The Inflammatory and Immune Response Systems, Part 1: Inflammation in a Nutshell

September 30, 2011 By admin

courtesy of digital thermal imaging, showing back pain originating from inflammation in the (R) kidney

Large or small, inside or outside, wherever injury occurs the body’s defenses set off a cascade of players to deal with the tissue damage (inflammation system) and keep strangers out (immune system). Whether you bump your elbow, get a splinter, or have an autoimmune disorder, the same sequence unfolds, aimed to restore order and heal you, naturally.

This series will cover the major components present where injury to tissue occurs. It’s a fascinating, complex process, with a lot of moving parts in a rapid sequence of events. We begin with a discussion of inflammation, and move on to immunity, inflammatory conditions, health tips, and related topics in future posts.

Inflammation is characterized by four cardinal signs:
Redness
Pain
Heat
Swelling

The inflammatory response serves to stop bleeding and wall off the injured area to prevent further damage to the local tissue. This unfolds as a natural process beginning with acute-phase and transitioning into chronic-phase responses.

1. Acute-phase response has active two stages, the vascular stage and the cellular stage.

a. During the vascular stage, the blood vessels first respond by constricting, then rapidly dilate (enlarge). The blood vessels that supply the area also dilate to allow fluid and plasma proteins to move out of the vessels and into the surrounding (interstitial) spaces, causing the swelling, heat, pain, and redness associated with acute-phase inflammation.

b. During the cellular phase, the capillaries become permeable for the delivery of immune factors, nutrients, and blood-clotting factors.

Chemical mediators produce the signs and symptoms of inflammation at both the vascular and cellular stages. These mediators perform an array of functions that keep the intricate process moving forward step-by-step, with the ultimate purpose of stopping the damage and returning the system to homeostasis. We will cover some of these in future posts.

2. Chronic-phase responses can become long-lasting if not treated. Some chronic-phase injuries are local (shoulder pain) and some are systemic (autoimmune disease). Foreign substances, both living (viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites) and non-living (example: splinters) can also underlie chronic inflammation.

Chronic-phase responses put an additional demand on the body’s resources, hence the reason why we stress the importance of quality nutrition that supplies the raw material for all the body’s functions.

The Inflammatory and Immune Response Systems, Part 1: Inflammation in a Nutshell

—————————–
At Mountaintop Acupuncture, we have a combined 34 years of experience. To read more, please click here.

If you have questions and concerns about acupuncture treatment, we offer a free 20-minute phone session: click here for contact information to call or e-mail us. We practice in two New York City locations: Flatiron & Greenwich Village.

Insurance is welcome and accepted.

 

Filed Under: All Things Exercise, All Things Food, Conditions Treated, Health Tips, Nourishing You, Stress Busters, You Are What You Eat Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Insanely Good Tomato Sauce

August 16, 2011 By admin

plum tomatoes

food52.com is an interactive food community that recently posted a tomato sauce
from Marcella Hazan that is insanely good: Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter. There’s a video showing two ways to do the one potentially daunting step in this super-simple recipe.

Ingredients:
2 pounds fresh, ripe tomatoes
5 tablespoons butter- I used the Earth Balance/Smart Balance substitute
1 medium onion, cut in half
salt to taste
grated parmigiano

I used a mix of plum and beefsteak tomatoes, and substituted butter with Earth/Smart Balance (one’s from Trader Joe’s, the other Whole Foods) and made that 4 tablespoons, with a result that amplified the sweetness of the tomatoes and neutralized their acidity

Step 1: add the peeled and roughly chopped tomatoes, butter, onion, and salt to a saucepan and simmer, uncovered, for 45 minutes or until thickened

Step 2: stir occasionally, schmushing the tomatoes against the wall of the saucepan to break them up more

Step 3: discard the onion (you can save it and add to another meal), toss the sauce with the pasta of your choice, and sprinkle with parmigiano to taste

Apparently, from the many reader comments on food52.com, you can make this sauce year-round with a 28 oz. can of peeled tomatoes, but right now, locally-grown tomatoes are coming into abundance, so for the next couple of months there’s every reason to go with fresh.

Jumping on this bandwagon, we’ve made this twice in one week: first over ravioli that was so insanely good, I (Carol) made another batch the next day to put up in the freezer.

I recommend watching the video: peeling the tomatoes in hot water really just a little bit more work but definitely worth it. Next time, I’m going to try the freezer method.

This recipe was in Marcella Hazan’s first book, “Classic Italian Cooking,” and is included in her current title “Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking.”

Insanely Good Tomato Sauce

—————————–
At Mountaintop Acupuncture, we have a combined 34 years of experience. To read more, please click here.

If you have questions and concerns about acupuncture treatment, we offer a free 20-minute phone session: click here for contact information to call or e-mail us. We practice in two New York City locations: Flatiron & Greenwich Village.

Insurance is welcome and accepted.

 

Filed Under: All Things Food, Nourishing You, Recipes, You Are What You Eat Tagged With: , , ,

Everyday Potato Salad

July 15, 2011 By admin

easy everyday potato salad

This potato salad is easy and quick for a weekday meal in the height of summer heat. It makes the starch component of your meal even lighter, with the addition of more anti-oxidant vegetables. Sample accompaniments might be pan-cooked salmon steak marinated with lime and lemon zest, with roasted fennel with tomatoes.

You can use your imagination to modify this with any vegetables that go well with potatoes: the trick is to add one flavor that adds a surprising “snap.” Here olives are added, but capers, mustard, sardines, sun-dried tomato, or bacon would work equally well.

This recipe can be made a day or two ahead of time or eaten at once. Its flavors are enhanced when still slightly warm.

 

 

Ingredients, serves 2
6 small red potatoes
3 stalks celery
½ onion, thinly sliced
1 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp curry powder
½ tsp tikka masala- you could use garam masala, or substitute with more curry powder
salt and pepper, to taste
1 T grapeseed oil
1 T extra-virgin olive oil
splash of apple cider vinegar
8 pitted olives, coarsely chopped

Preparation:
Boil potatoes in saucepan, about 20 minutes or until done.

In a heated a skillet, add olive oil and stir in the onions until golden and on the verge of becoming brown. Add the spices and stir one minute, then add the celery stirring occasionally three minutes or until the celery turns a bright green. Turn the heat off, and cover the pan.

quick stir-fry of onions, spices, and celery

When the potatoes are cooked, remove them to a cutting board and slice into quarters. Place in a mixing bowl, add onion and celery mixture, olives, salt and pepper to taste, and grapeseed oil and vinegar. Turn ingredients with a large spoon once or twice to gently blend together.

http://mountaintopacupuncture.com/everyday-potato-salad

—————————–
At Mountaintop Acupuncture, we have a combined 34 years of experience. To read more, please click here.

If you have questions and concerns about acupuncture treatment, we offer a free 20-minute phone session: click here for contact information to call or e-mail us. We practice in two New York City locations: Flatiron & Greenwich Village.

Insurance is welcome and accepted.

 

Filed Under: All Things Food, Cooking Basics, Nourishing You, Recipes, You Are What You Eat Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Cytochrome P450: One Tablet or Two?

July 4, 2011 By Mountaintop Blog

cyp450_imageJust as we all don’t wear the same sized sweater, so too are medication dosages not meant to be one-size-fits-all proposition. Physiologically, a 100-pound woman and a 200-pound man process the same dosage differently, so it’s important to follow medication directions, for both over-the-counter and prescription drugs.

The liver takes in raw materials and produces all sorts of products we need to live. It is also a purification plant that takes in toxic waste for elimination while cleaning some substances and sending them out for further use. This article is about the medications we take and the toxic components built into them by science, knowing that a particular enzyme system in the liver, cytochrome P450 (CYP450), will clear them in the liver.

Pharmacology is the study of the actions of drugs on biological systems. These drugs either activate (agonists) or inhibit (antagonists) normal physiological processes. For example, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI’s), one kind of anti-depressant drugs, are designed to affect biological activity through inhibition.

When developing a drug, scientists ascertain its therapeutic use measuring pharmacokinetics-dosage and the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion in and through the body, and pharmacodynamics- how the drug acts on the body.

By the time a drug makes it to the market, it has been well-tested to make it safe for public consumption. Very basically, the measure known as the Area Under the Curve (AUC), measures the movement of a substance into and through the body, depicting the time of its greatest concentration.

This copious testing takes into account how long it takes for the body to eliminate one-half life of the drug from the body and then how much is left in the body after five half-lives. For example, if 100 mg has a half-life of 50 mg, then its subsequent half-lives will be 25 mg, 12.5 mg, 6.25 mg, and 3.125 mg, respectively. This is why some drugs you may take require several weeks of regular dosage before achieving correct concentration in the blood, body fluids, or tissue for a therapeutic effect, and others go directly to the targeted area and have an immediate effect.

Cytochrome P450 is the generic name for a group of enzymes clustered in the liver and small intestines that breaks down anything the body doesn’t want hanging around in active form, including things eaten such as food and herbs. Two major points to remember regarding the CYP450 enzyme system are:

1) More is NOT better- CYP450 can process only so much at a time, and
2) Herbs and prescription drug should be taken two hours apart to minimize interaction

Here’s why:
As mentioned above, certain drugs are designed to increase the activity of CYP450 and others inhibit it so that the drug can stay in the body longer.
1) Some chemical reactions in the body are additive: for example, substance A combines with substance B, or 2 + 2 = 4.
2) Some chemical reactions in the body are synergistic: for example, substance A combines with substance B to produce a stronger effect by staying in the body longer, so that 2 + 2 = 10.
3) And, some chemical reactions in the body inhibit each other or cancel each other out: for example, substance A combines with substance B, or 2 + 2 = .05 or 2 + 2 =. These include certain foods and herbs, which can interact with certain drugs and get in the way of CYP450 either additively, synergistically, or by inhibiting ts functions.

Therefore, it is important to take follow dosage recommendations, and to not overtax the liver by asking it to process too many medically-intended substances at once: think twice next time you reach for something, asking yourself if you really need it. If you say “yes,” remember what else you ate or  in the past hour, and maybe wait a bit, or take a lesser dosage and see how that works.

http://mountaintopacupuncture.com/cytochrome-p450-one-tablet-or-two

—————————–
At Mountaintop Acupuncture, we have a combined 34 years of experience. To read more, please click here.

If you have questions and concerns about acupuncture treatment, we offer a free 20-minute phone session: click here for contact information to call or e-mail us. We practice in two New York City locations: Flatiron & Greenwich Village.

Insurance is welcome and accepted.

 

Filed Under: Health Tips, Integrative Medicine, Stress Busters, You Are What You Eat Tagged With: , ,

Functions of the Liver

July 4, 2011 By Mountaintop Blog
your liver is a tireless marathoner

your liver is a tireless marathoner

The liver is a multi-tasker: it produces, purifies, and converts many substances essential to life. It plays a role in the digestion, hematology (blood), immune and inflammatory response, and endocrine systems.

1) The liver’s digestive function is simple: it manufactures bile, which is stored in the gallbladder. The gallbladder then secretes the bile as needed into the small and large intestines to emulsify and absorb the fats we eat.

2) The liver also transforms excess simple sugars and converts them into glycogen or fats for storage. When you need that extra boost of energy, the liver can take that stored fat and glycogen and converts it into the energy you need. It can also transform proteins into energy as a last resort.

3) The liver stores fat-soluble vitamins and minerals and distributes them where and when they are needed.

4) The liver is also an organ of detoxification: it takes toxins and poisons from medications, alcohol, and metabolic waste and transforms them into less harmful substances. It also stores toxins that can’t be broken down and eliminated, including some chemicals and other poisons.

5) The liver synthesizes the proteins that regulate blood clotting and molecule transporters in the blood.

6) The liver makes the cholesterol that is used in hormone production.

7) The liver produces proteins that affect the inflammatory response and manufactures some antigens for immunity.

8) The liver has cells that specifically destroy bacteria and breakdown old worn-out red blood cells.

With so much activity to accomplish, you can imagine the liver is prone to diseases such as viral infections, inflammatory diseases, toxicity, vascular disorders, metabolic diseases, and cancers.

In order to keep your liver healthy, choose pesticide-free foods and wash your vegetables, consume plenty of antioxidants , avoid taking medications you don’t really need, and limit alcohol consumption. Ways to nourish your liver include having lemon juice regularly, and engaging in some form(s) of exercise.

http://mountaintopacupuncture.com/functions-of-the-liver

—————————–
At Mountaintop Acupuncture, we have a combined 34 years of experience. To read more, please click here.

If you have questions and concerns about acupuncture treatment, we offer a free 20-minute phone session: click here for contact information to call or e-mail us. We practice in two New York City locations: Flatiron & Greenwich Village.

Insurance is welcome and accepted.

 

Filed Under: All Things Exercise, Health Tips, Integrative Medicine, Stress Busters, Uncategorized, You Are What You Eat Tagged With: , , , ,
« Older Posts
Newer Posts »