Improve your odds of not getting sick

For your immune system to keep you healthy, the white blood cells need to effectively engulf and kill bacterias and viruses. This process is called phagocytosis.

Wouldn't it be nice if you could improve the ability of your white blood cells to kill bacterias and viruses, in other words improve phagocytosis. If you could do it without taking any medication, that would be even better.

That was exactly what was investigated in the reviewed research(Fernandes CA, et.al.,2012).

Twenty-nine healthy individuals, both men and women, 24 to 67 years old, participated in the study. They received three hours of training, weekly, in meditation during the 10 weeks the study lasted. They also agreed to practice daily for 20 minutes at home. To evaluate the phagocytosis, the production of hydrogen peroxide and nitric oxide by the monocytes(a type of white blood cell) was measured. Corticotrophin and cortisol, hormones released under stress, were also measured.

The measurements were done at the beginning of the study, halfway through, and at the end. The participants who meditated for more than 980 minutes showed an increase in phagocytosis. Their monocytes, a type of white blood cell, produced higher concentration of hydrogen peroxide. The level of corticotrophin hormone also went down.

By just using your mind, you can improve your body's ability to fight disease.

Fernandes CA¹, Nóbrega YK, Tosta CE. Pranic meditation affects phagocyte functions and hormonal levels of recent practitioners. J Altern Complement Med. 2012 Aug;18(8):761-8. doi: 10.1089/acm.2010.0718. Epub 2012 Jul 9.

Published with permission by Didrik Sopler, Ph.D., L.Ac : www.TissueRecovery.com Dr. Marsh has worked with and referrers patients to Dr. Sopler for co-management for years . . . He is quite simply San Diego's top functional medicine consultant.

A benefit of exercise you may not be aware of.

As we get older inflammation usually increases. You don't necessarily have to get increased inflammation as you age, but that's what's been observed in a lot of people. You probably know that inflammation is a risk factor for most chronic diseases, it can also make you more uncomfortable because it can contribute to pain.
It would be great if you had a way to reduce inflammation without taking any medication. In fact there are ways you can do that, and instead of side effects you even get a lot of additional benefits.

Exercise is one of the things that can reduce inflammation. That is exactly what the reviewed study investigated, by looking at data from a lot of research on this specific topic(Woods JA, et.al., 2012). Data on the participants activity level, as well as measurements of several inflammatory markers, were used.

As you may have guessed, exercise was found to reduce some of these inflammatory markers, especially highly sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP).

One of the studies they looked at also investigated the effects of antioxidants on inflammation. They found that the participants who took antioxidants had reduced inflammation, even if they did not exercise(Colbert LH, et.al.,2004).

The logical thing would be to both exercise and take antioxidants.

The most effective antioxidant the body makes is glutathione, but the problem is that it produces less of it as we get older, when we actually need more.

You can read more about this by clicking here.

Colbert LH¹, Visser M, Simonsick EM, Tracy RP, Newman AB, Kritchevsky SB, Pahor M, Taaffe DR, Brach J, Rubin S, Harris TB. Physical activity, exercise, and inflammatory markers in older adults: findings from the Health, Aging and Body Composition Study.
J Am Geriatr Soc. 2004 Jul;52(7):1098-104.

Woods JA¹, Wilund KR, Martin SA, Kistler BM. Exercise, inflammation and aging. Aging Dis. 2012 Feb;3(1):130-40. Epub 2011 Oct 29.

Published with permission by Didrik Sopler, Ph.D., L.Ac : www.TissueRecovery.com Dr. Marsh has worked with and referrers patients to Dr. Sopler for co-management for years . . . He is quite simply San Diego's top functional medicine consultant.

Can this be the reason why your mood is not good?

You want to be happy and not feel depressed, and while we don't understand all the reasons for depression, new research suggests that low-grade systemic inflammation may be involved(Wium-Andersen MK, et.al., 2013).

This is exactly what the reviewed research investigated by measuring plasma levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), an inflammatory marker. 73131 participants both men and women between the age of 20 and 100 years were included.

The conclusion of the study was that elevated levels of CRP are associated with increased risk for psychological distress and depression in the general population.

Maybe this looks a little bit strange to you, but the food you eat could actually be contributing to this type of inflammation, and for that reason also affect your mood.

If you find this interesting take a look at "The Special Effects Diet".
Wium-Andersen MK1, Ørsted DD, Nielsen SF, Nordestgaard BG. Elevated C-reactive protein levels, psychological distress, and depression in 73, 131 individuals. JAMA Psychiatry. 2013 Feb;70(2):176-84. doi: 10.1001/2013.jamapsychiatry.102.

Published with permission by Didrik Sopler, Ph.D., L.Ac : www.TissueRecovery.com Dr. Marsh has worked with and referrers patients to Dr. Sopler for co-management for years . . . He is quite simply San Diego's top functional medicine consultant.

You can use your mind to reduce inflammation.

Inflammation is a risk factor for all chronic diseases, and inflammation will also increase any pain you may have. Wouldn't it be great if you could reduce inflammation by just using your mind? The good news is that you can! 

The reviewed research investigated this(Black DS, et.al.,2013). 39 dementia caregivers either meditated for 12 minutes daily for 8 weeks or listened to relaxing music.

In the participants who meditated, 68 genes were found to be expressed differently, 19 were up-regulated and 49 were down-regulated. Up-regulated genes included immunoglobulin-related transcripts and the ones which were down- regulated were pro-inflammatory cytokines.

What this means is that meditation may reverse a pattern of increased NF-kappaB driven inflammation and also reduce IRF1-related transcription of innate antiviral response genes which has been observed in healthy individuals confronting a significant life stressor.

This was accomplished by spending only 12 minutes per day of this special type of meditation.

Black DS1, Cole SW, Irwin MR, Breen E, St Cyr NM, Nazarian N, Khalsa DS, Lavretsky H. Yogic meditation reverses NF-κB and IRF-related transcriptome dynamics in leukocytes of family dementia caregivers in a randomized controlled trial. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2013 Mar;38(3):348-55. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2012.06.011. Epub 2012 Jul 15.

Published with permission by Didrik Sopler, Ph.D., L.Ac : www.TissueRecovery.com Dr. Marsh has worked with and referrers patients to Dr. Sopler for co-management for years . . . He is quite simply San Diego's top functional medicine consultant.

Higher Blood Glucose Makes Your Memory Suffer

Like so many others, you may have noticed that you can’t remember like you once could. Sadly, some of your most common habits may actually increase your risk for developing dementia. Pay attention to this - life expectancy is increasing! If you don't do anything to change, most likely you will get worse as you get older. But wait! There are changes you can do that will make a difference.

The reviewed research makes it clear that reduced memory is not a coincidence, and that you have quite a bit of control(Kerti L, et.al.,2013). The study participants were 141 individuals both men and women with an average age of 62.1 years. A verbal learning test was used and their fasting HbA1c, glucose and insulin were checked. HbA1c is a measurement of long term glucose control. MRI scans were implemented to assess hippocampal volume and microstructure.

The results were very interesting and showed that even in the absence of type 2 diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance, chronically higher blood glucose levels had a negative influence on cognition possibly due to structural changes in brain areas relevant to learning.

The researchers stated that strategies aimed at lowering glucose levels even in the normal range may beneficially influence cognition.

Click here and learn how to take control!

Kerti L1, Witte AV, Winkler A, Grittner U, Rujescu D, Flöel A Higher glucose levels associated with lower memory and reduced hippocampal microstructure. Neurology. 2013 Nov 12;81(20):1746-52. doi: 10.1212/01.wnl.0000435561.00234.ee. Epub 2013 Oct 23.

Published with permission by Didrik Sopler, Ph.D., L.Ac : www.TissueRecovery.com Dr. Marsh has worked with and referrers patients to Dr. Sopler for co-management for years . . . He is quite simply San Diego's top functional medicine consultant.

Is reducing your salt intake really that healthy?

Salt has a bad reputation. The news stories are always the same: salt is bad, reduce your salt intake! I think it’s time to question that.

We don't need the same amount of salt all the time. Why is that?

When it is hot and we perspire more, or when we exercise and perspire more, we lose more salt which needs to be replaced. On days like that, we need to eat more salt. One of the reasons why runners sometimes get cramps is because of a high salt loss and not enough salt intake to compensate.

The reviewed research is interesting because it looked at salt intake and mortality related to all cause mortality and cardiovascular disease events(Graudal N,et.al.,2014). Looking at data from 25 studies it was found that both low salt intake and high salt intake are associated with increased mortality.

This makes sense. Before you cut out all salt, make an assessment of how much you perspire and take into consideration what your blood pressure is.

If your blood pressure is high and your ankles are swollen, obviously you may need to reduce your salt intake. On the other hand if you perspire a lot because you exercise and your blood pressure is normal, you probably don't need to reduce your salt intake.

Graudal N1, Jürgens G, Baslund B, Alderman MH. Compared With Usual Sodium Intake, Low- and Excessive-Sodium Diets Are Associated With Increased Mortality: A Meta-Analysis. Am J Hypertens. 2014 Mar 20. [Epub ahead of print]

Published with permission by Didrik Sopler, Ph.D., L.Ac : www.TissueRecovery.com Dr. Marsh has worked with and referrers patients to Dr. Sopler for co-management for years . . . He is quite simply San Diego's top functional medicine consultant.

Do you eat enough fat?

What you eat could have a significant effect on your memory. The Mediterranean diet provides many health benefits, but can it be made even more effective?

That is what the reviewed research investigated. 522 participants both men and women at high vascular risk were followed for six and half years (Martinez-Lapiscinia EH,et.al.,2013). Two Mediterranean diets, either supplemented with extra virgin olive oil or mixed nuts were compared to a low-fat diet. Cognitive performance was evaluated using a Mini-Mental State Examination and also a clock drawing test.

Both of the Mediterranean diets, supplemented with either olive oil or nuts, improved the cognition compared to the low fat diet. The group with the most improvement was the group supplemented with extra virgin olive oil.

The "Special Effects Diet" provides you with the tools you need to implement a very effective way of eating to optimize your genetic potential.

Martínez-Lapiscina EH1, Clavero P, Toledo E, Estruch R, Salas-Salvadó J, San Julián B, Sanchez-Tainta A, Ros E, Valls-Pedret C, Martinez-Gonzalez MÁ. Mediterranean diet improves cognition: the PREDIMED-NAVARRA randomized trial. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2013 Dec;84(12):1318-25. doi: 10.1136/jnnp-2012-304792. Epub 2013 May 13.

Published with permission by Didrik Sopler, Ph.D., L.Ac : www.TissueRecovery.com Dr. Marsh has worked with and referrers patients to Dr. Sopler for co-management for years . . . He is quite simply San Diego's top functional medicine consultant.