by admin | Feb 17, 2021 | Health Awareness, Rheumatoid Arthritis
Arthritis is characterized by inflammation in the joints, which often causes pain, stiffness, and swelling. The levels of inflammation in your body are influenced by a number of factors, including diet. Some foods in particular have been shown to increase inflammation, thus exacerbating arthritis symptoms. To help control your arthritis, here are some foods to limit or avoid.
Fried Foods
The oil used for frying often contains omega-6 fatty acids, which have been linked to increased inflammation. Because they’re associated with a number of other health issues, including heart problems, they’re best avoided altogether.
Excess Salt
Salt is found in many different foods, but it’s important for people with arthritis to control their consumption. The mineral can increase the body’s inflammatory response, and it’s also been associated with an elevated risk of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Flavor your food with joint-healthy seasonings, such as cumin, ground pepper, or garlic powder, instead.
Sugary Drinks
Added sugars have a broad range of health risks, ranging from their association with obesity and type 2 diabetes to elevated inflammation. Even low to moderate intake of sugary drinks such as sodas, juices, and sweet teas has been linked to heightened inflammation. If plain water seems too bland, considering adding a fresh wedge of lemon or cucumber slices to give it some flavor.
Alcohol
Moderate alcohol intake can reduce inflammation in certain types of arthritis. For instance, the antioxidants in red wine help to promote joint health in RA with a daily five-ounce serving. Yet, alcohol can also trigger symptoms in other types of arthritis, including gout. If you’re unsure about how drinking could affect your arthritis, it’s best to talk to your rheumatologist.
Red Meat
Red meat is notoriously high in saturated fat, which has been linked to inflammation that leads to joint swelling. Other types of protein, including plant-based sources and poultry, are lower in saturated fats, and thus better for joint health.
High-Fat Dairy Products
Like red meat, full-fat dairy products, including cheese, yogurt, and milk, have high levels of fat. They also typically contain more added sugars than low-fat varieties. Some people with arthritis eliminate dairy from their diets altogether to reduce its inflammatory effects, while others enjoy low-fat options. Low-fat yogurt, in particular, may be worth keeping in your diet, as it contains probiotics which can actually help control inflammation.
Heavily Processed Foods
Heavily processed foods such as refined carbohydrates, candy, lunch meat, and baked goods often have additives that contribute to inflammation. Many are loaded with added sugars or excess salt, and can therefore aggravate arthritis symptoms. Whenever possible, choosing primarily whole foods such as fruit, vegetables, healthy fats, and lean protein, will be best for controlling inflammation and arthritis symptoms.
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by admin | Feb 10, 2021 | Health Awareness, Functional Medicine
Heavy metals are found naturally in the earth and used widely across many industries. The body also naturally contains certain heavy metals, such as iron, zinc, and copper, which help to promote optimal functioning. When your soft tissues absorb a heavy metal in excess, it leads to a condition known as heavy metal poisoning.
The most common heavy metals that cause toxicity when absorbed by the body include:
- lead
- mercury
- arsenic
- cadmium
Sources of exposure for these metals could include medicine, pollution, food, lead-based paint, and working in industrial settings.
Heavy metal poisoning is considered rare in the U.S., but it can still occur. The condition develops when someone is exposed to high levels of metal over a prolonged period of time.
Symptoms
Symptoms of heavy metal poisoning can include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, shortness of breath, and tingling in the extremities. Weakness and chills may also occur.
There are also symptoms specific to each type of metal. For example, mercury poisoning may cause poor coordination, difficulty walking, nerve damage in the hands and face, and muscle weakness. Lead poisoning is characterized by sleep problems, aggression, constipation, irritability, anemia, headaches, and memory loss. In arsenic poisoning, red or swollen skin may develop, along with muscle cramps, irregular heartbeat, and lesions on the skin. Finally, cadmium poisoning is marked by difficulty breathing, fever, and muscle pain.
Causes
Each specific metal type has unique circumstances leading to exposure as well. For instance, lead poisoning can occur after living in a home with lead paint, working at a firing range, using kohl cosmetics, or working in certain types of industrial construction. A person could be exposed to mercury in an environment that manufacturers mirrors, x-ray machines, or other products containing mercury. Eating contaminated fish can also lead to mercury poisoning, as can mining activities. Industrial work and cigarette smoke can lead to cadmium poisoning. Arsenic poisoning may occur after ingesting certain chemicals, such as insecticides, or living in an area with high levels of arsenic in the natural environment.
Diagnosis
Heavy metal poisoning can be diagnosed through a blood test known as a heavy metals panel. If you have symptoms of poisoning present but only low levels of heavy metal are detected, further testing may be performed. For instance, medical professionals could use hair, fingernail, or urine analysis, as well as X-rays and function studies of the kidney and liver.
You can also do a home comprehensive test to determine toxin and detoxification markers. The tests also include deficiencies and insufficiencies to help address the root cause of symptoms you may be experiencing. Learn more.
Treatment
Eliminating exposure to heavy metal is the first step in treating the condition. In mild cases, this may be sufficient for alleviating symptoms.
There are detoxification products available to also help address. There are 10 and 28-day programs to help facilitate the removal of undesirable compounds in the body.
In more severe cases, chelation therapy may be prescribed. In this treatment, the patient takes medication to bind the heavy metals in your body, which will then exit the body as waste. Chelation therapy may encompass oral pills or intravenous therapy.
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by admin | Feb 3, 2021 | Health Awareness
Music therapy uses music to promote a person’s wellbeing. It uses an individual’s connection to music to spur positive changes in mood and mental health. Music therapists may use a variety of methods to support these outcomes, such as playing instruments, singing, or dancing.
Music therapy can enhance communication skills, confidence, and self-awareness, as well as concentration and attention. Oftentimes, improvisation is also incorporated into this form of therapy.
Music & The Brain
Music affects the mind in profound ways. Each aspect of effect is processed uniquely by a specific area of the brain. For example, the frontal lobes interpret emotional signals of music, while the cerebellum processes rhythm. When listening to especially powerful melodies, the reward center of the brain known as the nucleus accumbens can even trigger physical responses, such as goosebumps.
It’s, therefore, no surprise that experts have been seeking to leverage the power of music for centuries. The first instruments are believed to date back 40,000 years, and the use of music therapy has its roots in Ancient Greece. Today, music therapy spans several disciplines and can be found in social care, private care, and educational centers alike.
What Sets Music Therapy Apart
Because it doesn’t require verbal communication, music therapy is often a powerful alternative for people who struggle with verbal communication. People with dementia, for instance, are ideal candidates for music therapy. Music can also be played in any environment; for example, patients who can’t leave their beds can still enjoy music for its mood-boosting benefits.
What Are the Benefits of Music Therapy?
On the topic of benefits, there are several compelling advantages of this therapy, including:
- Boosted memory skills
- Improved communication
- Better self-expression
- Improved ability to process complex emotions and memories
- Stronger connections to others
- Increased verbalization
- Decreased anxiety
- Greater self-esteem
Music releases dopamine, the feel-good hormone, which has short-term benefits on mood. It can also control stress hormones, including cortisol, to curb anxiety. It may be a particularly powerful tool to help children find fun and engaging ways to process thoughts and emotions.
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by admin | Jan 27, 2021 | Health Awareness
Experts have long suspected that sleep plays an important role in overall health, but new research published in the journal Circulation indicates an especially strong link between getting ample slumber and maintaining heart health. Specifically, individuals with the healthiest sleep habits slash their risk of heart failure by 42%. The condition happens when the heart can’t pump blood as well as it should, resulting in insufficient blood and oxygen to the cells. Patients experience fatigue, breathing challenges, and other health complications as a result.
The study characterizes healthy sleep as an early wake time, a duration of seven to eight hours each night, and no bouts of snoring, insomnia, or excessive tiredness. Markers of heart health included low LDL (“bad” cholesterol), reduced inflammation, and higher HDL (“good” cholesterol). These measures are commonly used to evaluate heart failure risk.
More than 408,000 participants were tracked over a decade, with 5,221 people developing heart failure. The data revealed the following trends:
- People who woke up early had an 8% lower risk of heart failure.
- People who didn’t experience frequent insomnia had a 17% lower risk.
- People who regularly got seven to eight hours of sleep had a 12% lower risk.
- People who didn’t feel sleepy throughout the day had a 34% lower risk.
Although the research couldn’t confirm whether poor sleep led to heart issues or vice versa, the researchers noted that they aimed to exclude people with existing heart failure from the study. Thus, the results in this particular study seem to suggest that poor sleep contributes to the condition, though a bidirectional relationship is possible.
The Potential Link Between Sleep & Heart Health
Other studies have examined a connection between poor sleep and cardiovascular issues, including arrhythmia, coronary heart disease, and coronary artery disease, all of which can contribute to heart failure. It’s also worth noting that two markers looked at in the study—daytime tiredness and snoring—are also potential indications of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). While the possible role of OSA in heart failure would need to be studied further, research has already linked it to other cardiovascular issues, including stroke, heart attack, and high blood pressure.
Finding the Sweet Spot
Getting enough sleep is important to overall wellness, but it’s also important to consider that too much sleep could present health issues. Sleeping over eight hours was associated with poor cardiovascular health in the study, and other research has also linked it to cardiovascular disease. Researchers believe excessive sleep could also point to health issues such as chronic illness or depression, which could explain the correlation. For this reason, it’s best to aim for seven to eight hours a night.
Tips for Healthy Sleep
In addition to getting seven to eight hours a night, try to wake early and address any sleep challenges, such as snoring, insomnia, or sleep apnea, with a healthcare professional. You can also use the following tips to improve your overall sleep habits:
- Turn off all electronics. At least a half-hour before bed, spend time away from screens. The blue light can disrupt the production of melatonin, the sleep hormone.
- Establish a winding down routine. Consider taking a soothing bath, listening to relaxing music, reading a book, or meditating.
- Turn the lights down. This can kickstart melatonin production and communicate to your body that it’s time for sleep.
For more health awareness blogs, please visit stemedix.com/blog.
by admin | Jan 20, 2021 | Health Awareness
Vitamin D is an essential nutrient that helps the body process calcium and supports bone metabolism. Unfortunately, an estimated one billion people across the globe are believed to be deficient in the vitamin. Deficiencies have been linked to depression, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, and certain cancers, as well as soft bones.
Certain populations are more prone to deficiencies, including people who are careful about their sun exposure, those with milk allergies, and anyone following a vegan diet. Vitamin D is produced when the skin is directly exposed to sunlight, but it can also be found naturally in select foods, such as egg yolks and some types of fish. Select dairy products are also fortified with vitamin D.
People with dark skin may also have lower vitamin D levels, as melanin reduces the skin’s ability to make the nutrient with sunlight exposure. Individuals with certain conditions, including Crohn’s disease, cystic fibrosis, and celiac disease, may also be deficient, as the digestive tract may not sufficiently absorb the nutrient. Moreover, as we age, our kidneys lose their ability to convert the vitamin into its active form, making seniors more prone to deficiencies.
Could You Have a Vitamin D Deficiency?
Because vitamin D deficiencies are linked to so many adverse health outcomes, including increased risk of hypertension, diabetes, and MS, as well as cognitive impairment in older adults and severe asthma and rickets in children, ensuring you have ample vitamin D levels is important to promoting overall wellness.
Fortunately, vitamin D levels can be assessed through a simple blood test. A concentration of fewer than 20 nanograms per millimeter (ng/mL) is considered inadequate and requiring supplementation, while less than 12 ng/mL is considered a deficiency.
While wearing sunscreen is important to minimize your skin cancer risk, it does inhibit vitamin D production. If you’re not getting enough vitamin D from the sun or your diet, talk to your healthcare provider about supplementation. The recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for the vitamin varies by age and one’s specific medical history so it is important for your healthcare provider to determine the adequate dose.
Many looking to discover what deficiencies and insufficiencies they may have may want to discover Stemedix’s new Precision Health Program. This program is designed to give a more scientific-based health blueprint with recommendations provided by a board-certified provider that can be shared with your current healthcare provider.
by admin | Jan 13, 2021 | Health Awareness, Peptides
What Is BPC-157 Peptide & What Does It Help?
BPC stands for “body protective compound.” BPC-157, in particular, is a synthetic peptide with 15 amino acids. It has been derived from digestive proteins and is largely used to prevent stomach ulcers. Recently, however, the supplement has been shown to offer many other benefits.
For instance, BPC-157 has been found to help stabilize the microbiome or healthy balance of bacteria in the gut. It also controls blood pressure function by interacting with the nitric oxide pathway. In addition, it promotes growth factors, unlocking the regenerative potential to help the body heal and empower its systemic repair response.
Across various bodies of research, BPC-157 has been linked to a wide range of healing benefits. In addition to repairing blood flow, it has been shown to:
- Help with burns
- Increase collagen production
- Aid in the healing of sprains, tears, and other muscle injuries
- Help with inflammatory conditions, such as arthritis
- Aid in weight loss
- Repair ligament and tendon-to-bone injuries or damage
- Protect the cardiovascular system
- Reduce damage from drugs and the effects of corticosteroid injections
- Improve responses to allergens and viruses
- Boost brain health and mood
- Protect scar tissue formation
BPC-157 is often taken via oral capsule, especially when its goal is to treat stomach or intestinal issues. It can also be injected subcutaneously or intramuscularly and used as a nasal spray. The best delivery method may vary based on the patient and their unique concerns, so be sure to discuss your goals with a medical professional when deciding to introduce BPC-157 into your supplement regimen.
For more information to discover if this peptide may be a benefit for you, please call our team at 800-531-0831.
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