there different types of cholesterol? How can you get normal cholesterol levels — and what are normal cholesterol levels?

What Is Cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a fat-like, waxy substance contained in all cells of the body as well as some foods. It’s a precursor substance necessary for the creation of vitamin D, some hormones and bile salts that break down carbs, fats and proteins. Your brain also needs cholesterol, as it helps to create neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine.

High cholesterol foods include a gamut of very healthy to incredibly unhealthy choices, from eggs and dark chocolate to potato chips and cookies. The five items consumed in the U.S. that are highest in dietary cholesterol include eggs, chicken, beef, hamburgers and cheese.

For a while, it was widely believed that eggs were bad for your heart because they contain so much cholesterol (24.6 percent of eggs are cholesterol, to be exact) and would increase your serum cholesterol (the amount of this substance in your blood). However, it seems that dietary cholesterol actually isn’t as detrimental to your health as it seemed at first. Eating eggs long-term, for example, doesn’t actually increase your heart disease markers, including serum cholesterol.

Your serum cholesterol numbers matter because high cholesterol levels build up in your arteries, forming plaques that lead to arteriosclerosis, a form of the heart disease.

HDL Cholesterol vs. LDL Cholesterol

The more research is done, the more healthcare professionals are realizing that, even within the two common distinctions of cholesterol, there are many variations.

On a basic level, your body has two types of cholesterol circulating: LDL and HDL cholesterol. Many people think of LDL as “bad” cholesterol, but that’s not really a fair assessment — it’s all cholesterol, and these proteins “shuttle” fats to and from cells. They’re just different sizes.

What is HDL cholesterol? HDL stands for “high-density lipoprotein,” meaning HDL particles are larger than LDL particles. Your HDL cholesterol transports cholesterol particles from bodily tissue to the liver, where it can be reused or removed. LDL is “low-density lipoprotein” cholesterol and should be kept in a specific ratio to HDL particles to maintain a low risk for heart disease.

There’s a third kind of cholesterol that isn’t tested on normal cholesterol tests, but rather is estimated based on your triglyceride level: VLDL cholesterol, or very low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. VLDL contains 70 percent triglycerides by volume, versus LDL or HDL that contain much less. VLDL cholesterol is what transports most of the triglycerides throughout your bloodstream, and high levels of these two particles are much of what cause plaque to build up in the arteries.

High Cholesterol Symptoms

So, what is high cholesterol? Can you feel it happening?

According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, there are no known symptoms of high cholesterol. The reason high cholesterol is considered problematic is not because of any outward symptom, but because some research indicates that it may increase your risk of heart disease if it stays high over the course of several years.

For most people, maintaining normal cholesterol levels is a matter of diet and lifestyle. One study showed how lowering your cholesterol by means of medication and to incredibly low levels doesn’t actually seem to impact incidence of coronary heart disease or death from such, though.

The focus should be on achieving good ratios of different cholesterol levels and practicing a diet and lifestyle that gives the body the best overall chance at health.

What causes high cholesterol? Likely, this happens if you eat a diet high in omega-6s but low in omega-3s (which leads to inflammation), processed foods, a lot of refined grains and excess sugar. Smoking, obesity and sedentary lifestyle also contribute to high cholesterol.

Healthy Cholesterol Levels

What are healthy cholesterol numbers then? What are the best cholesterol ratios? 

HDL to LDL Cholesterol Ratio

Monitor your HDL to LDL cholesterol by making sure you have a ratio of one HDL particle to every 2.5 LDL particles (1:2.5). A ratio of 1:6 or higher means your cholesterol is pretty out of whack, while a ratio of 1:10 or higher is considered to be dangerously unhealthy.

To calculate where you fall, multiply your HDL number by 2.5. If the result is the same or higher as your LDL cholesterol number, then your ratio is in a good range.

Triglycerides to HDL Cholesterol

When you divide your triglycerides to your total HDL cholesterol, it can help reveal elevated heart disease risk. This could be due to the fact triglyceride numbers relate directly to the amount of VLDL cholesterol you currently have.

If that number is higher than .02 (2 percent), it’s time to work on getting back to normal cholesterol levels and normal triglyceride levels because you suffer from hyperlipidemia. What is hyperlipidemia? It means your triglycerides and cholesterol are both too high.

Meanwhile, normal cholesterol levels are as follows

Total Cholesterol

• Below 200 mg/dL — Desirable
• 200–239 mg/dL — Borderline high
• 240 mg/dL and above — High

LDL Cholesterol Ranges

• Below 70 mg/dL — Ideal for people at very high risk of heart disease
• Below 100 mg/dL — Ideal for people at risk of heart disease
• 100–129 mg/dL — Near ideal
• 130–159 mg/dL — Borderline high
• 160–189 mg/dL — High
• 190 mg/dL and above — Very high

HDL Cholesterol Ranges

• Below 40 mg/dL (men); below 50 mg/dL (women) — Poor
• 50–59 mg/dL — Better
• 60 mg/dL and above — Best

Triglycerides

• Below 150 mg/dL — Desirable
• 150–199 mg/dL — Borderline high
• 200–499 mg/dL — High
• 500 mg/dL and above — Very high

Take note: the LDL levels normal range (particularly for people at high risk) is nearly impossible to achieve without being on cholesterol-lowering medications. Many physicians will begin suggesting statins when total cholesterol reaches around 108 mg/dL or higher (cholesterol level 6, for countries where the measurements are mmol/L rather than mg/dL). 

Natural Remedies for High Cholesterol

1. Kick the Carbs

Total starchy food and carbohydrate intake are associated with metabolic syndrome, a condition identified by high cholesterol and other factors that equate to higher heart disease risk. 

The Mediterranean diet features a ton of cholesterol-lowering foods and also includes low amounts of refined carbohydrates and healthy fats. The high amount of healthy fats in the Mediterranean diet also can help to raise your HDL cholesterol. 

2. Lose Weight

Losing just 5–10 percent of your total body weight helps to reduce triglycerides and increase HDL levels. That type of minimal (but significant) weight loss doesn’t typically impact LDL cholesterol numbers but can improve your overall cholesterol ratios. 

3. Have a Glass of Red Wine

If you’re wondering how to lower cholesterol levels, it may surprise you to learn that moderate alcohol intake is associated with higher HDL levels. 

Be sure to watch how much you drink, though. One study found that, based on conventional models of cholesterol and heart disease risk, that 30 grams (or about one fluid ounce) per day of alcohol would reduce the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) by 24.7 percent. On the other hand, it may slightly raise triglycerides.

4. Stop Smoking

Smoking exacerbates many aspects of health — and cholesterol is just one of them. This practice tends to lower your HDL levels while raising LDL cholesterol, making it an unacceptable risk to take if you’re at risk of heart disease. 

5. Get Moving

A sedentary lifestyle is a no-no for heart disease risk. However, performing either medium-intensity resistance exercise or high-intensity aerobic exercise increases your HDL levels. Exercise typically will help to support losing or maintaining weight, another reason this is a good habit to rehearse as you protect your heart.

6. Try Cholesterol-Lowering Supplements

There are a number of supplements that may help you achieve normal cholesterol levels, but keep in mind that your healthcare professional should always be made aware of supplements you’re taking in addition to medications. If you’re taking a cholesterol-lowering medication, it’s possible you could experience an unhealthily drastic drop in cholesterol if you aren’t monitoring it closely with the help of your healthcare professional.

Niacin: While you should ideally get enough niacin (vitamin B3) through a healthy diet (found richly in beef liver, chicken breast, tuna, sunflower seeds and grass-fed beef), you may also choose to use it in supplement form. Niacin is frequently prescribed alongside statin medications. Large studies have suggested that time-released niacin helps to reduce LDL levels, raise HDL levels, reduce triglycerides and even reduce VLDL particles (by up to 68 percent!). 

Red Yeast Rice: Another controversial supplement, red yeast rice, acts like statins but without as many of the undesirable side effects. In a 2015 research study, red yeast rice prevented weight gain and improved hyperlipidemia overall, meaning it lowered overall cholesterol (and probably high LDL levels). 

Citrus Bergamot: Studies indicate that the antioxidant polyphenols in citrus bergamot not only support healthy cholesterol levels but also support a healthy HDL (good) cholesterol to triglyceride ratio.

7. Take Cholesterol-Lowering Medication

While conventional medicine sees this as a first-line effort, cholesterol-lowering medications are sometimes needed for extremely high cholesterol. In the case of familial hypercholesterolemia (a genetic defect which means the body is unable to remove LDL cholesterol from the bloodstream), one has a much higher risk of heart disease and is not able to lower cholesterol levels without medication. 

Cholesterol-lowering drugs include: 

• Statins: These work to lower LDL cholesterol levels and moderately improve triglyceride and HDL cholesterol numbers.
• Niacin: Approved at high doses as a prescription medication, niacin lowers LDL and raises HDL cholesterol.
• Bile Acid Resin: These drugs work inside your intestine, attaching to bile and stopping it from absorbing into blood.
• Fibrates: Fibrates (like fenofibrate) limit triglyceride production, increase HDL cholesterol in some cases and may reduce VLDL levels. They’re usually prescribed with statins.
• PCSK9 Inhibitors: PCSK9 inhibitors are a new class of cholesterol drugs, typically prescribed only for those with familial hypercholesterolemia. They help your body remove LDL more efficiently by blocking the action of the PCSK9 protein.

Precautions

Always discuss changes in your medication or supplement regimen with your healthcare professional and don’t change without his or her supervision.

Final Thoughts

• Cholesterol is an important substance used in many bodily processes. Eating high cholesterol foods does not impact your serum cholesterol numbers significantly.
• Instead of worrying about individual LDL or HDL numbers, keep your HDL:LDL ratio at 1:2.5 or lower.
• If you need to achieve normal cholesterol levels, there are seven key ways to raise HDL cholesterol and/or lower LDL cholesterol, including lower carb intake, losing weight, moving more and trying certain supplements.

The post Normal Cholesterol Levels: 7 Ways to Achieve appeared first on Dr. Axe.

Sleep hygiene refers to a set of practices and habits that can help improve the quality and duration of sleep and prevent insomnia. Good sleep hygiene can lead to better sleep patterns, increased daytime alertness and overall improved well-being.

What Is It?

As mentioned above, sleep hygiene refers to a set of practices and habits that are designed to promote good, restful sleep. These practices aim to improve the quality and duration of sleep, as well as reduce the likelihood of sleep disturbances and sleep-related disorders, such as sleep deprivation.

Sleep hygiene is essential for maintaining overall health and well-being since adequate and restorative sleep is crucial for physical and mental health.

How to Practice Good Sleep Hygiene

Here are some sleep hygiene tips and natural sleep aids to help you get a restful night’s sleep:

1. Stick to a consistent sleep schedule: Try to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, even on weekends. This helps regulate your body’s internal clock and promotes better sleep.
2. Create a bedtime routine: Develop a relaxing pre-sleep routine to signal your body that it’s time to wind down. This may include activities like reading a book, taking a warm bath or practicing relaxation techniques.
3. Make your sleep environment comfortable: Ensure your bedroom is cool, dark and quiet. Consider using blackout curtains, earplugs or a white noise machine to block out any disruptive elements.
4. Limit exposure to screens before bedtime: The blue light emitted by screens can interfere with your sleep. Avoid using electronic devices like smartphones, tablets and computers at least an hour before bedtime.
5. Watch what you eat and drink: Avoid large meals, caffeine and alcohol close to bedtime. These substances can disrupt your sleep patterns and cause discomfort.
6. Get regular exercise: Engaging in regular physical activity during the day can promote better sleep. However, try to avoid intense exercise close to bedtime, as it may make it difficult to fall asleep.
7. Limit daytime naps: While short power naps can be beneficial, long or irregular daytime naps may interfere with your nighttime sleep.
8. Manage stress: High levels of stress and anxiety can disrupt sleep. Practice relaxation techniques, such as meditation, deep breathing or yoga, to help reduce stress before bedtime.
9. Maintain a comfortable sleep environment: Invest in a comfortable mattress and pillows that support your sleeping posture. This can prevent discomfort and improve the quality of your sleep.
10. Avoid clock-watching: If you have trouble falling asleep, constantly checking the time can add to your stress. Turn your clock away from view to prevent this habit.
11. Seek natural light exposure during the day: Exposure to natural light during the day can help regulate your body’s sleep-wake cycle. Spend time outdoors, or keep your curtains open to get some daylight.
12. Limit liquids before bedtime: Reducing your liquid intake before going to bed can help minimize nighttime awakenings to use the bathroom.

Remember that everyone’s sleep needs and preferences can differ. It’s essential to find a sleep hygiene routine that works best for you.

If you consistently have trouble sleeping despite practicing good sleep hygiene, consider consulting a health care professional to rule out any underlying sleep disorders or health issues.

The post Sleep Hygiene Tips and Best Practices for a Good Night’s Sleep appeared first on Dr. Axe.

Different forms of arteriosclerosis are the primary causes of heart disease and strokes. It’s a disease that progresses slowly and can start as early as childhood.

Thanks to numerous studies and advancements in technology, we now have a clearer understanding of the complex molecular mechanisms that lead to arterial and coronary heart diseases. Strong evidence shows that there’s a connection between certain lifestyle factors and cholesterol metabolism, the dangerous development of atherosclerotic plaque and chronic diseases that affect so many people every single year.

While in the past heart disease might have been largely attributed to genetic factors and was viewed as an inevitable part of aging, the focus has now shifted to empowering adults to help prevent heart-related problems by adjusting their diets, exercise routines, stress levels and mindsets.

What Is Arteriosclerosis?

Arteriosclerosis is a heart condition that occurs when the blood vessels become thick and stiff. Normally in a healthy person, arteries are flexible and elastic, which allows for good circulation and nutrient distribution. However, over time, as someone ages or her health deteriorates from a combination of factors, the walls of the arteries can start to harden.

According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, arteriosclerosis may begin when specific factors damage the inner layers of the arteries. These factors include:

• Smoking
• High amounts of certain fats and cholesterol in the blood
• High blood pressure
• High amounts of sugar in the blood due to insulin resistance or diabetes

Although it’s considered a heart (or vascular) problem primarily, thickening of the arteries can happen anywhere in the body. Because the main blood vessels flowing to and from your heart have the crucial role of carrying oxygen and nutrients throughout your body, this condition is considered very serious and can become deadly.

When your arteries become stiff, they start restricting blood flow to your major organs, muscles and tissues, which can lead to a sudden heart attack, stroke, organ failure and other issues.

Arteriosclerosis vs. Atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis, which occurs when there’s a buildup of fats, cholesterol and other substances (usually called plaque) in the artery walls, is one specific type of arteriosclerosis that is tied to heart attacks. Many people use the terms interchangeably because both result in a dangerous restriction in blood flow and raise the risk for cardiac arrest.

When someone develops atherosclerosis, plaque buildups can form blood clots that eventually burst. However, not all cases of arteriosclerosis involve blood clots or lead to heart attacks. In fact, for many people with mild or early forms of arteriosclerosis don’t even cause any noticeable symptoms at all. Because the disease forms gradually and can accompany weight gain or someone getting older, it’s easy to brush aside symptoms, which can unfortunately lead to the disease worsening over time.

Many people won’t have atherosclerosis symptoms until an artery is so narrowed or clogged that it can’t supply adequate blood to organs and tissues. At this time, it’s possible to have a transient ischemic attack, which is a mild heart attack that is capable of progressing to a more serious stroke or heart failure.

Symptoms

There are three main types of related diseases that fall into the broader category of arteriosclerosis: atherosclerosis, Mönckeberg medial calcific sclerosis and arteriolosclerosis.

When someone does experience symptoms of arteriosclerosis, these can include:

• chest pain or pressure (angina)
• sudden numbness or weakness in your arms or legs
• difficulty speaking or slurred speech
• drooping muscles in your face
• leg pain when walking
• high blood pressure or kidney failure
• erectile dysfunction, difficulties having sex or pain around the genitals

Causes

Epidemiological studies have revealed several important lifestyle, environmental and genetic risk factors associated with arteriosclerosis. Most importantly, there’s a tie between all of these factors: chronic inflammation, the major cause of disease. We have clear evidence that atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory condition that is largely triggered by a poor diet, sedentary lifestyle and high levels of stress — or chronic stress.

These factors come together to cause endothelial disruption over time, build up plaque deposits that can rupture and possibly cause sudden life-threatening attacks. At the root cause of arteriosclerosis is endothelial (blood vessel) dysfunction that begins when inflammation levels rise. The endothelium has the purpose of causing relaxation and constriction responses in vascular smooth muscles by releasing and regulating compounds called nitric oxide (NO) and endothelium-derived contracting factors (EDCF). This process is what helps blood flow properly throughout the body when someone’s healthy.

The endothelial release of NO and EDCF is reduced in people who have diabetes and hypertension. Arteries lose their sensitivity to these compounds as inflammation builds. At the same time, inflammation is also tied to other cardiovascular risk factors, including vasospasms (sudden constriction of blood flow), thrombosis (formation of blood clots), penetration of macrophages (white blood cells that attack areas of infection) and abnormal cellular growth.

Essentially, when your inflammation levels remain high, your arteries become damaged and your body sees this as a sign that it needs to repair itself. It sends compounds including cholesterol and white blood cells to your arteries in order to help repair the problem, but if this continues on for prolonged periods, “plaque” of these compounds can accumulate and other substances (like calcium, for example) can become stuck in your arteries.

Making lifestyle changes can help prevent or treat atherosclerosis because it targets inflammation. For some people, these changes are the only treatment needed. Overall, the goals of a “heart-healthy” diet and lifestyle are to eat foods that help maintain appropriate levels of cholesterol, blood pressure and fatty molecules called lipids, plus to maintain a healthy weight and reduce inflammation naturally.

Conventional Treatment

Some of the ways health professionals typically go about monitoring risk factors for arteriosclerosis, or heart disease in general, include:

• Focusing on increasing high-density lipoproteins (HDL), which is the “good cholesterol” beneficial for the heart.
• Reducing harmful lipids (fatty molecules) like triglycerides and lipoprotein.
• Lowering total high cholesterol levels and low-density lipoproteins (LDL). High LDL cholesterol has been linked to higher risks for heart disease for several decades, although recent research shows this isn’t necessarily the case.

When it comes to dietary changes, the focus is usually on lowering intake of fat, cholesterol and salt, and adopting a healing diet. The DASH Diet, for example, is an eating plan focused on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds. DASH also emphasizes fat-free or low-fat milk and dairy products, fish and poultry, while limiting red meats (including lean red meats), sweets, added sugars, artificial sweeteners and sugar-containing beverages.

While many of these are smart suggestions, standard “heart-healthy diets” usually don’t include recent findings on how all different types of natural fats can be beneficial for heart health or how removing processed and packaged foods might be the single most important step someone can take to fight inflammation.

Natural Remedies

1. Eat Healthy Sources of Fats

All types of fats aren’t bad — in fact, natural fats of all kinds can help fight chronic inflammation. For example, diets that include plenty of monounsaturated fat have been linked to a lower rate of coronary heart disease. Monounsaturated fats (MUFAs) can help decrease LDL-cholesterol plasma levels when they replace certain saturated fats, trans-fats and refined carbohydrates. High intakes of monounsaturated fats from natural sources like beneficial avocados and olive oil are now being advocated to prevent cardiovascular diseases of all types.

Evidence from traditional diets of people living in Mediterranean countries shows promising results when it comes to consuming these types of anti-inflammatory fats. People following the Mediterranean diet living in countries like Italy, Greece and Turkey have consumed high quantities of MUFAs for centuries, especially in the form of extra-virgin olive oil.

How many servings of healthy fats daily are necessarily to prevent vascular diseases? The debate is ongoing when it comes to how much fat is ideal and even what types are best. Most people should aim for about 30 percent to 40 percent of their total calories from quality sources of fats, although depending on whom you ask this can number can be lower (in the 25 percent to 35 percent range, according to National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute).

While the percentages and numbers can seen overwhelming, the changes to your diet don’t need to be. First and foremost, try to eliminate trans fats from your diet all together. These are also called “hydrogenated fats” and are found in most commercially baked products and many fast foods. Another important factor is staying away from refined, often rancid vegetable oils (sunflower, safflower, canola, corn and soybean oils, for example) that are normally highly processed.

Recommendations for exact percentages of fat sources is where things get debatable and somewhat unclear. The American Heart Association advises eating fish, especially those containing omega-3 fatty acids like wild-caught salmon, at least twice a week. They also recommend limiting saturated fat and trans fats. Instead of consuming these fats, they suggest replacing them with “better fats” like those that are monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. If cholesterol levels are too high, they also recommend lowering saturated fat intake to no more than 5 percent to 6 percent of total calories so for someone on 2,000 calories/day diet, that’s around 13 grams of saturated fat each day.

However, remember that cholesterol is important and even healing in moderation. Normal cholesterol levels are the goal, as low cholesterol can be worse than high levels in some cases. If you have high cholesterol, this is a sign that your body is trying to repair itself and experiencing inflammation, but eating the cholesterol itself isn’t causing the issue. (Learn about what high-cholesterol foods to avoid versus eat.)

2. Limit Refined Carbohydrates and Increase Your Fiber Intake

While healthy fats are important, keep in mind that the most appropriate nutritional model to prevent arteriosclerosis also incorporates other factors of someone’s diet, especially the types of carbohydrates a person eats. Certain carbohydrates are anti-inflammatory foods that provide fiber and important nutrients when you eat them in their natural, whole form. As high-antioxidant foods, they support key elements of heart health like reducing unhealthy cholesterol, triglycerides and blood pressure levels.

Focus on getting the majority of your carbohydrates from a variety of high-fiber foods, especially vegetables and fruit (including sulfur-containing veggies like leafy greens, cruciferous veggies and onions). These fight free radical damage, provide fiber and help prevent the digestive tract from absorbing cholesterol. High-fiber foods include:

• Vegetables, both non-starchy and starchy (try them in a heart-healthy juice to save time)
• Fruit
• 100 percent whole grains (especially gluten-free grains like rolled oats, quinoa, buckwheat or amaranth)
• Beans and legumes such as kidney beans, lentils, chickpeas, black-eyed peas and lima beans

And don’t forget there’s a strong link between sugar consumption and heart disease, too. Most U.S. adults consume more added sugar than is recommended for a healthy diet and don’t realize the negative impact this has on their hearts.

Sugar is acidic by nature, inflammatory and messes with arterial functions. When research published in The Journal of The American Medical Association examined trends between added sugar consumption in the U.S. and the association with CVD mortality, researchers found that as sugar intake went up, so did heart CVD risk. These findings were consistent across multiple factors including age, sex, race/ethnicity, educational attainment, physical activity level, health eating index and body mass index.

Others studies show the same: High dietary glycemic load is associated with higher serum triglyceride concentrations and greater risk of coronary heart disease.

Cut down on beverages and foods that contain added sugars of all kinds: agave, corn syrups, sucrose, glucose, fructose, maltrose, dextrose and so on. Maple syrup and raw honey are healthy choices in moderation, but even these need to be monitored. Steer clear of sugar hiding in almost all packaged foods: sweetened cereals, yogurts, bottled drinks, condiments, breads, energy bars, and so on.

And when it comes to alcohol (often another hidden source of sugar), the AHA recommends limiting alcohol to no more than two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women.

3. Get Regular Exercise

Controlling your diet and weight, quitting smoking or drug use, and exercising regularly are considered essential components of any healthy lifestyle program. Exercise benefits your heart by making it stronger and more resilient. It increases your ability to distribute oxygen and nutrients to your organs and cells, helps reduce stress, and can help you maintain a healthy weight — especially when combined with mindful eating.

How much is enough? Try to get at least 30 minutes of daily exercise (preferably 60–90 minutes if it’s low intensity) daily. If you’re healthy enough, you can also try doing shorter but more intense workouts, including high-intensity interval training (HIIT) that are linked to better overall heart health.

Whatever type you choose, do it consistently: Regular exercise is linked to lower atherosclerosis risk factors including LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and high blood pressure. Physical activity also can lower your risk for diabetes and raise your HDL cholesterol levels.

4. Reduce Stress Levels

Stress plays a major negative role in heart health. Research demonstrates that stress raises the risk for a heart attack by causing an overactive amygdala in the brain. The study specifically points out how “stress prompts activation of both the sympathetic nervous system and the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis, leading to increases in circulating catecholamines, glucocorticoids, and (eventually) inflammatory cytokines.”

Anger, insomnia, depression, overeating, anxiety and drug dependence can all raise your risk for arteriosclerosis because of their impact on hormone levels that affect inflammation and, therefore, heart functioning. It’s crucial for every adult to learn how to manage stress, relax, and cope with emotional and physical problems.

Some ideas for lowering the impact of stress in your life? Find a support group you’re interested in, regularly get some physical activity, try mediation, massage therapy or another form of relaxation, and start to use relaxing essential oils.

5. Consider These Supplements

People with existing heart disease should consider taking omega-3 fatty acid supplements (1–4 grams/day depending on your condition might be appropriate).

Magnesium is a key nutrient that helps to relax the muscles and balances mineral levels. In vitro studies have linked low magnesium levels to endothelial dysfunction, which precedes arteriosclerosis development. (15)

Often shortened to CoQ10, this supplement helps defend cells from damage by harmful free radicals thanks to having strong antioxidant protection. A human double-blind randomized trial demonstrates how a supplement combining aged garlic and CoQ10 can boost heart health. The human subjects took this supplement for a year, and the researchers found it had beneficial effects on inflammatory markers while also decreasing progression of coronary atherosclerosis.

Turmeric contains an active component called curcumin, which research claims gives turmeric its antithrombotic (blood clot preventer) and anticoagulant (blood thinner) abilities.

In vivo research demonstrates that essential oils including thyme, clove, rose, eucalyptus, fennel, and bergamot can lower inflammatory COX-2 enzymes. Ginger essential oil, is another great choice because it contains anti-inflammatory gingerol. To reap the benefits of these oils, you can diffuse them around your home. You can also use them in homemade beauty and cleaning products.

Final Thoughts

• Arteriosclerosis is a heart condition that occurs when the blood vessels become thick and stiff and it can lead to a heart attack or stroke.
• Many conventional recommendations for artherosclerosis lead people to be fearful of ALL fats, but I highly discourage avoiding all fats since there are so many beneficial fat sources to consume that actually have anti-inflammatory and general health-boosting effects.
• If you are being treated for arteriosclerosis, speak with your healthcare professional before starting any natural remedies, especially if you’re already taken any conventional medications to avoid unwanted interactions.

The post How to Prevent Arteriosclerosis: Eat More (Good) Fat & Fiber appeared first on Dr. Axe.

Because the thyroid gland serves as the body’s thermostat — continuously regulating things like temperature, hunger levels and energy expenditure — symptoms of thyroid problems can affect nearly the whole body.

Experts estimate there are roughly 20 million Americans suffering from some type of thyroid disorder (mostly hypothyroidism/underactive thyroid and, to a lesser extend, hyperthyroidism). Surprisingly, it’s thought that more than half of those (60 percent) with thyroid symptoms, such as weight gain or fatigue, are completely unaware of the root cause of their problems.

Are you currently one of them, and if so, what can you do to protect your condition from worsening? Below you’ll learn about natural remedies for thyroid disease or other thyroid problems, including the types of foods that keep symptoms under control, ways to manage stress and supplements that might help reverse the condition.

What Is Your Thyroid?

The thyroid is a small, butterfly-shaped gland located in your throat, just behind your Adam’s apple.

The thyroid gland controls many aspects of metabolism, including regulating the production of various hormones that enable the body to carry out vital functions — such as digestion and reproduction, for example.

Thyroid stimulating hormone is produced by the pituitary gland in order to regulate the production of hormones released by the thyroid. Sometimes the thyroid winds up pumping out either too much or too little of certain hormones. Either scenario is problematic for things like body weight regulation and mood stabilization.

Two of the most important thyroid hormones are T3 (triiodothyronine) and T4 (thyroxine). These two hormones, once released, travel through the body via the bloodstream, converting oxygen and calories into energy. This energy is crucial for cognitive functions, mood regulation, digestive processes, a healthy sex drive and much more.

Most Common Thyroid Problems

Thyroid disorders and thyroid disease can have a negative impact on just about every area of your life. From weight issues to depression and/or anxiety, the thyroid gland is vital to keeping your physical, mental and emotional life in balance.

What are the types of thyroid problems a person can experience?

There are two main categories of thyroid problems: hypothyroidism (an under-active thyroid) and hyperthyroidism (an overactive thyroid).

While there are other thyroid issues as well, the majority of cases fall into one of these two categories.

Hypothyroidism (under-active thyroid):

Hypothyroidism is by far the more common type of thyroid problem. Most people with hypothyroidism are women, especially those who are of reproductive age or middle-aged. Most women are diagnosed between the ages of 30 to 50 years.

In the case of hypothyroidism, your body literally slows down. This is why symptoms like weight gain, brain fog and sluggishness are common.

These occur due to the thyroid not producing enough of the thyroid hormones T3 or T4 (or both). It can also cause elevated thyroid stimulating hormone levels.

Hyperthyroidism (over-active thyroid):

Hyperthyroidism causes the opposite effect of hypothyroidism. It almost speeds up one’s metabolism, to the point that the heart may beat faster and the person may have a hard time eating properly or keeping enough weight on.

Hyperthyroidism occurs when the body has too much of the needed thyroid hormones.

Enlarged thyroid/goiter:

Another condition is an enlarged thyroid, also called a goiter, that develops in the neck, which is usually caused by a lack of iodine in someone’s diet. (Iodine is needed to support thyroid function.) In countries where iodized salt is common, goiters are rare, however they can develop when someone doesn’t eat a balanced diet for an extended period of time.

There are different types of goiters that can develop, including lithium-induced goiter, nontoxic goiter and toxic nodular goiter.

Symptoms of Thyroid Problems

The most common symptoms of hypothyroidism are: 

• Persistent fatigue (aka adrenal fatigue), lethargy, and sometimes depression or low motivation to exercise
• Moodiness and sometimes anxiety
• Intolerance to cold and frequently feeling chilly
• Dry skin and hair — skin might feel cool to the touch and the toes/fingers might look a blue/purple color in some cases
• Brain fog, trouble concentrating and forgetfulness
• A hoarse voice
• Unexplainable weight gain
• Constipation, bloating and other digestive issues
• Muscle weakness, sometimes aches or pains, and other discomforts

Symptoms of hyperthyroidism commonly include:

• Nervousness or symptoms of anxiety
• Insomnia and sleep troubles
• Racing heart rate
• Eyes that appear large and sometimes bulge
• Unexplained weight loss
• High amounts of perspiration
• Muscle weakness
• Multiple bowel movements
• Thin, brittle hair

What are early warning signs of thyroid problems?

When the gland first becomes dysfunctional, symptoms might include:

• Dry skin
• Fatigue and lack of focus
• Feeling cold
• Constipation
• Weight gain
• Puffy, swollen-looking face
• Muscle weakness and trouble exercising

What are the symptoms of thyroid problems in females?

As many as one in eight women in the United States may be impacted by a thyroid disorder at some point during her lifetime. Symptoms can include:

• Thinning hair
• Loss of breast tenderness
• Fatigue
• Weight gain
• Low libido
• Cold body temperature
• Irregular menstrual cycles
• Infertility

What symptoms does thyroid cancer cause?

Some signs of cancer potentially developing in the gland can include:

• A lump (nodule) that can be felt on the neck
• Hoarseness
• Difficulty swallowing and breathing normally
• Swollen lymph nodes in the neck
• Pain in the neck and throat
• Persistent cough

Causes

What causes thyroid problems? It depends on the specific problem.

There are many factors that can contribute to thyroid problems, ranging from genetics to poor lifestyle habits — like skipping sleep, exercising too much or too little, and eating too many inflammatory foods.

Causes of Hypothyroidism:

In the U.S., by far the most common reason for hypothyroidism is a condition called Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, where the body mistakenly attacks the thyroid and destroys cells, thus compromising its functioning. It’s also sometimes called chronic autoimmune thyroiditis and chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis.

Hashimoto’s is a type of autoimmune disorder. It takes place due to an autoimmune response (the body attacking its own tissue with T and B cells), interfering with normal production of hormones. It affects women seven to 10 times more often than men due to chromosomal susceptibilities.

Causes of Hashimoto’s disease can include high amounts of stress, nutrient deficiencies (such as low iodine), low immune function (immunosuppression) and toxicity. However, on a worldwide level, an iodine deficiency in the diet is the No. 1 cause of hypothyroidism.

Causes of Hyperthyroidism:

The prevalence of hyperthyroidism in the U.S. is approximately 1.2% of adults. The No. 1 cause of hyperthyroidism is Graves’ disease, but lumps on the thyroid (having a goiter) or taking too much T4 in tablet form can also contribute to hyperthyroidism. The underlying cause is excess production of thyroid hormone.

Nutrient Deficiencies:

Several nutrients, such as iodine and selenium, play an important yet often overlooked role in regard to the thyroid functioning properly. Iodine and amino acids (the “building blocks” of proteins) are converted by the thyroid to the hormones T3 and T4.

Research shows that some of the most significant known risk factors for thyroid problems include:

• Deficiencies in three important nutrients that support healthy thyroid function — iodine, selenium and zinc deficiency
• Poor diet high in processed foods with things like sugar or unhealthy fats. Too much caffeine and/or alcohol can also contribute to emotional stress and poor gut health.

Either too much or too little iodine can disrupt thyroid function. The same can happen when someone lacks B vitamins, zinc and other minerals, including electrolytes.

Additionally, problems absorbing and converting nutrients from the diet can make matters worse. Leaky gut syndrome (also referred to as intestinal permeability) is one contributing cause to symptoms of thyroid problems since it raises inflammation levels and interferes with certain metabolic processes.

Stress:

Emotional stress, anxiety, fatigue and depression can interfere with normal adrenal functioning and wear down the entire immune system and endocrine system. Lack of sleep and overexercising are other causes of stress.

Poor Gut Health:

Some thyroid symptoms can be related to leaky gut syndrome, which triggers inflammation. This impairs normal nutrient absorption, can lead to autoimmune reactions, can reduce oxygen reaching the organs and causes less blood flow through the gastrointestinal tract.

It may also interfere with enzyme production, which makes it harder to digest certain things (especially grains, dairy and fats).

Other Risk Factors (Inactivity, Genetics, Toxin Exposure):

A lack of exercise and a sedentary lifestyle may contribute to overall poor health and hormonal imbalances.

Reactions to some immunosuppressive medications can also impact the thyroid and adrenals. So can toxicity due to chemical exposure or contact with other environmental pollutants.

Other potential causes include genetic factors (research shows that thyroid problems tend to run in families), pregnancy, or in the case of infants or young children, a genetic pituitary disorder, defective thyroid or lack of the gland entirely.

Natural Treatments and Prevention

Because the two main types of thyroid problems, hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism, are basically the opposite problems, treatment for each condition is very different.

In one case we want more of the thyroid hormones, and in the other case the sufferer needs less of that same hormone. Therefore it’s important to find the root causes of someone’s symptoms and tailor treatment accordingly.

Here’s how thyroid problems are usually treated with conventional medicine:

• When it comes to hypothyroidism, the body is in need of more thyroid hormones. One common treatment in the medical world is taking synthetic thyroxine or T4. There are a number of types of T4 prescription available. Most people respond to this therapy, but there are also those who don’t. In these cases the sufferer sometimes takes a combination of the synthetic version of T4 and T3 to help.
• In the case of hyperthyroidism, the most common treatment in the U.S. is the use of radioactive iodine, aka radioiodine. Anti-thyroid medications are used to reduce and normalize thyroid function. This treatment usually takes a few weeks or months to curb the hyperthyroidism.
• Other options are drugs that stop the production of the thyroid hormone or surgery to remove a large amount of the actual thyroid gland. All of these treatments run the risk of side effects, are costly and aren’t always effective.

Natural Treatments:

1. Get Enough Iodine, Selenium, Zinc

Many (but not all) patients with hypothyroid diseases are deficient in iodine — most cases of hypothyroidism worldwide are from a lack of iodine — therefore increasing your iodine intake can likely help.

Iodine is a key mineral for helping convert and release thyroid hormone, yet iodine-rich foods (like edible seaweed such as kombu and wakame) are limited in the typical Western diet.

Other than consuming sea veggies like dulse or kelp, you can obtain iodine from foods like raw dairy, certain wild-caught fish, like tuna, and some fermented grains. You might also benefit from iodine supplements in low doses (usually best when being monitored for side effects).

Too much iodine (such as taking high doses of supplements) actually aggravates thyroid disorder symptoms, so follow dosage directions, and seek your doctor’s advice if you’re unsure.

Selenium helps balance levels of T4 hormones, so try to eat plenty foods high in selenium like Brazil nuts, spinach, yellowfin tuna, halibut, canned sardines, grass-fed beef, turkey and beef liver. Those with celiac disease or autoimmune disorders may be most deficient in selenium, so a supplement might be necessary in these cases.

Similarly, the mineral zinc and also B vitamins (especially vitamin B12) are needed for endocrine health and may be missing in your diet, especially if you rarely consume animal foods. The best sources are usually animal proteins (beef, turkey, eggs, etc.), plus plants like green peas, asparagus, chickpeas, cocoa, Brussels sprouts, sesame seeds, flaxseeds, nuts like pistachios and mushrooms.

2. Manage Stress and Rest Enough

When you’re under a good deal of either physical or emotional stress — such as feeling very anxious, overworked, fatigued, angry or going through a traumatic experience — your body may remain in a “fight-or-flight” mode where stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol are elevated.

This has negative effects like narrowing of blood vessels, increased muscular tension and blood pressure, and release of inflammatory proteins and antibodies that can suppress immune function and damage the adrenal/thyroid glands. This is one reason why people with thyroid problems often experience hormonal changes related to lowered libido, fertility problems, mood swings and so on.

To keep the endocrine glands from becoming overloaded, it’s important to take stress seriously and tackle the root causes of mental strain.

Employ multiple methods to handle stress like utilizing these natural stress relievers:

• getting seven to nine hours of sleep every night
• meditation
• exercising
• journaling
• joining a faith community or support group
• dealing with addictions
• scheduling time to do fun things with supportive people

3. Reduce Toxicity

Ingesting chemical toxins — from things like medications, hormonal birth control or other hormone replacements, and commercial beauty or cleaning products — can contribute to inflammatory reactions.

Use natural products at home on your body, decrease intake of any unnecessary medications, clean up your diet and quit smoking.

Hormone conditions can also possibly be caused from heavy metal toxicity like mercury. Heavy metals from amalgam fillings have an affinity for the thyroid and can disrupt your hormone balance and thyroid function.

4. Supplement When Necessary to Reduce Inflammation

In addition to eating foods that provide anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids — like wild-caught fish, flaxseeds and walnuts — it’s wise to consider a supplement as well.

Probiotics are also very beneficial for dealing with poor gut health and improving immunity. Both may help stabilize your mood and support adrenal/thyroid functions.

Probiotics, “good bacteria” that reside in your gut and communicate with your brain about the body’s overall state of health, can be found in foods like fermented dairy (yogurt or kefir), cultured veggies and also supplements.

Taking adaptogenic herbs can also help your body battle the negative effects of stress by supporting the adrenals and balancing hormones. These include ashwagandha, tulsi, ginseng, licorice root and rhodiola.

And then, last but not least are proteolytic enzymes. Enzymes reduce inflammation, especially if you have an autoimmune-related thyroid condition like Hashimoto’s disease.

Taking proteolytic enzymes like bromelain can benefit thyroid health by reducing inflammation of the thyroid.

When to See a Doctor

Some symptoms of thyroid problems, like fatigue, muscular pains, mood changes and depression, can also be caused by various other disorders, so it’s best to find a doctor who can help review your health information. Once you confirm you have a thyroid disorder, such as by having a blood test done, you can begin to explore your treatment options.

If you (and your doctor) determine a lack of iodine could be the entire cause or a contributing factor to your hypothyroidism, consider adding kelp to your diet.

It’s also critical to stop taking supplements and get a professional opinion if your symptoms get worse, because this may mean you’re treating one type of thyroid problem (hypothyroidism caused by low iodine and other nutrients, for example) when you really need to be treating another (hyperthyroidism).

Also consider visiting a health care provider if you have a family history of thyroid cancer and start to notice symptoms indicating a change in hormone production.

Conclusion

• The thyroid gland serves as the body’s “thermostat,” helping continuously regulate things like temperature, hunger levels, sex drive, mood and energy expenditure through the release of certain hormones.
• The two most common thyroid problems are hypothyroidism (often tied to Hashimoto’s, an autoimmune disease) and hyperthyroidism. Women are affected much more often, especially with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis
• How do you feel when you have thyroid problems? You might experience issues such as weight changes, anxiety, low energy, thinning hair, a slowed heart rate, trouble sleeping, and changes in libido, fertility and digestion.
• Natural remedies include improving your diet, reversing deficiencies, reducing stress, staying active and avoiding toxicity/chemical exposure.

The post Symptoms of Thyroid Problems & Remedies That Help appeared first on Dr. Axe.

In the U.S., diabetes — or diabetes mellitus (DM) — is full-blown epidemic, and that’s not hyperbole. According to the CDC, an estimated 29 million Americans have some form of diabetes, nearly 9 percent of the population, and even more alarming, the average American has a one in three chance of developing diabetes symptoms at some point in his or her lifetime.

The statistics are alarming, and they get even worse. Another 86 million people have prediabetes, with up to 30 percent of them developing type 2 diabetes within five years. And perhaps the most concerning, about a third of people who have diabetes — approximately 8 million adults — are believed to be undiagnosed and unaware.

That’s why it’s so vital to understand and recognize diabetes symptoms. And there’s actually good news. While there’s technically no known “cure” for diabetes — whether it’s type 1, type 2 or gestational diabetes — there’s plenty that can be done to help reverse diabetes naturally, control diabetes symptoms and prevent diabetes complications.

What Is Diabetes?

Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder that results from problems controlling the hormone insulin. Diabetes symptoms are a result of higher-than-normal levels of glucose (sugar) in your blood.

With type 1 diabetes, symptoms usually develop sooner and at a younger age than with type 2 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes also normally causes more severe symptoms. In fact, because type 2 diabetes signs and symptoms can be minimal in some cases, it sometimes can go diagnosed for a long period of time, causing the problem to worsen and long-term damage to develop.

While it’s still not entirely known how this happens, prolonged exposure to high blood sugar can damage nerve fibers that affect the blood vessels, heart, eyes, limbs and organs. In fact, hyperglycemia or high levels of blood sugar is a telltale sign of diabetes (both type 1 and type 2) as well as prediabetes. When left untreated, diabetes can cause complications like an increased chance of coronary heart disease, trouble getting pregnant or a risky pregnancy, vision loss, digestive issues, and more.

While at least certain diabetes mellitus symptoms usually become obvious after some time, some people with type 2 diabetes have symptoms so mild that they go totally unnoticed. This is especially true among women with gestational diabetes, the type that develops during pregnancy and usually only lasts for a short period of time. Women with gestational diabetes often have no noticeable symptoms at all, which is why it’s important for at-risk women to be tested and monitored in order to prevent complications and ensure a healthy, vibrant pregnancy.

Facts and Prevalence of Diabetes

• It’s estimated by the American Diabetes Association that 37.3 million Americans have one of three forms of diabetes (type 1, type 2 or gestational). This equals about 11.3 percent of the population or about one in every 11 people.
• Nearly 1.9 million Americans have type 1 diabetes, including about 244,000 children and adolescents.
• Within his or her lifetime, an American has a one in three chance of developing diabetes at some point.
• Another 96 million people have prediabetes (when blood glucose levels or A1C levels — from the a1c test — are higher than normal but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes). Without intervention, up to 30 percent of people with prediabetes develop type 2 diabetes within five years.
• Almost one third of people with diabetes (around 8.5 million, according to the American Diabetes Association) are believed to be undiagnosed and unaware.
• About 283,000 Americans under age 20 are estimated to have diagnosed diabetes, approximately 0.35% of that population.
• Diabetes was the seventh leading cause of death in the U.S. in 2019.
• Type 2 diabetes is the leading cause of diabetes-related complications, such as blindness, non-traumatic amputations and chronic kidney failure. In fact, diabetes is the leading cause of kidney disease, and it’s called diabetic kidney disease. It also raises the risk for heart disease, stroke and reproductive/fertility problems.
• Gestational diabetes (the type triggered by pregnancy and hormonal changes) affects about 4 percent of all pregnant women, especially Hispanic, African-American, Native American and Asian women, along with those who are over 25 years old, above their normal body weight before pregnancy and who have a family history of diabetes.
• People with diabetes have a 50 percent higher risk for death than people without diabetes within a given time frame.
• Medical costs for people with diabetes is on average twice as much as for those without.

Causes

People develop diabetes when they stop releasing or responding to normal amounts of insulin in response to consuming foods with carbohydrates, sugar and fats. In healthy people, the pancreas releases insulin to help with the use and storage of sugar (glucose) and fats, but people with diabetes either produce too little insulin or fail to respond appropriately to normal amounts of insulin — ultimately causing high blood sugar.

Insulin is a crucial hormone because it allows macronutrients to be properly broken down and transported to cells to be used for “fuel” (or energy). We need insulin to carry glucose through the bloodstream to cells in order to provide enough energy for muscle growth and development, brain activity, and so on. Insulin lowers the amount of sugar in your bloodstream, so as blood sugar levels drop, normally so does secretion of insulin from the pancreas.

Type 1 diabetes (also called “juvenile”/young diabetes) is different than type 2 diabetes because it occurs when insulin-producing cells of the pancreas get destroyed by the immune system, therefore no insulin is produced and blood sugar levels go unmanaged. Type 1 diabetes tends to develop at a younger age, usually before someone turns 20 years old.

In fact, a condition called latent autoimmune diabetes in adults (LADA) is a disorder where the progression of autoimmune β-cell failure is slow. LADA patients usually do not require insulin, at least during the first 6 months after a diabetes diagnosis.

With type 2 diabetes, insulin is produced but it’s either not enough or the person doesn’t respond to it appropriately (called “insulin resistance”). Type 2 diabetes usually occurs in people over age 40 (although it’s becoming more prevalent in children), especially those who are overweight.

The underlying causes of diabetes are multifaceted. The disease can develop due to a combination of factors, including a poor diet, high levels of inflammation, being overweight, a sedentary lifestyle, genetic susceptibility, high amounts of stress, and exposure to toxins, viruses and harmful chemicals.

One’s genetics contribute to the risk of developing type 1 diabetes, apparently specifically increased by certain variants of the HLA-DQA1, HLA-DQB1 and HLA-DRB1 genes.

The risk for type 2 diabetes goes up substantially when someone has the following characteristics:

• being over the age of 45
• being overweight or obese
• leading a sedentary lifestyle
• family history of diabetes (especially parent or sibling)
• family background that is African-American, Alaska Native, American Indian, Asian-American, Hispanic/Latino or Pacific Islander American
• history of heart disease, high blood pressure (140/90 or above), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol below 35 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) or triglyceride level above 250 mg/dL
• hormonal imbalances, including polycystic ovary syndrome

Common Symptoms

Common symptoms and signs of type 1 diabetes include:

• frequently feeling thirsty and having a dry mouth
• changes in your appetite, usually feeling very hungry, sometimes even if you’ve recently eaten (this can also occur with weakness and trouble concentrating)
• fatigue, feeling always tired despite sleeping and mood swings
• blurred, worsening vision
• slow healing of skin wounds, frequent infections, dryness, cuts and bruises
• unexplained weight changes, especially losing weight despite eating the same amount (this happens due to the body using alternative fuels stored in muscle and fat while releasing glucose in the urine)
• heavy breathing (called Kussmaul respirations)
• potentially a loss of consciousness
• nerve damage that causes tingling sensations or pain and numbness in the limbs, feet and hands (more common among people with type 2 diabetes)

Type 2 diabetes can cause all of the same symptoms described above, except they normally start later in life and are less severe. Many people develop type 2 diabetes symptoms in midlife or in older age and gradually develop symptoms in stages, especially if the condition goes untreated and worsens.

Other common type 2 diabetes symptoms include:

• chronically dry and itchy skin
• patches of dark, velvety skin in the folds and creases of the body (usually in the armpits and neck). This is called acanthosis nigricans.
• frequent infections (urinary, vaginal, yeast and of the groin)
• weight gain, even without a change in the diet
• pain, swelling, numbness or tingling of the hands and feet
• sexual dysfunction, including loss of libido, reproductive problems, vaginal dryness and erectile dysfunction

Symptoms Caused by Diabetes Complications

While diabetes itself often causes the symptoms described above, it’s also possible to experience many complications from diabetes that cause other, usually more drastic and harmful symptoms.

This is why early detection and treatment of diabetes is so important — it can greatly decrease the risk of developing complications like nerve damage, cardiovascular problems, skin infections, further weight gain/inflammation and more.

How likely are you to experience complications? Several factors influence whether you will develop worsened symptoms or complications due to diabetes, including:

• how well you control blood sugar levels, including potentially becoming hyperglycemic (having abnormally high blood sugar)
• your blood pressure levels
• how long you have had diabetes
• your family history/genes
• your lifestyle, including your diet, exercise routine, stress levels and sleep

The Diabetes Prevention Program conducted a randomized clinical trial over three years and found that diabetes incidence in high-risk adults was reduced by 58 percent after they followed intensive lifestyle intervention compared to 31 percent after taking medication (metformin).

Both were significantly more impactful at preventing complications compared with taking a placebo or not making lifestyle changes. And the positive changes lasted at least 10 years after the study was done.

1. Nerve Damage (Neuropathy)

A full half of all people with diabetes will develop some form of nerve damage (diabetic neuropathy), especially if it goes uncontrolled for many years and blood glucose levels remain abnormal.

There are several different types of nerve damage caused by diabetes that can cause various symptoms: peripheral neuropathy (which affects the feet and hands), autonomic neuropathy (which affects organs like the bladder, intestinal tract and genitals), and several other forms that cause damage to the spine, joints, cranial nerves, eyes and blood vessels.

Signs of nerve damage caused by diabetes can include:

• tingling in the feet, described as “pins and needles”
• burning, stabbing or shooting pains in my feet and hands
• sensitive skin that feels very hot or cold
• muscle aches, weakness and unsteadiness
• rapid heartbeats
• trouble sleeping
• changes in perspiration
• erectile dysfunction, vaginal dryness and loss of orgasms caused by nerve damage around the genitals
• carpal tunnel syndrome
• proneness to injuries or falling
• changes in the senses, including hearing, sight, taste and smell
• trouble with normal digestion, including frequent stomach bloating, constipation, diarrhea, heartburn, nausea, vomiting

2. Skin problems

One of the areas affected most and quickest by diabetes is the skin. Diabetes symptoms on the skin can be some of the most easy to recognize and earliest to show up. Some of the ways that diabetes affects the skin is by causing poor circulation, slow wound healing, lowered immune function, and itching or dryness.

This makes yeast infections, bacterial infections and other skin rashes more easy to develop and harder to get rid of.

Skin problems triggered by diabetes include:

• rashes/infections that are sometimes itchy, hot, swollen, red and painful
• bacterial infections (including vaginal yeast infections and Staphylococcus bacteria, also called staph)
• styes in the eyes and eyelids
• acne
• fungal infections (including candida symptoms that affect the digestive tract and fungus in skin folds, such as around the nails, under the breasts, between fingers or toes, in the mouth, and around the genitals)
• jock itch, athlete’s foot and ringworm
• dermopathy
• necrobiosis lipoidica diabeticorum
• blisters and scales, especially around infections
• folliculitis (infections of hair follicles)

3. Eye-Related Problems

Having diabetes is one of the biggest risk factors for developing eye problems and even vision loss/blindness. People with diabetes have a higher risk of blindness than people without diabetes, but most only develop minor problems that can be treated before they worsen.

Diabetes affects the outer, tough membrane part of the eyes; the front part, which is clear and curved; the cornea/retina, which focus light; and the macula. According to the National Diabetes Association, almost everyone with type 1 diabetes eventually develops nonproliferative retinopathy, and most people with type 2 diabetes also get it.

Symptoms of diabetes related to vision/eye health can include:

• Diabetic retinopathy (a term for all disorders of the retina caused by diabetes, including nonproliferative and proliferative retinopathy)
• nerve damage to the eyes
• cataracts
• glaucoma
• macular degeneration
• seeing spots, vision loss and even blindness

Natural Ways to Help Control Diabetes Symptoms

Diabetes is a serious condition that comes with many risks and symptoms, but the good news is it can be managed with correct treatment and lifestyle changes. A high percentage of people with type 2 diabetes are able to reverse and manage their diabetes symptoms completely naturally by improving their diets, levels of physical activity, sleep and stress levels. And although type 1 diabetes is harder to treat and manage, complications can also be reduced by taking the same steps.

With diabetes care, studies have found that interventions, such as nurse-led talks, having a home aid, diabetes education, pharmacy-led interventions, and education on dosing and frequency of medications, can help improve quality of life in people with diabetes.

So while most people with diabetes use medicine as part of their diabetes care, here are some invaluable natural ways to treat diabetes.

1. Keep Up with Regular Checkups

Many people with complications of diabetes won’t have noticeable symptoms (for example, nonproliferative retinopathy, which can cause vision loss or gestational diabetes during pregnancy). This makes it really important that you get checked out by your doctor regularly to monitor your blood sugar levels, progression, eyes, skin, blood pressure levels, weight and heart.

To make sure you don’t put yourself at a higher risk for heart problems, work with your doctor to make sure you maintain near normal blood pressure, blood cholesterol and triglyceride (lipid) levels.

Ideally, your blood pressure shouldn’t go over 130/80. You should also try to maintain a healthy weight and reduce inflammation in general. The best way to do this is to eat an unprocessed, healthy diet as well as exercise and sleep well.

2. Eat a Balanced Diet and Exercise

As part of a healthy diabetes diet plan, you can help keep your blood sugar in the normal range by eating unprocessed, whole foods and avoiding things like added sugars, trans fats, processed grains and starches, and conventional dairy products.

Physical inactivity and obesity are strongly associated with the development of type 2 diabetes, which is why exercise is important to control symptoms and lower the risk for complications, such as heart disease. The National Institute of Health states that people can sharply lower their risk for diabetes by losing weight through regular physical activity and a diet low in sugar, refined fats and excess calories from processed foods.

3. Control Blood Sugar to Help Stop Nerve Damage

The best way to help prevent or delay nerve damage is to closely regulate your blood sugar levels. If you suffer from digestive issues due to nerve damage affects your digestive organs, you can benefit from taking digestive enzymes, probiotics and supplements like magnesium that can help relax muscles, improve gut health and control symptoms.

Other problems like hormonal imbalances, sexual dysfunctions and trouble sleeping also will be greatly reduced when you improve your diet, nutrient intake, stress levels and condition overall.

4. Help Protect and Treat the Skin

People with diabetes tend to have more bacterial, fungal and yeast infections than healthy people do. If you have diabetes, you can help prevent skin problems by managing your blood sugar levels, practicing good hygiene and treating skin naturally.

Doctors also recommend you limit how often you bathe when your skin is dry, use natural and mild products to clean your skin (instead of many harsh, chemical products sold in most stores), moisturize daily with something mild like coconut oil for skin, and avoid burning your skin in the sun.

5. Safeguard the Eyes

People who keep their blood sugar levels closer to normal are less likely to have vision-related problems or at least more likely to experience milder symptoms. Early detection and appropriate follow-up care can save your vision.

To help lower the risk for eye-related problems like mild cataracts or glaucoma, you should have your eyes checked at least one to two times yearly. Staying physically active and maintaining a healthy diet can prevent or delay vision loss by controlling blood sugar, plus you should also wear sunglasses when in the sun. If your eyes become more damaged over time, your doctor might also recommend you receive a lens transplant to preserve vision.

6. Consider a Form of Fasting

In mice, researchers have been able to reverse some symptoms of diabetes and restore pancreas functions by putting them on a version of the fasting-mimicking diet. This is a diet that involves severe caloric restriction for five days out of the month.

It follows the same principle as fasting by temporarily depriving the body of food to take advantage of health benefits like increased fat burning and reduced inflammation. However, because the study only involved mice as well as human cells in lab conditions, the researchers do not recommend trying this at home to treat diabetes.

A 2018 report concluded medically supervised fasting may eliminate the need for insulin in some patients with type 2 diabetes. Participants fasted for 24 hours three days a week for several months. On fasting days, they ate dinner. On non-fasting days, they ate lunch and dinner. Low-carb meals were advised throughout.

The study was small, with just three participants, but it found all three participants were able to discontinue insulin within five to 18 days. Two ended up stopping all diabetes medications. While these results are promising, any changes in nutrition should be medically-supervised — and not attempted alone.

A 2022 published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism also considered how intermittent fasting can impact type 2 diabetics. A three-month intermittent fasting diet was used for 36 people with diabetes; nearly 90 percent of participants, including those who took blood sugar-lowering agents and insulin, reduced their diabetes medication intake after intermittent fasting.

Final Thoughts

• With type 1 diabetes, symptoms usually develop sooner and at a younger age than with type 2 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes also normally causes more severe symptoms. In fact, because type 2 diabetes signs and symptoms can be minimal in some cases, it sometimes can go diagnosed for a long period of time, causing the problem to worsen and long-term damage to develop.
• While diabetes itself often causes the symptoms described above, it’s also possible to experience many complications from diabetes that cause other, usually more drastic and harmful symptoms. This is why early detection and treatment of diabetes is so important — it can greatly decrease the risk of developing complications like nerve damage, cardiovascular problems, skin infections, further weight gain/inflammation and more.
• One of the areas affected most and quickest by diabetes is the skin. Diabetes symptoms on the skin can be some of the most easy to recognize and earliest to show up. Some of the ways that diabetes affects the skin is by causing poor circulation, slow wound healing, lowered immune function, and itching or dryness.
• Having diabetes is one of the biggest risk factors for developing eye problems and even vision loss/blindness. People with diabetes have a higher risk of blindness than people without diabetes, but most only develop minor problems that can be treated before they worsen.
• You can treat diabetes symptoms naturally by keeping up with regular checkups, eating a balanced diet and exercising, controlling blood sugar to help stop nerve damage, protecting and treating the skin, and safeguarding the eyes.

The post Diabetes Symptoms to Be Aware Of (and 6 Natural Ways to Control) appeared first on Dr. Axe.

This year has been particularly tough on allergy sufferers. Not only are some of us still dealing with unusually high pollen counts, but the smoky air from all the wildfires may be adding to your misery. There’s a lot of sneezing going on, as well as red, itchy eyes and scratchy throats.

You may not realize that some plants and trees don’t start producing pollen until later in the year. Spring allergy season can extend well into summer. Changing what you eat, the smart use of some time-tested plant-based ingredients, and taking other natural precautions, may help you better manage those annoying allergy symptoms.

Persistent Allergy Symptoms

Pollen can cause immune cells, called mast cells, to release histamine. Histamine is a chemical whose job is to get rid of bothersome allergens. But in doing so, they often cause their own havoc because they are associated with common allergy symptoms. That’s why many people reach for antihistamines this time of year.

Dust and pet dander can also trigger histamine release. If you have pets, your symptoms may last all year long!

Natural Remedies for Managing Allergy Symptoms

If you prefer a natural approach to managing seasonal allergy symptoms, it’s often helpful to use a combination of strategies:

1. These include limiting your exposure. If it’s smoky outside, keep your windows and doors closed as much as possible.
2. Once you get inside the house, one of the first things you may want to do is shower to wash away microscopic pollen or particles from your hair and skin.
3. Use a neti pot to irrigate your sinuses and get rid of irritants stuck within the nasal cavity.
4. Change your home’s air filters every three months, and opt for HEPA when possible.
5. Vacuum carpets and rugs frequently.

Plant-Based Solutions

It may seem somewhat counterintuitive because seasonal allergies are created by plants, but certain plants can also be natural remedies and amplify the effectiveness of a healthy lifestyle.

One example relates to itchy eyes. Consider a powerful plant-based homeopathic solution made with Eyebright flower and Sabadilla Lily instead of the stinging medications or harsh chemicals that take control over your life because of their rebound effect.

Homeopathic preparations that contain natural active ingredients — no dyes, chemical vasoconstrictors, decongestants or steroids, such as Similasan Allergy Eye Relief — can be used regularly without that annoying rebound effect. Moreover, they help to activate your body’s own defense mechanisms to address the underlying problem.

How to Eat

Another way to start regaining control over your life is by minimizing the use of vegetable oils, sugar and micronutrient-deficient refined carbohydrates in your diet. These can contribute to the body’s inflammatory response. When inflammation is higher, your allergy symptoms are likely to be worse.

Other ways to use food to help calm your seasonal symptoms include:

1. Eat like our ancestors did

Allergies are a modern-day phenomenon. To eat like our ancestors, dial back your intake of processed foods in favor of brightly colored fruits and vegetables, as well as healthy nuts and seeds, organic grass-fed beef and organic chicken. Foods high in plant sterols, flavonols and other healthy plant-based compounds can be an allergy sufferer’s best allies.

There’s a ton of research showing that the quercetin found in such common foods such as apples and onions helps stabilize the mast cells before they start releasing histamines. You can even supplement with quercetin (look for the IsoQ form on the label for the highest density and bioavailability).

2. Eat more purple foods

Eating the entire rainbow of colors is of course solid advice. It turns out that purple is probably the most important to keep down inflammation. Include blueberries, red cabbage and plums on your grocery list.

3. Avoid foods containing high levels of histamines

Some people are surprised to learn that many otherwise good, healthy foods may contribute to seasonal allergies. These foods are known as histamine upregulators.

Note: This is entirely different from a full-blown peanut or shellfish allergy that may send someone to the emergency room.

Examples of histamine upregulators include:

• Fermented and pickled foods
• Aged cheeses
• Eggplant
• Spinach
• Avocado
• Tomatoes
• Olives
• Beans
• Citrus fruits
• Dried fruits
• Processed meats
• Alcohol
• Foods with red or yellow dyes

4. Skip foods that may cause allergy cross reactivity

When you’re an allergy sufferer, you have to know about crossovers. Some foods contain proteins similar to the proteins found in pollen. Eating these foods may worsen your seasonal allergy symptoms. It’s important to note that some are also listed in the Paleo ‘eat like your ancestors’ diet.

For example, if you are allergic to tree pollen (especially Birch), then you likely have a cross reactivity to apples, plums, kiwis, carrots, celery, potatoes, hazelnuts, almonds, sunflower seeds, and even herbs and spices such as oregano, basil and dill. These need to be avoided.

If your allergy stems from grass pollen you need to avoid citrus fruit including oranges, melons, kiwi, tomatoes and peanuts, among others. Those who suffer in the fall from ragweed allergy (mainly in the northeast of the continent) can get itchy mouths and an upset GI from bananas, melons, zucchini and cucumbers.

5. Prepare your meals a little differently

After reviewing the food lists above, it may seem like there’s not much left to eat! Here’s the good news. You may still be able to eat these otherwise healthy foods if you stew (yes, stovetop or microwave) the vegetables and prepare the fruits in something like a warm compote.

These cooking methods help to break down the proteins so they are less likely to cause an allergic response. But this doesn’t work for all crossover foods.

6. Swallow some bugs

It may be beneficial to add probiotics to your daily routine. Some strains are associated with supporting seasonal allergy relief. They include: Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Bifidobacterium infantis and Bifidobacterium longum.

It’s a beautiful time of year to get outside and enjoy nature. These strategies may help your seasonal allergy symptoms much easier to tolerate.

Bryce Wylde BSc (hons), DHMHS is a leading health expert in functional medicine specializing in clinical nutrition and supplementation. Practicing at VennMed in Toronto, he blends the latest in science and technology with traditional and ancient remedies. Wylde is also co-founder of The DNA Company, and founder of Mymmunity — a startup dedicated to optimizing immune health through personalized nutrition. Wylde is the author of four national best seller books, previous host of CTV’s Wylde on Health, and is a frequent guest health expert on U.S. and Canadian TV.

The post Survival Tactics for 2023’s Double Whammy: Extended Allergy Season & Smoke-Filled Air appeared first on Dr. Axe.

Adrenal insufficiency is a condition that occurs when your adrenal glands become impaired and therefore don’t produce high enough levels of several important hormones. In people with adrenal insufficiency, levels of the hormones cortisol and aldosterone (a type of mineralocorticoid) are both usually lower than in healthy people.

The adrenal glands are truly amazing in that they pump out dozens of different life-dependent hormones daily. Some are the so-called “stress hormones'” like cortisol that have many crucial roles within the body:

• regulating electrolyte balance
• managing fluid retention and body weight
• helping you sleep and concentrate
• giving you a sex drive
• and much more

This is why adrenal fatigue and hormonal imbalances are usually noticeable and impact all areas of your life.

There are two main classifications of adrenal disorders. One type, referred to as Addison’s disease, is caused by illnesses of the adrenal glands themselves, including adrenal cancer, infections or bleeding (called “primary adrenal insufficiency”).

This type is less common and usually causes physical damage to the adrenal glands that can be detected. Primary adrenal insufficiency is diagnosed when about 90 percent of the adrenal cortex has been destroyed.

The second group of adrenal disorders is much more common and develops despite no physical illnesses in the adrenal glands, but rather stress-related or autoimmune reactions taking place. Called “secondary adrenal insufficiency,” this still results in serious hormonal imbalances and symptoms.

Adrenal Insufficiency Symptoms

How do you know if you’re experiencing adrenal insufficiency versus just temporarily feeling more stressed than usual? Some of the common signs and symptoms of adrenal insufficiency include:

• chronic fatigue (lasting more than a couple weeks)
• muscle weakness
• changes in appetite (especially a loss of appetite)
• weight loss
• digestive issues (including abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea)
• low blood pressure
• dizziness or fainting
• mood changes, irritability and depression
• headaches
• cravings for salty foods
• low blood sugar (hypoglycemia)
• trouble sleeping, which leads to always feeling tired
• sweating and night-sweating
• missed menstrual or irregular periods in women
• low libido

These symptoms and feelings can come on gradually and might be triggered by a very stressful life event. Many people describe the feeling of adrenal insufficiency as being “wired but tired” — so you feel your heart beating, body producing sweat and mind racing, yet you’re also fatigued, stressed and irritable at the same time.

Most of these symptoms are caused by very low levels of cortisol, a hallmark of adrenal insufficiency.

In rare circumstances, a more serious form of cute adrenal insufficiency can develop called Adrenal Crisis (or Addison Disease Crisis). Sometimes people experience an “adrenal crisis” following some type of traumatic life experience, and this makes the symptoms worse enough that they finally seek medical treatment. This condition is life-threatening and must be treated immediately by professionals, so it’s important to get to the emergency room right away if symptoms show up.

Symptoms can come on gradually or abruptly, and sometimes they are triggered by a very stressful event or a change in adrenal medication. The “crisis” takes place when severe adrenal insufficiency is caused by insufficient levels of cortisol, possibly due to not initially treating a case of milder adrenal insufficiency.

According to the National Institutes of Health, symptoms of adrenal crisis include:

• Abdominal pain
• Confusion or coma
• Dehydration
• Dizziness or light-headedness
• Fatigue
• Flank pain
• Headache
• High fever
• Loss of appetite
• Loss of consciousness
• Low blood pressure
• Nausea
• Profound weakness
• Rapid heart rate
• Rapid respiratory rate (see tachypnea)
• Slow, sluggish movement
• Unusual and excessive sweating on face or palms
• Vomiting

Adrenal crisis intervention usually involves high-dose steroid injections, fluids and electrolytes to help restore function of the adrenal and pituitary glands. If left untreated, people can suffer serious symptoms and even die suddenly, so this is a situation to take very seriously.

Causes

The underlying cause of secondary adrenal gland failure is usually the body experiencing autoimmune reactions. This essentially means that your immune system starts working on overdrive, attacking its own healthy tissue because it mistakenly suspects that the body is being attacked by a “foreign invader” or threat.

While medications, genetic factors, surgery, illnesses and serious infections can also cause adrenal problems, autoimmune reactions are the No. 1 reason by far for secondary adrenal insufficiency.

When someone experiences an autoimmune disease, for reasons that still aren’t totally understood, the adrenal cortex is sometimes viewed as potentially harmful — so an abundance of white blood cells and proteins from the immune system begin to attack and destroy it.

Under constant attack, the adrenal glands lose the ability to adequately respond to a stimulating hormone called adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) by the pituitary gland. The intricate system in the body called the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis no longer functions to send and receive signals that govern hormone production.

Once the adrenals become unresponsive to ACTH and no longer pump out all the necessary hormones we need to function well and feel good, symptoms start to kick in, sometimes slowly, but other times quickly and aggressively.

What’s the cause of autoimmune reactions? Usually it’s a combination of different factors that include:

• High levels of stress or a very stressful experience (like death in the family or major life change)
• Exposure to environmental toxins and pollution
• Lack of sleep and constantly pushing yourself despite feeling exhausted
• Poor diet (including one that triggers allergies)
• Over-exercising/overtraining or a lack of exercise

Another form of adrenal insufficiency is congenital adrenal hyperplasia, which is genetic and a condition that a baby is born with. This type is rare, affecting just one in every 10,000–18,000 babies. In many states newborns are tested for this condition, but unfortunately there is no known cure and treatment plan in place as of this time.

This type of adrenal insufficiency is caused by a lack of certain enzymes that the adrenal gland needs to make hormones. It can cause the body to produce more androgen, which is a type of male sex hormone, so symptoms can include changes in menstrual cycles, male pattern hair growth/balding, a deepening voice, on top of symptoms normally seen in adrenal insufficiency.

Treatment involves brining hormones levels back to normal as much as possible, usually by hydrocortisone.

How It Develops

There are two main parts of the adrenal glands that produce hormones: the interior (medulla), which secretes adrenaline (the “fight or flight” hormone) and other similar hormones, and the outer layer (cortex), which secretes corticosteroids. The primary types of corticosteroids produced by the cortex include glucocorticoids (including cortisol), mineralocorticoids and androgens (male sex hormones).

Of all of these various hormones, the one we usually hear most about is cortisol. That’s because cortisol controls a wide range of emotions, reactions and functions within the body:

• activating the body’s stress responses
• raising blood sugar
• helping convert nutrients from food into usable energy
• triggering the immune system
• producing inflammatory responses
• and more

In fact, researchers believe that cortisol likely has hundreds of different functions in the body and affects almost every organ and system in one way or another.

Aside from cortisol, other adrenal hormones like mineralocorticoids help maintain nutrient levels in the body, including sodium and potassium, which are needed to balance one another out and keep blood pressure normal.

Androgens are another type, classified as sex hormones that both women and men have. Androgens (including testosterone) are often called “male sex hormones” because they’re involved in masculine bodily functions, like building muscle mass, controlling hair growth and maintaining a libido.

In a healthy person, here’s a quick overview of how the adrenal glands should work:

A part of the brain called the hypothalamus (considered the “control center” for most hormones) sends the pituitary gland “releasing hormones” in order control sex hormone production, thyroid and adrenal functions. The pituitary gland then has the job of communicating with the adrenal glands, sending signals of ACTH that is meant to stimulate adrenal hormone production.

Usually, the adrenals do their job, making proper levels of cortisol and other hormones, and the pituitary gland and hypothalamus get the message — but in people with adrenal insufficiency, all of the communication lines are thrown off.

Diagnosis

To test for adrenal insufficiency, your doctor will likely talk to you about your stress levels, symptoms and history. Hormonal blood and urine tests to check for levels of ACTH, cortisol and other factors are also typical.

The ACTH stimulation test is the most commonly used and involves getting an injection of synthetic ACTH along with testing reactions in the blood and urine for changes in cortisol levels. Even with ACTH administered, people with adrenal insufficiency have little or no increase in cortisol.

A CRH stimulation test can also help determine the cause of adrenal insufficiency and involves blood being taken before and 30, 60, 90 and 120 minutes after an ACTH injection. Blood tests (such as an insulin-induced hypoglycemia test) can also reveal low blood sodium, low blood glucose and high blood potassium, which are sometimes observed in people with adrenal problems.

Finally, a blood test can detect antibodies, proteins made by the immune system, that are associated with autoimmune diseases.

Addison’s disease (also called primary or chronic adrenal insufficiency or hypocortisolism) is one type of autoimmune endocrine disorder that affects about one in 100,000 people. Addison’s disease symptoms are usually even more prominent and include weight loss, muscle weakness, fatigue, low blood pressure and changes in skin color.

It’s believed that Addison’s disease is a result of similar adrenal impairments, especially low levels of cortisol. Many reported cases of Addison’s disease are believed to be caused by autoimmune disorders in which the immune system makes high levels of antibodies to destroy the adrenal glands.

Natural Ways to Manage

1. Adjust Your Diet

One of the most important steps you can take to naturally support adrenal and hormonal balance is taking out foods that stress your body and adding in foods that replenish your adrenal energy. Removing common allergens or sensitivities, toxins, and chemicals can help your body heal itself.

These include:

• too much alcohol or caffeine, which interfere with your sleep cycle and can result in anxiety or depression — in addition to caffeine overdose
• most sources of sugar and sweeteners (including high-fructose corn syrup, packaged sweet products and refined grains that trigger a sugar addiction), which are inflammatory and irritating to the gut
• as many packaged and processed foods as possible, since these are filled with many types of artificial ingredients, preservatives, sugars and sodium
• hydrogenated and refined vegetable oils (soybean, canola, safflower, sunflower and corn), which are highly inflammatory

Replace these with as many whole, unrefined foods as possible. Some of the best choices included in a healing diet are:

• natural, healthy fats (coconuts and coconut oil, butter, avocado, nuts, seeds, and olive oil, for example)
• plenty of vegetables (especially all leafy greens and cruciferous veggies, like cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, etc.)
• wild-caught fish (such as salmon, mackerel or sardines that provide anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids)
• high-quality animal products that are grass-fed, pasture-raised and organic (eggs, beef, chicken and turkey, for example)
• sea vegetables, like kelp and seaweed (high in iodine to support thyroid health)
• Celtic or Himalayan sea salt
• high-fiber foods, like berries, chia seeds, flaxseeds and starchy veggies
• probiotic foods, like kombucha, sauerkraut, yogurt and kefir

2. Reduce Stress

Changing your environment to help lower stress is crucial for adrenal health. Effective stress reduction comes in many forms and depends on the person.

Some great ways to bust stress include:

• practicing hobbies or something fun every day
• meditation and healing prayer
• relaxing breathing techniques
• spending time outside, in the sunlight and in nature
• maintaining a consistent and reasonable work schedule
• eating on a regular schedule and avoiding too many stimulants, like alcohol, sugar and caffeine
• exercising in a moderate, enjoyable way without pushing yourself past your limits
• getting professional help when needed to deal with major life events or traumas

3. Make Getting Good Sleep a Priority

Your adrenal glands need plenty of quality rest to work properly, since a lack of sleep means they need to crank out extra stress hormones like cortisol to keep you up and battle low energy levels. Rest when you feel tired, and get as much quality, uninterrupted sleep as you can, aiming for seven to nine hours a night depending on your specific needs.

Try to stick to a regular schedule since your body loves a routine, and avoid staying up late and flip-flopping your wakeup times as much as you can.

4. Consider Changing Your Exercise Routine

Exercise helps bust stress, but it’s also possible for there to be “too much of a good thing.” Over-exercising and not recovering properly with rest days taxes your adrenals and messes with hormone production.

Move your body in ways that you enjoy, but also give yourself rest when needed, allow for adequate muscle recovery, and listen to your body for signs of fatigue or injury. Not doing any exercise at all can leave you stagnant, moody and tired, but pushing yourself too hard is also a major stressor and ultimately winds up backfiring.

5. Try Beneficial Supplements

Supplements that support adrenal functioning include:

• Ashwagandha and holy basil (“adaptogen herbs” that help the body deal with stress)
• Omega-3 fish oil (EPA/DHA)
• Licorice root
• Magnesium (an anti-stressor)
• B vitamin complex, including vitamin B5 and vitamin B12
• Vitamin C (an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory)
• Vitamin D3 and zinc (support hormone functioning)

How Long Should It Take to See Improvements?

It can take some time to naturally improve your adrenal glands and start to feel more energetic, clear-headed, and in control of your hormones, weight and appetite. Everyone is different and reacts to lifestyle changes in unique ways.

Some people will need to take medications to ultimately treat their problems, while others can feel drastically better by simply paying attention to their diets, stress levels and lifestyles. Either way, following the recommendations for natural remedies listed above is definitely still the way to speed up treatment time and prevent the problem from worsening.

While there isn’t necessarily one tried-and-true way to recover from adrenal problems, here’s what you can expect in terms of timing:

• 6–9 months for minor adrenal issues
• 12–18 months for moderate adrenal insufficiency
• Up to 24 months for severe adrenal insufficiency

If you visit a doctor about adrenal insufficiency (including an endocrinologist who specializes in hormonal diseases), she or he might recommend you take medications to help speed up the healing process and reverse cortisol deficiency symptoms. Taking glucocorticoid medications like prednisone or hydrocortisone are the most common treatments, and the dosage of these depends on your level of stress, any present infections, medical history and injuries. The primary reason for taking hormonal replacement medications is to bring your cortisol and other hormone levels up to normal as quickly as possible.

Another important aspect to consider is how your current medications might be affecting your adrenals in a negative way. It’s possible that adrenal insufficiency can develop when a person taking glucocorticoid hormones (like prednisone) for a long time, which act similarly to cortisol, suddenly stops taking those medications.

If you’re on any prescriptions for treating inflammatory illnesses like rheumatoid arthritis, asthma or ulcerative colitis, talk to your doctor about how to adjust your dosage appropriately before changing them yourself since these can lower ACTH and cortisol.

The post Natural Ways to Help Deal With Adrenal Insufficiency appeared first on Dr. Axe.

Here, I’m going to talk about natural remedies for low stomach acid.

The truth is, your stomach must be highly acidic to break down the food you’re consuming and for proper absorption. If you have acid reflux symptoms of any type — GERD, heartburn, etc. — or if you have a condition like leaky gut syndrome or inflammatory bowel disease, even most skin issues today, or a lack of certain nutrients, those are all major warning signs that you have low stomach acid.

To combat this issue, you actually want to naturally balance the pH level of your stomach. I’m going to talk about the top five steps you can follow and natural remedies you can take to improve your stomach acid and digestive function.

First, let’s discuss are some causes, symptoms, and risk factors associated with low stomach acid.

Causes and Risk Factors

Low stomach acid, also known as hypochlorhydria, is a condition characterized by a decrease in the production of hydrochloric acid in the stomach.

Common causes include:

1. Aging: As we age, the production of stomach acid naturally declines.
2. Chronic stress: High levels of stress can affect the functioning of the digestive system, leading to reduced stomach acid production.
3. Helicobacter pylori infection: This bacterial infection can cause inflammation and damage to the stomach lining, which may reduce acid production.
4. Pernicious anemia: An autoimmune condition where the body is unable to absorb vitamin B12, leading to low stomach acid.
5. Gastric surgery: Surgical procedures that involve the removal or alteration of the stomach can affect acid production.
6. Medications: Certain medications, such as proton pump inhibitors and histamine-2 (H2) blockers, can lower stomach acid levels.

Other causes include:

• chronic illness
• eating too fast
• food sensitivities or allergies
• high sugar intake
• zinc deficiency

Symptoms

• Indigestion: This includes symptoms like bloating, belching, flatulence and a feeling of fullness after meals.
• Acid reflux: Surprisingly, low stomach acid can cause symptoms similar to those of high stomach acid, including heartburn, regurgitation and chest pain.
• Nutrient deficiencies: Inadequate stomach acid can impair the absorption of nutrients like iron, calcium, magnesium, and vitamin B12, leading to deficiencies.
• Food sensitivities: Low stomach acid can interfere with the breakdown of proteins, triggering immune reactions and food sensitivities.
• Bacterial overgrowth: Insufficient stomach acid can allow the overgrowth of bacteria in the stomach and small intestine, leading to conditions like small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO).

Other low stomach acid symptoms include:

• nausea
• constipation
• diarrhea
• infection
• undigested food in stool
• hair loss
• dry skin
• bad breath
• weak hair and nails

How to Treat Low Stomach Acid

1. Ingest Apple Cider Vinegar

The No. 1 thing you can do to start to balance this pH in your stomach is use apple cider vinegar right before your meals. I would take one tablespoon and just a very small amount of water. Apple cider vinegar is a great natural remedy because apple cider vinegar has a very low pH in balance with your stomach.

By the way, oftentimes I’ll add digestive bitters to my apple cider vinegar before a meal. You can get a little tincture of digestive bitters. In fact, bitters have been consumed for thousands of years right after meals or before meals to improve digestion.

2. Take Digestive Enzymes

The No. 2 step you want to start taking to improve your stomach acid are digestive enzymes. I would get a good digestive enzyme blend and take one to two caps right before your meal. You could even take that with the apple cider vinegar.

Digestive enzymes will help you fully break down those nutrients you ingest. If your stomach acid is too high, that will actually not allow you to break down the food you’re eating, so you must get plenty of enzymes.

That’s not something you should have to take the rest of your life, but it is something you should take for a time until your stomach acid balances out.

3. Add HCL with Pepsin to Your Diet

The No. 3 thing you may consider if you have low stomach acid is HCL with pepsin — hydrochloric acid with pepsin.

Now, hydrochloric acid is naturally created in your stomach. That is really the main thing that creates that very acidic environment to break down food.

But if you’re deficient in hydrochloric acid, and stomach acid itself, that’s not going to allow you to fully digest and break down things like protein, which, over time, can also cause a condition called leaky gut.

So you want to do everything you can to heal and repair your gut. HCL with pepsin is a great thing you can start taking on a regular basis to really help treat your GI tract, help fight things like acid reflux and improve low stomach acid. It’s also one of the best leaky gut supplements around.

Now, the trick with HCL is you typically want to take that while you’re under the care of a physician or start off with one capsule. By the way, you only take HCL with pepsin if you’re taking protein during a meal. If you’re not taking protein in a meal, you don’t want to use it.

If you’re getting quite a bit of protein foods in a meal — like chicken or beef — you want to take HCL.

When you get warmness in your stomach, that means you’re taking enough. You need to back it down.

Some people need one capsule; other people may need to take up to nine capsules of HCL with pepsin.

4. Eat Manuka Honey

The fourth thing you can do to improve low stomach acid is use Manuka honey. Manuka honey is a specific type of honey out of New Zealand, and this honey has antimicrobial properties.

People can develop things like SIBO symptoms — that’s small intestinal bacterial overgrowth — and the wrong type of bacteria in the stomach when they have low stomach acid. Manuka honey can help naturally treat conditions like SIBO.

Just take a teaspoon a day or a teaspoon twice a day. It can actually help in treating stomach ulcer symptoms, and it’s also great for low stomach acid.

5. Chew Your Food Thoroughly and Eat Smaller Meals

My last step here is a lifestyle tip. Those four natural remedies will help, but there are a few other things you want to do to help with your low stomach acid.

One of those things is to make sure you chew your food. So often we’re in a race through life, and we don’t take time to chew our food.

Chew 30 times, and then swallow — that’s my challenge to you.

By the way, if you’ve ever watched little kids, they chew about 30 times. It’s natural.

So make sure your food is totally chewed before you swallow. That can help your low stomach acid.

Also, eat smaller meals. If you’re eating very, very large meals, you’re not going to allow your body to heal. That’s an issue.

In addition, try fasting or intermittent fasting. The many health benefits of fasting along with intermittent fasting benefits add to your overall gut health and can reverse low stomach acid — whether it’s a bone broth fast, a vegetable juice fast or intermittent fasting.

Part of your body healing is letting it recover. If you’re continually eating food from morning to sundown every day, your body doesn’t have time to recover and heal. Some fasting is another great way to help balance out stomach acid.

So remember, you need stomach acid. It’s good for you, and you want balanced levels. If you follow these home remedies to heal low stomach acid, I know you’re going to see results fast.

The post 5 Steps to Naturally Treat Low Stomach Acid appeared first on Dr. Axe.

It’s a very common misconception that cholesterol is generally bad and high levels are always cause for serious concern. However, there is a type of cholesterol that’s not only good at higher levels, but also decreases your risk of major health issues like heart disease. It’s called HDL cholesterol, and it’s our “good” cholesterol.

So if there is a cholesterol that is actually good for us, how can we naturally increase its levels? The short answer is lifestyle. Your lifestyle actually has the single greatest impact on your HDL cholesterol level. So making changes to daily and completely controllable habits like diet and exercise can equate to healthier HDL and overall normal cholesterol levels, which can lower your risk for life-threatening health issues.

Let’s get started on improving those HDL cholesterol numbers because positive change can literally start today!

What Is HDL Cholesterol?

Total cholesterol is a measure of the total amount of cholesterol in your blood, which includes HDL, LDL and triglycerides. However, total cholesterol is mainly made up of LDL or “bad” cholesterol. Having high levels of low-density lipoprotein or LDL can lead to plaque buildup in your arteries, increasing your likelihood for heart disease and stroke.

LDL also raises your risk for a condition called peripheral artery disease, which can develop when plaque buildup narrows an artery supplying blood to the legs. The good news is that the higher your HDL level, the lower your body’s LDL level or “bad” cholesterol.

What is HDL? HDL stands for high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, which is commonly known as “good” cholesterol. High-density lipoproteins typically act as cholesterol scavengers by picking up excess cholesterol in your bloodstream and taking it back to your liver, where it’s properly broken down.

HDL is actually more complex than we once thought. Rather than being a single kind of particle, HDL is is now considered a family of different particles. All HDL contains lipids (fats), cholesterol and proteins (called apolipoproteins), but some types of HDL are spherical while others are shaped like a doughnut. Some HDL types remove bad cholesterol from the blood while other types are indifferent to cholesterol. Or even worse, some HDL transfers cholesterol the wrong way (into LDL and cells) or protects LDL in a way that makes it more harmful to the arteries.

HDL’s unpredictable actions are one of the reasons why lowering LDL cholesterol often gets more focus as primary defense against heart disease and stroke. However, the medical world, both conventional and holistic, still agrees that raising low HDL is a very smart health move because low HDL cholesterol can be more dangerous than high LDL cholesterol.

According to the Mayo Clinic, ideal HDL levels for both men and women are 60 milligrams of cholesterol per deciliter of blood. If a man’s HDL level is below 40 milligrams of cholesterol per deciliter of blood or a woman’s HDL level is below 50 milligrams of cholesterol per deciliter of blood, then disease risk, specifically heart disease, is considered to be heightened. Even if your HDL level is above the at-risk number (but below the desirable number), you still want to work on increasing your HDL level so you can decrease your heart disease risk.

As you already know, HDL is considered the good guy in the cholesterol game, and it can help your liver to get rid of the unhelpful cholesterol in your body. This is a very important task that HDL is able to accomplish since cholesterol can’t simply dissolve into the blood.

The liver has the job of processing cholesterol among its other important jobs. HDL is the liver’s helper and a very good one at that. Having high levels of HDL reduces your risk for both heart disease and stroke, which is why you want to get your cholesterol under control.

HDL vs. LDL Cholesterol

As we know, HDL cholesterol is the “good” cholesterol while LDL is the “bad” type. Here’s how the two stack up:

HDL

• high-density lipoprotein
• “good” cholesterol
• levels increase with a healthy diet
• smoking lowers HDL levels
• helps decrease LDL levels and remove cholesterol from your arteries
• higher levels mean a decreased risk for serious heart problems and stroke

LDL

• low-density liproprotein
• “bad” cholesterol
• levels increase with an unhealthy diet
• smoking raises LDL levels
• is the main source of cholesterol buildup and blockage in the arteries
• higher levels mean an increases risk for serious heart problems and stroke
• being overweight is associated with a higher LDL level and a lower HDL level

Natural Ways to Increase HDL Cholesterol

Your genes do play a role in determining how much HDL your body makes and the proportion of different subtypes. Your genes are obviously already decided for you and out of your control, but your lifestyle choices are in your control. Here are some of the best, and even some easy, ways that you can get those HDL cholesterol numbers up:

1. Don’t Smoke

As is always the case, smoking only makes health problems worse, and that includes HDL levels. Studies show that cigarette smoking adversely affects HDL by lowering its level, which further increases your risk for developing coronary heart disease. So if you smoke, you’re already increasing your risk for heart problems.

2. Exercise More

To maintain a healthy body, you should exercise on a daily basis. If you want another specific reason to start exercising or increase your frequency of exercise, it’s your HDL levels.

Increased physical activity directly helps raise your HDL cholesterol — just another one of the many benefits of exercise. Vigorous exercise is the best choice for boosting HDL, but any additional exercise is better than none.

3. Decrease Body Weight

If you’re currently overweight, losing even a few pounds can improve your HDL cholesterol. For every six pounds of weight you lose, your HDL can increase by 1 milligram per deciliter.

That’s means you want to lose weight, and if you’re extremely overweight, getting your HDL cholesterol levels in order is another reason to treat obesity.

4. Eat Healthier Fats

To improve your HDL level and your overall cholesterol, you definitely want to avoid trans fats, which are commonly found in hard margarines, baked goods and fried fast foods — all high-cholesterol foods. Conversely, you want to consume more cholesterol-lowering foods, such as healthy fats like those found in avocado, olive oil, nuts and salmon.

Why? Healthy fats help balance out the LDL cholesterol by lowering it and increasing HDL cholesterol, thus promoting a healthier heart. In fact, even the high-fat keto diet can reduce the risk of heart disease markers, including high cholesterol and triglycerides.

5. Reduce Refined Carbs

A diet high in refined carbohydrates like white bread, sugar, etc., has a negative effect on your HDL level, so by reducing your intake of these types of carbohydrates you can improve your HDL. Opt for high-quality, healthier carbs like those found in sprouted breads and fruit.

6. Keep Alcohol Consumption Moderate

Overdoing it on alcohol consumption has never helped anyone’s general status and especially not that person’s health status. If you consume alcohol, always do it in moderation.

In fact, moderate alcohol consumption has actually been linked with higher levels of HDL cholesterol. Moderate consumption for healthy adults is one alcoholic drink per day for women of all ages and men over 65 and up to two drinks per day for mean 65 and under.

Organic red wine is a smart choice, but don’t start drinking just to improve HDL levels because overdoing does much more harm than good — both for cholesterol levels and your overall health.

7. Increase Niacin Intake

Niacin is a B vitamin that your body uses to turn food into energy. It also helps keep your digestive system, nervous system, skin, hair and eyes healthy. Most people get enough niacin or B3 from their diets, but niacin is often taken in prescription-strength doses to treat low HDL levels. Niacin supplementation can can raise HDL cholesterol by more than 30 percent.

Niacin can be taken at lower doses rather than prescription levels, but supplementation can cause unwanted niacin side effects, especially when taking at high dosages. Some negative results of taking niacin include experience flushing, an uncomfortable feeling of heat, itching or tingling in the skin. Other side effects can include gastrointestinal, muscle and liver problems.

When it comes to niacin, a safer bet is to aim to add more to your daily diet. The top niacin-rich foods include turkey, chicken breast, peanuts, mushrooms, liver, tuna, green peas, grass-fed beef, sunflower seeds and avocado.

8. Consider the Supplement Citrus Bergamot

Studies show that the antioxidant polyphenols in citrus bergamot not only support healthy cholesterol levels but also support a healthy HDL  cholesterol to triglyceride ratio.

9. Consider Your Prescriptions

Could one of your current prescriptions be a cause of your low HDL levels? Medications such as anabolic steroids, beta blockers, benzodiazepines and progestins can depress HDL levels. If you take any of these medications, talk with your healthcare professional and consider if there is anything you can do that could take the place of your current prescription.

As you now know with HDL, a lot of times you personally can do a lot to positively impact your health without popping a questionable pill that might help one problem but cause another.

Final Thoughts

If you don’t already know your HDL level, you can find out from blood work that includes a lipid profile. This profile tells you your overall total cholesterol as well as its individual parts, including HDL and LDL. There are no obvious signs or symptoms of high LDL cholesterol and low HDL cholesterol so it’s very important to maintain a healthy lifestyle and get your cholesterol checked regularly!

Remember, some of the best ways to raise HDL cholesterol levels while simultaneously lowering LDL cholesterol include not smoking, exercising more, decreasing body weight, eating healthier fats, reducing refined carb intake, keeping alcohol consumption moderate, increasing niacin intake and watching your prescription drug use. Do these things and watch your HDL go up while your risk for heart disease and stroke goes down.

The post How to Increase ‘Good’ HDL Cholesterol appeared first on Dr. Axe.

If you are one of the millions of people who has prediabetes, diabetes, metabolic syndrome or any other form of “insulin resistance,” maintaining normal blood sugar levels can be challenging. Over the past several decades, these chronic disorders have swept through the U.S. and many other nations, reaching epidemic proportions and causing serious, but often preventable, side effects like nerve damage, fatigue, loss of vision, arterial damage and weight gain.

Elevated blood sugar levels maintained for an extended period of time can push someone who is “prediabetic” into having full-blown diabetes (which now affects about one in every three adults in the U.S.). Even for people who aren’t necessarily at a high risk for developing diabetes or heart complications, poorly managed blood sugar can lead to common complications, including fatigue, weight gain and sugar cravings. In extreme cases, elevated blood sugar can even contribute to strokes, amputations, coma and death in people with a history of insulin resistance.

Blood sugar is raised by glucose, which is the sugar we get from eating many different types of foods that contain carbohydrates. Although we usually think of normal blood sugar as being strictly reliant upon how many carbohydrates and added sugar someone eats, other factors also play a role. For example, stress can elevate cortisol levels, which interferes with how insulin is used, and the timing of meals can also affect how the body manages blood sugar.

What can you do to help avoid dangerous blood sugar swings and lower diabetes symptoms? As you’ll learn, normal blood sugar levels are sustained through a combination of eating a balanced, low-processed diet, getting regular exercise and managing the body’s most important hormones in other ways (such as getting enough sleep and reducing stress).

The power is within your hands, since many of the disorders triggered by poorly managed blood sugar are avoidable and can be managed naturally and successfully through practicing certain healthy habits.

What Is Normal Blood Sugar?

What doctors consider to be “normal” blood sugar depends on your medical history (such as if you have or ever had diabetes) and when the last times you ate something and exercised were. Blood sugar is measured in terms of milligrams of sugar per dL of blood, and measurements are most often taken in the morning after you’ve been fasting through the night.

The following blood sugar measurements are considered healthy and normal according to health authorities, including the American Diabetes Association:

• If you’re generally healthy (you don’t have diabetes) and you haven’t eaten anything in the past eight hours (you’ve been “fasting”), it’s normal for blood sugar to be anything between 70–99 mg/dL (less than 100 mg/dL).
• If you’re healthy and you’ve eaten within the past two hours, it’s normal for blood sugar to be anything less than 140 mg/dL.
• If you do have a history of diabetes, fasting glucose should ideally also be below 100 mg/DL, which might need to be managed through the use of insulin. It’s also considered healthy to have levels between 70–130 prior to eating.
• If you have diabetes and you’ve eaten in the past two hours, the goal is to have blood sugar below 180 mg/dL.
• If you have diabetes, you want to keep blood sugar between 100–140 mg/dL prior to bedtime and at least 100 mg/dL prior to exercising.

Signs of High/Low Blood Sugar

Even without measuring your blood sugar levels, there are certain clues that things might not be “normal.” How do you know if you’re not successfully managing your blood sugar levels throughout the day?

Common signs and symptoms not to ignore that can signify diabetes and fluctuating blood sugar levels include:

• Fatigue or chronic fatigue syndrome, low energy levels
• Sugar/carb cravings
• Excessive thirst
• Weight fluctuations/weight loss
• Increased urination
• Mood swings, nervousness or “jitteriness”
• Blurred, worsening vision
• Slow healing of skin wounds, dryness, cuts and bruises
• Frequent infections
• Heavy breathing and trouble exercising
• Tension headaches

Causes of Abnormal Blood Sugar Levels

People who tend to experience fluctuating, “abnormal” blood sugar levels include:

• anyone with prediabetes or diabetes
• those eating a poor diet, high in sugar, refined grains, artificial ingredients and packaged foods
• people who skip meals, don’t eat enough or who fad diet
• anyone who doesn’t eat around the time of exercising, before or after workouts, to help refuel
• people who don’t get enough sleep and live with high amounts of chronic stress
• pregnant women (who can be at risk for gestational diabetes)
• people with a history of insulin resistance/diabetes in their families

Your diet is the single most influential factor when it comes to your blood sugar levels. The foods that we eat fall into one of three categories: carbohydrates (sugars and starches), proteins and fats.

Fats don’t affect blood sugar, while carbohydrates — and to a small extend proteins — do. Carbohydrates in our diets along with a portion of the protein we eat are turned into glucose, which is what gives cells most of their energy and helps fuel the majority of the body’s many functions.

Glucose requires insulin in order to be brought into cells, which is the hormone secreted by the pancreas that’s most important for blood sugar control. When we eat carbohydrates or proteins, blood sugar rises, which alerts the body to produce more insulin in order to bring levels back to normal by ushering sugar to cells. Insulin levels rise and fall in accordance with our diets and are also impacted by levels of other hormones, such as cortisol.

In people who have diabetes (whether type 1 or type 2), cells stop responding to insulin the way they should and the process described above starts to break down. Either not enough insulin is being produced by the pancreas or cells are no longer responding to normal amounts of insulin (called “insulin resistance). This is when a lifestyle and diet to manage diabetes become especially important.

Problems maintaining normal blood sugar can arise when:

• Insulin-releasing mechanisms no longer work as they should — specifically beta cells within the pancreas stop reacting to changes in blood sugar normally and too little insulin is produced, leaving blood sugar elevated.
• When blood sugar levels aren’t managed, hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia can then occur as levels rise and fall drastically. These comes with many side effects that are indicative of prediabetes or diabetes, including fatigue, sugar cravings, changes in blood pressure, weight loss or gain, nerve damage, and nervousness.
• Cells stop receiving enough energy since insulin is no longer doing its job of bringing them enough glucose (sugar). At the same time, blood glucose levels can remain elevated, which damages the kidneys, heart, arteries and nerves — which in turn affects the whole body negatively.

How to Maintain Normal Blood Sugar

Most of the habits that help us maintain healthy, normal blood sugar levels are fairly obvious and simple to carry out. However, some might also surprise you, especially if you think it will be tough to start managing your blood sugar better.

Small changes in your diet, exercise routine and sleep schedule can wind up making a big difference when it comes to blood sugar management. Let’s look at some of the best ways to help get you on the right track to reaching and maintaining normal blood sugar levels for life.

1. Eat a Low-Processed, Anti-Inflammatory Diet

A healthy diet is key to blood sugar management and preventing or treating diabetes. It’s not that you must avoid consuming any carbohydrates or sugar when trying to maintain normal blood sugar — just that you need to balance them out with protein/fats, and focus on getting them from real, whole foods.

Eating a source of protein, fiber and healthy fat with all of your meals can help stabilize blood sugar, especially when you consume carbs/sugar (such as starchy veggies like potatoes, fruit or whole grains). These slow down the absorption of sugar into the bloodstream, help manage your appetite, and are also important for your metabolism and digestion.

• Some of the best protein foods for managing blood sugar include: wild fish such as salmon, free-range eggs, grass-fed beef or lamb, raw dairy products (including yogurt, kefir or raw cheeses), and pasture-raised poultry
• Healthy fats include: virgin coconut oil, MCT oil, extra virgin olive oil, nuts and seeds (like almonds, chia, hemp and flax), and avocado. Coconut oil, ghee and grass-fed butter are all some of my favorite fat-burning foods for managing blood glucose levels while also improving the taste and filling quality of your meals.
• High-fiber foods include: fresh veggies, whole pieces of fruit (not juice), sprouted beans or peas, and ancient grains. Some of my favorite foods especially high in fiber are artichokes, green leafy vegetables, chia seeds, flaxseeds, apples, pumpkin seeds, almonds, avocado and sweet potatoes.
• Consider the supplement berberine to control blood sugar and lipid metabolism as effectively as metformin, with researchers describing it as a “potent oral hypoglycemic agent.” A study published in the World Journal of Cardiology demonstrated that red yeast rice extract may also help with healthy maintenance of normal blood sugar levels. This study specifically looked at the effects of a supplement containing berberine, red yeast rice and policosanol.
• Other foods and drinks that make great additions to a blood-sugar-stabilizing diet include apple cider vinegar, cinnamon, green tea, herbal teas, fresh herbs and spices.

2. Switch Up Your Carbs and Sweeteners

While all types of added sugars are capable of raising blood sugar levels, some sources of sugar/carbs affect blood glucose levels more so than others. When you use appropriate amounts sparingly, natural/unrefined, ideally organic sugar sources (such as those from fruit or raw honey) are less likely to contribute to poor blood sugar management than refined sugars (such as white cane sugar or refined products made with white/bleached wheat flour).

To help sustain normal blood sugar, check ingredient labels carefully, since sugar can be listed under dozens of different names.

• Skip anything made with refined flour (also called wheat flour or “enriched flour”) and added sugars, such as beet sugar/beet juice, cane sugar, high fructose corn syrup, fructose and dextrose.
• Instead choose natural sweeteners, including raw honey, organic stevia, dates, pure maple syrup or blackstrap molasses.
• Most importantly, still watch your portion sizes, using only a small amount per day of even natural sweeteners (such as one to three teaspoons daily).
• When it comes to grain-flour products, it’s best to consume grains in their whole form whenever possible as opposed to in flour form, which tends to spike blood sugar more. But if you must use flour, choose those made with 100 percent whole grains, or else try coconut flour or almond flour for an even healthier option.
• In terms of beverages, stick with water, seltzer, herbal tea or black tea, and coffee. Coffee is best in moderation, meaning one to two cups daily, especially compared to sweetened drinks, juices or soda.
• Keep in mind that alcohol can also raise blood sugar, especially if you consume sweetened alcoholic drinks (such as certain dessert/fortified wines, sherries, liqueurs, mixed drinks with juice and ciders).

3. Get Regular Exercise

You’re probably already aware that there are literally dozens of benefits associated with exercise. According to the National Diabetes Association, exercise manages blood sugar in more than one way. Short-term exercise helps cells in your muscles to take up more glucose in order to use it for energy and tissue repair, therefore lowering blood sugar in the process. Long-term exercise also makes cells more responsive to insulin and helps prevent resistance.

Doing about 30–60 minutes of exercise most days of the week (such as running, cycling, swimming and lifting weights) is also a simple, beneficial way to lower inflammation, manage stress, improve immunity and balance hormones. Insulin sensitivity is increased, so your cells are better able to use any available insulin to take up glucose during and after activity.

4. Manage Stress

Excessive stress can actually cause blood sugar levels to rise due to an increased release of the “stress hormone” cortisol. Stress kicks off a vicious hormonal cycle for many people. It not only contributes to high blood sugar by raising cortisol, but also tends to increase cravings for “comfort foods” (many of which are refined and filled with sugar or other inflammatory ingredients) and often interferes with getting good sleep.

All around, dealing with high amounts of stress makes it less likely that people will take good care of themselves and keep up with healthy habits that contribute to normal blood sugar. For example, skipping workouts and drinking more alcohol and caffeine are both common among chronically stressed adults.

These self-destructive habits contribute to even more stress, which interferes with blood sugar management even more. It’s no wonder that people who develop health problems like diabetes or heart disease, or even who wind up gaining a lot of weight and facing obesity, tend to feel more depressed and hopeless but find it hard to break the cycle and develop new habits.

What are some ways you can help deal with the inevitable stresses that occur in life? Studies have found that natural stress relievers, including exercise, yoga, meditation and using relaxing essential oils for anxiety (such as lavender, rose and frankincense) are all helpful for diabetics and those with insulin resistance.

Other ways to wind down include spending more time outdoors, joining groups in your community, and connecting with family and friends more.

5. Get Enough Rest

Being well-rested is crucial for maintaining a healthy outlook on life, sticking with healthy habits and even managing hormone levels. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 35 percent of Americans report getting less than the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep each night, raising their risk for numerous health problems, including type 2 diabetes.

A lack of sleep can raise stress and appetite hormones (like cortisol and ghrelin, which make you hungry), making it harder to void sugary snacks, refined grain products and caffeine overdose.

Sleep and metabolic processes are linked in several key ways, and research shows our natural circadian rhythms can trigger high blood glucose or raise the risk for diabetes when they’re disturbed. Sleeping too little, getting poor quality sleep or sleeping at the wrong times can impair insulin secretion even if you don’t change your diet.

Aim to get between seven to nine hours of sleep per night, ideally by sticking with a normal sleep/wake schedule — in order to balance hormones, curb stress responses, and have enough energy to exercise and keep up with your day.

Final Thoughts

• Elevated blood sugar levels maintained for an extended period of time can push someone who is “prediabetic” into having full-blown diabetes (which now affects about one in every three adults in the U.S.).
• People who tend to experience fluctuating, “abnormal” blood sugar levels include anyone with prediabetes or diabetes; those eating a poor diet, high in sugar, refined grains, artificial ingredients and packaged foods; people who skip meals, don’t eat enough or who fad diet; anyone who doesn’t eat around the time of exercising, before or after workouts, to help refuel; people who don’t get enough sleep and live with high amounts of chronic stress; pregnant women (who can be at risk for gestational diabetes); and people with a history of insulin resistance/diabetes in their families.
• Signs of high/low blood sugar include fatigue and low energy levels; sugar/carb cravings; excessive thirst; weight fluctuations/weight loss; increased urination; mood swings, nervousness or jitteriness; blurred, worsening vision; slow healing of skin wounds, dryness, cuts and bruises; frequent infections; heavy breathing and trouble exercising; and tension headaches.
• In order to achieve normal blood sugar levels and maintain them, eat a low-processed, anti-inflammatory diet that includes protein foods, healthy fats and high-fiber foods; switch up your carbs and sweeteners, avoiding refined flour and utilizing natural sweeteners in moderation; get regular exercise; manage stress; and get enough rest.

The post How to Maintain Normal Blood Sugar appeared first on Dr. Axe.

In our modern era of constant stimulation and instant gratification, the concept of a dopamine detox has emerged as a compelling strategy for regaining control over our minds and lives. It involves intentionally abstaining from activities that overstimulate the brain’s reward system, thereby allowing it to reset and restore balance.

While this practice has garnered attention as a means to break free from addictive behaviors and increase productivity, its mechanisms are largely misunderstood. Dopamine is only one element of a complex reward system in the brain, and while you can reduce how often the brain chemical spikes, you can’t actually reduce dopamine levels.

A dopamine detox, therefore, is more about intentionally choosing more mindful and natural activities that help settle the body and mind over potentially harmful stimuli.

Implementing this digital-age respite can be beneficial to your mental and physical health in many ways.

What Is a Dopamine Detox?

A dopamine detox, also known as a dopamine fast or digital detox, is a practice aimed at reducing the overstimulation of the brain’s reward system, particularly the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with pleasure and motivation. The concept of dopamine detox, which was created by California psychiatrist Cameron Sepah, gained popularity through online discussions and self-help videos, but its mechanism is largely misunderstood by the public.

The idea behind a dopamine detox, which is based on cognitive behavioral therapy, is to abstain from activities that provide immediate gratification or excessive stimulation. The compulsive behaviors that can be minimized with this method include excessive:

• Social media use
• Texting
• Video gaming
• Television watching
• Eating/Drinking
• Gambling
• Shopping
• Thrill seeking

By limiting exposure to these stimuli, proponents of dopamine detox believe that it can help reset the brain’s reward circuitry so we don’t automatically respond to largely unhealthy reward-inducing cues in order to experience a short-lived boost.

During a dopamine detox, individuals typically restrict their engagement with pleasurable activities for a designated period, which can range from a few hours to an entire day. Instead of indulging in activities that provide instant gratification, they are encouraged to engage in more mindful and natural activities, such as reading, journaling, meditating, spending time outdoors or engaging in physical exercise.

The aim of a dopamine detox is to shift focus away from constant external stimulation and retrain the brain to appreciate simpler and more meaningful experiences.

Role of Dopamine

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter, or chemical messenger, and “feel good hormone” that plays a crucial role in the body and brain. It is involved in a wide range of physiological functions and associated with various aspects of behavior, mood and cognition.

Here are some key roles of dopamine in the body:

• Reward and Pleasure: Dopamine is heavily involved in the brain’s reward system, which reinforces behavior by providing feelings of pleasure and motivation. It’s released when we engage in pleasurable activities like eating, socializing or engaging in activities we enjoy.
• Movement and Motor Control: Dopamine plays a critical role in coordinating smooth movements and motor control. A dopamine deficiency in certain areas of the brain can lead to motor symptoms associated with conditions like Parkinson’s disease.
• Mood Regulation: Dopamine is involved in regulating mood and emotions. It helps modulate feelings of pleasure, motivation and reward, which are essential for experiencing positive emotions and motivation. Imbalances in dopamine levels have been linked to mood disorders, such as depression and bipolar disorder.
• Cognitive Function: Dopamine is essential for various cognitive processes, including memory, attention, learning and decision-making. It helps in maintaining focus, enhancing working memory and facilitating the transfer of information between different brain regions.
• Hormone Regulation: Dopamine also acts as a hormone that regulates the release of other hormones, such as prolactin. In the hypothalamus, dopamine inhibits the secretion of prolactin, which is involved in lactation and reproductive functions.

While dopamine plays a crucial role in these functions, its actions are complex and interconnected with other neurotransmitters and systems in the body. Imbalances in dopamine levels can have significant impacts on both physical and mental health.

Conditions associated with dopamine dysregulation include Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia, addiction disorders and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

How to Do a Dopamine Detox

A dopamine detox, as mentioned earlier, is a practice aimed at reducing overstimulation and resetting the brain’s reward system. The goal is to reduce impulsive pleasure-seeking or addictive behaviors and replace them with more mindful activities.

Here are some steps you can take to do a dopamine detox:

1. Identify Stimulating Activities

Make a list of activities that provide instant gratification or excessive stimulation, such as social media use, video gaming, watching television, eating junk food or any other sources of immediate pleasure that you engage in too often.

2. Set a Detox Goal

Decide what activities you want to abstain from during your detox, and determine the appropriate duration. You may choose to avoid an activity for a few hours per day for one month or for entire days at a time, depending on your goals. Whatever you decide, write down your goals and duration before getting started.

3. Decide on Alternative Activities

Plan your dopamine detox day by outlining alternative activities that are less stimulating and more mindful. Consider activities like reading, journaling, meditating, engaging in physical exercise, spending time in nature, pursuing a hobby or having face-to-face interactions with others.

4. Minimize Screen Time

Reduce your exposure to screens during the detox period. This includes smartphones, computers, tablets and television. If you use these devices for work, limit additional screen time, and choose a more mindful activity instead.

5. Practice Mindfulness

Be mindful of your thoughts, emotions and cravings during the detox. Acknowledge any urges or discomforts that may arise, and observe them without giving in to them. Mindfulness techniques such as deep breathing exercises or meditation can help you stay present and focused.

6. Engage in Physical Activity

Physical exercise can boost endorphins and provide a natural sense of pleasure. Incorporate activities like walking, jogging, yoga, biking, swimming or any form of exercise that you enjoy.

7. Seek Meaningful Connections

Connect with others in meaningful ways by spending quality time with loved ones, engaging in face-to-face conversations, or participating in group activities that foster connection and social interaction.

8. Reflect and Journal

Take time to reflect on your detox experience. Journaling can help you gain insights, track your progress, and express your thoughts and emotions.

Does It Work? Benefits

The benefits of a dopamine detox are often subjective and can vary from person to person. While there are positive effects of reducing potentially harmful stimuli, it’s helpful to keep in mind that while dopamine levels rise when exposed to certain activities, they don’t actually fall when you’re not exposed to them.

The purpose of a dopamine fast or detox is to break addictive tendencies and spend more time engaging in mindful activities that help alleviate stress while boosting productivity.

Here are some potential benefits that people associate with dopamine detox:

1. Increased Focus and Productivity: Research shows that even small distractions can derail focus and productivity. By reducing exposure to stimulating activities, you may experience improved focus and concentration. Eliminating distractions makes it easier to engage in tasks that require sustained attention, leading to increased productivity.
2. Enhanced Self-Control: Engaging in a dopamine detox can help individuals develop greater self-control and discipline. By abstaining from instant gratification activities, they may learn to resist impulsive behaviors and make more deliberate choices in their daily lives.
3. Improved Mood and Emotional Well-Being: Some individuals report experiencing improved mood and emotional well-being after a dopamine detox, especially when it’s a reduction in screen time. By breaking free from constant external stimulation and finding contentment in simpler activities, they may feel a greater sense of inner calm and satisfaction.
4. Heightened Sensory Perception: By reducing exposure to overstimulation, individuals may become more attuned to their surroundings and develop a heightened sense of sensory perception. This, for example, is what occurs among people who practice regular meditation, and it can lead to a greater appreciation for subtle pleasures in everyday experiences.
5. Increased Creativity: Detoxing from highly stimulating activities while increasing mindfulness activities may provide a mental space for creativity to flourish. By stepping away from constant digital inputs, individuals may find their minds more open to new ideas, inspiration and creative thinking.
6. Improved Sleep Patterns: Excessive exposure to stimulating activities, particularly before bedtime, can disrupt sleep patterns. By incorporating a dopamine detox and reducing screen time, individuals may experience better sleep quality and more restful nights.
7. Increased Self-Awareness: A dopamine detox can provide an opportunity for self-reflection and increased self-awareness. By taking a break from external distractions, individuals may gain insights into their own habits, preferences and values.

What a Dopamine Fast Is Not

The creator of the dopamine detox concept said that this method of reducing stimuli done in excess and increasing mindfulness activities is nothing revolutionary. Some followers, however, are taking it to extremes because they don’t quite understand the mechanisms behind this approach.

Sepah explains what a dopamine fast is not, noting the following:

• Food or calorie deprivation
• Social isolation
• Restricting talking, listening to music or exercise
• Avoiding pleasure and satisfying activities

Instead, a dopamine detox is a conscious effort to reduce potentially harmful stimuli that you engage in excessively, replacing that with a more mindful or intentional activity.

Conclusion

• A dopamine detox is a practice aimed at reducing the overstimulation of the brain’s reward system, particularly the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that’s associated with pleasure and motivation.
• The idea behind a dopamine detox, which is based on cognitive behavioral therapy, is to abstain from activities that provide immediate gratification or excessive stimulation. This may include social media use, texting, overeating, excessive screen time and more.
• Some potential benefits of a dopamine detox include increased focus and productivity, improved mood and emotional well-being, improved sleep patterns, and enhanced self-control.

The post What Is a Dopamine Detox and Does It Work? appeared first on Dr. Axe.

Food allergies are immune-based diseases that have become a serious health concern in the United States, with an estimated 32 million Americans dealing with food allergy symptoms according to the food allergy research organization FARE.

Despite the risk of severe allergic reactions and even death, there is no current cure for food allergies. The condition can only be managed by allergen avoidance or treatment of food allergy symptoms.

Fortunately, there are natural allergy fighters that can help boost the immune system and enhance the gut microbiota, which helps reduce the development of food allergies and food allergy symptoms.

What Are Food Allergies?

Food allergies consist of immune system responses to disagreeable foods. The body senses that a protein in a particular food may be harmful and triggers an immune system response, producing histamine to protect itself. The body “remembers” this, and when this food enters the body again, the histamine response is more easily triggered.

The diagnosis of food allergies may be problematic because nonallergic food reactions, such as food intolerances, are frequently confused with food allergy symptoms. Intolerance derived from an immunological mechanism is referred to as a food allergy, and the non-immunological form is called a food intolerance.

Food allergies and intolerances are often linked, but there’s a clear difference between the two conditions.

A food allergy comes from a reaction of the allergen-specific immunoglobulin E antibody that is found in the bloodstream. Non-IgE-mediated food allergies are also possible. This happens when someone is exposed to a food that causes signs and symptoms of an allergy, such as allergic contact dermatitis.

A food intolerance is an adverse reaction to foods or food components but not due to immunologic mechanisms.

For example, a person may have an immunologic response to cow’s milk because of the milk’s protein, or that individual may be intolerant to milk due to an inability to digest the sugar lactose. The inability to digest lactose leads to excess fluid production in the gastrointestinal tract, resulting in abdominal pain and diarrhea. This condition is termed lactose intolerance because lactose in not an allergen, as the response is not immune-based.

Food intolerances are nonspecific, and the symptoms often resemble common medically unexplained complaints, such as digestive issues.

IgE-medicated food allergies are the most common and dangerous of adverse food reactions. They cause your immune system to react abnormally when exposed to one or more specific foods. Immediate reactions to IgE-mediated food allergies are caused by an allergen-specific immunoglobulin E antibody that floats around in the bloodstream.

When IgE is working properly, it identifies triggers that could be harmful to the body, such as parasites, and tells the body to release histamine. Histamine causes allergy symptoms, such as hives, coughing and wheezing.

Sometimes IgE reacts to normal proteins that are found in foods — and when the protein is absorbed during digestion and enters the bloodstream, the entire body reacts as if the protein is a threat. This is why food allergy symptoms are noticeable in the skin, respiratory system, digestive system and circulatory system.

According to a 2014 comprehensive review published in Clinical Reviews in Allergy and Immunology, the prevalence of food allergies in infancy is increasing and may affect up to 15 percent to 20 percent of infants. Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine suggest that food allergies affect as many as 6 percent of young children and 3 percent to 4 percent of adults.

Updated reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 6.2 percent of adults in the U.S. have food allergies, while 5.8 percent of children do.

Researchers suggest that this increase in the prevalence of food allergies may be due to a change in the composition, richness and balance of the microbiota that colonize the human gut during early infancy. The human microbiome plays a vital role in early-life immune development and function. Since IgE-mediated food allergies are associated with immune dysregulation and impaired gut integrity, there is substantial interest in the potential link between gut microbiota and food allergies.

Common Food Allergies

Although any food can provoke a reaction, relatively few foods are responsible for a vast majority of significant food-induced allergic reactions. Here are some of the most common food allergies.

1. Cow’s Milk

Cow’s milk protein allergy affects 2 percent to 7.5 percent of children. Persistence in adulthood since tolerance develops in more than 99 percent of children by age 6.

Numerous milk proteins have been implicated in allergic responses, and most of these have been shown to contain multiple allergenic epitopes (targets that an individual target binds to). IgE-mediated reactions to cow’s milk are common in infancy and non-IgE-mediated reactions are common in adults.

A 2005 study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition suggests that the prevalence of self-diagnosed cow’s milk allergy is 10fold higher than the clinically proven incidence, suggesting that a sizable population is unnecessarily restricting dairy products (for allergy purposes).

2. Eggs

After cow’s milk, hen egg allergy is the second most common food allergy in infants and young children. A 2012 meta-analysis of the prevalence of food allergies estimated that egg allergy affects 0.5 percent to 2.5 percent of young children.

Allergy to eggs usually presents itself in the second half of the first year of life, with a median age of presentation of 10 months. Most reactions occur upon a child’s first known exposure to egg, with eczema the most common symptom.

Five major allergenic proteins from the egg of the domestic chicken have been identified, the most dominant being ovalbumin.

3. Soy

Soy allergy affects approximately 0.4 percent of children. According to a 2010 study conducted at John Hopkins University School of Medicine, 50 percent of children with a soy allergy outgrew the allergy by 7 years old.

Prevalence of sensitization after the use of soy-based formulas is around 8.8 percent. Soy formula is commonly used for infants who are allergic to cow’s milk, and research suggests that soy allergy occurs in only a small minority of young children with IgE-associated cow’s milk allergy.

4. Wheat

Gluten-related disorders, including wheat allergy, celiac disease and non-celiac gluten sensitivity, have an estimated global prevalence close to 5 percent. These disorders share similar symptoms, making it difficult to make a clear diagnosis.

A wheat allergy represents a type of adverse immunologic reaction to proteins contained in wheat and related grains. IgE antibodies mediate the inflammatory response to several allergenic proteins found in wheat. Wheat allergy affects the skin, gastrointestinal tract and respiratory tract.

Wheat allergy shows greater prevalence in children who commonly outgrow the allergy by school age.

5. Peanuts

Peanut allergy tends to present itself early in life, and affected individuals generally do not outgrow it. In highly sensitized people, just trace quantities of peanuts can induce an allergic reaction. Research suggests that early exposure to peanuts may reduce the risk of developing a peanut allergy.

According to a 2010 study, peanut allergy affects approximately 1 percent of children and 0.6 percent of adults in the U.S. Peanuts are inexpensive and frequently eaten in unmodified form and as components of many different prepared foods. They cause the largest number of cases of severe anaphylaxis and death in the U.S.

6. Tree Nuts

The prevalence of tree nut allergies continues to increase worldwide, affecting about 1 percent of the general population. These allergies begin most often during childhood, but they can occur at any age.

Only about 10 percent of people outgrow tree nut allergies, and frequent lifetime reactions caused by accidental ingestion are a serious problem.

Nuts that are most commonly responsible for allergic reactions include hazelnuts, walnuts, cashews and almonds. Those that are less frequently associated with allergies include pecans, chestnuts, Brazil nuts, pine nuts, macadamia nuts, pistachio, coconut, Nangai nuts and acorns.

A 2015 systematic review found that walnut and cashew allergies were the most prevalent types of tree nut allergy in the U.S.

7. Fish

According to a study published in Clinical Reviews of Allergy and Immunology, adverse reactions to fish are not only mediated by the immune system causing allergies, but are often caused by various toxins and parasites, including ciguatera and anisakis. (See the list of fish you should never eat.) Allergic reactions to fish can be serious and life-threatening, and children usually don’t outgrow this type of food allergy.

A reaction is not restricted to the ingestion of fish, as it can also be caused by handling fish and intaking the cooking vapors. Prevalence rates of self-reported fish allergy range from 0.2 percent to 2.29 percent in the general population but can reach up to 8 percent among fish processing workers. (16)

8. Shellfish

Allergic reactions to shellfish, which comprises the groups of crustaceans (such as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill, woodlice and barnacles) and molluscs (such as squid, octopus and cuttlefish), can cause clinical symptoms ranging from mild urticaria (hives) and oral allergy syndrome to life-threatening anaphylactic reactions.

Shellfish allergy is known to be common and persistent in adults, and it can cause anaphylaxis in both children and adults. The prevalence of shellfish allergy is anywhere from 0.5 percent to 5 percent. Most shellfish-allergic children have sensitivity to dust mite and cockroach allergens as well.

A phenomenon called cross-reactivity may occur when an antibody reacts not only with the original allergen, but also with a similar allergen. Cross-reactivity occurs when a food allergen shares structural or sequence similarity with a different food allergen, which may then trigger an adverse reaction similar to that triggered by the original food allergen.

This is common among different shellfish and different tree nuts.

Related: Nanotechnology in Food Science: What You Need to Know

Food Allergy Symptoms

Food allergy symptoms can range from mild to severe and, in rare cases, can lead to anaphylaxis, a severe and potentially life-threatening allergic reaction. Anaphylaxis can impair breathing, cause a dramatic drop in blood pressure and alter your heart rate. It can come on within only minutes of exposure to the trigger food.

If a food allergy causes anaphylaxis, it can be fatal and it must be treated with an injection of epinephrine (a synthetic version of adrenaline).

Food allergy symptoms may involve the skin, gastrointestinal tract, cardiovascular system and respiratory tract. Some common symptoms include:

• vomiting
• stomach cramps
• coughing
• wheezing
• shortness of breath
• trouble swallowing
• swelling of the tongue
• inability to talk or breathe
• weak pulse
• dizziness
• pale or blue-colored skin

Most food allergy symptoms occur within two hours of eating the allergen, and often they start within minutes.

Exercise-induced food allergy is when the ingestion of a food allergen provokes a reaction during exercise. As you exercise, your body temperature goes up, and if you consumed an allergen right before exercising, you may develop hives, become itchy or even feel light-headed.

The best way to avoid exercise-induced food allergy is to avoid the food allergen completely for at least four to five hours before any exercise.

Food Intolerance Test

A systematic approach to diagnosis includes a careful history, followed by laboratory studies, elimination diets and often food challenges to confirm a diagnosis. It’s important to be evaluated and diagnosed by a health care professional or allergist. Self-diagnosis of food allergies can lead to unnecessary diet restrictions and inadequate nutrition, especially in children.

Recently, an increasing number of commercial tests for food allergies are marketed to consumers and health care practitioners. IgG or food intolerance testing is meant to work as a simple means to identify food sensitivities, food intolerances or food allergies, but researchers believe that this is an unvalidated form of testing.

The test checks a person’s blood for immunoglobulin G (IgG), an antibody created by the body to fight a certain allergenic food. Drawn blood is exposed in vitro to a panel of foods and food components.

The degree of total IgG antibody binding to each food is measured to determine if any of the foods create an immune response. The degree of sensitivity or allergy is then graded by a classification scale.

The issue with these types of food allergy tests is that unlike IgE antibodies, which are responsible for allergies, IgG antibodies are found in both allergic and non-allergic people. IgGs are the normal antibodies made by the body to fight off infections.

Researchers believe that the presence of specific IgG to food is actually a marker of exposure and tolerance to the food, not necessarily a sign of an allergy. Therefore, positive test results for food-specific IgG are to be expected in normal, healthy adults and children. For this reason, the likelihood of false diagnoses is increased, and people are left confused by the information provided by the food intolerance test.

Due to the potential misuse of this type of test, there is controversy surrounding testing for food sensitivity, and many researchers believe that these tests are not appropriate for making a diagnosis of food allergy. IgG tests may be additionally anxiety-provoking for parents who elect to purchase food sensitivity tests for a child and then must decide whether to follow the instructions on the test report.

According to research published in Allergy, Asthma & Clinical Immunology, the greatest potential risk of these types of tests is that a person with a true IgE-mediated food allergy, who is at a significant risk for life-threatening anaphylaxis, may very well not have elevated levels of specific IgG to her particular allergen and may be inappropriately advised to reintroduce this potentially deadly allergen into into the diet.

Instead of depending on self-diagnosis or unproven tests, see an allergist, who will begin by conducting a thorough medical history. An allergist will commonly follow a medical history with a combination of tests that will give him enough information to provide a diagnosis. These tests may include a skin trick test, blood test, oral food challenge and food elimination diet.

How to Reduce Symptoms of Food Allergies

There are currently no therapies available to prevent or fully treat food allergies. The management of food allergies consists of avoiding the ingestion of the responsible allergen and knowing what to do if there’s an unintended ingestion.

The following natural treatments for food allergies will help you to cope with the food allergy symptoms and make them less severe.

1. GAPS Diet

The GAPS diet is a meal plan that is designed to repair the gut wall, boost the immune system, stop toxic overload and prevent toxins from entering the bloodstream. It is commonly used for the treatment of autoimmune diseases.

The diet focuses on removing foods that are difficult to digest and damaging to gut flora and replacing them with nutrient-dense foods to give the intestinal lining a chance to heal and seal.

Under the GAPS diet, you avoid processed foods, grains, processed sugar, starchy carbs and potatoes, artificial chemicals and preservatives, and conventional meat and dairy. Instead of eating these inflammatory foods, you focus on consuming healing foods, like bone broth, non-starchy vegetables, organic wild meats, healthy fats and probiotic-rich foods.

2. Digestive Enzymes

The incomplete digestion of food proteins may be linked to food allergies and can cause gastrointestinal symptoms. Taking digestive enzymes with meals can aid the digestive system in fully breaking down food particles, and it serves as a vital food allergy remedy.

3. Probiotics

Probiotic supplements boost immune function and reduce the risk of developing food allergies.

A 2011 study published in Bioscience of Microbiota, Food and Health evaluated 230 infants with a suspected cow’s milk allergy. The infants were randomly allocated to groups that received a mixture of four probiotic strains or placebo for four weeks.

The results showed that probiotics may enhance both inflammation and immune defense of the gut. The probiotic treatment further stimulated the maturation of the immune system since the infants given probiotics showed increased resistance to respiratory infections and improved vaccine antibody responses.

4. Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM)

Research suggests that MSM supplements may be effective in reducing allergy symptoms. MSM is an organic sulfur-containing compound that is used to improve immune function, lower inflammation and help restore healthy bodily tissue. It can be used to relieve digestive issues and skin conditions that are associated with allergy symptoms.

5. Vitamin B5

Vitamin B5 supports adrenal function and can help with control of food allergy symptoms. It is important in maintaining a healthy digestive tract and boosting immune function.

6. L-glutamine

L-glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in the bloodstream, and it can help repair leaky gut and boost immune health. Research indicates that leaky gut, or intestinal permeability, is likely to cause various pathologies, including allergies. Compounds such as glutamine have the mechanistic potential to inhibit inflammation and oxidative stress.

Final Thoughts

• Food allergies are immune-based diseases that have become a serious health concern in the U.S.
• Food allergy symptoms consist of an immune system response to a disagreeable food. The body senses that a protein in a particular food may be harmful and triggers an immune system response, producing histamine to protect itself.
• The majority of food allergies are caused by cow’s milk, eggs, soy, wheat, peanuts, tree nuts, fish and shellfish.
• To diagnose a food allergy, it is important to see an allergist, who will use a variety of tests and a medical history. Food intolerance or IgG tests are controversial, and researchers suggest that they do not produce an accurate diagnosis.
• The only way to “cure” a food allergy is to avoid the allergen. There are some natural remedies that can help alleviate the food allergy symptoms, including probiotics, digestive enzymes, vitamin B5 and following the GAPS diet.

The post Food Allergy Symptoms + 6 Ways to Reduce Them appeared first on Dr. Axe.

People living in India have relied on traditional Ayurvedic medicine practices to help heal everything from infertility to digestive issues for centuries. Luckily, in recent years — as complementary and alternative health practices have become more popular across the world — Ayurveda has been enjoying a major worldwide resurgence.

What is the aim of Ayurvedic treatment? The main goal of Ayurvedic medicine is to help people live long, healthy and balanced lives without the need for prescription drugs, complicated surgeries or suffering through painful diseases.

In fact, the very word Ayurveda means something in Sanskrit similar to “life span build on knowledge” or “science of life.”

What Is Ayurveda?

Ayurveda is a 5,000-year-old system of natural healing that’s truly stood the test of time. First originating in the Vedic culture of India, it’s actually considered by many to be the oldest healing science there is.

What is meant by “Ayurvedic medicine”? This system is based on the premise that there are three doshas: Vata, Pitta and Kapha. 

Another core belief of Ayurveda is that disease and illness originate from an imbalance in the three energies and a disconnect from nature.

What is your Ayurvedic body type? It depends on things like your body composition, metabolism, digestion and other factors.

Ayurvedic medicine and an appropriate Ayurvedic diet can help treat inflammatory, hormonal, digestive and autoimmune problems, including:

• Anxiety or depression
• Asthma
• Certain types of cancer
• Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease
• Dysmenorrhea (painful menstruation)
• Herpes
• High blood pressure or cholesterol
• Parkinson’s disease
• Perimenopausal problems
• Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and cramps

Ayurvedic herbs, practices and recommendations have also been shown to be helpful in:

• treating acne
• relieving chronic constipation or irritable bowel syndrome
• fighting chronic fatigue syndrome
• reducing pain
• lowering obesity risk

How Does Ayurvedic Medicine Work?

One of the core principles of Ayurveda, and what makes it stand apart from Western medicine, is that it takes into account “bio-individuality” and a patient’s entire body-mind-spirit connection. 

Rather than treating symptoms with drugs and ignoring the underlying problems, this system aims to look at the root causes of diseases and how they are related to a person’s thoughts, beliefs and lifestyle — in other words, a person’s “vital energy.”

What’s especially of interest to researchers studying traditional healing symptoms like Ayurveda is the power of the mind and its connection to the body. Since various studies have acknowledged that beliefs surely have the ability to change someone’s health, even after controlling for placebos, new health models are beginning to focus more on including the mind and its interaction with the body as a primary lever of curing diseases.

Better controlling stress seems to be one of the primary benefits of Ayurveda, according to a Western medical viewpoint. We know that chronic stress can ruin your quality of life, and lower stress levels are correlated with better health, longevity, weight management and overall happiness.

Other things that play a role in healing with Ayurvedic medicine include:

• nutrition
• natural herbs
• better sleep
• massage
• exercise

Doshas

Ayurvedic practitioners use a well-balanced diet, lifestyle changes, stress relief and various herbal remedies to heal all sorts of conditions by helping bring the body back into balance.

The overall belief is that disease and suffering result from an imbalance in the three doshas, which are ways of categorizing the body’s three basic energy types: Vata, Pitta and Kapha.

According to Ayurvedic medicine, everyone is unique in terms of his or her individual balance between these three energy (or personality) types. Everyone has some Vata, Pitta and Kapha to her or his personality, but usually one or two of the doshas are more dominant in a particular person — and this ultimately governs body type, appetite, energy levels, moods and tendencies.

Unlike the one-size-fits-all approach to Western medical treatment that fails to address the huge diversity among patients, Ayurveda takes into account individuality when prescribing holistic treatments.

What are the three Ayurvedic body types?

• Vata — Vata energy is often said to be like the wind. It’s primarily in charge of mobility, motion, circulation, breathing and other essential body functions. Vata types are known to be creative and energetic when they’re in balance but fearful, stressed and “scatter-brained” when they’re not. Physically, Vata types are usually on the thin side, have smaller bones and tend not to put on weight easily. They also might be cold a lot of the time, have delicate digestive systems and have dry, sensitive skin.
• Pitta — Pitta is the energy force that governs most metabolic activity, including digestion, absorption of nutrients, body temperature and energy expenditure. Pitta types tend to be smart, hard-working and driven (even competitive) when in balance but can be overly angry and aggressive when they’re not. They tend to have a medium build, be athletic, and are versatile in terms of putting on weight or muscle.
• Kapha — Kapha controls growth in the body and is considered the nourishing dosha. It supplies moisturize to the cells and organs and helps keep a strong immune system. Kaphas are known for being grounded, supportive, loving and forgiving when in balance — almost like a motherly type. However, they can also be lazy, insecure, envious and sad when they’re not in balance.

The most important aspects of restoring balance of the doshas in Ayurveda are:

• Not letting one type become overly dominant and another to become ignored.
• Tuning in to the natural rhythms of your body.
• Bringing your lifestyle into sync with nature and its cyclical patterns. This includes lining up your activity level, food choices, sleep and so on with the time of day, seasons and for women even their menstrual cycles.
• Restoring a healthy circadian rhythm (aka your “internal clock”), which benefits everything from your hormones to appetite.

What is an Ayurveda test?

In order to help rebalance your doshas, an Ayurvedic practitioner will take your medical history, check your vital signs, like your pulse and reflexes, examine your body, look inside your mouth at your gums and tongue, and speak to you about your sleep and relationships.

All of these factors help the practitioner first determine your primary dosha, then figure out which aspects of the doshas might be out of balance — for example, if you’re overworking, under-sleeping or not consuming enough nutrients.

Benefits

1. Helps Lower Stress and Anxiety

Because stress is related to nearly every aspect of overall health, an Ayurvedic medicine practitioner might call for a number of different techniques used to naturally treat anxiety and depression symptoms, lower cortisol levels, and support balance of the body’s hormones or “energy.”

Stress-relieving techniques can include:

• meditation
• yoga
• breathing exercises
• homeopathy
• herbal treatments
• skin brushing
• visualization
• repeating inspirational mantras

Studies have found that transcendental meditation, a component of one branch of Ayurveda called Maharishi, helps lower symptoms of anxiety with regular practice. Pranayama, a series of various targeted breathing exercises, also helps calm nerves and results in better energy, restful sleep and improved hormonal function.

While yoga isn’t always necessarily included in someone’s recovery plan, it, too, offers well-documented benefits for reducing stress and anxiety.

Over the past several decades, efforts have been underway to help find non-pharmacologic therapies to relieve stress and anxiety. Ayurveda yoga has been shown to be a simple, low-cost and effective option for many people.

One large-scale review including findings from 25 trials showed significant improvements in signs and symptoms of stress and anxiety. Some researchers believe that Ayurveda may promote neuroadaptability, which is the ability of the nervous system to alter responsiveness over time to reoccurring stressors and stimuli. 

Other research shows that regular yoga practice can improve autonomic nervous functions by triggering neuro-hormonal mechanisms and suppressing sympathetic activity, also called the body’s “fight or flight” response. Several reports even suggest that gentle exercise and stretching are beneficial for physical health of cancer patients and can effectively fight free radical damage.

2. Lowers Blood Pressure and Cholesterol

Why is Ayurveda effective for lowering risk factors for heart disease? Studies have shown that an Ayurvedic eating plan and relaxation techniques can lower hypertension, inflammation and help reduce plaque buildup, even reversing the thickening of artery walls known as atherosclerosis in both healthy adults and those with a higher risk for heart disease.

An Ayurveda diet eating plan includes plenty of foods that support heart health, such as vegetables, legumes, herbs and spices.

Atherosclerosis is a slow, complex disease in which cholesterol, fats and other substances build up in the inner lining of an artery, forming plaque, which can lead to a heart attack or stroke. Thankfully, Ayurvedic techniques lower cholesterol naturally and naturally lower blood pressure.

3. Helps with Recovery from Injuries and Illnesses

Research supports the idea of the Ayurvedic concept of immune modulation and healing. By targeting inflammation, which is the root of most diseases, Ayurvedic medicine can help lower pain and swelling, improve blood flow, and fight inflammatory conditions like arthritis and fibromyalgia.

A 2011 study published in the Journal of Clinical Rheumatology found that after comparing classic Ayurveda, prescription drug treatment with methotrexate and a combination of the two in a double-blind, randomized trial, all groups were comparable at healing symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis in adults over a 36-week period. Adverse effects were also fewer in the Ayurveda-only group, which experienced significant improvements and no side effects or drug interactions.

Ayurveda is also especially helpful in detoxing the body using various herbs, teas, healthy foods and plenty of rest. Certain practices also increase circulation and liver function — for example, Abhyanga is the practice of rubbing the skin with herbal or essential oils to increase blood flow and help draw toxins.

Ayurveda practitioners might also prescribe various herbs that help lower cortisol, such as holy basil or ashwagandha.

Additionally, some research suggests that Ayurvedic medicine may support immune function in a way that helps people overcome viruses and infections, potentially even serious illnesses.

4. Promotes a Nutrient-Dense, Antioxidant-Rich Diet

Ayurvedic medicine promotes a mostly plant-based diet filled with a variety of real, whole foods. While each person’s eating plan depends on body type and needs, Ayurvedic diets for the three different dosha types all include various fresh herbs, spices, teas, vegetables, healthy fats, high-antioxidant foods and protein.

General dietary guidelines of Ayurveda emphasize consuming fresh, hot and easy-to-digest foods, while taking into account several variations that depend on someone’s ancestry, customs and traditions. For example, Ayurveda practitioners consider social, geographic and climatic variables when prescribing an eating plan to balance the doshas.

In coastal areas, cooling and detoxifying fermented foods are common. For example, pickled, probiotic-rich foods are prescribed to help with digestion and temperature regulation.

In other regions, and during colder parts of the year, healthy fats and hot foods are emphasized more to help warm the body and promote better circulation.

5. Can Help with Weight Loss or Maintenance

While fast weight loss isn’t necessarily the primary goal, Ayurvedic medicine can help someone shed excess weight naturally using stress reduction, inclusion of certain foods and even essential oils for weight loss.

A 2009 study conducted by the NutriHealth Systems Center in New Delhi, India, found that adjusting someone’s healthy diet to take into account individual food preferences and needs helped participants lose weight effectively. This is likely because Ayurveda promotes compliance and believes that a diet should be balanced, practical and easy to follow.

Among the 200 subjects, 27.5 percent were Vatta with lean body types, 41.5 percent were Pitta with medium body types and 31 percent were Kapha-dominant with larger body types. At the beginning, Kapha and Pitta people weighed more than Vatta people.

After the three months of therapy, the Pitta group lost the most weight. The decrease in all measurements was higher in Pitta and Dapha people than in Vatta individuals, and the diets based on Ayurvedic constitution proved to be useful in promoting weight loss for those who needed it.

6. Lowers Inflammation

Ayurvedic medicine rests on the assumption that a combination of a poor food choices, bad digestion, not enough rest or sleep, and insufficient air (vaayu) inhaled cause oxidative stress and inflammation. This results in an imbalance in metabolism — in other words in the three doshas.

The focus of Ayurvedic healing looks at using various ways of reducing inflammation with hopes of regulating the heart and circulatory system, digestive tract, and the means of elimination of wastes. People are prescribed a combination of herbal treatments, antioxidants, exercise that is gentle but boosts metabolism and circulation, and a combination of phytochemicals from natural herbs.

By addressing many factors, including stress, individual food intolerances, overstimulation and a lack of nutrients, many people experience lower levels of inflammation and increased energy and healing. Studies also show that Ayurveda can support metabolic health and lower incidence of type 2 diabetes. 

Researchers have found that one benefit of Ayurveda is the belief that one herb (such as the Ayurvedic herbs shilajit, gilroy, gymnema sylvestre or haritaki) or one drug alone cannot cure the imbalance of doshas for everyone. Therefore, in most of the cases, Ayurveda practitioners recommend a combination of herbs and plants or staple foods for different inflammatory treatments.

A good example is the ancient recommendation for an herbal formulation of beneficial turmeric in combination with black pepper.

Studies have found this mixture together increases the bioavailibilty of beneficial compounds, reduces toxicity tied to accumulation of heavy metals and speeds healing. 

7. Helps with Hormonal Balance

People have turned to Ayurveda to balance hormones naturally, conceive, and have a healthy, natural pregnancy or menstrual cycle for thousands of years.

Studies have even shown that various therapeutic effects of Ayurveda have been effective in helping to treat sub-fertility due to polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), a common endocrine disorder in women of reproductive age, resulting from insulin resistance and hormonal imbalances.

One found that using essential oils to balance hormones, herbal treatments and lifestyle changes daily for a six-month period resulted in 85 percent of the female patients successfully overcoming PCOS and 75 percent of the patients being able to naturally conceive.

Ayurveda treatment regimens have also helped women for centuries overcome:

• absent periods (amenorrhea) or infrequent menstruation
• irregular periods
• infrequent or no ovulation
• multiple immature follicles
• increased levels of male hormones
• thinning hair
• excess facial and body hair growth
• various symptoms of PMS, including acne

Is Ayurveda Safe?

Is Ayurvedic banned in USA? No, it’s considered a complementary and alternative system of medicine.

Considering Ayurvedic medicine has been practiced for thousands of years, it’s generally considered to be very safe. However, there is some concern over the risk of toxicity when using certain Ayurveda formulations and herbs, which are not closely regulated and may possibly contain harmful substances like heavy metals.

It’s important to find a reliable Ayurvedic practitioner who has completed formal training, especially if the practitioner recommends herbs or other natural medicines for you to try. Always purchase preparations from a reputable source.

Keep in mind that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not regulate Ayurvedic products and states that some may be “potentially harmful” due to contamination, such as with lead and mercury.

To prevent adverse effects, don’t use Ayurvedic medicine to postpone seeing a conventional health care provider. Talk to your doctor about any Ayurvedic products you intend to use if you take medications.

For more information on finding a practitioner who has credentials, see the NCCIH fact sheet for credentialing, licensing and education.

Final Thoughts

• Ayurvedic medicine is an ancient Indian medical system that is based on natural and holistic approaches to promoting physical and mental health. Today it’s considered a complementary/alternative practice in countries such as the U.S.
• What does Ayurveda practice? It takes into account bio-individuality and a patient’s entire body-mind-spirit connection. According to Ayurvedic medicine, everyone is unique in terms of his or her individual balance between three energy (or personality) types called doshas.
• Ayurvedic practitioners use a well-balanced healthy diet, lifestyle changes, stress relief and various herbal remedies to treat all sorts of conditions by helping bring the body back into balance.
• This system may help treat issues such as arthritis, diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, hormonal imbalances, autoimmune conditions, anxiety or depression, allergies, fatigue, and high blood pressure and cholesterol.

The post What Is Ayurveda? Benefits, Doshas & Treatment appeared first on Dr. Axe.

Uncomfortable and unattractive, oral thrush is both painful and problematic. It can easily be passed from one person to the next before oral candida symptoms even begin to appear. To make matters worse, there are also drug-resistant strains of candida that cannot be treated with antifungal medications.

But guess what? There are safe, natural and proven ways to help treat thrush. By strengthening the immune system, embracing fermented foods and using beneficial essential oils, you can not only treat oral thrush, but also help prevent it.

What Is Oral Thrush?

An overgrowth of  the yeast Candida albicans in the lining of the mouth causes thrush. It is perfectly normal for candida to live in the mouth, and in normal amounts, it remains harmless. However, when it accumulates, it can spread to the roof of the mouth, gums, tonsils and back of the throat — creating symptoms such as creamy white lesions, redness and even bleeding.

If left untreated, oral thrush — also called oral candidiasis or oropharyngeal candidiasis — weakens the immune system and allows more serious diseases to take hold.

Oral thrush is communicable, meaning it can be passed from one person to another. Pregnant women can pass thrush to their newborn babies during birth, children can get it from sharing toys with other children, and adults can pass it back and forth through the saliva.

When healthy adults and children are diagnosed with oral thrush, an antifungal medication is commonly prescribed or recommend. Antifungal medications do have some unwanted side effects, however, such as the potential to cause liver damage and affect estrogen levels. They may also cause allergic reactions and drug interactions.

In addition, antifungal creams and medications only treat the symptoms and do not address the environment that allows candida to flourish.

If the candida fungus is resistant to the medication — which is common in adults with weakened immune systems and a prime example of our modern problem of antibiotic resistance — the drug called amphotericin B may be prescribed.

Amphotericin B is an antifungal medication that is added to an intravenous fluid that drips through a needle or catheter in the vein for two to six hours once a day. It can cause serious side effects, including fever, fast breathing, blurred vision, fainting, vomiting and changes in heartbeat.

It should only be used for the treatment of life-threatening fungal infections. However, people with weakened immune systems — which can be due to stress, medications and illnesses — are prescribed a stronger medication like amphotericin because of drug-resistant microorganisms that have grown in the body.

Luckily, there are natural and safe ways to treat candida overgrowth and, specifically, oral thrush. The most important element is to eliminate the underlying cause of thrush in your diet or medications.

Instead of relying on antibiotics, use all-natural and powerful essential oils, like oil of oregano, that have antibiotic and antifungal properties. It is also important to restore the body’s pH balance and boost the presence of good bacteria with probiotics and fermented foods.

Symptoms

Oral thrush typically develops suddenly, and the following symptoms may become more serious and noticeable with time:

• Creamy white lesions in the mouth — they can be on the tongue, roof of the mouth or on the inner cheeks. These lesions may be painful or even start to bleed when agitated by the teeth, food or a toothbrush.
• Oral inflammation
• Pain
• Loss of taste
• Erosion of tooth enamel
• Oral mucus

Breastfeeding infants and mothers can pass the infection back and forth from the mother’s breast to the baby’s mouth. During pregnancy, a woman with a vaginal yeast infection may also pass the fungus to her infant during delivery, causing the baby to develop oral thrush.

Infants with oral candidiasis may show signs of irritability and fussiness. They may also have trouble feeding.

If a woman’s breast becomes infected with candida, she may experience red, itchy and sensitive nipples; a shiny or dry areola; and stabbing or unusual pain deep within the breast and nipples.

In severe cases, the lesions may spread beyond the mouth, moving through the esophagus and into the stomach. This is called candida esophagitis, and it may cause difficulty swallowing and gastrointestinal bleeding.

Your body may also show signs of a metabolic reaction when candida and toxins are released. Symptoms that may be experienced during a candida cleanse include:

• impaired brain function
• headache
• fatigue
• dizziness
• bloating
• gas
• sweating
• sinus infection
• skin breakouts
• flu-like symptoms

These signs typically clear up within seven to 10 days. When the candida leaves your body, you will feel more energized and focused.

Causes

1. Weakened Immune System

A weakened immune system is at the root of what causes thrush. This is why it commonly affects babies and the elderly.

Although it is normal for the candida fungus to live in the mouth, skin and digestive tract, stress, certain illnesses and medications can disturb the healthy balance of fungi, bacteria and microorganisms in the body, causing candida overgrowth.

Diseases and health conditions that damage or destroy the immune system make you more susceptible to infection. HIV/AIDS, for instance, destroys cells of the immune system, as do other inflammatory and autoimmune conditions.

In fact, there was an increased incidence of oral thrush during the 1980s because of the escalation in HIV infections and the AIDS epidemic. This, along with a more widespread use of immunosuppressive medications and therapies, have contributed to the problem.

2. Medications

Certain medications, such as birth control pills, corticosteroids and antibiotics, disrupt the balance of microorganisms in the mouth.

Birth control pills can adversely affect the body, leading to a candida infection. Some women find that birth control pills instigate yeast infections and allow candida to take root. A study involving 153 patients that was conducted in Italy found that oral contraceptives may influence the recurrence of candidiasis.

According to the study, patients with recurrent candida overgrowth were more likely than the control group to have used birth control pills in the year before evaluation, to have used antibiotics in the last month and to have a higher number of lifetime sex partners, which increases the risk of candida vaginitis.

Corticosteroid inhalants that are commonly used by people with asthma may also be problematic because they increase the risk of developing candida in the mouth.

In the last decade, there has been ample scientific evidence for the immune dysfunction associated with antibiotic use and the reduction of healthy probiotics. Overuse of antibiotics kills both the good and bad bacteria in the body, allowing candida to flourish.

Probiotics are the good bacteria or flora that live in the digestive tract. These bacteria, yeasts and molds make up 70 percent to 85 percent of the immune system and help us to break down foods and gain nutrition from them.

3. Cancer Treatments

Cancer patients have an increased risk of candida infection because the disease and treatments, such as radiation and chemotherapy, weaken the immune system — allowing the bad microbes to spread and inhabit the body.

A 2005 study published in the Journal of Infection found that invasive candidiasis is a common and serious complication of cancer and cancer treatments. Thirty-three percent (74 out of 224) of patients who were being treated for cancer had active candida pathogens and confirmed diagnosis of invasive candidiasis.

4. Diabetes

People with untreated or uncontrolled diabetes have large amounts of sugar in their saliva, encouraging the growth of candida. Because candida is a type of yeast, and sugar feeds yeast, it is clear that people with diabetes are at a greater risk for developing oral thrush.

According to a study published in the Indian Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism, diabetic patients are more susceptible to infections because the hyperglycemic environment causes immune dysfunction.

5. Dentures

Sugars and bacteria can build up on dentures, allowing for candida to thrive and overpower the good bacteria in the mouth, especially if the person has taken too any antibiotics in the past or has a diet high in sugar and refined carbohydrates. It is important that people with dentures take good care of them — cleaning them properly every day.

Plaque accumulation on dentures may lead to a buildup of microorganisms and candida overgrowth.

Natural Treatments

Cinnamon

Studies have shown that people who include cinnamon into their diets generally suffer from less candida overgrowth than those who don’t. According to a Brazilian study, of the many health benefits of cinnamon, one is its anticandidal compounds that can be effectively utilized for the control of thrush.

Unsweetened Cranberry Juice

Research published in Pathogens and Disease investigated cranberry juice and extracts for their effects on oral candida. The study authors found that cranberry possesses anti-adhesion agents that help prevent candida activity.

Fermented Vegetables

Fermented vegetables strengthen the immune system and boost microflora in the body. Kimchi, pickles and sauerkraut provide the body with probiotics and help restore the balance of bacteria in the mouth and body.

Regular consumption of fermented vegetables also improves the immune system.

Warm, Starchy Vegetables

Vegetables like sweet potatoes, yams, peas, mung beans, lentils, kidney beans, butternut squash, carrots and beets are able to support the spleen in clearing candida from the body.

Cultured Dairy

Adding cultured dairy and probiotic foods to your diet, like goat milk kefir and probiotic yogurt, can effectively kill the candida in the body by boosting probiotics and helping restore the balance of bacteria.

Coconut Oil

Coconut oil has antimicrobial properties, and the combination of lauric acid and caprylic acid found in coconut oil kills off harmful candida through ingestion and topical application. A 2007 study published in the Journal of Medicinal Food found that coconut oil was active against species of candida at 100 percent concentration compared to fluconazole, a common antifungal medication prescribed to patients with candida overgrowth.

Coconut oil pulling is one of the best ways to promote a healthy mouth. According to the Indian Journal of Dental Research, oil pulling detoxifies the oral cavity and creates a clean, antiseptic environment.

Simply swish one to two tablespoons of coconut oil in your mouth and between your teeth for 10–20 minutes, making sure that you don’t swallow any of the oil because it contains bacteria and toxins. Spit out the oil in the trash, and immediately rinse your mouth out with warm water and brush your teeth.

Foods to Avoid

Processed and refined, sugary foods create the environment that candida and other diseases need to survive. Even fruit and natural sugars, like honey and maple syrup, should only be eaten in small amounts.

A study published in the Journal of Reproductive Medicine found that eliminating excessive use of sugary foods brought about a dramatic reduction in the incidence and severity of candida overgrowth. The study involving 100 women was undertaken in an attempt to gain insight about the role of dietary sugar ingestion in the pathogenesis of this type of infection.

Alcohol is another substance to avoid in order to treat or prevent oral thrush. Alcohol weakens the immune system and allows for the growth of candida.

Natural Antibiotics

• Raw Garlic — The allicin in raw garlic is a powerful antifungal, antibiotic and antiviral, making it one of several effective natural thrush treatments. Take one clove of raw garlic per day, and use an organic raw garlic supplement to fight infections. Topical garlic paste has been shown to help treat oral candidiasis as well.
• Oil of Oregano — Oregano oil has antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal, antiparasitic, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that can inhibit candida biofilms. Take 500 milligrams or five drops daily for no more than 10 days at a time.
• Colloidal Silver — This beneficial alkaline and antiviral agent supports and strengthens the immune system in the fight against candida overgrowth. Take one to two tablespoons daily to fight infections.

Milk Thistle

Milk thistle supplements help cleanse your liver from prescription medications, such as steroids, birth control pills and antibiotics. It also helps the body detoxify environmental pollution, heavy metals, and the remnants of chemotherapy and radiation — all factors that lead to a weakened immune system.

In addition, silymarin, a supplement derived from the seed shells of milk thistle, has displayed in anti-candida activity in studies.

Vitamin C

Ascorbic acid, aka vitamin C, shows promise in inhibiting candida, and we know that vitamin C is a huge immune system booster. Take 1,000 milligrams of vitamin C twice daily to boost the adrenal glands and restore the immune system.

Caprylic Acid

Because caprylic acid acts as a natural yeast-fighting agent, it’s believed that it can penetrate the cell membranes of candida yeast cells and cause them to die off, detoxifying the digestive tract and speeding up the healing process. A 2001 study found that caprylic acid reduces symptoms associated with viral and fungal infections like candida.

Essential Oils

• Clove — One of the most powerful applications of clove oil is its ability to fight oral thrush. A study published in Microbiology was conducted to see how clove oil fared against other antifungal treatments. The results suggest that clove was as effective as nystatin, a drug commonly prescribed to manage oral thrush (which comes with a slew of ugly side effects). Another study conducted in 2005 found that clove oil possesses strong antifungal activity against opportunistic fungal pathogens such as candida. Use two to three drops of clove oil with one tablespoon of coconut oil, and swish in the mouth for 20 minutes. Then spit it out, and brush your teeth.
• Oregano — Oregano oil acts quickly to kill bacteria, viruses and infections within the body. A 2010 study published in the Brazilian Journal of Microbiology notes that oregano oil has powerful antifungal activity against candida and may represent an alternative treatment for oral thrush. Add one to two drops of oregano oil to a glass of water. Do not use oregano oil internally for more than 10 days without taking a week off.
• Myrrh — Myrrh oil kills a variety of parasites and fungi, including candida. A 2012 study found that a combination of sodium fluoride present in toothpaste and herbal components such as myrrh, sage and chamomile exhibited antifungal activity, stimulated immune response and reduced inflammation. The herbal toothpaste effectively controlled candida in the mouth.

Baking Soda and Vinegar

For mothers with thrush on the nipples, apply white distilled vinegar and one teaspoon of baking soda diluted with eight ounces of water to the infected area in order to help inhibit candida.

Good Denture Hygiene

Because of the plaque and sugars that build up on dentures, it is important that they are cleaned thoroughly and properly. Leave dentures out of the mouth while sleeping. This gives the mucosa, the mucous membranes in the mouth, a chance to recover.

The dentures should also be soaked overnight in vinegar or a natural denture cleaner.

Pau D’arco Tea

Drink pau d’arco tea, or take a tablet to treat oral thrush. It has antifungal properties and naturally kills candida overgrowth in the mouth and vagina.

To make pau d’arco tea, put two cups of bark into four cups of boiling water, and let it sit for 20 minutes. Then remove the heat, and let it cool for at least an hour. Strain the water, and drink small portions throughout the day.

Conclusion

• An overgrowth of the Candida albicans yeast causes oral thrush.
• Oral thrush can be passed easily between people, including mothers and babies.
• The best way to reduce your risk of thrush is to maintain a strong immune system and reduce sugar intake to help limit the growth of candida in your body.
• Avoid processed, refined and sugary foods and alcohol.
• The top foods to help treat oral thrush include cinnamon, unsweetened cranberry juice, fermented vegetables, starchy vegetables, cultured dairy and coconut oil.
• Some supplements that can help in include garlic, oregano, colloidal silver, milk thistle, vitamin C and caprylic acid.
• Other potential natural remedies for oral thrush include essential oils like clove, myrrh and oregano; baking soda and vinegar; practicing good denture hygiene; and pau d’arco tea.

The post 18+ Natural Ways to Help Treat Oral Thrush appeared first on Dr. Axe.

Relentless itching, skin rashes, redness and blisters — these are the not-so-fun symptoms of scabies, a contagious skin disease caused by an infestation of the itch mite, Sarcoptes scabiei.

It’s estimated that more than 400 million scabies cases occur each year throughout the world! It’s spread through personal contact by relatives, sexual partners, schoolchildren, chronically ill patients and crowded communities.

Outside of the U.S., scabies is even a significant cause of morbidity.

If you’ve ever had scabies, you know just how annoying and disgusting they can be. The good news is there are home remedies for scabies and rash natural remedies that are not only effective, but help your entire skin health.

Let’s explore the symptoms and causes of scabies, along with the best natural treatments for this uncomfortable condition.

What Is Scabies?

Because it can easily spread from person to person, scabies has caused epidemics in hospitals, nursing homes and residential facilities. It has even become commonplace among the homeless, who often live and sleep in tight quarters.

According to a review published in Emerging Infectious Diseases, the reported prevalence of scabies among the homeless varies from 3.8 percent in shelter-based investigations to 56 percent among hospitalized homeless persons.

The scabies itch mites are tiny eight-legged female parasites that are just 1/3 millimeter long. They burrow into the skin and cause severe itching, worsening over night.

When beneath the surface of the skin, they produce a tunnel and begin to deposit eggs. Then the eggs hatch, and the mite larvae work their way to the surface of the skin.

This can be dangerous because the larvae begin to mature and spread to other areas of your body.

Then skin begins to itch because the body has an allergic reaction to the mites, their eggs and their waste. Scabies mites can only be seen crawling on the surface of the skin or on clothes and furniture with a magnifying glass or microscope, which can make diagnosis difficult.

There are medicated creams and oral scabies treatments that are proven to be effective — like this homemade turmeric antiseptic scabies cream. Sometimes the first treatment doesn’t work, and in the meantime, the mites continue to spread within the body and at home. Follow-up treatments are necessary, and informing close contacts is crucial to prevent the spread of infestation.

Natural remedies, such as cayenne pepper and tea tree oil, are proven to reduce pain and help eliminate a scabies infestation. In addition, there are also some important guidelines to prevent further infestation and keep your immune system functioning properly.

Scabies Symptoms

From the time of infestation, it takes about four to six weeks for scabies symptoms to develop, especially if you have never had scabies before. The most common scabies symptom is a skin rash with small red bumps and blisters that only affect specific areas of the body.

The itch mites actually feed on dissolved tissues, not blood, and the most common areas of distribution are the finger webs, wrists, underarms, abdomen, buttocks and groin. In infants and children, the most common sites of infection include the scalp, face, neck, palms of the hands and soles of the feet.

You may notice tiny red burrows on the skin and severe itching in that area. The need to itch may lead to frequent scratching, which increases the chances of developing a secondary skin infection.

It’s important that you contact your health care provider as soon you notice these sings and symptoms of scabies. Although many skin conditions are associated with itching and small bumps on the skin, including dermatitis and eczema, your doctor can help determine the exact diagnoses and begin treatment right away.

Causes

Direct skin-to-skin contact between 15–20 minutes is needed to transfer the scabies mites from one person to another. In fact, sexual contact is the most common form of transmission, which is why scabies has come to be considered a sexually transmitted disease. However, not all cases are transferred sexually.

According to a 2009 study published in Dermatologic Therapy, some other common predisposing factors of scabies contraction include:

• overcrowding
• immigration
• poor hygiene
• poor nutritional status
• homelessness
• dementia

Natural Treatments

1. Cayenne Pepper

Cayenne pepper benefits those with scabies because it can be used to alleviate pain associated with scabies. Cayenne contains capsaicin, a chemical that reduces pain sensations when applied to the skin.

Capsaicin can also relieve itching by desensitizing neurons in the skin. However, one study found that it can cause a burning sensation that 30 percent of patients experience when using capsaicin topically.

There are even claims that applying cayenne pepper to the skin can kill scabies mites. There are no studies to back up these claims, but many people dealing with scabies have attested to cayenne’s ability to kill parasites when applied topically.

One way to use cayenne is to add one cup to hot bathwater, sit in the bath until the water gets cold and then rinse your body. Make sure that the cayenne does not get into your eyes, as it may burn or sting.

You can also create a paste with cayenne and one to two drops of water. Apply the paste to visible burrows beneath the surface of the skin.

2. Tiger Balm

Tiger balm is a topical cream used to reduce inflammation and provide relief from muscle aches and pain. It works as an analgesic agent because it contains camphor and clove oil.

Tiger balm won’t kill the itch mites or cure the scabies infestation, but it will provide some relief during the waiting period after conventional treatment.

3. Anise Seed Oil

According to a scientific review published in “Herbal Medicine: Biomolecular and Clinical Aspects. 2nd Edition,” oil extracted from anise seeds display insecticidal activity. It can be used topically to treat scabies as well as head lice.

It’s not recommended that women who are pregnant use anise oil, however, the book recommends.

4. Neem Oil

Neem oil is known to kill scabies mites, and it prevents their ability to grow and breed. Neem also numbs pain and relieves itching, making it perfect to treat scabies symptoms as well.

A study conducted in India evaluated 814 patients with scabies who used a paste made from neem oil and turmeric for treatment. A cure was obtained within three to 15 days in 97 percent of the cases — plus, no toxic or adverse reactions were observed.

Researchers say that this is a safe and effective alternative treatment that is also cheap and easily available, which can be especially important when treating villagers or communities in developing countries.

5. Clove Oil

Clove oil has analgesic, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties. It can be used to dry up scabies blisters and rashes.

A 2010 study tested clove oil’s ability to treat scabies mites harvested from pigs and rabbits. Results of bioassays showed that clove oil was highly toxic against scabies mites, killing mites within an hour of contact.

A major component of clove oil, called eugenol, demonstrated levels of toxicity comparable to benzyl benzoate.

Combine 10 drops of clove oil with one teaspoon of honey and one teaspoon of coconut oil for skin relief. Rub it onto the area of concern twice daily.

6. Rosemary Oil

Rosemary oil uses and benefits include the potential power to stop the infestation of scabies. Rosemary oil also decreases pain and prevents the development of secondary infections.

A study conducted at Northeast Forestry University in China found that, when combined, rosemary and clove possess significant antimicrobial activity, which could help treat scabies symptoms.

7. Tea Tree Oil

Tea tree oil fights scabies mites and parasites when applied topically. It contains terpenoids, which are antimicrobial constituents that are able to heal scabies on top of and beneath the skin.

A study published in Archives of Dermatology found that tea tree oil, with the main active component being oxygenated terpenoids, has a potential role as a new topical treatment for scabies. The tea tree oil treatment was highly effective in reducing mite survival times when tested on a 20-year-old woman with crusted scabies.

Within three hours of collection, the scabies mites were placed in continuous direct contact with the tea tree oil product, and they began to die within five minutes.

An article published in Future Microbiology even suggests that tea tree oil may serve as an alternative therapeutic option, which is needed now more than ever because of emerging drug resistance to oral ivermectin and permethrin and the raise of concern regarding the future control of scabies, especially in severe cases and endemic areas where repeated community treatment programs are in place.

Many essential oils appear to help with scabies, and tea tree is certainly the one that’s been proven most effective in several studies.

Conventional Treatment

Scabies therapy first involves making the correct diagnosis. Scabies is typically diagnosed after the identification of a burrow, but it’s argued that any patient with a pruritic dermatoses (an itching skin condition) should be tested for a scabies infestation.

Definite diagnosis relies on microscopic identification of the mites, eggs or fecal pellets — 10 percent potassium hydroxide, ink enhancement, tetracycline fluorescence tests or mineral oils are used to illuminate or define the mites when being observed for diagnosis.

Medications:

Permethrin — 5 percent permethrin is known as the “gold standard therapy” for treating scabies. It’s a topical cream or lotion that’s applied from jawline to toes overnight for seven days.

It’s said to provide a greater margin of tolerability because of its low inherent toxicity and low percutaneous (inner organs and tissue) absorption. Some side effects from permethrin include mild skin irritation and burning.

Ivermectin — This is a more recently developed treatment for scabies. It’s known as an effective oral alternative that has been useful in crusted scabies, patients who are bed-ridden and in institutional outbreaks.

The single oral dose of ivermectin, 200 micrograms per kilogram of body weight, is a well-tolerated and very effective treatment. However, there are some side effects, including headaches, dizziness, muscle pain, nausea and diarrhea. Ivermectin is valued for its use as a simple treatment for close contacts who may not even show signs of scabies infestation.

A 2013 study published in Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases discussed the case reports of drug resistance in human settings when ivermectin was used for mass drug administration for institutional and community settings. This can be problematic when therapies suitable for use in interventions to control community outbreaks are needed.

Although several studies note that these medications are proven to be effective therapeutics, treatment failures still occur. This is due to application error, failure to treat the face or scalp, forgetting to treat all close contacts, and failure to reapply medication when needed.

The medications may also leave behind fomites and continue to grow and spread. This is why patients should be followed for at least four weeks to confirm that the infestation is cured.

It’s important that hygienic measures are taken after treatment — all clothes and bedding must be washed, and furniture must be vacuumed thoroughly.

Close contacts must also be treated, even if they don’t show symptoms. This is especially important in scabies cases resulting from close physical or sexual contact that lasted at least 15 minutes.

Precautions to Take When You Have Scabies

1. Treat All Family Members and Close Contacts

Most scabies recurrences are because of reinfection from untreated contacts. It’s so important that your loved ones receive scabies treatment, too, and don’t forget about your pets!

Although cats and dogs are affected by their own distinct species of mites, they can still contract human scabies, which causes a temporary skin reaction and keeps the mites in your home. Contact your veterinarian about pet treatments for scabies.

2. Wash Bedding and Clothing

Immediately wash the bedding and clothes that you used or wore since the time of contracting scabies. If you aren’t sure of the exact time, then be safe and wash all of your worn clothes and bedsheets.

The laundry cycle alone may not kill the mites, so make sure your drier is on the hottest setting possible.

3. Vacuum Furniture and Carpet

After vacuuming the furniture and carpet at home, make sure to throw away the vacuum bag because it may contain mites. Using a steam cleaner with borax powder can be even more effective. 

4. Stay in One Small Room or Area

The less you touch, the less you have to disinfect after the scabies has been treated. Do your best to keep your home and environment scabies-free by limiting your exposure to furniture, materials and people.

If you can’t wash your clothing or towels right away, put them in a tied plastic bag. Scabies mites cannot survive off of the body for longer than three days.

5. Avoid Scratching Itchy Skin

Scratching your itchy skin does not actually provide relief because the problem is still there. In fact, scratching the infested area only makes matters worse because it can spread the mites across your body and increase your risk of a secondary skin infection.

6. Try to Minimize Stress

Stress can increase the severity of itchiness, which will lead to scratching and the possibility of skin infections. For this reason, it is important to minimize stress.

Try stress relievers, such as relaxing exercises like yoga or taking a long walk. Read a chapter or passage from your favorite book, or practice meditation.

Dealing with a scabies infestation can be difficult to handle emotionally and mentally, but try your best to stay positive — there are cures, but it takes some time.

7. Eat a Healthy Diet

When dealing with scabies, it’s important that your body’s immune system is ready to work hard. Sticking to detoxifying and anti-inflammatory foods is beneficial as you rid the body of these harmful mites and deal with the side effects of medications.

Anti-inflammatory foods also help to relieve swelling, itching and discomfort. Some of the best foods to add into your diet include:

• leafy greens
• beets
• walnuts
• blueberries
• salmon
• coconut oil
• bone broth

Conclusion

• More than 400 million deal with scabies each year, so it’s a common, uncomfortable problem. However, there are steps you can take to treat and prevent the spread of this disease.
• You can use cayenne pepper, tiger balm, anise seed, as well as neem, clove, rosemary and tea tree oils, to treat scabies, but you’re not done if one of these seven home remedies for scabies works. You still need to make sure the skin condition doesn’t spread and the mites are killed.
• If you follow the seven steps above following treatment — treat close contacts, washing bedding and clothing, vacuum furniture and carpet, stay in one area, avoid scratching, minimize stress, and eat a healthy diet — you can get rid of scabies completely.

The post Scabies: 7 Natural Treatments That Work Fast appeared first on Dr. Axe.

Passing kidney stones is known to be extremely painful, which is why they can easily put someone out of work, ruin his or her week, and make it hard to go about normal activities. Of course, you want to diminish your kidney stone symptoms quickly because they’re agonizing and uncomfortable to live with, but perhaps even more importantly is because untreated kidney stones can at times cascade into worsened kidney function all together.

Kidney stones are one of the most common disorders of the urinary tract, and every year more than a million people visit their doctors in the U.S. alone in order to find help relieving their kidney stones. It’s estimated that one in 10 people will deal with a painful kidney stone at one point in her or his life.

What Are Kidney Stones?

What exactly are kidney stones? They’re small, hard deposits that develop inside of your kidneys made from materials you naturally always have present in your body. They can wind up blocking the normal flow of urine, causing pain in your bladder as it swells and urine to become abnormally concentrated with minerals as they accumulate and can’t be passed.

While most kidney stones won’t leave behind permanent damage once they’re passed, some can. Unresolved kidney stones can develop into kidney damage and even kidney failure in some cases, which is considered a very serious and life-threatening condition that requires emergency surgery.

If you suspect you’re experiencing kidney stone symptoms — like pain, throbbing and trouble going to the bathroom — read on to learn some of the best kidney stone natural remedies, plus how to best prevent them from returning in the future.

Kidney Stone Symptoms

The kidneys are bean-shaped, fist-sized, small organs that sit in the middle of your back below your rib cage. They’re important organs for draining waste, excess fluids and urine from the body. The kidneys connect to the urinary tract, including the two ureters, bladder and urethra.

Amazingly, every single day they filter through the body’s blood supply to produce about one to two quarts of urine, which is eliminated through the tube called the urethra.

Kidney stones symptoms can include:

• Intense pain along the kidneys (on your side and back below your ribs) — pain can come and go, varying in intensity and lasting between five and 15 minutes (especially when going to the bathroom)
• Lower back pain that can spread down below the kidneys to your groin and between the thighs
• Cloudy, bloody or foul-smelling urine
• Discoloration of urine, including brown or pink colors
• Persistent urge to urinate more than normal, sometimes with not much urine actually coming out
• Indigestion, nausea and vomiting (especially when feeling intense pain)
• Fever and chills when the problem worsens

Sometimes stones won’t be painful until they reach a certain size or start moving around in your kidneys. Who’s most at risk for experiencing these symptoms? Statistics show that people likely to deal with kidney stones include:

• Men (more men than women tend to have kidney stones for reasons that aren’t totally understood)
• Middle-aged people, especially those from about 30–50 years old
• White Americans are more prone to kidney stones then African-Americans are
• People taking medications, including diuretics, which can lead to dehydration
• Anyone who has a history of chronic urinary tract infections, gout, hyperthyroidism and trouble digesting minerals normally
• People who are inactive

Natural Ways to Treat Kidney Stones

For the majority of people, passing kidney stones successfully happens over the course of waiting a few days (although likely with lots of pain in the process), but there are several ways you can speed this removal up and then prevent kidney stones from returning. Depending on your situation, you may need nothing more than to take pain medication and drink lots of water to pass a kidney stone. In other instances — for example, if stones become lodged in the urinary tract or cause complications — surgery may be needed.

Here are some natural ways to treat and prevent kidney stones.

1. Stay Hydrated

Not drinking enough fluids can put you at risk for kidney stones, especially if you exercise a lot, live in a hot climate, drink diuretic beverages and sweat a lot. Drinking enough water and plenty of hydrating fluids (like herbal tea, sparkling water or fruit-infused water) is even more important if you have a sodium-heavy diet.

While fluid intake varies depending on your size, diet, location and how much you work out, try to drink about eight ounces every hour ideally.

2. Eat a Nutrient-Dense Diet

If you eat a generally poor diet — one low in nutrients, electrolytes, antioxidants, and a mix of carbs, healthy fats and appropriate amounts of protein — you’re at an increased risk for developing kidney stone symptoms. Eating a very salty or high-protein diet, above your actual protein needs or about 30 percent of your diet, can result in an increase of ammonia in the urine.

Focus on fresh foods, or “eating the rainbow,” in order to balance the body’s pH and prevent too much acidity.

Here are some of the top foods for helping prevent kidney stones:

• Fresh vegetables and fruit — Some research shows that people who follow a mostly plant-based diet, low in dairy products and meat, tend to have fewer kidney stones than people who eat lots of processed meat, packaged sodium foods and conventional dairy.
• Vitamin E-rich foods — Vitamin E helps balance levels of oxalates and other toxins in the body, while also preventing mucus membrane damage, thereby reducing the risk of stone formation.
• Magnesium and potassium-rich foods — Consuming plenty of magnesium and potassium can help balance calcium levels in the body and help prevent recurring kidney stones, so include foods high in these nutrients in the diet.
• Sprouted grains (as opposed to refined grain products) — Sprouting grains reduces their antinutrient content, making their nutrients more digestible.

On the other hand, here are some foods that can contribute to kidney stone symptoms:

• Sugary foods — There’s some evidence that a sugar-heavy diet can worsen kidney stones. Make sure to limit the amount of packaged sugary snacks you eat, sweetened drinks (especially if they’re carbonated), dairy and even some fruit if it seems to worsen your symptoms.
• Regular unsprouted grains or refined grains — Most grain products (including flour and products like cereal, bread, rolls, cake, etc.) can contribute to kidney stones because they have high levels of antinutrients, including phytic acid.
• Foods naturally high in oxalic acid — While all fruits and vegetables generally offer a variety of electrolytes and nutrients and can actually help treat and/or prevent stones, others can increase oxalate buildup in people prone to kidney stones.
• Processed meats and cold cuts — Processed meat can cause the body to excrete calcium, which means more is sent to the kidneys, where it can build up and form stones.
• High consumption of zinc foods — Some research has found that people who consume very high levels of zinc can increase their odds of having kidney stones.
• Too much vitamin C — While vitamin C has numerous benefits, too much might worsen kidney stones. Research suggests that more than three to four grams of vitamin C per day (such as taking high doses in supplement form) might aggravate kidney stones by contributing to oxalate buildup.

3. Get Regular Exercise

Exercise, especially weight-bearing exercises like strength training or various bodyweight exercises, is good for building bone strength and preventing demineralization of your skeletal system. On the other hand, being sedentary can cause bones to release more calcium into the blood, which increases the odds of it accumulating in the kidneys.

Sneak more exercise into your day by trying exercise hacks like walking to work, sitting on a stability ball and doing squats during commercials when watching TV.

4. Castor Oil Packs and Hot Compresses

Castor oil has special anti-inflammatory abilities that are useful for relieving pain associated with kidney stone symptoms, like cramping or muscle spasms in the abdomen. You can buy a castor oil pack or make your own by soaking a clean towel in pure castor oil, pressing it onto the kidneys and allowing it to seep into the skin.

Similarly, try pressing a hot compress over the kidneys several times per day to increase blood flow, relax tense muscles and help stones pass more easily. You can soak a towel in hot vinegar to make this even more effective for dulling pain, such as using a 50:50 mix of apple cider vinegar and water.

5. Supplements That Can Help Reduce Kidney Stones

Several supplements that are beneficial if you regularly develop kidney stone symptoms include:

• Magnesium: Balances other minerals in the body and prevents magnesium deficiency or electrolyte imbalances.
• B vitamins: B vitamins help reduce calcium and oxalates from accumulating. Take a daily B complex vitamin, especially one that contains at least 50 milligrams of vitamin B6.
• Antioxidant supplement or multivitamin containing vitamin E: Also useful for lowering inflammation and reducing calcium and oxalate buildup.
• Aloe vera juice/gel: Reduces crystallization of minerals within the urinary tract.
• Essential oils: Certain essential oils help the body detoxify itself of built-up heavy metals, toxins and access minerals.

Causes

Kidney stones are made of clusters of minerals, acids and salts in the body that bind to one another inside the kidneys, becoming lodged and sometimes blocking the urinary tract, giving you intense pressure and pain when you try going to the bathroom. Kidney stones form when your urine contains a high level of crystal-forming substances, while at the same time too little of the substances you need to break up crystals and flush minerals from the body. This perfect storm creates the ideal environment for kidney stone formation.

About 80 percent of kidney stones are the type known as calcium stones, which means calcium that’s normally present in the body combines with other substances (oxalates, phosphate or carbonate) to form an abnormally hard stone. In most cases, oxalates are the substance that calcium binds to, which we acquire from certain fruits and vegetables that naturally carry them.

While calcium stones are much more common, sometimes kidney stones can also be caused by the buildup of other acidic salts, such as uric acid. Besides calcium stones, other types of kidney stones include struvite stones, uric acid stones or cystine stones (the type most tied to hereditary factors).

Why does calcium build up in the body in some people? The main reasons that kidney stones can form include:

• eating a poor diet, especially one that’s high in oxalates
• taking synthetic calcium supplements, which aren’t always absorbed well
• dehydration
• genetic factors (if someone in your immediate family has kidney stones often, you’re more likely to develop them too)
• an abnormal pH balance, meaning the body becomes overly acidic
• having trouble with normal digestion, such as healing from gastric bypass surgery, having an inflammatory bowel disease or chronic diarrhea
• food allergies or sensitivities that can affect digestion
• electrolyte imbalances
• obesity
• medication or drug use
• nutrient and mineral deficiencies
• infections
• inactivity
• thyroid disorder (which can cause the thyroid to produce too much parathyroid hormone, which raises calcium levels)

Once a kidney stone forms, it can wind up attaching itself to sites that block the urinary tract, which is usually the primary reason for feeling such intense pain. For some people, struvite stones (the type that are “horn-shaped,” larger than calcium stones and usually more dangerous) form due to chronic urinary tract infections, which are more common in women than in men.

One reason urinary infections can keep developing and forming stones is due to a buildup of ammonia in the urine. Uric acid stones, a byproduct of protein metabolism, can develop in people who eat a very high-protein diet, those who are recovering from chemotherapy treatments or in rare cases because of genetic factors.

Sometimes the pain can subside, and therefore it might seem like the kidney stone dissolved on its own and is no longer an issue — however this can be problematic because that’s not always the case. In some cases, the blockage hasn’t actually been resolved even though pain has faded, and the kidney actually starts to shut down, which left untreated by a doctor can lead to permanent loss of function in that kidney within just a short period. A kidney stone can even rupture if it remains for too long, which is another cause kidney failure.

Final Thoughts

• With an estimated 10 percent of the population dealing with kidney stones at some point, there are few conditions more common. The reasons vary from genetics to diet, allergies, weight, dehydration, pH levels and more.
• No matter the reason, there are five main things you can do to curb your kidney stone symptoms and treat painful kidney stones: Stay hydrated, eat a nutrient-dense diet, get regular exercise, try castor oil packs and hot compresses, and add beneficial supplements.
• If you try these five kidney stone treatments, you can help relieve your kidney stone symptoms and prevent future stones from forming.

The post What’s Causing Your Kidney Stone Symptoms? Plus 5 Remedies That Work appeared first on Dr. Axe.

Astigmatism often begins early in life, unlike many other vision problems that develop later. In fact, most people are believed to have at least a small degree of astigmatism in one or both eyes.

Surprisingly, astigmatism seems to be tied to ethnic background. Asian and Hispanic people tend to have the highest rates, followed by Caucasians.

A slight astigmatism isn’t always a problem, however, and doesn’t necessarily change someone’s vision. You only need to see your doctor when the astigmatism becomes bad. Factors may include scarring in the eye or genetics.

Is astigmatism preventable, or can you lower your risk for developing one in any way? Experts think that genetics, uncorrected eyesight as a child, eye disease or an impact to the eye raise the odds of an astigmatism.

The most common treatments for astigmatism include early intervention to prevent vision from getting worse and glasses or contact lenses. In a small percentage of cases, specialists recommend LASIK surgery.

If you already have vision problems, or a family history of astigmatism, eat a nutrient-dense diet with lots of vitamins and antioxidants that protect the eyes.

What Is Astigmatism?

The definition of astigmatism is “a defect of an optical system (such as a lens) causing rays from a point to fail to meet in a focal point resulting in a blurred and imperfect image.”

In other words, vision problems that result from astigmatism are due to a “refractive error,” or how light hits the eye.

Astigmatism is not an eye disease, such as glaucoma, because the affected eye itself can be perfectly “healthy.” It’s also not usually age-related, as it can affect younger people who otherwise have no nerve damage, such as neuropathy due to diabetes, which often damages the eyes.

Astigmatism is due to nerve damage or other causes. Light reflects and focuses abnormally, so images are not as crisp or clear as they could be.

Causes and Risk Factors

Here’s an overview of how an abnormal eye shape and eye function cause astigmatism:

• The astigmatism causes light not to focus to a single point on the part of the eye called the retina. This causes eyesight that is irregular and distorts images. The American Academy of Ophthalmology states, “Normally, the cornea and lens of the eye are smooth and curved equally in all directions, helping to focus light rays sharply onto the retina at the back of your eye. However, if your cornea or lens isn’t smooth and evenly curved, light rays aren’t refracted properly.”
• The retina usually focuses light in one single, small location to produce clear vision. However, due to the shape of an eye that has an astigmatism, many focal points occur. These focal points can develop in the front of the retina or behind it, or sometimes both, all of which cause blurriness.
• Most people with astigmatism have an abnormally shaped cornea that is not symmetrical like a “normal” eye is. Eyes that produce clear vision have a mostly uniform, round shape, much like a ball or sphere. Astigmatic eyes are shaped “more like a football.” There’s a bigger curve in one part of the eye than the other. This is called “corneal astigmatism.”
• The steepest and flattest meridians of an astigmatic eye are the “principal meridians.” The steeper/flatter they are, the more that vision will be affected.
• Some people have “lenticular astigmatism,” an abnormal shape of the eye’s lens, rather than the cornea. This is less common than corneal astigmatism.

What causes either the cornea or lens to become abnormally shaped in some people, causing an astigmatism? Root causes and risk factors for astigmatism include:

• Genetics. Most people have some degree of astigmatism, which is usually present at birth and is believed to be hereditary.
• An eye injury, which can cause scarring in the eyes and abnormal development of eye muscles.
• Scarring on the cornea (located at the front of the eye) for other reasons, such as healing poorly after eye surgery. Cases of severe astigmatism are sometimes due to surgical procedures that involve cutting the cornea, such as those made by laser to correct nearsightedness (myopia). Other causes can be scarring after operations carried out on the extra-ocular muscles to correct squinting or headaches.
• Accidents that don’t directly involve the eyes, such as car accidents or impacts that cause whiplash, can also trigger astigmatism in some patients. The way the eyes work can change if injuries affect the neck muscles that are connected with the extra-ocular muscles.
• Keratoconus, a disease that causes a gradual thinning of the cornea. Over time this can make your normally round cornea more cone-shaped.

Do habits like reading in dim light, using a computer screen for many hours or watching too much TV raise your risk for an astigmatism? While there’s debate over how much these habits may get worse or contribute to common vision problems, most experts think it’s “a myth” that they cause astigmatism.

What does seem likely is that these factors will make symptoms like eye strain or even headaches worse.

Common Astigmatism Symptoms

The most common signs and symptoms of astigmatism include:

• Blurred vision, especially around the edges of an object. Blurred vision can affect both near and distant vision.
• Double images or distorted images. When an astigmatism is bad, some people describe seeing as if they are viewing images through glass that has an irregular surface.
• Headaches, especially when squinting often.
• Eye strain or eye fatigue.
• Inability to see both near and distant objects without squinting. This can cause pain in the head or near the eyes after reading, being on a computer or trying to focus.
• Blurring and pain usually become worse when reading small print and toward the end of the day, after trying to focus for many hours.
• Letters or shapes can appear thin or thinner than normal, compressed, stretched, or tilted. You might see better in some directions than others (vertically, horizontally or diagonally) or recognize some letters or shapes more easily than others (O versus X).

Nearsighted vs. Farsighted: How Are They Different?

According to the Wilmer Eye Institute at John Hopkin’s University, nearsightedness (also called myopia) is a condition that makes it difficult to see objects far away. Farsightedness is the opposite — it means difficulty seeing images close up.

• Nearsightedness is a very common condition that affects tens of millions of Americans, even many from a very young age. An elongation of the eyeball that occurs over time, distorting the normal “sphere” shape of the eyeball, usually causes the condition. It’s estimated that about half of those with myopia (nearsightedness) also have astigmatism and that the conditions are linked.
• Farsightedness (also called hyperopia) is the opposite of myopia. A shortening of the eyeball usually causes it.
• Astigmatism can be due to either nearsightedness/myopia or farsightedness/hyperopia. Sometimes both can contribute at the same time, depending on the specific slope and shape of the eye.
• Both nearsightedness and farsightedness cause changes in how the cornea and retina receive and reflect light from the environment. This results in blurred areas, termed “refractive errors,” trouble reading text and so on.

The diagnosis will be one of three primary types of astigmatism, depending on nearsightedness or farsightedness:

• Myopic astigmatism: Caused by nearsightedness, with both primary meridians of the eye being myopic (although sometimes to different degrees).
• Hyperopic astigmatism. One or both principal meridians of the affected eye are farsighted.
• Mixed astigmatism. One principal meridian is nearsighted, but the other is farsighted.
• Most astigmatisms are a “regular corneal astigmatism.” The shape of the cornea causes blurred vision. The principal meridians of the eyes are “regular” because they are 90 degrees apart (perpendicular to each other, as opposed to abnormally aligned or “irregular”). The prevalence of myopic astigmatism is believed to be much higher than hyperopic.

Conventional Treatment

Slight astigmatisms are very common and usually don’t need to be corrected until they start causing vision changes. Symptoms are normally treatable using contact lenses or surgery. However, the condition itself is chronic and therefore usually lifelong.

Patients who think they might have astigmatism should always see an ophthalmologist, a medical professional who specializes in vision and treating the eyes, in order to discuss treatment options.

• Treatments such as special eyeglasses or contact lenses that can help correct sight in those with vision problems will require a medical diagnosis and prescription.
• Usually no invasive lab tests are needed to make a diagnosis. However, other tests like taking close-up photos of the affected eyeball will likely be performed.
• The patient reads rows of increasingly smaller letters of the Snellen Eye Chart. Many ophthalmologists also diagnose a decline in vision using refraction and retinoscopy tests or computerized devices that find the slope/shape of the eyes.
• Refractive surgery using a laser rarely is performed. This laser surgery changes the shape of your cornea, but the patient must have a healthy retina and limited scarring for it to work. LASIK surgery is one procedure in which a surgeon slices a flap into the cornea. Then a laser removes some tissue from beneath the sliced area to reshape the cornea and avoid light scattering.

3 Natural Treatments for Astigmatism

1. Early Detection and Keeping Up with Doctor Visits

Even children can have symptoms of an astigmatism, so it’s important to schedule an annual eye exam to detect one early and correct vision.

The American Academy of Ophthalmology encourages vision screening in schools or at regular checkups.

Untreated astigmatism can become worse over time and contribute to problems like regular headaches, fatigue and lethargy. It can even cause difficulty concentrating and learning at school.

Treat the problem in younger patients as early as possible. Untreated vision problems are linked to poor performance in school and sports.

2. Eye Glasses and Contact Lenses

Although many patients today prefer to wear contact lenses over glasses, astigmatism can be tricky to correct using contacts. If you already wear glasses for another vision problem (such as nearsightedness or farsightedness), ideally your lenses also will be corrected for your astigmatism.

Sometimes it takes some trial and error using different prescription glasses or contact lenses. Not every patient reacts well at first to contact lenses or even glasses for astigmatism.

A special type of soft contact lens called soft toric is most often used to treat astigmatism symptoms. In the past only rigid contact lenses (RGPs, also called GP lenses) were used. However, newer toric lenses usually feel more comfortable.

Two of the most commonly used brands of toric contact lenses for treating astigmatism include Acuvue Oasys or Air Optix, both of which can be found online with a prescription or at most doctors’ offices. However, toric lenses may be appropriate for people with mild to moderate cases but not severe astigmatism. For severe cases, rigid contacts or glasses may be the best long-term option.

Astigmatism lenses can be thick and uncomfortable in some cases. The eye doctor will choose a contact lens for the patient that balances the ideal correction level with what the patient can stand.

There is no official prescription for a certain degree of astigmatism, so it’s really up to the eye specialist to decide which type of lenses will be best.

3. Preventing Worsening by Taking Care of the Eyes

Most experts think that astigmatisms can not be prevented. Symptoms can become worse if the eyes are damaged or vision is not treated.

Reasons that astigmatism can progress include:

• Eating a poor diet that causes inflammation or health conditions, such as diabetes, blood pressure changes, etc.
• Exposure of the eyes to lots of UV light or blue light from electronic devices, which can make eye strain or headaches worse. Wear sunglasses or a hat while your face is in the sun to protect your eyes.
• Lack of nutrients in key vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that support eye health.
• Other factors that cause faster aging like a sedentary lifestyle, toxicity, drug use or smoking, etc.

Be sure to take care of your eyes by eating a nutrient-dense diet. Vitamins for your eyes include:

• Lutein and zeaxanthin
• Antioxidants, like vitamin C, vitamin E and vitamin A
• Zinc
• Omega-3 fatty acids
• Other antioxidants, like carotenoids, lycopene, glucosamine, etc.

All of these help stop free radical damage; prevent macular degeneration; lower the risk for cataracts; reduce glaucoma, eye fatigue, flare and light sensitivity; and make tissues in the eyes and other areas stronger.

Some of the best foods that provide eye vitamins include:

• carrots
• leafy greens
• cruciferous vegetables
• citrus fruits
• sweet potatoes
• green beans
• eggs
• all berries
• papaya
• mango
• kiwi
• melon
• guava
• corn
• red bell peppers
• peas
• nuts
• seeds
• wild-caught seafood
• grass-fed meat
• bone broth
• pasture-raised poultry

Precautions

See a doctor if your eyesight changes or if you have headaches you think are tied to your vision. Prompt doctor visits are important.

If your astigmatism gets worse quickly, you may be experiencing the start of a more serious eye disease. This can include keratoconus, when the center of the cornea thins and develops a cone-shaped bulge.

It’s also best to rule out another problem, like age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma, cataracts, scarring or neuropathy.

Conclusion

• Astigmatism is a common vision problem that results from a “refractive error,” or how light abnormally hits the eye. Causes include an eye shape that is not symmetrical and round. Scarring in the eye or damage to the cornea and retina are other reasons.
• The most common signs and symptoms include blurred vision, seeing double images or distorted images, and suffering from headaches, squinting and eyestrain.
• This condition runs in families, can develop in childhood, often affects those with other vision problems (like nearsightedness) and tends to get worse when left untreated.
• Natural ways to treat it include wearing contacts or glasses, early intervention to lower symptoms, and preventing damage to the eyes that can come along with age or an unhealthy lifestyle.

The post What Is Astigmatism? Symptoms, Causes & Remedies appeared first on Dr. Axe.

This is a guest post by Brandi Irwin, owner of Fortress Landscaping Design based in Middle Tennessee.

Sustainable practices are a growing trend not only in the United States, but all over the world. Long term, using sustainable practices will help prolong our natural resources that, as a result, will help the environment, our future and our health.

Sustainable Landscaping

Sustainable landscaping can be described as creating an attractive environment that is equal with the surrounding climate and requires less resources, such as fertilizer, pesticides and water. Sustainable landscape should be functional, cost-efficient, environmentally friendly, aesthetically pleasing and able to maintain.

The following are some sustainable practices that you can incorporate into your landscape/lawn:

1. The Use of Rain Barrels: Stored rain water from downspouts that can be saved for future use, such as irrigation for the landscape/lawn.
2. Using a Compost Barrel or Pile: Recycle vegetable/fruit peels, food scraps, grass clippings, leaves or decomposing material (paper towels). After the material has decomposed, it will create organic rich soil for your garden, landscape or flower pots.
3. The Use of Solar Panels: Solar panels are devices that are energy producers, creating electricity from natural sunlight. The best placement for solar panels would be the south-facing side of your home or structure.
4. The Usage of Plants with Microclimate Control: The amount of sun, wind and moisture that hits your home can be controlled with plants. For example, in the winter the north and northwest winds increase; therefore, planting evergreen trees to deflect the winds will greatly help with energy costs. Another example — plant deciduous trees on the south/southeast side of your home to allow shade in summer (cooling effect) and allow sun to penetrate through the trees in winter (heating effect).
5. Use Native Plants: Find plants adaptable to your area to reduce maintenance and the use of natural resources, such as water.
6. Plant a Vegetable/Herb Garden and Fruit Trees: Dr. Axe has posted about the benefits of vegetable gardens. If you can’t grow a garden, buy your food from a local source, such as from your local farmers market.
7. Use Natural Ways to Get Rid of Insects/Pests: Instead of using herbicides/pesticides, such as Roundup and other lawn chemicals, it is best to use natural products that you may have around your house. One example — a mixture of water, dried cayenne and jalapeño peppers (boil and filter) can be used to remove Japanese beetles.
8. Use Natural Fertilizers: Some natural fertilizers to use are decomposed manure and compost. After it has decomposed, till into soil.
9. Plant Flowers: Planting flowers will help sustain our environment, such as assisting with bee shortage and pollinating fruit trees and other plants.
10. Plant a Green Roof: Green roofs usually have anywhere from four to 12 inches of soil depending on the design. They hold various plant life, including vegetable/herb gardens, native grasses, shrubs and small trees. Some of the benefits of green roofs are that they reduce water run-off, naturally cool the building, and save energy and cost.

Benefits of using Sustainable Practices in your Landscape/Lawn

1. Good for People and the Environment: Helps people, animals and wildlife. Prevents erosion, purifies our air and cools the Earth.
2. Saves Money in the Long Run: The use of solar panels, rain barrels and plant placement will save a lot of energy and cut your energy bills!
3. Reduces the Use of Energy and Maintenance: By using native plants and grasses, it will in turn reduce the need for maintenance, material and labor.
4. Health Benefits: The benefits of raw vegetables are vast, including providing an array of vitamins and minerals that boost all aspects of health.

Some other health benefits? Sustainable practices eliminate chemical usage and use more natural resources that are not harmful to our health.

Also, using sustainable practices helps people physically and mentally stay active. For example, growing your own vegetable/herb garden is a good character builder that is beneficial for the whole family to get outside and to be active and educational!

The use of sustainable practices is a growing trend that will have a positive influence on our health and environment. That will meet the needs of the present without leaving a lasting effect for the future.

The post 10 Ways to Go Green with Your Lawn Care appeared first on Dr. Axe.

Homeopathy is an alternative medicinal practice that uses the smallest possible amount of an active ingredient in order to help treat a disease, even if this same ingredient can contribute to an illness in the first place. Another way to put this concept: “like cures like.”

Studies indicate that an estimated 5 million American adults and 1 million children used homeopathy in the last recorded year.

While there’s been much debate in the medical community over the years regarding whether or not homeopathic medicines work, many patients are able to find relief from illnesses like food or seasonal allergies, insomnia, fatigue and so on using very small doses of natural, safe homeopathic solutions.

What Is Homeopathy?

Homeopathy is defined as the treatment of disease by very small doses of natural substances that in a healthy person would produce certain symptoms of that same disease. This type of natural medicine developed in Germany more than 200 years ago.

Besides “like cures like,” a second tenant that most homeopaths follow is the “law of minimum dose.” It’s the notion that the lower the dose of the medication, the greater its effectiveness. In fact, some homeopathic products are so diluted and low in strength that no molecules of the original substance remain.

The post Homeopathy: How It Works + 5 Major Benefits appeared first on Dr. Axe.

If you’ve been going through a tough time and find it hard to relax, a therapist or your doctor may have suggested you try a technique called progressive muscle relaxation (PMR).

The idea behind PMR is that a physically relaxed body cannot feel very anxious. Similar to deep breathing exercises and meditation practices, PMR is a natural way to calm the body and cope with the effects of stressful thoughts and feelings.

What Is Progressive Muscle Relaxation?

Progressive muscle relaxation is a calming practice that involves tensing or tightening certain muscles and then purposefully relaxing them.

The goal of this “mind-body technique” is to release muscular tension that is often associated with stress. Not only can tension in the body contribute to aches and pains, but it can also create a vicious cycle by worsening feelings of stress.

What is progressive muscle relaxation used for? Most often it’s recommended for people dealing with:

• symptoms tied to chronic stress
• anxiety symptoms
• insomnia and other sleep issues
• migraines and tension headaches
• gastrointestinal issues
• cardiovascular issues made worse by stress
• various types of chronic pain, including neck and back pain
• seizure symptoms thought to be triggered to stress

As a therapeutic technique, PMR was first developed by an American physician named Edmund Jacobson in the early 1900s. This is why it’s also sometimes called Jacobson’s relaxation technique.

Jacobson believed that muscle relaxation reduced anxiety and that physically relaxing the body led to a calmer mind.

Is progressive muscle relaxation the same as mindfulness? The two have some similarities but are overall different.

Mindfulness is a mind-body practice that involves bringing your awareness to the present moment, often by focusing on the breath and physical sensations in the body. It’s considered a form of self-regulating and is intended to happen with an attitude of openness, acceptance and curiosity.

PMR focuses more on relaxing muscles rather than keeping awareness on the breath or another focal point. Studies show that both can lead to increased relaxation.

Benefits

1. Helps Combat Stress and Decreases “Fight or Flight” Response

Eliciting a “relaxation response” using PMR counters the body’s “fight or flight” stress response and can help manage symptoms tied to chronic stress and anxiety. Studies have shown that this technique can lead to reduced symptoms tied to:

• generalized anxiety
• phobias, such as autophobia
• panic attacks
• lack of concentration
• loss of sense of control
• poor self-esteem
• stress brought on during pregnancy and postpartum

PMR works by promoting activity of the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS). The PNS has the opposite effects of the sympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for feelings associated with stress.

The PNS is often referred to as the “rest and digest” system because it reduces the body’s stress response, also known as the fight or flight response.

This means that activation of the PNS can be used to counteract symptoms tied to a heightened stress response, including:

• headaches
• digestive issues
• high blood pressure and other cardiac issues
• insomnia
• seizures
• pain

One way in which activation of the PNS benefits the body is by controlling release of “stress hormones” (glucocorticoids, such as cortisol and adrenaline) that have effects on many bodily functions, including blood pressure, blood sugar levels, heart rate and blood flow to skeletal muscles.

A number of studies have found positive effects on perceived levels of anxiety, depression and quality of life in patients with cardiac issues, such as pulmonary arterial hypertension, and even cancer after practicing PMR.

2. Can Help Manage Pain

Studies have found that, following PMR treatments, individuals typically report decreased levels of stress, tension and pain. Like meditation and breathing exercises, PMR has been shown to improve health outcomes by offsetting the negative health effects of chronic stress, including increased inflammation, and reducing symptoms of stress-related health problems.

3. May Help Improve Sleep

Because it’s a relaxation technique, PMR has been shown to lead to improvements in mood, stress, pain and general well-being, and therefore it’s not surprising that it can also make it easier to sleep. By calming a racing mind and reducing physical pain, this mind-body practice is beneficial for making people feel calmer and sleepier.

One study found that practicing PMR daily over the course of six weeks decreased patients’ fatigue levels and improved their sleep quality, and this difference was observed to be statistically significant.

How to Do It

How do you do progressive muscle relaxation? If you’re new to this practice it can be helpful to listen to a progressive muscle relaxation script, which you can find on YouTube, through online programs or in recordings available at your local library.

If you prefer to practice PMR without a script, follow these basic steps to get started:

1. First find a place to practice that is quiet and comfortable and where you won’t be distracted. You can practice either laying down or sitting in a comfortable chair.
2. During progressive muscle relaxation, you focus on tensing one group of muscles as you breathe in and then relaxing those muscles as you breathe out. Most experts recommend that you follow a specific order as you move through different muscle groups.
3. Start with the lower extremities, and end with the face, abdomen and chest.
4. Inhale and tighten/contract one muscle group while you hold for five to 10 seconds. Breath out/exhale and release the tension in that muscle group.
5. In between breaths, try to relax for about 1o seconds before continuing to the next muscle group. Slowly work your way through all muscle groups so your entire body feels softer and calmer.
6. Notice how your muscles and body feel differently while releasing tension. You can also focus on taking deep, slow breaths and may choose to use visualization and imagery to make the practice more effective.

To help you relax different muscle groups, University of Michigan Medicine recommends using these techniques:

• Hands: Clench them.
• Wrists and forearms: Extend them, and bend your hands back at the wrist.
• Biceps and upper arms: Clench your hands into fists, bend your arms at the elbows and flex your biceps.
• Shoulders: Shrug them. (Raise toward your ears.)
• Forehead: Wrinkle it into a deep frown.
• Around the eyes and bridge of the nose: Close your eyes as tightly as you can. (Remove contact lenses before you start the exercise.)
• Cheeks and jaws: Smile as widely as you can.
• Around the mouth: Press your lips together tightly.
• Back of the neck: Press the back of your head against the floor or chair.
• Front of the neck: Touch your chin to your chest.
• Chest: Take a deep breath, and hold it for four to 10 seconds.
• Back: Arch your back up and away from the floor or chair.
• Stomach: Suck it into a tight knot. (Check your chest and stomach for tension.)
• Hips and buttocks: Press your buttocks together tightly.
• Thighs and lower legs: Clench them hard and point your toes downward.

How often should you do progressive muscle relaxation?

Ideally you should practice every day or most days of the week. It only takes about 10 to 20 minutes per day to see results in most cases.

For an even bigger impact, you can choose to combine progressive muscle relaxation with other mind-body and therapeutic approaches, such as diaphragmatic breathing (deep breathing technique that uses the diaphragm, a large, dome-shaped muscle located at base of the chest and lungs that helps control the breath) and systematic desensitization (a form of behavior therapy in which counterconditioning is used to reduce anxiety associated with a particular stimulus).

Like PMR, there’s evidence showing that practicing slow, controlled breath work can help mitigate symptoms tied to chronic stress and anxiety — such as muscular tension and chronic pain, trouble sleeping, high blood pressure, etc.

Counterconditioning, used in systematic desensitization, refers to changing someone’s mood through positive pairings and associations. PMR is used during systematic desensitization treatments because it helps the body remain calm while someone works on removing a fear response associated with a phobia.

Risks and Side Effects

PMR is a “non-pharmacological method” of promoting relaxation and is generally thought to be very safe, considering it’s noninvasive and requires nothing but your own body. However, in some cases it can trigger anxiety in certain people who have trouble controlling their emotions.

If you find that this practice makes you feel uncomfortable or leads to panic, consider trying another approach instead or working with a professional therapist as you get started.

Also be sure not to aggravate physical pain if you’re currently injured and healing. Pay attention to how your body feels after the practice, and consider avoiding certain types of stretches if they worsen symptoms.

Conclusion

• Progressive muscle relaxation is a technique that involves intentionally tensing and releasing various muscles groups to generate feelings of tension release and relaxation.
• Benefits of PMR include reducing stress, anxiety, headaches, pain, high blood pressure, digestive issues and insomnia.
• You can practice anywhere by laying down or sitting while you focus on one muscle group at a time.
• If you’re new to this practice, it can be helpful to listen to a progressive muscle relaxation script, watch a video online or work with a professional. You can also combine PMR with other mind-body practices, such as deep breathing, meditation and systematic desensitization.

The post How to Practice Progressive Muscle Relaxation for Stress & Pain Relief appeared first on Dr. Axe.

According to endocrinologists from the VU University Medical Center in Amsterdam, two of the most important hormones to focus on for natural weight loss and energy balance are ghrelin and leptin. Many experts call ghrelin and leptin the “hunger hormones” because they work to either increase or decrease our appetite.

Although certain weight loss programs involving taking artificial hormones — such as those that use human chorionic gonadotropin to increase fat-burning — can be dangerous, there are safe and effective steps we can take to manipulate our natural hunger hormones and help us reach our weight-loss goals.

It might feel like the cards are stacked against you when it comes achieving sustainable weight loss, but it’s important to understand that we have a great deal of control over our hormones, as they reliably respond to dietary, exercise and stress-related changes we make. We don’t need to resort to unnatural, harmful methods to lose weight fast and reach our ideal weight.

Instead, we need to focus on setting up a healthy food environment that encourages nutrient-dense eating, managing stress, moving our bodies consistently and making smart food choices long-term.

What Is Ghrelin?

Ghrelin is an appetite-increasing hormone, given its name because it is considered to be a “growth hormone-releasing peptide” (or GHR). Since ghrelin makes you feel hungry, it makes sense that levels tend to rise before meals and fall after meals.

How is ghrelin secreted? It’s made in the stomach and fluctuates throughout the day depending on your intake of food. As a peptide hormone, it’s produced by ghrelinergic cells located in the gastrointestinal tract, which communicate with the central nervous system, especially the brain.

Once produced in the stomach, rising levels of ghrelin sends a signal to the brain that causes you to feel hungrier. Regarded as the only appetite-stimulating hormone in humans, ghrelin is one of the main contributors in giving people the “munchies” and potentially causing them to overeat.

What is ghrelin’s effect on growth hormone and metabolism? Ghrelin and related growth hormone secretagogues increase body weight and fat mass. One way they do this is by triggering receptors in a part of the brain called the arcuate nucleus, which controls leptin and insulin sensitivity.

Ghrelin can sometimes override signals sent from the GI tract to the brain that tells you to stop eating, such as those caused by gastric distension (pressure placed on the stomach as it expands). Ghrelin also seems capable of contributing to cellular changes, including alterations in endothelial cells lining the blood vessels.

According to research published in the journal Addiction Biology, ghrelin reduces fat utilization and is a vital component of the food reward cascade controlled by the brain’s pleasure-reward system. Ghrelin levels are negatively correlated with weight, so dieting (especially severe calorie restriction) tends to increase ghrelin output.

Ghrelin has been found to play a major role in inducing short-term feeding and long-term weight gain, but the hormone also has other roles, including influencing: 

• Regulation of growth hormone and insulin secretion
• Glucose and lipid metabolism
• Gastrointestinal motility
• Blood pressure and heart rate
• And neurogenesis (the process in which neurons are generated from neural stem cells)

In addition, more ghrelin is released directly in response to stressful situations, explaining why so many people have the tendency to eat when they’re stressed. By perpetuating the stress cycle, ghrelin contributes to weight gain by maintaining a person’s stress levels and causing strong urges to snack or overeat.

How to Reduce Ghrelin

How can you lower your ghrelin levels? Here are six steps to take in order to reduce ghrelin and gain control of your appetite:

1. Don’t Overly Restrict Calories (AKA Attempting “Crash Diets”)

Levels of ghrelin will increase if you’re consistently under-eating, which is one reason why dieting makes most people feel pretty hungry. On the other hand, overeating causes ghrelin levels to decrease, but this shouldn’t be the goal either (unless you’re trying to gain weight).

The fact that being in a calorie deficit makes you feel hungrier is one of the most challenging things about attempting to diet for weight loss. (It’s important to know how many calories to eat per day to reach your goals.) Fortunately, however, it’s been found that certain types of dietary habits can help to control ghrelin — including eating lots of nutrient-dense, unprocessed foods and eating enough fiber and protein.

Ghrelin levels should go down significantly following a meal, and stay down for about three hours or more before you begin to start feeling hungry again. If you notice yourself getting hungry soon after eating, or frequently wanting to snack throughout the day, consider if you’re eating enough calories in general.

It’s possible you can afford to increase your intake of protein, healthy fats or fiber from complex (unrefined) carbohydrates if you’re severely restricting one of these macronutrients. Eating enough healthy food to sustain your activity level and feel energized will prevent you from entering or staying in “starvation mode” that will only increase your appetite.

2. Eat Enough Protein

Even when someone is restricting their calorie intake, eating a higher proportion of protein foods can help control their appetite.

A 2006 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that focused on the effects of a high-protein meals on postprandial ghrelin response states that “The most satiating macronutrient appears to be dietary protein.” When study participants ate a high-protein breakfast, they experienced decreased postprandial ghrelin concentrations more strongly over time compared to when they ate a higher-carbohydrate breakfast.

The researchers found evidence that the high-protein meals had an effect on glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptides, which mediated the ghrelin response. In addition, the high-protein meals were more effective at slowing gastric emptying, which prolongs feelings of fullness.

Other studies point to similar findings about how protein may contribute to weight loss: Protein tends to ward off hunger, prevent loss of muscle mass during dieting, increases secretion of satiety hormones, increases the thermic effect of food digestion and improves glucose homeostasis.

3. Exercise, Especially High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

For years, generic weight-loss advice given by most health care providers focused on low-to-moderate aerobic activity, such as walking or running 30–60 minutes every day. Research from the past decade continues to report that ghrelin increases (and therefore appetite goes up) and also that leptin decreases after these types of exercises, making this notion more debatable.

Instead of doing “steady-state cardio,” HIIT workout training is one of the best ways to manage hunger and eating behavior to lose belly fat and to manipulate ghrelin and leptin to improve the odds of weight loss. HIIT training can also increase muscle mass, which means when you do eat more, you’re better able to use the extra calories without gaining fat.

In a study conducted by the University of Bath (U.K.), various hormone levels in individuals who participated in a form of interval training (i.e., 30-second sprint on a cycle ergometer controlling for low or high intensity) showed that:

• Total ghrelin concentrations declined after high-intensity sprinting and were significantly lower after 30 minutes of recovery than they were pre-exercise, suggesting that interval training can not only contribute to weight loss, but help curb appetite long-term. 
• Growth hormone (attributed to weight loss and muscle gain) concentrations were greater in the high-intensity than in the low-intensity group, suggesting that HIIT training affects other hormones in addition to ghrelin.

The Journal of Sports Science published similar results regarding high-intensity exercise and blood soluble leptin receptor (sOB-R) concentrations. Findings link low levels of sOB-R to obesity because having less receptors to receive the hormone prevents leptin from attaching to cells, which negates its hunger-curbing and weight-loss effects.

After evaluating 18 healthy male volunteers who completed either a low-intensity or high-intensity exercise routine, researchers discovered that:

• At 24 hours post-exercise, the high-intensity group had significantly higher sOB-R concentrations and significantly lower leptin concentrations than the low-intensity group; this suggests that interval training is more effective at not only increasing the cell’s sensitivity to leptin, but also the overall blood levels of the hormone.
• Additionally, leptin levels at 48 hours post-exercise were also significantly lower for the high-intensity group, suggesting that HIIT training has long-term effects on weight loss that are beneficial long after your workout.

These are just two examples from a myriad of research studies that prove high-intensity interval training is not only most effective at curbing appetite and controlling weight gain in the short term, but also in the long run.

4. Get Good Sleep (Early to Bed, Early to Rise, So You Can Work Out!)

Getting enough sleep (usually about 7–9 hours per night for most adults) is associated with better management of ghrelin and leptin. Sleep deprivation was shown in one study involving 12 young men to be associated with an increase in ghrelin levels, appetite and hunger compared to when the men slept for longer periods (up to 10 hours a night). 

To best maximize your exercise routine (especially if your workouts are intense), and best control ghrelin and leptin, research shows that it’s a good idea to exercise first thing every morning if possible. According to a study published in the Journal of Physiology, exercising on an empty stomach may improve glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity, which are both tied to ghrelin production. 

In addition to contributing to type 2 diabetes prevention and weight loss, exercising early in the day is known to help regulate appetite, especially curbing the munchies and the desire to eat unhealthy snacks. One study published in the Asian Journal of Sports Medicine found evidence that “morning exercise may cause greater levels of satiety in comparison with afternoon exercise.”

5. Practice Stress Management

In addition to making dietary changes and getting enough exercise, it’s important to turn your attention to the level of stress you’re dealing with. The journal Obesity Reviews recently published an article evaluating the effects of combined exercise, sleep and stress management on hormones.

Researchers from the study concluded that “Behavioral interventions could offer a practical, cost-effective method for reducing or stabilizing ghrelin levels after initial weight loss to improve weight loss maintenance.” 

In other words, the stress cycle must be stopped to first reach your weight-loss goals and then to effectively maintain a healthy weight over time. Chronic stress is likely to increase your appetite, especially for “comfort foods,” and contribute to other unhealthy habits like overeating, snacking, not making time to cook at home, possibly drinking more alcohol, skipping sleep and remaining more sedentary.

One suggestion is to wrap up your day on a positive note by practicing Tai Chi or yoga in the evenings, which helps set the tone for a good night’s sleep and also preps your body for your morning workout the following day. 

There are many ways to help manage stress, but ultimately different techniques will work for different people. Meditation, prayer, writing in a journal, spending time outdoors (try forest bathing), sustaining positive relationships, getting enough rest and downtime, and eating an anti-inflammatory diet are some of the best ways to keep your stress levels down and reverse the vicious weight-gain stress cycle.

6. Avoid “Highly Palatable” Processed Foods

Foods that have been refined and processed to taste exceptionally great are usually high in calories and also often low in nutrients. These are called “highly palatable” foods by obesity and nutrition experts (or sometimes “ultra-processed foods and drinks”, or UPFDs), because they tend to cause overeating due to how they activate reward centers in the brain.

Normally when we eat a meal, chemical/hormonal messages are sent from our digestive tract to our brain and various other parts of our body to tell us we’ve had enough and stop eating. But research suggests that when we have the opportunity to eat highly processed, calorie-dense foods, this feedback system doesn’t work so well.

Essentially, it seems that the human brain is “hard-wired” to seek out and enjoy calorie-dense foods, so including many of them in your diet interferes with appetite regulation.

What types of foods tend to increase appetite and risk for overeating the most? Examples include:

• Cakes, donuts, cookies, pastries, brownies and other sweets
• Soda and sweetened beverages
• Pizza
• White bread, rolls, wraps, pita, etc.
• Chocolate, candy and ice cream
• Salty snacks like chips, pretzels and French fries
• And fried foods

It’s easy for us to overconsume calories and remain “hungry” when we eat foods high in refined grains, added sugar, added fat and synthetic ingredients, especially when these tempting attributes are combined together.

Eating a whole-foods diet on the other hand — including one with lots of veggies, fruit, proteins like eggs or fish, healthy fats like avocado or coconut, etc. — is the best way to naturally regulate your appetite since these foods are high in volume, high in fiber, lower in calories, higher in nutrients, and overall make you more capable of turning down your desire to keep eating.

Ghrelin vs. Leptin

Ghrelin and leptin work together to facilitate feeding, energy balance and weight management. Leptin is a hormone that is made by fat cells that decreases your appetite. It essentially does the opposite of ghrelin, which increases appetite. Both hormones play a role in body weight maintenance. Within the brain, the same area that holds the receptors for ghrelin (called the ghrelin/growth hormone secretagogue receptors, or GHS-Rs) also holds the receptors for leptin.

Because the body produces leptin based on body fat percentage, weight gain causes your blood leptin levels to increase. The opposite is also true: Weight loss will result in decreased levels of leptin (and often more hunger pangs).

Unfortunately, overweight and obese people are generally believed to be “leptin-resistant,” which contributes to further weight gain and difficulty losing excess weight because they require more food to feel “full” or satiated. However, there is still a lot to learn about how leptin-resistence and increased ghrelin may contribute to obesity. 

To summarize ghrelin’s main roles, here are three points to remember:

1. Ghrelin is a fast-acting hormone that plays a vital role in increasing appetite, meal initiation and contributing to weight gain.
2. Ghrelin works with another hormone called leptin to manage body weight. Leptin usually mediates long-term regulation of energy balance because it suppresses appetite and food intake, thereby inducing weight loss (although not in the case of obesity).
3. Both hormones can be controlled naturally, primarily through making smart dietary choices, exercising, sleeping enough and stress management.

Precautions

While it’s recommended to take steps to naturally balance levels of ghrelin or leptin, it’s not advisable to follow weight loss programs that involve the use of artificial hormones.

Manipulating hormones in order to boost weight loss is not a new concept. In the 1950s, medical and scientific communities began suggesting artificial hormone therapy to help people lose weight. Topping the list of these weight loss programs is one of the most controversial and hotly debated gimmicks: the use of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG), a hormone produced during pregnancy that helps release a woman’s fat stores in order to support the growth of her baby.

HCG stimulates the hypothalamus to start fat metabolism, which provides nutrients for the baby. Remove the baby from the equation and those fat-turned-nutrients need somewhere to go. 

The HCG diet supposedly helps men and women achieve “miraculous” weight loss through a combination of taking HCG and following a diet restricted to just 500–800 calories per day. Basically, this is a starvation diet. 

The theory behind this misguided use of hormone therapy is that the extra adipose tissue (fat) released in the bloodstream supplements the calories people aren’t consuming each day, helping dieters lose up to two pounds per day. \The HCG diet is not safe and doesn’t work long-term, as most people will regain the initial weight that they lose.

Final Thoughts

• Ghrelin is an appetite-increasing hormone that makes you feel hungry before meals, but decreases after meals so you feel more satisfied.
• Ghrelin works with another hormone called leptin to manage hunger, food intake and body weight. Ghrelin increases hunger, while leptin (secreted by fat cells) decreases hunger.
• Both hormones can be controlled naturally, primarily through making smart dietary choices, exercising, sleeping enough and managing stress.

The post Ghrelin: How to Control This ‘Hunger Hormone’ in Order to Lose Fat appeared first on Dr. Axe.

If you have dry, itchy, scaly, painful, red patches of skin that crop up, there’s a chance you’re suffering psoriasis symptoms.

Psoriasis is a persistent autoimmune condition that causes red, raised plaque to form on the surface on skin, which can be both irritating and embarrassing. Considered to have no definitive cure, it usually comes and goes in cycles over the course of someone’s life, often causing scaly, uncomfortable skin flare-ups at times when immune function is low or stress levels are high.

It’s believed to affect more than 3 percent of the U.S. population — or more than 5 million (and up to 7.5 million) adults at any time.

Doctors normally use medications and prescription creams to help lower the appearance of red psoriasis patches on the skin, but these don’t actually solve the underlying problem or autoimmune condition itself.

Below the skin’s surface, psoriasis can cause skin cells to multiply at a very rapid pace, sometimes up to 100 times faster than in someone who doesn’t have this condition. This causes a high amount of skin cells to eventually reach the outer layer of the skin and die off on the surface (as all aged skin cells do), leaving behind a raised, red plaque covered with white/silver scales.

Experts still don’t know of any way to end this cycle from happening for good, although research shows that improving immunity and helping treat sensitive psoriasis skin topically using natural, gentle ingredients can ease symptoms. You might also be surprised to know how better managing stress and your routine can help reduce your psoriasis as well. For example, studies show that more than 70 percent of people having psoriasis flare-ups report recent emotional trauma.

Because psoriasis is an autoimmune disorder, it takes a variety of lifestyle changes and remedies to bring about significant relief, especially if the autoimmune disorder has become severe and also causes other symptoms, such as joint pain and fatigue. Thankfully, if you follow a psoriasis diet and make other lifestyle changes, you can help manage these symptoms.

Most Common Psoriasis Symptoms

Plaque psoriasis is the most common type of this condition, but there are also several other forms of psoriasis. All types cause discomfort in the skin in one way or another, although when symptoms first appear and which parts of the body they impact most depend on the specific form.

Psoriasis symptoms appear on the skin of the knees, elbows and scalp most often. Less frequently some people also develop psoriasis symptoms on their stomaches, backs, hands and feet.

There are several forms of psoriasis, all of which have their own hallmark symptoms:

• Plaque psoriasis (the most common form) causes red, scaly skin patches. Compared to other forms, plaque psoriasis tends to develop even if someone wasn’t severely ill beforehand or suffering from any noticeable autoimmune disorder symptoms.
• Nail or scalp psoriasis affects the nail beds and head, causing dryness and detached nails.
• “Mild psoriasis” causes less severe psoriasis symptoms than other forms and might be mistaken for eczema or even dandruff. This type is usually the most receptive to remedies using natural skin care products.
• “Severe psoriasis” is a term usually given to painful forms of psoriasis, including pustular and guttate psoriasis.
• Pustular psoriasis causes pus-filled, inflamed blisters on the skin that are usually painful.
• Inverse psoriasis causes bright red, shiny lesions that appear in areas where skin folds (including the armpits, groin and under the breasts).
• Erythrodermic psoriasis causes the red skin scales to peel off in “sheets,” which can lead to severe sunburns or infections when someone is not careful about protecting skin or leaves it untreated. This type is usually caused by a withdrawal effect after stopping psoriasis medications.
• Guttate psoriasis is the type most common among children and teens. This usually causes small red bumps or patches that can be triggered by low immune function, stress or infections, such as strep throat and tonsillitis.

The most common symptoms of psoriasis, especially those seen in people with plaque psoriasis, include:

• plaques of red skin, sometimes also covered with a crust of scales that tend to be silver or white
• loose skin or lesions that can be sensitive, itchy and painful
• dandruff on the scalp
• cracked, discolored skin that easily bleeds and bruises
• discoloration in the finger and toenails or growth of toenail fungus
• nails that detach from the nail beds and can be painful or bloody

Many people with psoriasis also suffer from emotional problems due to feeling embarrassed and hopeless about their skin.

Other than plaque psoriasis, additional psoriasis symptoms can result from other form, including:

• joint pain and inflammation — common among those with psoriatic arthritis and affects about 10 percent to 30 percent of people with any form psoriasis
• severe plaque, scales and pain in the hands and feet — most common among people with pustular psoriasis
• worsened immune function — psoriasis can contribute to recurring infections, slow skin healing and permanent damage to the skin
• fatigue
• other symptoms common among people with autoimmune disorders, like digestive complaints, brain fog and allergies

Causes

Like other autoimmune disorders, psoriasis is caused by a combination of different factors. Most doctors are unsure about what exactly leads most people to develop this skin condition, but research suggests that the major contributing factors include:

• genetics — scientists have now identified about 25 genetic variants that make a person more likely to develop psoriatic disease
• being under high amounts of physical or emotional stress — just another way chronic stress kills your quality of life
• high levels of inflammation and weakened immunity, specifically the activation of T lymphocytes leading to release of cytokines
• eating a poor diet and having difficulty digesting fats and protein
• hormonal changes (such as puberty, pregnancy or menopause)
• deficiency in certain nutrients, such as vitamin D deficiency
• poor liver function
• reactions to medications and over-the-counter pain pills (such as Advil, Motrin, blood pressure prescriptions, beta-blockers and anti-malarial medications, like hydroxychloroquine)

How to Treat Psoriasis Symptoms Naturally

1. Eat an Anti-Inflammatory Diet

Many people see great improvements in their psoriasis symptoms when they clean up their diets and boost their nutrient intake. Some of the best foods for helping ease psoriasis symptoms and lower autoimmune reactions include:

• Probiotic foods: Raw, cultured dairy (like kefir, amasai, yogurt) plus cultured vegetables support digestion, reduce inflammation and boost immunity.
• High-fiber foods: Fiber is found in just about all plant foods that are high in nutrients and antioxidants, such as fresh fruits, vegetables, sprouted legumes and seeds/nuts.
• Wild-caught fish: Salmon, mackerel, sardines and halibut are examples of fish high in anti-inflammatory omega-3 fats.
• Foods high in zinc: Zinc is critical for keeping skin healthy. Good sources include pumpkin seeds, grass-fed beef, seeds and legumes.
• Foods high in vitamin D and vitamin A: Brightly colored veggies and fruit are your best source of vitamin A, including leafy greens, berries and broccoli. Research shows that vitamin A is critical for skin healing and acts like an antioxidant that reduces inflammation. Vitamin D affects the immune system and skin cells in positive ways and can be obtained from cage-free eggs, raw milk and certain mushrooms.

On the other hand, foods that can aggravate psoriasis symptoms and contribute to autoimmune reactions include:

• Common allergens: Conventional dairy products and gluten can both cause sensitives or food allergies within the digestive tract that trigger inflammation. Many people with psoriasis have difficulty digesting A1 casein, a protein found in most cow’s milk. Instead, look for cultured goat’s milk products (like kefir or yogurt) or cow’s milk that is labeled as exclusively A2 casein. Instead of consuming foods with gluten (all those made with wheat, barley, rye), try ancient grains that are gluten-free, like oats, buckwheat, amaranth and quinoa.
• Factory-farmed meats: These tend to be lower in nutrients and higher in omega-6 fats, which can raise inflammation.
• Hydrogenated oils and fried foods: Found in most packaged or fast foods, these foods may be difficult to digest for people with psoriasis and are very high in omega-6s, which most people already get way too much of.

2. Use Natural Herbs and Supplements

The top natural remedies for psoriasis include:

• Hydrochloric acid (one to three capsules per meal): helps with protein digestion and decreases psoriasis flare-ups
• Omega-3 fish oil (1,000–2,000 grams daily): lowers inflammation
• Vitamin D3 (5,000 IU daily): low levels of vitamin D and vitamin D deficiency are associated with psoriasis
• Milk thistle (250 milligrams three times daily): helps promote liver detoxification and reduces cellular growth
• Probiotics (50 billion units daily): lower autoimmune reactions and improve digestion by increasing good bacteria and crowding out bad bacteria
• Adaptogen herbs and vitamin B12: help the body deal with the effects of stress
• Digestive enzymes: boost nutrient absorption and can help lower food sensitives
• Bone broth: provides many nutrients, like collagen and glucosamine, which repair damaged skin, digestive tissues and joints

3. Get at Least 20 Minutes of Sunshine Daily

Getting 20 minutes of sunshine daily, three to four days a week, can greatly improve psoriasis symptoms by raising vitamin D levels.

Research shows that vitamin D changes the way cells grow and might help slow down skin cell production in people with psoriasis, which reduces plaque. This helps ease psoriasis symptoms like thick skin and scaling.

Vitamin D also positively affects how the immune system functions and can lower autoimmune reactions or inflammation.

If you have sensitive psoriasis patches due to ending medication use or experiencing a flare-up, be very careful about sun exposure until you’re healed in order to prevent burns. Wear sunscreen if you’re prone to burns, and try to get sunlight when the sun isn’t at its strongest, which is usually between 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Another option besides spending time in the sun is to use an indoor light box, although it’s not known if this works as well to boost vitamin D levels.

4. Lower Stress

Both emotional and physical stress can cause psoriasis to develop or psoriasis symptoms to become worse. People with psoriasis who use relaxation techniques and make an effort to reduce stress usually notice improvements in symptoms, which makes sense considering this condition is an autoimmune disorder.

Autoimmune disorders are often aggravated by stress due to how the “fight or flight” response impacts the immune system, releasing higher levels of inflammatory proteins called cytokines and contributing to hormonal imbalances.

Many studies have found that a large proportion of patients with high amounts of emotional stress experience some sort of disease or illness, which can then cause even more stress and trigger a vicious cycle. As mentioned above, the vast majority of people with psoriasis report high amounts of stress prior to the outbreak of their symptoms.

Stress relievers (like exercise, meditation, yoga and spending time outdoors) can help keep inflammation at bay and therefore psoriasis symptoms under control.

5. Moisturize and Use Soothing Essential Oils

Psoriasis symptoms are usually at their worst when skin is very dry and inflamed. Moisturizing the skin and using natural anti-inflammatory oils can ease symptoms like redness, scaling and pain.

Depending on where itchiness and flaking occur, moisture can be increased by using natural shampoos, lotions, gels, foams, creams and more greasy ointments. Keep skin moisturized by applying thick creams or oils, such as virgin coconut oil for skin, raw shea butter or a homemade body butter lotion.

Other options to help lock in moisture include petroleum jelly (Vaseline), almond oil or virgin olive oil. Try moisturizing after a warm shower (avoiding very hot water), but be careful not to add too much oil before exercising or during the warm months of the year since sweat mixed with thick creams can make psoriasis symptoms worse.

You can keep skin damp during the night by applying lotion, wrapping a bandage around the area and then gently washing away the lotion in the morning — just be careful to use natural products that are not drying.

Essential oils like lavender, frankincense, geranium and tea tree oil can also soothe inflamed skin and support the healing process, without the need for irritating prescription creams.

First perform a small patch test to make sure you don’t react badly to the oils. Use a very small amount, since essential oils are highly concentrated.

Mix three drops of lavender oil and three drops of frankincense oil with one teaspoon of coconut oil, and rub onto the affected area one to three times daily.

Psoriasis vs. Eczema

It’s easy to mistake psoriasis for other skin conditions, including eczema, which has some of the same symptoms, or even rosacea.

Compared to eczema — which also causes skin inflammation and red, dry, cracked skin — what does psoriasis look like that makes it noticeably different? First off, location: Psoriasis is commonly seen on the knees and elbows, while eczema usually forms on sensitive areas like the backs of knees, hands, cheeks or chin, and the inside of the elbows.

Eczema tends to be very itchy, while psoriasis may cause more pain and dry scales on the skin in addition to plaques. Another factor that distinguishes eczema from psoriasis is that eczema commonly causes moisture on the skin and skin oozing, crusty sores, thick skin, and cystic or pimple-like eruptions, but psoriasis normally doesn’t cause such sores/blisters and remains very dry.

Both conditions tend to run in families, although their major causes are somewhat different. Eczema commonly appears at a younger age, such as during infancy or childhood, while psoriasis is an autoimmune disorder that appears in adults most often and emerges whenever immunity has been compromised, such as following other illnesses or stress.

There’s a  link between reduced immune function and psoriasis — for example, respiratory infections, diabetes and arthritis might all contribute to its formation. While eczema can also be triggered by inflammation and sensitivities, it’s more likely to flare up in response to external factors, such as sunburns or reactions to skin care or household products (soaps, detergents, lotion, etc.).

Final Thoughts

• It’s believed psoriasis affects greater than 3 percent of the U.S. population.
• Plaque psoriasis is the most common type of this condition, but there are also several other forms, including nail or scalp psoriasis, mild psoriasis, sever psoriasis, pustular psoriasis, inverse psoriasis, erythrodermic psoriasis, and guttate psoriasis.
• The most common psoriasis symptoms include plaques of red skin, sometimes also covered with a crust of scales that tends to be silver or white; loose skin or lesions that can be sensitive, itchy and painful; dandruff on the scalp; cracked, discolored skin that easily bleeds and bruises; discoloration in the fingers and toenails or growth of toenail fungus; and nails that detach from the nail beds and can be painful or bloody. Many people with this condition also suffer from emotional problems due to feeling embarrassed and hopeless about their skin.
• Other psoriasis symptoms include joint pain and inflammation, severe plaque, scales and pain in the hands and feet, worsened immune function, fatigue, and common autoimmune symptoms.
• Causes include genetics, high amounts of physical or emotional stress, inflammation, weakened immunity, poor diet, difficulty digesting fats and protein, hormonal changes, nutrient deficiencies, poor liver function, and reactions to medications.
• You can help naturally treat psoriasis symptoms by eating an anti-inflammatory diet, using natural herbs and supplements, getting at least 20 minutes of sunshine daily, lowering stress, and moisturizing and using essential oils.

The post Psoriasis Symptoms, Risk Factors + 5 Natural Remedies appeared first on Dr. Axe.

Next to back pain, knee pain is one of the most common complaints among both older adults and younger athletes. Knee injuries are one common cause of knee pain, but you don’t have to fall, trip or get into some type of accident to hurt your knees.

What can cause knee pain without injury? Arthritis, overuse, osteoporosis, certain types of exercises like running, and repetitive movements are all potential causes of knee pain.

How do you relieve knee pain? Identifying the underlying cause of your pain is the first step. Treating health conditions that might contribute to inflammation (such as autoimmune disorders), exercising appropriately, maintaining a healthy weight, stretching and doing certain knee exercises can all greatly help you find relief.

What Is Knee Pain?

Knee pain describes any type of discomfort that affects the knees, such as sensitivity and throbbing. It’s common for knee pain to also be accompanied by other symptoms affecting the legs, which can include:

• Swelling around the knee
• Discomfort that gets worse when walking, squatting or doing other exercises
• Inability to bear weight on the knee
• Stiffness and reduced ability to move the knee, such as having a hard time straightening and bending the knee
• Weakness in the affected leg
• Redness and warmth around the kneecap
• Instability
• General reduced range of motion of the legs
• Feeling like your knee “gives out” when you try to move
• Unusual sounds when moving the knee, such as a popping or crunching sound

The knee joint, a complex part of the body that is formed by interconnecting bones, cartilage and ligaments, is where the major bones of the upper leg and lower leg meet. The knee is actually the largest joint in the human body and functions as a “hinge joint”, formed by the femur (thigh bone), the tibia (shin bone) and the patella (the knee cap) that are held in place by several joints/tendons. The knees must withstand pressure, weight and shock, and rely on the muscles in the legs to keep them stable and strong.

Knee pain is sometimes referred to as patellofemoral pain syndrome or runner’s knee, which describes pain and other symptoms affecting the area between your patella (kneecap) and femur (thighbone). It’s possible for knee pain to be either chronic or acute. Chronic pain is the kind that does not come on suddenly and continues to get worse. It usually lasts 4–6 weeks or longer.

Acute pain happens “spur of the moment”; you feel the effects right away. You might develop acute pain following a sudden injury and hear a “popping noise” or feel sharp pains immediately. Acute knee pain can cause you to fall down in agony and keep you from being able to move much afterwards.

Causes

• Injuries to the legs, including any injury that affects the cartilage, ligaments, tendons or fluid-filled sacs (bursae) near the knees
• Arthritis, which can include rheumatoid arthritis (an autoimmune condition that affects joints) or osteoarthritis (degenerative arthritis which usually affects older adults); more than 20 million people in the U.S. alone suffer from knee osteoarthritis (OA), which is “one of the top five most disabling conditions that affects more than one-third of persons 65 years of age or older”
• Biomechanical problems, such as poor form, deformities or muscular compensations that cause the kneecap to fall out of its optimal position
• Gout, characterized by uric acid or calcium-containing crystals forming on the joints
• Joint mice: a more rare disorder in which one or more small fragments of bone or cartilage break off and remain floating in the knee joint space
• Infections that can cause fluid retention and swelling, such as septic arthritis

Common Knee Injuries

Knee injuries can slowly develop or over time, or happen suddenly due to impact. Injury to the knee can be due to ruptured ligaments, torn cartilage or irritation/inflammation of the knee joint caused by overuse. Examples of specific injuries and conditions that can lead to knee pain are:

• Iliotibial band syndrome, or irritation and inflammation of the IT band, the thick fascia/tissue that extends from the pelvis/hip to the knee
• Torn meniscus, or damage to the meniscus which is a tough, rubbery cartilage that helps absorb shock in the legs
• Patellar tendonitis, caused by inflammation of the patellar tendon, which connects the kneecap to the shinbone
• Knee bursitis, or inflammation in the bursae (small sacs of fluid) that cushion the outside of the knees
• Chondromalacia patella, which refers to damaged cartilage under the kneecap
• Tearing of the ACL (the anterior cruciate ligament which connects the shinbone to the thigh bone); both traumatic and non-traumatic injuries commonly affect the ACL
• Fractures of the patella (kneecap), which can be caused by impact or degenerative diseases
• Dislocated kneecap, when the patella slips out of its normal position

Risk Factors for Developing Knee Pain

• Engaging in contact or risky sports like skiing, football, basketball, soccer, lacrosse or rugby which can result in collision, impact or falling.
• Being a distance/endurance runner or cyclist, which can cause overuse of the knees. Doing lots of jumping or walking uphill and downhill can also put added strain on the knees. Sometimes even recreational running or normal exercise can be enough to trigger knee pain.
• Being a female athlete. Female athletes are more prone to suffering from traumatic knee injuries and experiencing recurring knee pain. It’s believed this is due to the anatomy of the female pelvic region and the way that females activate the muscles in their legs.
• Twisting motions at the knee while bearing weight, such as when exercising or if you have an active job that involves lifting.
• Poor training technique and posture, including sudden changes in the amount, frequency or intensity of workouts, as well as inadequate rest between workouts.
• Being in an accident, such as a vehicle collision.
• Falling or tripping, such as due to loss of balance in older age.
• Osteoporosis, which can make you more prone to knee fractures and weakened bones in the pelvis and legs.
• Having an autoimmune disorder, especially rheumatoid arthritis.
• Having hip or foot pain, which can cause compensations that put damaging forces on the knees.
• Being overweight or obese, which adds extra pressure to the knees.
• Being sedentary (not exercising, walking or stretching much), which can cause weakness in the legs and loss of flexibility.
• Having a previous injury that affects the knees or legs.

Diagnosis

To diagnose you with a specific type of knee pain, your doctor (such as an orthopedist) will need to perform a physical exam and check to see how you respond to different movements using your legs. If your pain increases when the knee is moved in one specific direction, or when performing a movement like standing up, it can point to which exact part of the knee is damaged or inflamed. You might also need X-rays, a CT scan, or potentially an MRI or ultrasound to confirm a diagnosis.

You want to talk to your doctor about which specific symptoms you’re experiencing, when they started and what types of things make the pain better (taking rest days, stretching, etc.) Pay attention to whether your knee bothers you when you’re sitting down, exercising or just going about your day. Does your affected knee ache throughout the whole day? Does it bother you while you sleep? Is it only a problem when you’re bearing weight, running or walking uphill? All of these are useful things to discuss with your doctor.

Keep these in mind when discussing your symptoms and treatment options with your doctor:

• If you feel pain in front of the knee (behind the kneecap), this is a sign of patellofemoral syndrome. The pain is due to abnormal tracking of the patella. You’re likely to feel pain when going from a standing to sitting position. You may notice that pain is worse when you first start moving, but the knee pain gets better when you’ve warmed up and started exercising.
• How do you know if you have a torn meniscus in your knee? You’ll probably have difficulty walking, limited range of motion, swelling and stiffness. Twisting and rotating your knee will feel very painful. You probably won’t be able to bear weight or fully extend your knee.
•  The ACL is the first ligament that becomes tight when the knee is straightened, and it can become torn if the knee is hyperextended or from sudden stops, jumps or changes in direction during physical activity. Where does your knee hurt with a torn ACL? It can hurt all over, look very swollen and feel very weak. You might not be able to bend and straighten the knee, walk downhill or change directions easily, and may feel like your knee gives out easily. Some people also hear a “pop” when they tear their ACL and then have intense pain afterwards.

Conventional Treatments

Ron Torrance II, D.O, a Sports Medicine Trained Physician at the New ReGeneration Orthopedics of Florida, says he commonly sees knee pain-related conditions among his younger patients who are generally fit — especially runners, female athletes and anyone who uses their legs in other repetitive ways

Dr. Torrance feels that an often overlooked aspect of treating knee pain is the need for different interventions depending on someone’s current fitness level. For example, a young woman who experiences knee pain after running for several months will benefit from a much different treatment approach than an older man with osteoarthritis of the knees.

When treating knee pain injuries, Dr. Torrance first looks at his patients’ symptoms and then discusses their lifestyle and exercise habits. Knee pain treatment should always depend on which specific part of the knee is injured and the underlying cause of the pain. Even if medications and corrective devices like knee braces are needed to treat knee pain, exercises, stretching and other functional medicine practices should also be incorporated to help with recovery and injury prevention.

Aside from resting the knee after an acute injury, conventional treatments for chronic knee pain that lasts more than several weeks include:

• Rest
• Compression, icing and elevation of the affected knee
• Physical therapy and specific exercises (more on these below)
• Use of orthotics or a knee brace if needed
• Pain medications
• Steroids, such as an injection used to reduce inflammation; hyaluronic acid might be used to lubricate the knee and treat swelling
• Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) can be used to promote repair and growth of tissues in the knee; PRP involves injecting different growth factors into the damaged area to reduce inflammation and promote natural healing processes
• Rarely, if someone is experiencing chronic knee pain that doesn’t improve with other treatments, surgery may be needed to help repair a tear; but surgery is considered a last resort option

Natural Treatments

1. Exercise and Proper Time to Recover

Weak muscles and stiffness are two of the leading problems associated with knee injuries. So while exercise is important for keeping your knees healthy, you also need to rest enough and give your body time to heal. Some people will need to take a break from most exercise or several weeks to heal a damaged knee, or at least limit high-impact activities for a period of time. Before trying more drastic treatments, see if taking a few days off from your usual exercise helps. If you see improvements with rest, then you should plan to decrease your mileage/length of workout when you return.

To protect yourself from injury, always warm up lightly and stretch before exercise. Before engaging in running, biking or another knee-bending exercise, walk a quarter- to a half-mile. After your exercise, be sure to stretch again and then to give yourself enough time to recover properly, at least 1–2 days (especially after intense workouts).

Doing low-impact exercises is best for people with chronic knee pain or conditions that affect the joints. Examples of low impact workouts include:

• Swimming
• Water aerobics
• Brisk walking
• Elliptical training
• Cycling
• Yoga

On the other hand, these activities can negatively impact the knees and should be avoided if you’re having knee issues:

• Running
• Jumping
• Skiing
• Intense biking
• Activities that involve repetitive movements of the legs
• High-impact sports

2. Physical Therapy (Stretching and Exercising the Knees)

If you’ve experienced weakness or loss of flexibility in your knees, or other limitations that affect your ability to move, it’s a good idea to work with a physical therapist, trainer or coach who can help you with conditioning and recovery. A therapist (such as a neurokinetic therapist) can help you gradually build strength in your lower body and also work on achieving proper form to reduce your risk for future injuries. Having a gait analysis done can be beneficial for correcting pronation problems and other postural issues.

Performing exercises that help strengthen the quadriceps, hamstrings, lower back and hips can all support the knees. In addition to building strength and stretching, work on balance and stability exercises helps to train the muscles in your legs to all work together. This can reduce the risk for falling and developing compensations that take a toll on the knees. Your therapist might also recommend using both cold and hot treatments to ease pain and support healing after exercising your knee, such as ice packs or a warm compress applied to the painful area.

3. Good Footwear, Insoles and if Needed, a Knee Brace

In general, people with knee pain should try to avoid wearing sandals, flip flops, Crocs™, boat shoes, high heels and boots. These types of shoes are not very supportive and can aggravate back, knee or hip pain.

If you’re having knee pain when exercising and suspect your shoes might be contributing to the problem, it’s helpful to visit a running store to speak with a specialist about your specific stance, stride and needs. You can have a free, simple test done on your feet that will identify which types of shoes are best for your posture and gait. You can also visit a podiatrist (a doctor that specializes in treating foot-related problems) for custom insoles.

Superfeet insoles, an over-the-counter insole option that can be purchased online, are recommended by certain doctors, including Dr. Ron Torrance. These insoles are sturdy and provide support for the knees, unlike some over-the-counter insoles that are cushiony but not as stable. Soft insoles are not always as helpful for some people because they don’t help with stabilizing the ankles or knees, which can further aggravate knee pain.

4. Foam Rolling

Foam rolling is very beneficial for breaking up adhesions in the legs that can contribute to knee pain. Dr. Torrance recommends foam rolling the quadriceps and IT bands to help with knee pain relief, especially if you’re a runner or avid exerciser. You can also use a foam roller on other muscles that support the knees, especially the gluteus maximus (the largest muscle in the buttocks) and the tensor fasciae latae (a muscle that runs along the outer edge of the hip).

You can try both soft or hard foam rollers, but some people with pain find that using a soft roller is more manageable, especially when starting out with foam rolling. While rolling, if you find a place that really hurts, take a couple minutes to sit there and let tension in the the muscle start to ease up. This will feel uncomfortable at first but should gradually go away as you loosen up the tight area. Remember, you should never use a foam roller to roll over a large joint like the knee, as putting too much pressure here can cause injury.

• To foam roll your quads — Place your foam roller on the floor and lie on your stomach with the front of one thigh over the foam roller and the other leg on the floor for support. Roll the entire front of the thigh from the top of the hip to the top of the knee cap in an up and down motion. Do this for about 2 minutes, ideally every day.
• To foam roll your IT band — Place your foam roller on the floor. Lie on your side with the outside of your thigh with the outside of the thigh over the foam roller and your other leg in front for support. Roll the entire outside of your thigh from your pelvis to your knee in an up and down motion. Maintain your abs tight and proper low back posture during the exercise. Do this for about 2 minutes each day.
• To foam roll your hamstrings — While lying face up, place the back of one thigh over the foam roller and the other leg on the floor for support. Roll the entire back of your thigh from the bottom of the buttock to your knee in an up and down motion. Do this for about 2 minutes each day.
• To foam roll your adductors — Lie on your stomach with the inside of one thigh over the foam roller and your other leg straight on the floor for support. Roll the entire inside of your thigh from your groin to your knee in a side to side motion for about 2 minutes.

5. Eating An Anti-Inflammatory Diet

Eating a nutrient-dense, anti-inflammatory diet is important for overall joint health for a few reasons: it helps you to maintain a healthy weight (which decreases strain on your joints), reduces inflammation, improves recovery from exercise and lowers the chances you’ll develop a condition like arthritis or osteoporosis.

• Consume plenty of fruits and vegetables, especially those high in vitamin C, sulfur and antioxidants like leafy greens, carrots, peppers, berries, onions, broccoli, garlic, asparagus and cabbage.
• Get omega-3 fatty acids from wild-caught fish, especially benefit-packed salmon. Other food protein sources include grass-fed meat, pasture-raised poultry, fish like sardines or mackerel, fermented dairy products, and eggs.
• Include healthy fats in your diet like coconut oil, olive oil, ghee, grass-fed butter, avocado, nuts and seeds.
• Drink bone broth or use protein powder from bone broth.
• Add antioxidant-packed herbs and spices to your meals.
• Limit or avoid excess sugar, hydrogenated oils (soybean oil, cottonseed oil, even canola oil), processed/refined grains, flour products, synthetic additives, processed meats and fast food.

6. Anti-Inflammatory Supplements

Certain herbs and supplements can help to reduce inflammation and support recovery from injuries or degenerative diseases. Some of the best supplements for knee pain include:

• Turmeric
• Glucosamine and chondroitin
• Bone broth, or protein made from bone broth sources
• Collagen protein
• Omega-3 fatty acids

Exercises and Stretches

The type of knee exercises that will help you find relief from knee pain depends on the underlying cause of your condition. Dr. Torrance has found that for his patients to get the most results from knee pain exercises and stretches, they first have to identify if they’re generally more strong or more flexible.

If you’re legs are very flexible but not so strong, you want to work on strengthening and activating the correct muscles in your legs to support your knees (especially your quads). On the other hand, if you’re strong but also tight, you want to improve your flexibility/mobility. If you have a condition that causes pain, gently working on improving both strength and range of motion is important.

Below are some of Dr. Torrance’s favorite (that he uses to treat his patients with knee pain) knee strengthening exercises and stretches:

1. Clam Shells

This is a great exercise for younger athletes and females who have weak gluteus medius muscles. It’s also helpful for those who have flat feet, which creates stress in your ankle that travels up to your knees. Start by laying on your right side with your knees bent and feet and hips stacked.

You want your feet to be in line with your butt and your shoulders stacked. Engage your core and keep your feet together as you raise your left knee out to the side while keeping your right knee down on the floor. Hold your lifted knee for one second, then lower and repeat. Try to complete 20 reps on each side.

2. Quad Sets

The quadriceps are the muscles above the knee that help to control patella tracking, so it’s important to strengthen them. To perform quad sets, lay on your back and put a rolled-up towel behind your affected knee. Activate the thigh muscles in order to straighten the knee and hold the contraction for 5 seconds.

You can activate your quad by visualizing your knee pushing down into the ground (you’ll also be able to see your quad contract if you watch it). Release after 5 seconds and repeat 10 times on each side.

3. Straight Leg Raises

Also great for strengthening the quads. Lay on your back and stretch both legs out on the floor. Lift the right leg up to about 6 inches off the floor and hold the contraction for 10 seconds, then gently return it to the floor and repeat on the other side. Try to complete 5–10 reps on each side.

4. Pistol Squats (also called single leg squats)

Stand with your feet hip-distance apart. Keeping your balance, start with your left toe touching the ground and focus on something in front of you that is not moving. Begin to sit back on the right leg while raising the left foot and extending the left leg in front of you. Go down as far as you are able to, lowering for about 5 seconds, then lift back up. Repeat about 10 times on each side.

5. Hip Raises (also called glute bridges)

Lay on your back on the floor with your knees bent. Your knees should be hip-distance apart and heels should be close to the butt. Push off with the heels, lift the hips towards the ceiling and hold for 5–10 seconds. Release and repeat 10–20 times.

6. Step-Ups

Start standing with feet hip-distance apart. With your right foot, step up onto the bench or step and follow with the left foot. Step back down with the right foot and alternate feet so the next one will start with the left foot and so forth. Do 20 reps.

7. Lunges (backward or forwards)

Stand with feet hip-width apart, then step backwards with your right foot and lunge down, making sure that your knee does not extend beyond your ankle. Push off with your heel back to starting position. Repeat on the other side. Do 10 on each leg. You can do the same stepping forward instead of backwards, which would be a normal forward lunge.

8. Kneeling Quad Stretch

Bring one shin/knee down to the ground and bend the opposite leg so the knee is right over the ankle and thigh in parallel to the ground. Use a blanket under your knees/shin if you’re uncomfortable. Try to reach your arm back and grab the foot of the leg that’s on the ground. Bring your heel closer to your thigh to stretch your quad. Hold for at least 20–30 seconds on each side.

9. Glute Activation

Lie on your stomach with your knees bent and turned outward. Push the heels together to contract your buttocks. Do not arch your lower back. Hold the isometric contraction for the required time. Repeat about 10 times in a row, completing 3 sets per day.

10. Side Step With Band

Wrap a mini-band around your legs just above your knees. Turn your feet out slightly and bend your knees just deep enough so they are over your toes. Keep your back straight and hips slightly bent. Make sure you bend the knees in line with the feet.

In this position, side step nice and slow while maintaining the half-squat and the slight external rotation of the legs. Step in one direction, then come back to work both side. Complete 10 times in a row, working up to 3 sets daily,

11. Yoga Exercises

Dr. Torrance recommends benefit-rich yoga to his patients with knee pain because it helps stretch nearly every part of the legs and builds strength. Some of the best yoga poses for knee pain include: child’s pose, hero’s pose, low lunge, crescent lunge, warrior 1, warrior 2 and eagle poses (where one leg is crossed over the other).

Precautions

When is it time to see a doctor if you’re experiencing knee pain? Talk to your doctor, physical therapist or an orthopedist if you notice lots of swelling that won’t go away, if you can’t extend or flex your knee, or if you’re having a hard time getting around and going about your normal activities.

If you’ve have a knee injury in the past, then you’re more likely to experience knee pain again in the future, especially if you never got treatment and fully recovered. Back off of any exercise that increases pain, make sure you take time to recover from tough workouts, and get your knee evaluated if symptoms last more than two weeks.

Final Thoughts

• Knee pain is a common problem among both young active people and older adults. Knee pain symptoms include throbbing, tenderness, stiffness, swelling, loss of flexibility and weakness in the legs.
• Underlying causes of knee pain can include: injuries, arthritis, obesity, repetitive movements, overtraining and inflammation from chronic disease or unhealthy lifestyle habits.
• Doctors commonly treat knee pain with physical therapy, steroids, pain killers, knee braces, shoe insoles and rarely surgery.
• Natural treatments for knee pain include: exercises, stretches, reducing inflammation caused by underlying disease, exercising/recovering appropriately, maintaining a healthy weight, foam rolling and wearing supportive shoes.

The post Knee Pain Relief: 6 Natural Treatments, Including Exercises appeared first on Dr. Axe.

Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a serious, long-term illness that can impact many body systems. Chronic fatigue prevents sufferers from doing their usual activities and may confine some people to their beds.

CFS can result in strained relationships with friends and family, especially when it remain undiagnosed and/or untreated. Guilt, anxiety and anger are all common emotional responses for those fighting chronic fatigue.

According to an Institute of Medicine report, an estimated 836,000 to 2.5 million Americans are suffering from this debilitating illness that manifests with a lack of energy and motivation, and women are 2–4 times more likely than men to be diagnosed.

What Is Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?

Chronic fatigue syndrome is also referred to as myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) or ME/CFS. A chronic illness characterized by extreme fatigue that lasts for more than six months. This fatigue cannot be explained away by an underlying medical condition.

In fact, one of the disease’s principle challenges is that it’s impossible to diagnose with laboratory tests. However, some professionals believe it is closely related to adrenal fatigue or system-wide inflammation of the body.

CFS may get worse after engaging in activities that use physical or mental energy. Symptoms range from very mild to more severe, and then can appear and disappear without any warning.

The process for diagnosis usually begins with ruling out possible underlying diseases and chronic conditions … until the only choice left is chronic fatigue syndrome. Left untreated, it decreases stamina, memory and concentration.

Symptoms

While the term “chronic fatigue” is fairly descriptive of this crippling illness, it doesn’t tell the entire story. Chronic fatigue may start suddenly, with flu-like symptoms. But unlike the flu, it can last a lifetime.

In addition to the profound fatigue experienced, other serious symptoms often accompany CFS, such as:

• joint pain that moves from one spot to another
• muscle pain
• poor concentration
• loss of memory
• enlarged lymph nodes
• headaches
• chills
• night sweats
• digestive disorders like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)

Sufferers of chronic fatigue syndrome also experience significant alterations in levels of irritability, mood swings, panic attacks, anxiety and depression. According to a study published in Family Practice, 36 percent of individuals with CFS were clinically depressed and 22 percent had “seriously considered suicide in the past year.”

Simply, the emotional and mental side effects of CFS cannot be overlooked, and treatment must include the mind, body and spirit.

Causes

We still know very little about chronic fatigue, and sadly, the cause is still unknown. While researchers continue to search for the root cause of CFS, there are preliminary findings that hormonal imbalances, poor immune system response, viral infections, chronic low blood pressure and nutritional deficiency are contributing factors.

In addition, research indicates that chronic fatigue syndrome may be linked to oxidative stress, Celiac disease, and food sensitivities or food allergies.

Most researchers believe that it’s a combination of factors that can vary from individual to individual. Viruses that can cause CFS include HHV-6, HTLV, Epstein-Barr, measles, Coxsackie B, parovirus and cytomegalovirus.

Treatment

Conventional treatment protocols treat the symptoms rather than the underlying causes. Often individuals with chronic fatigue syndrome are prescribed antidepressants and sleeping pills. In many cases, the side effects from these drugs are actually worse than the original symptoms.

Instead, a natural approach includes alternative and complementary health practices, a well-balanced diet rich with potassium and magnesium, and the elimination of food allergens.

According to a study in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, acupuncture, meditation, magnesium, l-carnitine and SAM-e (S-Adenosyl methionine), show the most promise in the treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia.

1. Eliminate Food Sensitivities and Allergens

More and more research is pointing to a link between food allergies and sensitivities and chronic fatigue syndrome. Allergies to certain foods, pollen, metals and other environmental chemicals may be causing the rising number of individuals with CFS.

According to a study published in the Scandinavian Journal of Gastroenterology, IBS, fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue are linked, and researchers were surprised. In a study of 84 patients that had been referred for “unexplained digestive problems,” nearly all patients (except for one) qualified for a diagnosis of IBS, 85 percent had chronic fatigue syndrome and 71 percent had fibromyalgia. The common denominator, researchers in this study posit, is poor digestion and food sensitivities.

For example, one of today’s most common food sensitivities is a gluten intolerance. Lactose intolerance, a casein allergy and an intolerance of other common allergens also may be at the root of chronic fatigue. Other common allergens include tree nuts, peanuts, dairy, soy, shellfish and yeast.

Consider taking an IgG (Immunoglobulin G) test to help you determine the foods that you are sensitive to — then you can eliminate them from your diet. By getting rid of your personal known allergens, symptoms of IBS, ADHD, cystic fibrosis, rheumatoid arthritis and chronic fatigue can potentially be relieved.

When ordering the IgG test, be sure to add on a Candida albicans test. According to a study published in the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, an astounding 83 percent of participants who followed an anti-candida diet experienced a reduction in their symptoms related to chronic fatigue syndrome.

A candida diet includes foods high in probiotics including kefir, yogurt, sauerkraut and kimchi, as well as green vegetables, flax and chia seeds, and unsweetened cranberry juice. It also requires the elimination of foods that feed the candida in the body. These include sugar, fruit, alcohol and grains. When candida is left untreated, it causes an inflammatory immune response and creates holes in the intestinal lining, leading to leaky gut.

Casein, a protein in dairy, can cause serious allergic reactions. A casein allergy is more than just lactose sensitivity; it stems from the immune system producing antibodies to protect against protein and can cause the body to release histamine. This can cause hives, nasal congestion, wheezing, the swelling of the lips, mouth, tongue, face or throat, and even anaphylaxis.

Of course, the best way to avoid these symptoms is to avoid casein. This protein is concentrated in high-protein dairy products, including yogurt, milk, cheese and ice cream. However, most individuals will not have a problem with ghee or clarified butter.

In addition, bacteria called H. pylori are believed to be a contributing factor, and they are common in nearly two-thirds of the world’s population. This unfriendly bacteria attacks the lining of the stomach; left untreated, these germs can lead to stomach ulcers.

Researchers found that once H. pylori was out of the body of study participants, their physical and psychological symptoms, including those from IBS, fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue, got well. For example, in a 2022 study, the H. pylori IgG levels in patients with MS and fatigue were significantly higher than in those without fatigue.

2. Increase Your Vitamin B Intake

According to a study published in the Journal of Royal Society of Medicine, researchers found a direct link between reduced vitamin B levels and chronic fatigue syndrome.

The study focused on vitamin B6, riboflavin and thiamine, and researchers believe that B6 (or pyridoxine) is particularly important. Vitamin B6 foods include wild tuna and salmon, bananas, grass-fed beef, sweet potatoes, turkey, hazelnuts, garlic and cooked spinach.

Vitamin B6 helps to prevent and relieve fatigue, and it supports a healthy immune system. As stated above, some researchers believe that certain viruses play a role in CFS, therefore increasing B6 levels can be a helpful treatment. B6 helps supports T-cell functioning, allowing them to more adeptly fight infections.

Methylation is the term given to the process in the body where methyl compounds (one carbon, three hydrogen atoms) are used in the critical functions of the body — immune function, energy production, mood, inflammation, nerve function, detoxification, and even DNA — all of which are challenges in chronic fatigue syndrome patients.

Methylation helps you process toxins, make hormones, and even helps in the production of neurotransmitters such as melatonin. How well your body can methylate effects all of these important areas. Poor methylation can lead to a variety of chronic conditions including certain types of cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, allergies, digestive upset, mood and psychiatric disorders, and chronic fatigue.

Methylation requires vitamin B6, folate and vitamin B12 in order to methylate and for your body to function at a cellular level. When you have a vitamin B12 deficiency, it impairs the methylation process and can cause numerous malfunctions that directly contribute to chronic fatigue syndrome.

It’s estimated that nearly 40 percent of Americans have a vitamin B12 deficiency. Many symptoms of the deficiency echo the symptoms of CFS. These include a lack of motivation, low energy, poor focus, poor memory, emotional mood swings, fatigue, muscle tension and more.

Vitamin B12 can boost energy, reduce depression, prevent against neurological degeneration and protect against some types of cancers. B12 is a critical nutrient that supports the methylation cycle and can help to stimulate improved moods, more energy and better cognitive function.

Vegans and vegetarians are at particular risk for B12 deficiency, as it’s most commonly found in animal foods. Vitamin B12 foods include beef liver from grass-fed cows, sardines, tuna, raw cheese, cottage cheese, lamb, raw milk, eggs and wild salmon.

To effectively treat chronic fatigue syndrome, the B vitamins are essential. In addition to vitamin B–rich foods, a vitamin B complex supplement can help. Overall, the B vitamins work together to support healthy metabolic functioning, hormone production and vitality.

3. Increase Potassium and Magnesium Intake

Research shows that both potassium and magnesium can help improve the symptoms associated with chronic fatigue syndrome. In a study published in the UK medical journal The Lancet, chronic fatigue syndrome patients were found to have low magnesium levels that accounted for a low red blood cell count.

In this study, patients that were treated with magnesium supplements self-reported improved energy levels, a more balanced emotional state and less pain. At the end of the six-week study, all patients that were given magnesium had their red cell magnesium levels return to normal.

If you have chronic fatigue syndrome, consider adding these magnesium–rich foods to add to your diet: spinach, chard, pumpkin seeds, yogurt and kefir, almonds, black beans, avocados, figs, dark chocolate and bananas.

These delicious foods can help you overcome chronic fatigue, one of the symptoms of a magnesium deficiency, and support healthy nerve function, healthy blood sugar levels, blood pressure regulation, and much more. It’s estimated that nearly 80 percent of Americans are currently deficient in this essential mineral.

Potassium is responsible for proper electrolyte balance in the body. Potassium-rich foods include avocados, spinach, sweet potatoes, coconut water, kefir and yogurt, white beans, bananas, acorn squash, dried apricots and mushrooms.

Symptoms of a potassium deficiency include the common CFS symptoms: fatigue, irritability and muscle cramps. Eating a diet rich in potassium can help to relieve these symptoms, particularly when foods that cause allergies have been removed.

4. Build Peace and Relax

CFS can be debilitating both physically and mentally. Suffering from persistent exhaustion, reduced brain cognition, chronic muscle and joint pain, stress, and even guilt takes a toll on the body, and psyche.

Long-term stress control and relaxation must be a vital portion of any protocol used to overcome chronic fatigue syndrome. While seemingly impossible, it’s imperative that sufferers of CFS do their best to effectively manage stress, and rest.

“Rest” means more than just sleep. Dedicate one day per week when you don’t have any responsibilities or commitments. Truly commit to a full day of rest. This gives your body and mind a much-needed respite — helping to fight stress, anxiety and exhaustion. It’s also important during the week, if you are having a particularly difficult day, to not overtax yourself.

While regular exercise supports wellness and helps to diminish stress, individuals with chronic fatigue syndrome need to exercise at a controlled intensity. High-intensity workouts can leave you drained for several days.

Exercise therapy has been shown to help with fatigue, mental clarity and depression in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. (17) According to a study released in the European Journal of Clinical Investigation, individuals with CFS were recommended to perform aerobic activities, at the clinic twice per month, in combination with at-home exercises for roughly 5-15 minutes in duration, five days per week.

Chronic fatigue syndrome sufferers commonly experience difficulty with their sleep. In particular, falling and staying asleep, restless legs, nighttime muscle spasms, and vivid (sometimes frightening) dreams. It’s important to establish a regular bedtime routine, which includes a physical and emotional wind-down period.

Yes, this means unplugging from technology — including computers, tablets, television, and smartphones — at least 90 minutes prior to bed. According to a recent study in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, the use of interactive technology devices one hour prior to bedtime results in poor sleep and general sleep disturbances.

Make your bedroom a haven for relaxation and escape from the stressors of the day. Your bedroom should be cool in the evenings to help facilitate sleep, and the lighting shouldn’t be too harsh. Setting the stage for restful sleep really is half the battle to fall asleep fast and stay asleep.

Essential oils are wonderful to help when you can’t sleep. Try a few drops in a diffuser or dotted on your temples. Essential oils that aid in relaxation and sleep include lavender, eucalyptus, valerian, Roman chamomile, marjoram, bergamot, clary sage, jasmine and ylang ylang.

Avoid caffeine, alcohol and tobacco, as these stimulants can cause additional restlessness at night. Be sure to exercise at least four hours before going to bed, as exercise can also act as a stimulant and create restless sleep.

Incorporate deep breathing exercises, massage therapy, meditation, yoga and muscle relaxation techniques into your daily routine as they can help manage symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome. As part of your wind-down routine, especially if you experience restless legs or muscle cramps at night, try taking a nice relaxing bath with Epsom salts to soothe achy muscles.

Try progressive muscle relaxation during your wind-down period. The goal is to isolate each muscle group, and then tense and relax them. You can start at your head or toes, but many find that working the way up the body is more beneficial.

Start by visualizing the muscles in the target area, and then tense/contract them for five seconds; then relax and exhale through your mouth. Move to the next muscle group, tense/contract them, and then relax. Continue until you’ve completed each muscle group in turn.

This can help facilitate muscle relaxation throughout the body and encourage a good night’s sleep. This process is also great during the night if you awaken to muscle cramps or restless legs.

Take a vacation! A change of scenery is important from time to time, for it allows our body and our minds to recover from our daily lives. Get away with family or friends, or even by yourself, to fight burn out, relieve stress and stimulate closer relationships.

You also need social support. Chronic fatigue syndrome can cause a division in relationships, as sometimes people simply do not understand your level of exhaustion, pain, and lack of interest.

Reach out to your friends and schedule get-togethers where you can catch up, share a good laugh or two, and re-engage. Research has shown that social support is essential for maintaining psychological and physical health.

The post 4 Steps to Overcome Chronic Fatigue Syndrome appeared first on Dr. Axe.

Today acupuncture is one of the most popular practices of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in the West. TCM is a complimentary health approach that first originated in ancient China more than 2,500 years ago and has been evolving ever since.

To treat a wide variety of diseases, pain and stress-related symptoms, practitioners of TCM use holistic techniques that include acupuncture, herbal medicines, tai chi, qigong, massage therapy and various “mind and body practices.”

The use of acupuncture and other TCM techniques has risen steadily in the U.S and other Western countries over the past several decades. According to a large survey done on complementary health approaches by the National Institute of Health, in the U.S. alone saw a 50 percent increase in the number of acupuncture users between 2002 and 2012. In 2012, the most recent year for which statistics are available, 6.4 percent of U.S. adults reported they had used acupuncture.

What Is Acupuncture?

Acupuncture is a holistic health technique that stems from Traditional Chinese Medicine practices in which trained practitioners stimulate specific points on the body by inserting thin needles into the skin. The first question most people ask is, “Does acupuncture hurt?”

Surprisingly, although needles are used in acupuncture, treatments are relatively pain-free. In fact, one of the most popular uses of acupuncture is to reduce chronic pain throughout the body in a natural way, without the need for medications that can cause unwanted side effects.

Most of the studies investigating acupuncture to date have examined whether acupuncture can safely reduce pain and work as a natural painkiller. Meanwhile, researchers will continue to study whether or not it might help with other conditions, too – including anxiety, depression, inflammation, hot flashes, side effects of chemotherapy and insomnia.

How does acupuncture compare to dry needling? While acupuncture focuses on addressing the flow of energy around the body and bodily organs, dry needling focuses on stimulating a specific trigger point that is leading to pain and disability.

How Does Acupuncture Work?

Acupuncture is considered to be a family of procedures, not one single exact approach to pain or disease management. All acupuncture practices involve the stimulation of specific points on the body using a variety of techniques, usually needles. The type of acupuncture that has been studied most so far in clinical, scientific research settings is the type that uses thin, solid, metal needles to lightly penetrate the skin.

Acupuncture is usually done by hand, with a trained practitioner carefully inserting the needles into specific points in the body very shallowly into the skin. Normally about 10 to 20 thin needles are used at one time. The needles are small enough to fit inside of a normal-sized needle that would be used to take blood, making the process pretty painless for most people.

There are also types of acupuncture that use light electrical stimulations that flow through the needles, or no needles at all. For example, acupressure is often thought of as simply “acupuncture without the needles” and uses targeted massage-type techniques to stimulate energy in the body by pressing on certain points.

In addition, acupuncture is sometimes used in conjunction with moxibustion, another TCM practice that involves burning ground mugwort leaves to warm and stimulate certain trigger points in the body.

Acupuncture points, or “acupoints,” are specific locations on the body that are the focus of acupuncture treatments. TCM explains acupuncture as a technique for “balancing the flow of energy or life force,” and that energy can be reached by stimulating small specific channels on the body.

TCM practitioners believe that there is a flow, known as “qi” or “chi,” that is located in certain “meridians” throughout the body. Chi is thought to be what separates the sick from the healthy — and when chi is not balanced, illness, pain, poor sleep and fatigue can all occur.

Overall, there are 14 major energy-channel meridians on the body, with hundreds of points located along each meridian where acupuncture needles are inserted. These include some 360 different points on the hands, arms, feet, head, back and over the major organs. The belief is that by inserting needles lightly into certain points on the body, the chi flow can be tapped into and the patient’s energy can be rebalanced.

Acupuncture points tend to be located where nerves enter a muscle, the midpoint of a muscle, or at a point where muscle joins with bone. Some of the major acupuncture meridians include:

• Lung meridian
• Large intestine meridian
• Stomach meridian
• Spleen meridian
• Heart meridian
• Small intestine meridian
• Urinary bladder meridian
• Kidney meridian
• Liver meridian

Uses

Currently, acupuncture is used to treat conditions like:

• muscle spasms and pain
• chronic back problems and pain
• headaches, including reducing the frequency and intensity of migraines
• neck pain, including a stiff neck
• osteoarthritis
• knee pain
• allergies
• digestive problems
• mood, depression

Benefits

1. Helps Reduce Headaches and Migraines

In 2009, after researchers from the Center for Complementary Medicine at the University of Munich reviewed over 11 studies involving 2,137 acupuncture patients, they concluded that acupuncture “could be a valuable non-pharmacological tool in patients with frequent chronic tension-type headaches.”

The review looked at multiple clinical trials comparing the effects of acupuncture sessions to “sham” (placebo-type of acupuncture) sessions and to receiving no treatment at all for the relief of migraine headache pain. In particular, both the group that had needles randomly placed and the group that had strategically placed needles experienced a reduction in headache symptoms.  The control group did not experience any change.

However, in the followup survey, the group that had the real acupuncture treatment continued to have both a decrease in the number of headache days and headache pain intensity.

2. Improves Chronic Pain, Including for the Back, Neck, Knee or Arthritis Pain

Acupuncture was proven to be more effective for improving chronic back pain than no acupuncture treatment in a 2006 study conducted by the University Medical Center of Berlin. In patients with chronic low back pain, there was a significant difference in pain reported between groups of patients receiving acupuncture over eight weeks versus those not receiving any treatment.

Even more impressive is a 2012 study done by Memorial Sloan-Kettering Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics aimed to determine the effect of acupuncture for four chronic pain conditions: back and neck pain, arthritis, chronic headache and shoulder pain.

The researchers reviewed clinical trials involving over 17,000 patients, and the results showed that patients receiving acupuncture had less pain than patients in the placebo control group for back and neck muscle aches and pain, osteoarthritis, and chronic headaches. The conclusion was that acupuncture is effective for the treatment of chronic pain and is “more than just a placebo effect, therefore it’s a reasonable referral option for doctors.”

Often acupuncture is used in tandem with cupping therapy for natural pain relief.

3. Helps Treat Insomnia

Beijing University of Chinese Medicine conducted a large meta-analysis in 2009 that showed a beneficial effect of acupuncture on reducing insomnia symptoms, compared with no treatment.

The analysis found that in patients who were taking medications or herbal treatments to help with sleep, adding acupuncture therapy showed better effects than taking the medications or herbs alone. Another benefit was that unlike many sleep medications, the acupuncture sessions had no adverse side effects at all.

4. Improves Recovery from Cancer and Chemotherapy

According to the National Cancer Institute, several studies show that acupuncture can help boost immunity and speed up recovery following cancer treatments. One randomized trial, for example, found that acupuncture treatment enhanced immunity, platelet count and prevented a decrease in healthy cells after radiation therapy or chemotherapy when compared to receiving no acupuncture.

Researchers reported that the patients in both acupuncture treatment groups also experienced less pain from treatments, improvements in quality of life and a decrease in various negative side effects of chemotherapy, such as nausea.

5. Helps to Prevent Cognitive Decline

Some early research has showing new information about the effectiveness of  acupuncture on Parkinson’s. Studies show that can relieve age-related cognitive decline symptoms as it generates a neural response in areas of the brain — such as the putamen and the thalamus — that are particularly affected by Parkinson’s disease.

In a 2002 study done by the Department of Neurology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, after 20 Parkinson’s patients were treated with acupuncture for 16 sessions, 85 percent of patients reported subjective improvements of individual symptoms, including tremor, walking, handwriting, slowness, pain, sleep, depression and anxiety. There were no adverse effects.

6. Supports Pregnancy, Labor and Postpartum Health

Many doctors are now recommending acupuncture as a treatment to reduce stress, balance hormones and ease the anxiety and pain of pregnancy and labor.

It’s considered a safe treatment for many of the common symptoms during pregnancy — to ease the physical and emotional strain on the body — as well as after the baby is born to help with any mood, depression, mental or physical symptoms the mother may experience. It can even be used right before the baby is due to prepare the body for labor.

Note: There are a few acupuncture points that a trained acupuncturist will avoid during pregnancy.

7. May Help Alleviate Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Research suggests acupuncture may benefit those suffering from polycycstic ovary syndrome (PCOS), the most common endocrine disorder in women of reproductive age, by “increasing blood flow to the ovaries, reducing ovarian volume and the number of ovarian cysts, controlling hyperglycaemia through increasing insulin sensitivity and decreasing blood glucose and insulin levels, reducing cortisol levels and assisting in weight loss and anorexia.”

More research is needed to know the true efficacy of this treatment, though. Similarly, other research found electro-acupuncture intervention benefited study participants with PCOS more than physical exercise or no intervention.

Related: How Energy Healing Works to Benefit the Body & Mind

What to Expect

An acupuncture session works something like this:

• First, the acupuncturist will speak with the patient about their pain and health-related goals.
• Then they will usually look at the patient’s tongue and press on their vital organs to see if there is anything noticeable contributing to an imbalance.
• The acupuncturist will then use sterile, disposable small needles and will place them along specific “meridians” on the body.
• The acupuncturist will check for “pulses” on the body by gently placing their fingers or hand on the patient’s body to feel how the patient’s energy is flowing. Redness can also occur around a needle site, and this is thought to be a sign that as energy is not balanced in that area.
• The needles will usually stay in for a short period of time while the patent’s energy is reworking and balancing itself.
• After the needles are removed, the patient can go about their day and are usually advised to drink plenty of water in an effort to help the detoxifying process.

Risks and Side Effects

The National Institute of Health reports that “relatively few complications from using acupuncture have been reported.” However, complications can occur with nonsterile needles are used alongside an “improper delivery of treatments.” If this occurs, seriously adverse effects can occur, such as infection, punctured organs and even injury to the central nervous system.

Therefore, it’s important to always go to a practitioner that is well-trained in acupuncture as well as to a facility that is very careful about using clean needles. The good news is that the FDA regulates acupuncture needles as medical devices and requires that the needles be “sterile, nontoxic, and labeled for single use by qualified practitioners only.”

As far as how much acupuncture is needed before seeing results, firm clinical guidelines have yet to be established. Acupuncture is usually recommended as a complimentary treatment method — as something to try in addition to other pain management techniques, such as physical therapy, exercise and reducing inflammation through a healthy diet.

The post Acupuncture Benefits for Chronic Pain, Headaches & More appeared first on Dr. Axe.

According to research published in the Lancet, eating disorders have been increasing over the past 50 years, and changes in our food environment have been implicated in these issues.

From emotional eating to orthorexia, when you become obsessed with eating only the “right foods,” eating disorders come in many forms and can impact anyone. In fact, recent research shows that eating disorders in men are on the rise, which calls into question previous notions that they mostly affect adolescents and women.

When it comes to treating an eating disorder, the first step is to know the signs and symptoms so it can be diagnosed before causing major health implications. Eating disorders can be extremely dangerous and even life-threatening, but there are several ways to combat them and create healthy long-term habits.

What Is an Eating Disorder?

An eating disorder is a disruption in eating behavior, with excessive concern about body weight that impairs physical health and psychosocial functioning. It’s a complex and potentially life-threatening mental health condition that’s generally characterized by abnormal eating habits and attitudes toward food, weight and body image.

An eating disorder involves a range of emotional, psychological and physical disturbances that significantly impact an individual’s well-being.

Eating disorders can have severe physical and psychological consequences, including:

• Malnutrition
• Electrolyte imbalances
• Gastrointestinal problems
• Hormonal disturbances
• Cardiovascular issues
• Depression, anxiety
• Social isolation

Eating disorders can affect individuals of any age, gender or background, although they are more commonly observed in young women. They are complex conditions that can be influenced by a combination of genetic, environmental, psychological and sociocultural factors.

Early recognition, intervention and access to appropriate treatment are crucial for individuals struggling with these disorders.

Signs and Symptoms

Although eating disorders are often stereotyped as conditions that affect adolescents and young adults, they can occur at any age, according to recent studies. The signs and symptoms of eating disorders can vary depending on the specific type of disorder, but there are common indicators to be aware of.

It’s important to note that individuals struggling with an eating disorder may not exhibit all of these signs, and the presence of some symptoms doesn’t necessarily indicate an eating disorder. But if someone is experiencing several of these symptoms, it may be a cause for concern and warrant further evaluation by a health care professional.

Here are the 10 most common signs and symptoms associated with eating disorders:

1. Significant weight fluctuations: Rapid and dramatic weight loss or weight gain can be indicative of an eating disorder, especially if accompanied by other symptoms.
2. Distorted body image: A distorted perception of one’s body shape or size, often believing the person is overweight despite being underweight or at a healthy weight.
3. Obsession with food, calories and diets: Constant preoccupation with food, strict calorie counting or following extreme diets.
4. Restrictive eating patterns: Severely restricting food intake, avoiding certain food groups or adopting rigid eating rituals.
5. Binge eating: Frequent episodes of consuming unusually large amounts of food within a short time, accompanied by a sense of loss of control.
6. Purging behaviors: Engaging in self-induced vomiting, excessive exercise, or misuse of laxatives, diuretics or enemas as a means to compensate for food intake.
7. Social withdrawal and isolation: Avoiding social activities that involve food, becoming withdrawn from friends and family, or exhibiting changes in social behavior.
8. Emotional and psychological changes: Mood swings, irritability, anxiety, depression, or a preoccupation with body image and self-worth tied to weight and appearance.
9. Physical changes and complications: Fatigue, dizziness, fainting, weakness, frequent gastrointestinal problems, irregular or absent menstrual periods (in females), dry skin, hair loss, and dental problems.
10. Excessive exercise: Engaging in compulsive or excessive exercise routines, even when injured or exhausted.

Causes

The causes of eating disorders are complex and multifaceted, involving a combination of genetic, biological, psychological, environmental and sociocultural factors.

Several common factors that may contribute to the development of eating disorders include:

1. Genetic and biological factors: There is evidence suggesting a genetic predisposition to eating disorders. Individuals with a family history of eating disorders or other mental health conditions may be at a higher risk. Certain biological factors, such as abnormalities in brain chemicals or neurotransmitters, may also contribute to the development of eating disorders.
2. Psychological factors: Research shows that psychological factors play a significant role in the development of eating disorders. Low self-esteem, perfectionism, negative body image and distorted body image perception are often observed in individuals with eating disorders. Additionally, studies indicate that individuals with certain personality traits, such as impulsivity, obsessive-compulsive tendencies or anxiety, may be more vulnerable to developing eating disorders.
3. Sociocultural factors: Societal pressures and cultural influences can contribute to the development of eating disorders, research suggests. Societal emphasis on thinness, idealized body standards portrayed in media, and societal norms that equate thinness with beauty and success can all contribute to body dissatisfaction and disordered eating behaviors. Cultural factors, such as the prevalence of dieting or weight-focused behaviors, can also impact the development of eating disorders.
4. Environmental factors: Environmental factors, such as childhood trauma, history of abuse, dysfunctional family dynamics, or a history of teasing or bullying can increase the risk of developing an eating disorder. Stressful life events, transitions or significant life changes may also trigger the onset of disordered eating behaviors.

Types of Eating Disorders

Anorexia Nervosa

Anorexia nervosa is characterized by an intense fear of gaining weight and a distorted body image. Individuals with this disorder often restrict their food intake to extreme levels, leading to significant weight loss and malnutrition. They may engage in excessive exercise and exhibit obsessive behaviors around food and body weight.

People with anorexia may deny the severity of their low body weight and may experience physical complications, such as osteoporosis, anemia, loss of muscle mass, fatigue, cognitive impairments, organ damage and hormonal imbalances.

Bulimia Nervosa

Bulimia nervosa involves recurrent episodes of binge eating followed by purging behaviors, such as self-induced vomiting, excessive exercise, or the misuse of laxatives or diuretics. Individuals with bulimia often experience a sense of lack of control during binge episodes and may engage in secretive eating behaviors.

People with bulimia are typically preoccupied with body shape and weight, and the purging behaviors can lead to electrolyte imbalances, nutrient deficiencies, depression, dental issues and gastrointestinal problems.

Binge Eating Disorder (BED)

Binge eating disorder is characterized by recurrent episodes of consuming large amounts of food within a short period, accompanied by a feeling of loss of control. Unlike bulimia, individuals with BED do not regularly engage in compensatory behaviors.

They often experience shame, guilt and distress due to their eating patterns, and the disorder is associated with significant weight gain, obesity and related health problems.

Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID)

Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder involves a significant restriction in the amount and variety of food intake, often driven by sensory sensitivities, fears of aversive consequences or a lack of interest in eating. Unlike anorexia, the restriction in ARFID is not driven by body image concerns or a desire for weight loss.

Individuals with ARFID may experience weight loss, nutritional deficiencies, and impaired growth and development.

Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorders

Other specified feeding or eating disorders encompass a range of eating disorders that do not meet the full criteria for the above categories but still involve disordered eating patterns. Examples include atypical anorexia nervosa (meeting all criteria except weight), purging disorder (recurrent purging without binge eating) and night eating syndrome (consuming a significant portion of daily calories during nighttime).

Orthorexia

Although not technically considered an eating disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, orthorexia is a condition that affects individuals who have an obsession with eating the right foods. Orthorexia differs from other eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, because it centers around the quality of food consumed, not the quantity.

Individuals with orthorexia can become so fixated on what they consider healthy eating that they can actually damage their own well-being. Common signs of orthorexia include excessive research on foods, rigidly following dietary rules, and avoiding foods deemed as unhealthy or impure.

How to Know If You Have One

It’s important to be aware of the warning signs of an eating disorder. Identifying the condition early and seeking help will significantly improve your chances of recovery.

Remember that everyone who struggles with an eating disorder has a different experience, and the signs or symptoms won’t always be the same.

Some red flags that indicate a problem in a majority of cases include:

• Discomfort eating around others
• Extreme concern about body size and image
• Obsession with counting calories, fats or carbohydrates
• Frequent dieting
• Significant mood swings
• Extreme weight changes

Treatment

The treatment of eating disorders typically involves a multidisciplinary approach, combining medical, nutritional and psychological interventions. The specific treatment plan may vary depending on the type and severity of the eating disorder, as well as individual needs and circumstances.

Here are some common components of eating disorder treatment:

1. Medical Management

In severe cases, medical stabilization may be necessary to address any immediate health complications associated with an eating disorder. This may involve monitoring vital signs, managing electrolyte imbalances and addressing nutritional deficiencies.

Regular medical checkups are also important to assess physical health throughout the treatment process.

Addressing any medical complications resulting from the eating disorder is essential. This may involve collaborating with medical specialists, such as endocrinologists, gastroenterologists or dentists, to manage and treat specific health concerns.

2. Nutritional Counseling

Registered dietitians or nutritionists play a crucial role in helping individuals establish a healthy and balanced relationship with food. They provide guidance on meal planning and portion sizes and help individuals develop regular eating patterns.

Nutritional counseling aims to restore proper nutrition and address any underlying nutritional deficiencies. Nutrition professionals are involved in all levels of care, including individual and group treatment in hospitals or residential programs and outpatient programs.

3. Psychotherapy

Various forms of psychotherapy are used in the treatment of eating disorders. Cognitive behavioral therapy is commonly used to address distorted thoughts and beliefs related to food, body image and self-worth. It helps individuals develop healthier coping mechanisms and challenge unhelpful patterns of thinking.

According to research published in Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, cognitive behavioral therapy has the largest efficacy for adults with eating disorders, specifically bulimia.

Other therapies like dialectical behavior therapy, interpersonal therapy and family-based treatment may also be utilized depending on the specific needs and circumstances of the individual.

4. Supportive Counseling and Therapy

Individual counseling, family therapy or group therapy can provide a safe and supportive environment for individuals to explore the emotional and psychological factors contributing to their eating disorders. This can help address underlying issues, such as low self-esteem, body image concerns, trauma or co-occurring mental health conditions.

5. Medication

In some cases, medication may be prescribed to manage co-occurring mental health conditions, such as depression, anxiety or obsessive-compulsive disorder. Medications are typically used as an adjunct to psychotherapy and other forms of treatment.

6. Relapse Prevention and Aftercare

Building a strong support system and developing strategies for relapse prevention are important components of long-term recovery from eating disorders. Aftercare plans often include ongoing therapy, regular medical follow-ups, and support groups to maintain progress and prevent relapse.

It’s important to note that the treatment of eating disorders should be individualized and comprehensive, considering the unique needs and circumstances of each person. Recovery from an eating disorder is a journey, and ongoing support and care are essential for sustained healing.

Conclusion

• An eating disorder is a disruption in eating behavior, with excessive concern about body weight that impairs physical health and psychosocial functioning.
• These disorders involve a range of emotional, psychological and physical disturbances that significantly impact an individual’s well-being.
• Eating disorders can affect individuals of any age, gender or background. They are complex conditions that can be influenced by a combination of genetic, environmental, psychological and sociocultural factors.
• Some types of eating disorders include anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge-eating disorder and avoidant restrictive food intake disorder.
• Although the signs and symptoms of eating disorders aren’t the same for everyone, the most common red flags include an obsession with weight and calorie intake, severe mood swings, frequent dieting, and trouble eating in front of others.

The post Eating Disorders: Most Common Types, Signs, Symptoms, Causes & More appeared first on Dr. Axe.

Healthy adults — those with no recent history of heart damage, kidney disease or serious lung damage — normally do not have high enough levels of the protein called troponin in their bloodstreams to be detected. However, when someone has a heart attack or experiences another injury to the muscles of the heart, troponin levels quickly rise.

Doctors can now measure troponin levels in the blood within hours of symptoms emerging in order to screen for life-threatening problems. Troponin tests are more sensitive and fast-acting than tests used in the past to detect heart attacks, which means patients at risk for cardiac arrest and myocarditis (inflammation and damage of the heart muscle) can receive medical attention right away that sometimes can be life-saving.

What Is Troponin?

Troponins describe a group of proteins that are normally only found in the skeletal muscles and heart but can leak into the bloodstream if the heart becomes damaged.

These proteins help regulate muscle contractions and functions of skeletal and heart (cardiac) muscle fibers. They are released into the blood when the cells of the heart are injured and not getting enough oxygen and nutrients.

The more severely damaged the muscles of the heart are, the more that is leaked into the blood.

According to the National Institutes of Health, sometimes troponin is called other names, such as:

• cardiac troponin I (cTnI)
• cTnT
• cTN
• and others

Most heart disease tests focus on three main types of troponin proteins: troponin C,  T and I. The role of troponin C is to initiate contractions by binding calcium and working together with troponin I to pull muscle fibers shorter.

Troponin T binds this protein to a larger muscle fiber complex.

Normal Troponin Levels

Levels of troponin in the blood are measured to determine whether the heart is damaged and if a heart attack (acute myocardial infarction) has occurred.

What is a normal troponin level?

Results are given in measurements of nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL). The normal range is between 0 and 0.4 ng/mL.

What is an elevated troponin level?

High levels of troponin in the blood can indicate that someone has recently had a heart attack, which describes when blood flow to the heart muscle is cut off, causing tissue damage.

High levels can also explain why someone may have chest pains, also called angina, which is a risk factor for a heart attack. If someone reports chest pains and his or her troponin level in the blood is detected to be rising, this can alert the patient’s health care provider that a medical intervention is needed right away.

Anything above the normal range (0 and 0.4 ng/mL) is considered to be an elevated troponin level in the blood. However, the higher the level is, the more likely it is that a heart attack occurred.

What level indicates a heart attack? A measurement close to 0.4 may not necessarily mean one has occurred, but a measurement such as 10 or more is a very good indication that one has.

What does a low troponin level mean?

Normally levels are very low in the blood — so low, in fact, that they cannot be detected. Low levels are therefore not a concern.

Causes of Elevated Troponin

Elevated troponin causes can include:

• Having recently had a heart attack (myocardial infarction or death of cardiac muscle), which usually results in the highest levels in the blood compared to other health problems — this may be due to congestive heart failure/acute coronary syndrome or coronary heart disease
• Kidney disease/renal failure
• Blood clot in the lungs/pulmonary embolism
• Severe infection, such as sepsis
• Atrial fibrillation
• Myocarditis
• Myocardial contusion
• Pericarditis, inflammation around the sac of the heart
• Endocarditis, infection of the heart valves
• Intense exercise, which is only temporary and not generally harmful

How to Treat High Levels

If only a small amount of troponin is found in the blood, this usually means there is some damage to the heart, but it’s likely caused by a health problem other than a heart attack/cardiac arrest if it doesn’t rise and quickly decreases. In this case, treatment may not be necessary, although it depends on the individual.

In order to reduce troponin levels, it’s necessary to treat the underlying cause of the elevated levels. It’s also recommended to take steps to generally improve cardiovascular health, including by reducing high blood pressure or high cholesterol.

The post How to Maintain Normal Troponin Levels appeared first on Dr. Axe.

There are many reasons to take a high-quality daily multivitamin — from helping prevent and/or overcome nutritional deficiencies to supporting growth and development, maintaining strong bones, and protecting the eyes and heart — and now there could be even more reason to add a multivitamin to your everyday routine.

It turns out, recent research shows that taking a daily multivitamin may protect cognition and possibly even help prevent cognitive decline.

Study: Daily Multivitamin Can Protect Cognition

Many supplements, including multivitamins, are praised for their brain-boosting effects, but research on these effects has been mixed over the years. To get a better understanding of the efficacy of brain supplements (aka nootropics), researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and Wake Forest School of Medicine examined the effects of cocoa extract and a daily multivitamin on cognitive health in older adults.

Published in the Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association, the COcoa Supplement and Multivitamin Outcomes Study for the Mind (COSMOS-Mind) trial tested both a daily multivitamin mineral (MVM) vs. a placebo and cocoa extract vs. a placebo to determine if they could enhance and protect cognition in older women and men.

In all, 2,262 people with a mean age of 73 years old participated in the trial, which was conducted over three years, testing “Telephone Interview of Cognitive Status, Word List and Story Recall, Oral Trail-Making, Verbal Fluency, Number Span, and Digit Ordering.”

The researchers concluded:

The post Study Finds Daily Multivitamin Can Protect Cognition appeared first on Dr. Axe.

What are mitochondria, and how do they help us? Mitochondria are specialized structures found in cells. They participate in many cellular processes, but their most important function is to extract the energy that is stored in the chemical bonds of nutrients (in the form of electrically charged particles called electrons) and transform it into a form of energy that cells can use to power their activity.

This form of energy is a molecule called ATP (from adenosine triphosphate), and the process is called cellular respiration. Because mitochondria generate around 90 percent of all ATP produced in the body, they are known as “the powerhouse of the cell.”

When mitochondria work optimally, cells are fueled efficiently, and biological pathways run smoothly. But when mitochondria are dysfunctional, they start to accumulate damage, and cellular processes start to gradually get disrupted.

Mitochondrial dysfunction caused by damage accumulation is actually one of the hallmarks of aging.

Why Is It Important to Boost Mitochondria?

Dysfunctions in the mechanisms of ATP production in our mitochondria, particularly in a pathway called the electron transport chain, increase the production of byproducts called reactive oxygen species (ROS) that can be damaging to mitochondria at high concentrations. Mitochondrial dysfunction creates a rolling snowball of damage that can gradually grow to affect all biological processes in our body.

This happens naturally with age, but improving mitochondrial fitness, their efficacy in generating energy, and their capacity to avoid or repair damage to their biochemical machinery may contribute to a healthier aging process.

10 Ways You Can Boost Mitochondria

1. Calorie Restriction

Reducing calorie intake (through fasting diets, for example) is the most successful approach to enhance longevity. This success can be attributed, at least partially, to an increase in mitochondrial bioenergetic efficiency.

Calorie restriction acts as a stress signal that triggers a number of adaptations in mitochondria:

• It improves the activity of the electron transport chain and regulates the production of ROS and oxidative stress.
• It supports mitochondrial quality control mechanisms, responsible for preventing and/or repairing damage.
• It promotes the renewal of the mitochondrial network through the elimination of damaged mitochondria (autophagy) and the production of new mitochondria (biogenesis)

2. Exercise

Exercise requires a great deal of energy to power our muscles. That puts a burden on muscle mitochondria, which signal that energetic demand to the rest of the cell.

Muscle cells respond by producing more mitochondria and more mitochondrial enzymes. This increases the respiratory capacity of muscles, i.e., their ability to produce ATP from nutrients to power muscle contraction.

It is an adaptation of our muscle cells to exercise and one of the reasons why exercise performance improves with training. Exercise is also one of the best ways to improve mitochondrial biogenesis and function in aging muscle, helping delay the age-related decline in mitochondrial activity and muscle health.

3. Mitochondrial Nutrients

There are many nutrients that can help mitochondria do their work and maintain their fitness. Mitochondrial nutrients provide substrates and cofactors that support and/or stimulate mitochondrial enzyme activity, they enhance cellular antioxidant defenses, they scavenge free radicals and protect mitochondria from oxidation, and they protect and repair mitochondrial membranes.

Mitochondrial nutrients include B vitamins, minerals, polyphenols and other nutrients, such as L-carnitine, alpha-lipoic acid, coenzyme Q10, pyrroloquinoline quinone and creatine, for example. They can be taken as supplements, or they can be found in natural, unprocessed foods, i.e., fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, seafood, and meat.

4. Sleep

The human brain requires a lot of energy, and because of its high metabolic rate, the brain accumulates a lot of metabolic waste. During sleep, the brain gets rid of products that can be toxic to mitochondria.

An example is the molecule beta-amyloid. At normal levels, beta-amyloid protects neurons and supports their activity. However, when it accumulates excessively, beta-amyloid becomes harmful to neurons, in particular to their mitochondria, which can trigger neurodegenerative processes.

Because neuronal mitochondria power every brain function, it is very important to avoid this accumulation of toxic waste. Poor sleep damages mitochondria, but a good night’s sleep helps the brain keep mitochondria healthy.

5. Relaxation Techniques

Psychological stress influences physical health, and mitochondria have a key role in this influence. Stress can alter mitochondrial structure and function through stress hormones and other stress signals that are sensed by mitochondria.

Chronic stress can cause mitochondrial dysfunctions and modify cellular and biological processes. Stress-induced mitochondrial dysfunctions can be particularly harmful to the nervous, endocrine and immune systems, from which a generalized negative impact on the body can develop.

Therefore, practices that help manage stress — meditation, yoga, tai chi or breathing exercises, for example — may help prevent the effects of stress. In fact, regular practice of relaxation techniques has been shown to upregulate genes that are linked to healthy mitochondrial function.

6. Sunlight

Without forgetting that excessive unprotected sun bathing can be very harmful, it’s important to remember that the right amount of sun is fundamental for our health. A well-known effect of sunlight is the production of vitamin D in our skin.

It turns out that vitamin D is necessary for mitochondrial activity and that vitamin D supplementation in vitamin D-deficient adults improves mitochondrial oxidative capacity in muscles. Furthermore, animal studies have shown that vitamin D promotes mitochondrial biogenesis and increases the oxidative capacity of mitochondria in muscles and brown fat.

7. Red/Near-Infrared Light Therapy

Red and near-infrared light can penetrate the skin and act on mitochondria through stimulation of a molecule called cytochrome C oxidase. This molecule is part of the mitochondrial electron transport chain that produces ATP. Red and near-infrared light enhance the efficiency of the mitochondrial electron transport chain and energy production.

By doing so, red/near-infrared light therapy also improves cellular signaling by ROS and triggers cellular changes that lead to beneficial cellular responses, including enhanced antioxidant defenses and improved cellular functioning. A number of benefits have been described for red/near-infrared light therapy, including, for example, accelerated wound healing and increased capacity to decrease muscle damage and improve muscle recovery following exercise.

8. Cold Exposure

When we’re cold, two types of tissues respond immediately by generating extra heat. One is skeletal muscle, which produces heat through shivering. The other is brown adipose tissue (BAT or brown fat), responsible for non-shivering heat production.

Shivering releases heat in the process of burning fuels and using ATP to power muscle contraction. Shivering thus recruits mitochondria to indirectly generate heat.

BAT, unlike other tissues, has a molecule that can uncouple respiration from ATP production and use it instead to actively produce heat. BAT thus uses mitochondria to directly generate heat.

In both skeletal muscle and brown fat, cold stimulates an increase in mitochondrial activity and mitochondrial biogenesis. Therefore, cold exposure in the form of cold showers or cryotherapy can boost mitochondria to keep us warm.

9. Heat Exposure

Heat can also trigger beneficial biological responses. Heat acts as a mild stress signal and triggers cell responses that promote adaptation.

One of the main agents of that adaptation are mitochondria, as it has been shown that heat stress triggers beneficial adaptive response in mitochondria that increase their functional capacity.

These effects have been shown in skeletal muscle and cardiac muscle, for example. This stands in line with studies showing that routine sauna bathing can improve endurance performance and reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases, for example.

10. Supporting NAD⁺

NAD⁺ (from nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) is a molecule derived from vitamin B3 found in every single cell in the body. NAD⁺ has a key role in mitochondrial function: It is the main molecule responsible for the delivery of the electrons that are extracted from food to the electron transport chain for ATP production.

NAD⁺ is therefore as important for cells as ATP itself. Consequently, NAD⁺ is essential for the maintenance of health.

NAD levels decrease naturally in many tissues as we age. This decrease may also contribute to the aging process.

However, we can boost NAD⁺ levels by supplying cells with nutrients that can help them optimize NAD⁺ metabolism. Doing so may counterbalance the age-related decrease in NAD⁺ and help support mitochondrial function, protect against age-related diseases, and support longevity.

Final Thoughts

Mitochondria sustain human life because they generate the energy that powers our cells. By supporting mitochondrial fitness, we are supporting the optimal functioning of pretty much every cell and system in the body.

Boosting mitochondria can help us live a long and healthy life.

Sara Adaes, Ph.D., is a neuroscientist and biochemist working as a research scientist at Neurohacker Collective. Sara graduated in Biochemistry at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto, in Portugal. Her first research experience was in the field of neuropharmacology. She then studied the neurobiology of pain at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, where she got her Ph.D. in Neuroscience. In the meantime, she became interested in science communication and in making scientific knowledge accessible to the lay society. Sara wants to use her scientific training and skills to contribute to increasing the public understanding of science.

The post Mitochondria: 10 Ways to Boost the Powerhouse of Your Cells appeared first on Dr. Axe.

Do you know what’s been called “the most successful pathogen in human history?” It’s a type of bacteria known as Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), and it’s been around for at least 200,000 years.

Believe it or not, it’s actually not uncommon for someone to have this bacteria living inside of her for an entire lifetime and not even know it!

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 66 percent of the world’s human population is infected with Helicobacter pylori. In developing countries, the numbers are even worse, with up to 80 percent of adults and 10 percent of children likely having a H. pylori infection.

If you have this infection, you’re actually most likely not to have any symptoms, but having this bacteria living in your body can make your risk of developing gastric cancer six times higher. Plus, H. pylori bacteria is often at the root of other major digestive problems, like peptic ulcers and gastritis.

Not only can H. pylori cause stomach ulcers, but it can also cause ulcers in your esophagus or small intestine.

You’re probably wondering how do you get Helicobacter pylori if it’s such a common infection? Unfortunately, it can be as simple as sharing drinks or utensils with someone who is already infected with H. pylori bacteria.

There are conventional treatments for this infection, but they’re not without their negative side effects. Antibiotics, for example, may or may not kill the bad bacteria causing a H. pylori infection, but they also annihilate your good bacteria.

Thankfully, there are natural ways to treat, as well as prevent, a Helicobacter pylori infection.

What Is H. Pylori?

So, exactly what is H. pylori? Helicobacter pylori is a spiral-shaped bacteria. It causes chronic inflammation and infection in the stomach and duodenum (the first part of the small intestine immediately beyond the stomach).

This type of bacteria is often called “ulcer bacteria” because it creates a cytotoxin (vacuolating cytotoxin A or Vac-A) that can precipitate an ulcer forming somewhere in the digestive system.

Where exactly can H. pylori be found in the body? Helicobacter pylori bacteria typically makes its home in the mucosal layer, which covers and guards the tissues lining your stomach and small intestine. When this bacteria successfully inflames the inner layer of the stomach, an ulcer can form.

H. pylori is said to cause more than 90 percent of duodenal (upper small intestine) ulcers and up to 80 percent of gastric (stomach) ulcers.

Is H. pylori contagious? Yes, an infection with H. pylori appears to be contagious according to experts.

It’s still a little fuzzy as to how exactly it gets passed from person to person. Because H. pylori seems to run in families, and also seems to be more common in crowded living situations and unsanitary conditions, it points toward H. pylori’s contagious nature.

Signs and Symptoms

As I said, the majority of people with an H. pylori infection don’t even have a clue that they have it because they have zero symptoms.

Other times, the infection will show itself in occasional H. pylori symptoms like:

• Bloating
• Belching
• Nausea
• Abdominal discomfort
• Vomiting

More serious infections can cause symptoms of H. pylori like:

• Abdominal pain
• Fatigue
• Heartburn
• Nausea and vomiting that can include vomiting blood
• Dark or tarry stools
• Diarrhea
• Bad breath
• Anemia (low red blood cell count)
• Decreased or loss of appetite
• Peptic ulcers

Causes and Risk Factors

Mainly, you can get H. pylori from person-to-person transmission by way of direct contact with the saliva, vomit or fecal matter of an infected individual. Kissing and sharing utensils are two common ways the bacteria spreads.

You can also contract H. pylori from consumption of contaminated water or food.

Childhood is actually when you’re most at risk for getting H. pylori, especially under circumstances like these:

• Living with someone, like a parent, who already has H. pylori. 
• A crowded living situation with many people.
• A lack of clean and reliable water.
• Your home is in a developing country where unsanitary and crowded living situations are more prevalent.

Conventional Treatment

In order to diagnose a Helicobacter pylori infection, your doctor will have you take an H. pylori breath test, stool test or blood test.

Treatment for H. pylori usually includes several medications with at least two of them being antibiotics to hopefully kill the bacteria. The other medication are usually acid reducers.

Why multiple antibiotics? Conventional wisdom says a single antibiotic may not kill the bacteria, so doctors typically use at least two at the same time.

Conventional H. pylori treatment also typically includes acid reducers like esomeprazole, lansoprazole, omeprazole or pantoprazole, especially if the patient has symptoms of an ulcer or heartburn. Bismuth subsalicylate is also commonly recommended.

In addition, your doctor may also recommend histamine-blocking medications to reduce stomach acid.

All together, we’re talking about possibly consuming 14 or more medications every day for weeks. Around a week or two after finishing your treatment regimen, your doctor will likely retest you to see if the treatment successfully eradicated the H. pylori bacteria.

Sometimes, the bacteria is still there, and patients are instructed to take another two weeks of medications. It’s approximated that as much as 20 percent of H. pylori sufferers will have a reoccurring infection.

9 Natural H. Pylori Treatments

If you’re not interested in conventional treatment, you have some options to treat H. pylori naturally. In general, it’s really important that we (the world population) find dependable natural treatments of this bacteria since antibiotic resistance against H. pylori is on the rise and does not seem to be slowing down anytime soon.

These are the some of the best, scientifically backed treatments to naturally fight this bacterial infection:

1. Probiotics

Since H. pylori is an unwanted or “bad bacteria” in the gut, it makes total sense that probiotics (the “good bacteria”) can help naturally fight this type of infection.

A 2012 placebo-controlled pilot study published in the journal Inflammation and Allergy Drug Targets looked at the effects of probiotics on people with dyspepsia who tested positive for pylori bacteria. Researchers found that following treatment with an eight-strain probiotic supplement, 13 of the 40 patients had a complete eradication of their H. pylori.

Another more recent study in 2017 makes an excellent point — the common antibiotics used to get rid of H. pylori (including amoxicillin, clarithromycin and metronidazole) often do not successfully eradicate H. pylori in sufferers due to antibiotic resistance, which is becoming more prevalent as overuse of antibiotics continues.

Sometimes people are taking antibiotics for H. pylori and not only are they killing off all their vital and health-promoting good bacteria, but they’re not even killing off the bad H. pylori bacteria! This 2017 study concludes that if people do take antibiotics for an H. pylori infection, if they also take probiotics the likelihood of eradication is more likely and negative gastrointestinal effects of antibiotics are less likely.

Lactobacillus fermentum, Lactobacillus casei and Lactobacillus brevis are three specifics strains of probiotics that have been highlighted in scientific research for their ability to fight H. pylori bacteria.

2. Black Seed (Nigella Sativa)

Black seed has many proven benefits, including successfully fighting H. pylori infections. Research from 2010 found that giving H. pylori patients two grams of ground black seeds daily along with omeprazole (an acid blocker) was more effective at treating H. pylori than the standard conventional “triple therapy” of an acid blocker plus two different antibiotics.

Doses of black seed at one or three grams daily were less effective. The study concluded that “N. sativa seeds possess clinically useful anti-H. pylori activity, comparable to triple therapy.” Black seeds also have acid-reducing and gastro-protective abilities.

3. Broccoli Sprouts

Broccoli sprouts are broccoli plants that are only a few days old. They contain extremely high levels of a sulfur-containing chemical called sulforaphane. Sulforaphane is known for its antioxidant and detoxifying benefits.

Broccoli sprouts are used to make broccoli seed oil for external use as well as supplements for internal use.

Research published in Digestive Diseases and Sciences found that 78 percent (seven out of nine) of the subjects who consumed broccoli sprouts (either 14, 28 or 56 grams) two times per day for a week tested negative for Helicobacter pylori at the end of the seven days, and six of the subjects still tested negative at day 35 of the study.

Most recently, 2017 research published in the journal Current Pharmaceutical Design demonstrates that not only can the sulforaphane in broccoli sprouts fight against H. pylori and the gastritis it can cause, but it can also help protect against gastrointestinal damage commonly caused by dangerous NSAIDs.

4. Green Tea

Green tea isn’t just a popular beverage whether hot or cold. It’s also been shown to inhibit the growth of Helicobacter pylori bacteria.

In vitro studies have shown “profound growth effects of green tea against Helicobacter and importantly, demonstrate that green tea consumption can prevent gastric mucosal inflammation if ingested prior to exposure to Helicobacter infection.” Researchers conclude that green tea is natural substance that can be used to prevent as well as treat gastritis caused by Helicobacter pylori bacteria.

Other studies reveal that the catechins, especially epigallocatechin gallate, in green tea hold powerful antibacterial powers when it comes to fighting off H. pylori bacteria.

Green tea is an excellent source of catechins. Catechins have also been associated with antioxidant, antiviral, antiplaque-forming and anti-cancer health effects.

5. Garlic

Garlic is a natural anti-inflammatory and even has natural antibiotic properties. Consuming both cooked and raw garlic may help to kill off Helicobacter pylori bacteria.

A 2016 study found that people with Helicobacter pylori who consumed two medium-sized cloves of garlic (about three grams) with their lunch at noon and dinner in the evening had a significant reduction in Helicobacter pylori bacteria. This demonstrates that garlic has antibacterial effects specifically toward H. pylori.

6. Propolis

Propolis is a resinous mixture collected by honeybees from a variety of plant sources used to keep the hive structurally sound. Scientists looking at the exact chemical composition of propolis have found that it actually contains over 300 natural compounds. These compounds include amino acids, coumarins, phenolic aldehydes, polyphenols, sequiterpene quinines and steroids.

Multiple studies have found that propolis extract, which is available as a supplement, is able to inhibit the growth of H. pylori bacteria thanks to its high content of  phenolic compounds.

7. General H. pylori Diet

To help naturally treat this bacteria, consume more:

• Probiotic-rich foods, like kefir
• Wild-caught fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids
• Flax and chia seeds also rich in omega-3s
• Raw honey, especially manuka honey, in moderation used in green/black tea
• Berries, specifically raspberry, strawberry, blackberry, blueberry and bilberry
• Cruciferous vegetables, especially broccoli and broccoli sprouts

What not to consume, or at least reduce, to fight off Helicobacter pylori and H. pylori symptoms includes:

• Caffeine
• Carbonated beverages
• Pickled foods
• Spicy foods
• Low-fiber grains

8. Herbs

Extracts of the following herbs have been shown in scientific research to inhibit the growth of Helicobacter pylori bacteria:

• Agrimonia eupatoria
• Hydrastis canadensis (Goldenseal)
• Filipendula ulmaria (Meadowsweet)
• Salvia officinalis (Sage)

9. Reduce Stress

If you have Helicobacter pylori, stress only makes symptoms worse. Plus, people with anxiety and high amounts of stress have shown poorer immune functioning, higher than normal rates of H. pylori infections and stomach inflammation/stomach ulcers.

Make sure to incorporate more stress relievers into your life on a daily basis. Some great ideas include deep breathing, yoga, tai chi, acupuncture and meditation.

Prevention

These are some of the main ways to prevent Helicobacter pylori in the first place:

• Safe Drinking Water: It’s very important for everyone, old and young, to only drink water from a clean, safe source. Drinking contaminated water is one of the main ways that you can contract H. pylori. Even if you live in a developed country, remember this when you’re traveling abroad.
• Practice Good Hygiene: Always wash your hands before you eat and, of course, after going to the bathroom. I also highly recommend not sharing utensils, glasses, etc., with strangers, friends or even family members since direct contact with infected saliva is one of the main causes of an H. pylori infection.
• Eat Properly Prepared Food:  Because food can also become contaminated with H. pylori bacteria, make sure that you eat food items that are cooked thoroughly and safely under clean conditions.

Precautions

If you suspect that you may have a Helicobacter pylori infection, it is definitely worth getting a H. pylori test as soon as you can.

If you experience any of the following symptoms, you should definitely seek urgent medical care

• Trouble swallowing
• Persistent or severe abdominal pain
• Bloody or black vomit
• Vomit that looks like coffee grounds
• Black tarry or bloody stools
• Persistent gnawing or burning pain in the area below the ribs that improves after eating, drinking milk or taking antacids

If you have no signs or symptoms of a Helicobacter pylori infection but test positive for H. pylori, it remains controversial whether or not treatment is a good idea. (35)

If you are currently taking any medication or have any ongoing health conditions, check with your doctor before trying any new supplements or foods.

Final Thoughts

Helicobacter pylori is a really important health topic since it’s so common all across the globe. Many people don’t even know that they have H. pylori bacteria in their bodies because they have no negative health symptoms.

Meanwhile, other people are struggling with minor or serious symptoms that they think are because of some other health problem when what they really need is treatment for H. pylori.

If you have symptoms of H. pylori, it’s highly important that you get tested and move forward from there. Once you know that you have or don’t have this bacterial infection, it’s much easier to move forward with an effective treatment plan that feels right for you.

The post H. Pylori: What It Is + 9 Natural Treatments appeared first on Dr. Axe.

There’s loads of advice out there regarding how to lose weight quickly, some good, some bad. While your primary reason for wanting to learn how to lose belly fat may be due to vanity, there are also loads of convincing health reasons for wanting to trim down your waistline.

For example, dangerous visceral fat — the type of deep fat that tends to accumulate near your belly, surrounding your vital organs — raises the risk for serious conditions. You’re more susceptible to heart disease, diabetes and other issues if you gain weight around your midsection.

In fact, excess weight is a major risk factor for chronic diseases worldwide. Fortunately, research shows that losing just 10–20 pounds (or around 5 percent to 10 percent of your total body weight) can make a real difference in preserving your health into older age.

The Problem with Belly Fat

You may have experienced periods in the past when you’ve watched the numbers on the scale fall, but still you didn’t see a corresponding fat loss in the belly region. For many, losing extra fat around the midsection is one of the biggest obstacles to trimming down, and it can be particularly challenging to lose weight after age 40.

The World Health Organization estimates that nearly 40 percent of the world’s population is overweight. Obesity and being overweight can contribute to health problems, such as type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease and stroke, metabolic syndrome, certain types of cancer, sleep apnea, osteoarthritis, gallbladder disease, fatty liver disease and even pregnancy complications.

Obesity is said to be a “complex pathological processes,” as it can involve environmental, genetic and emotional factors. Several hormones are involved in accumulation of belly fat, including insulin, ghrelin, leptin and cortisol. These impact how hungry or satisfied we feel before, after and between eating.

Eating chemically altered foods (which spike cravings), repeat yo-yo dieting, crash dieting, genetic factors and stress can all interfere with appetite regulation.

Visceral belly fat is especially dangerous. Visceral fat is also called “organ fat” or “intra-abdominal fat.” This stubborn fat lies in close proximity to the vital organs of the body, including the liver, kidneys and other digestive organs, meaning it’s a genuine health concern.

Fat is actually similar to an organ, in that it releases compounds in the blood and alters hormone levels. When fat is stored close to the vital organs, it’s easier for it to get into the bloodstream. This can contribute to cardiometabolic problems, such as clogged arteries and hypertension.

Studies even show that visceral fat can trigger inflammatory responses that make people more susceptible to severe illnesses, including infections and viruses.

Causes of Belly Fat

Experts believe that some of the main reasons people tend to accumulate weight around their midsections include:

1. Processed Foods

Today, people eat far too much of both processed foods and ultra-processed foods, plus less fresh plant foods. The most substantial dietary change to happen in the last century include overconsumption of high-calorie foods, including processed vegetable oils, sugary drinks, fast food and all types of sweet snacks.

A 2021 JAMA study found that ultra-processed foods now account for two-thirds (67 percent) of calories on average in the diets of American children and teens. Research published in 2022 shows ultra-processed foods are linked with cancer and early death — and could even raise the risk of cognitive decline.

2. Higher Stress Levels

Today the average person faces increased stress levels as well as busier schedules. This equates to less time for healthy habits like sleep or exercise, eating more often while distracted, and more comfort/emotional eating.

3. More Difficulty Affording Food

With inflation affecting most countries across the globe, food has never been more expensive. For some populations, many people now have trouble affording healthy food in particular. It’s been found that individuals from disadvantaged communities seem to have greater risks for obesity than more affluent individuals of the same age.

4. Genetics

Research now shows that genetic components of obesity account for 40 percent to 50 percent of the variability in body weight status. There are around 250 genes associated with obesity. Some studies also suggest that a mother’s environment, habits and diet during pregnancy can have lasting consequences on body weight and risk of chronic disease in the offspring.

5. Sedentary Living

In the past two decades, there’s been a decrease in physical activity, including more people spending too much time sitting at work while spending less time doing physical activities solely for leisure. According to studies, a sedentary lifestyle and physical inactivity are among the leading modifiable risk factors worldwide for cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality.

6. Social Networks

Research examining the effects of weight gain among friends, siblings and spouses has found that a person’s risk of becoming obese increased by 57 percent if a close friend became obese, 40 percent is a sibling did, and 37 percent if a spouse or partner did.

How to Lose Belly Fat

So how do you lose belly fat (and back fat) and maintain a normal body mass index? Here are suggestions for trimming down in a healthy manner:

1. Eat More Fat-Burning Foods

Eating real foods from nature, instead of fake foods found in packages or boxes, is one of the best (and easiest) things you can do for your well-being. Think:

• vegetables
• fruits
• seeds
• clean meats (not processed meats) and fish (best fish to eat)
• legumes
• others grown in healthy, rich soils without any chemicals added

Ultra-processed foods, on the other hand, are what you want to avoid at all costs, considering they’re linked to obesity and literally can cause fat gain. These are most of the foods you’ll find at your local supermarket: bagged, boxed, frozen, items loaded with unhealthy additives and preservatives you don’t want to put into your body.

What are five foods that burn belly fat? Among the best fat-burning foods are leafy greens, other vegetables like cruciferous veggies, high-protein sources like meat and fish, berries, and healthy fats, such as olive oil or nuts.

2. Increase Fiber Intake

Eat more high-fiber foods, which is beneficial for controlling appetite, digestion, heart health and more. It’s been found that higher consumption of fiber can help prevent obesity.

In particular, up your intake of soluble fiber, found in oats, barley, peas, carrots, beans, apples, citrus fruits and psyllium. Soluble fiber attaches to cholesterol particles and removes them from your digestive system, thus lowering your risk of heart disease as well as helping you lose fat.

3. Stay Away from Sugar, Liquid Calories and Grains

You probably already know that sugar is really bad for you. You especially want to avoid added sugar when trying to lose weight, including hidden sources of sugar like sweetened dairy, juices or packaged snacks made with grains.

It’s best to keep these foods out of your home entirely for the best results, and follow these tips:

• Don’t drink your calories! Drink more plain water, herbal tea, sparkling water with lemon slices and other healthy drinks. Avoid soda, sports drinks, sweetened teas and most juices.
• Reduce your intake of grains (especially refined kinds). All grains are not bad (especially sprouted or gluten-free grains), but they won’t help you lose weight or recover from a health condition.
• Instead, focus on vegetables and fruits that are low in sugar and high in fiber.