In today’s society we have an epidemic that is consuming more lives per month than all the pandemic viruses we are trying to social distance ourselves from. The epidemic is Inflammation and its direct impact on our immune system. As it turns out, the degree in which the Covid-19 virus effects a person, is directly related to the ability of a persons immune system to fight the virus. We now know through research that inflammation is at the root of heart disease, diabetes, cancer as well as autoimmune disorders such as asthma, allergies, arthritis, deteriorating mental functioning and one’s ability to fight viruses.
Inflammation is the body’s initial response to all tissue damage. In other words, any time you damage a cell in any way, an inflammatory process is initiated. This is called “Acute Inflammation”. A cell can become damage from either a mechanical or chemical trauma. Mechanical damage comes from an injury where the tissue gets burned, cut, smashed or broken. Chemical damage comes from toxins that are either introduced into our bodies from outside sources or from the natural metabolic waste that is produced from our bodies own natural breakdown and repair. However, no matter what the source of the toxin is, the response of the body is always the same. So, while the body can be traumatized and injured in many different ways, the manner in which the body responds is consistently the same.
I’m going to sidestep the boring medical breakdown of how this whole process takes place, and give you a layman’s layout of why Inflammation is such an epidemic in this country. Let us start by saying there are things that happen to our bodies that we just do not have any control over. Whether it’s a broken foot from a basketball game or whiplash from a car accident. These are injuries that we can’t always avoid. There are also chemical injuries that happen where we eat a meal that was contaminated with a parasite or maybe you get a bee sting while pruning a bush in the front yard. They all produce the same inflammatory response in an effort to repair the damage that was caused. For the most part, the body does a very good job in handling such injuries. These are the types of things that happen but are not happening on a daily repetitive basis. The trouble lies within the word repetitive. Repetitive damage is something that is happening over and over on a daily basis. Repetitive damage prevents the body from healing and keeps the body in a constant state of inflammation known as chronic inflammation. When you have tissue, whether its heart tissue, liver tissue or brain tissue, that stays in a perpetual state of inflammation, that tissue has difficulty healing and will eventually begin to break down and not function properly. Eventually you will begin to develop symptoms such as high blood pressure, joint pain, brain fog, low energy, hormonal imbalances and so on. As is the case with most of us, our first reaction is to go to the doctor hoping the doctor can give us a medication to stop the symptom. The problem is that stopping the symptom does not address the cause of the problem. To truly address the underlying problem we must address what is causing the inflammation and remove it.
As I’ve stated in the previous paragraph there are things that happen to us that are not preventable and our bodies do a very good job repairing those things. We are going to set aside the unpreventable for a moment and address the things we can change.
The top four leading caused of death in the United States is Heart Disease, Obesity related diseases, Diabetes and Cancer. Many times we like to blame our genetics for contracting these conditions but the truth is, most of these conditions are related to what we eat. Over 100 years ago most people ate out of the garden, but in today’s world most people eat out of a box or can. To be blunt, most of the food we eat today is not food. They are mostly boxes or cans of toxic chemicals with some real food thrown in to meet the government standard of food. We are in essence becoming what we eat, a toxic cesspool of inflammation and this chronic inflammation is a greater epidemic than the Corona Virus. Lets take a look at some statistics from the American Heart Association. According to there 2019 statistics, a person dies of Cardiovascular Disease every 37 seconds in the US. That’s 2,353 deaths per day and 858,845 deaths per year. There are approximately 401 death related strokes each day and 146,365 stroke related deaths per year. Can you see the REAL PANDEMIC YET! In my opinion the most effective way to stop the COVID-19 pandemic is to eat healthier, reducing the inflammation in the body, thereby improving our own immune response.
The causes of inflammation will vary from individual to individual but the way the body responds to inflammation is consistently the same. With that, our approach to reducing inflammation and boosting the immune system will be consistently effective with most individuals.
The primary treatment for inflammation is to change what we put into our bodies, specifically our diets. I have found that switching our diets from dead processed foods to living foods, such as meats, vegetables, and fruits will produce life and reduce inflammation. I usually recommend one of three eating plans to follow to get the best results. The three eating programs include The Keto Diet, The Paleo Diet and the Whole 30 Plan. All of these eating plans address the one of the most inflammatory foods we eat, sugar and grains.
With people who are unhealthy or have specific health conditions they may also require proper nutritional supplementation to help reduce inflammation and strengthen their immune system. I do not recommend buying over the counter vitamin/mineral supplements as they may be just as toxic to the body as the foods we eat. I prefer to use whole food vitamins and herbal products because they are absorbed more efficiently. The top 3 anti inflammatory food source products I recommend is Turmeric, Ginger and Wild Caught Fish Oil with EPA/DHA. From an individual combination supplement, I use Congaplex, Immuplex, Tuna Oil, Drenamin and Black Currant Seed Oil. These products come from a company named Standard Process. To obtain further information or order these products visit my website (www.ManascoChiropractic.StandardProcess.com).
Always seek professional help from your primary care provider before starting any eating program or taking supplementation.
If you are interested in a personal evaluation with Dr. Brian Manasco you can call Manasco Chiropractic Clinic at 205-924-0050 and schedule an appointment.
Brian Manasco, D.C.
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