Preserve the Temple Pt. 3
A primer on inflammation
Hey buddy,
I hope you’re doing well. Today is the due date for me and Mrs. YFD’s third daughter. Any minute now she could go into labor so our little corner of the kingdom is buzzing with excitement!
I’m also excited to announce that my friend Renee (Far Side of Fringe) and I are working on a collaborative health and wellness post that should be coming out soon.
On that note, I have been doing more research on the dietary causes of different ailments. I have suffered with seasonal allergies most of my life. In my youth, it would often lead to sinus infections, tonsillitis, strep throat, upper respiratory infections, and the like. It improved some in my 20s and 30s as I found more effective homeopathic treatments for the ailments, although the root allergic response continued. Over the past few years, I’ve taken a much more serious approach to what I’m putting in my body, with the ultimate goal of eliminating any reliance on chemicals (allergy meds, OTC pain meds, caffeine, etc.) and restoring my body’s God-given ability to heal itself.
Earlier this year, I started thinking hard about the connection between my allergies, histamine response, inflammation, and the foods I was eating. Through my adherence to intermittent fasting, increased exercise, and a higher awareness about what I was eating, I feel like my body is have a much less serious response to the environmental allergens that kicked my butt for the longest time. The following is a brief sojourn into some of the information that I found.
-
There are a number of inflammatory conditions that the average North American lives with on a daily basis, such as eczema, arthritis, asthma, and allergic rhinitis. Many of these are rooted in the body’s activation and metabolization of histamine, a signaling chemical maintained heavily by the liver. Histamine is stored throughout the body on special white blood cells called mast cells, that exist in higher concentrations in connective tissue around blood and lymph vessels, nerves, lungs and intestines. The release of histamine in response to contact with an allergen normally causes the symptoms like flushing, swelling, itching, and pain. However, in individuals whose bodies are unable to properly process histamine, the aforementioned conditions can occur.1 Additionally, extensive periods of inflammation can lead to chronic diseases like obesity, heart disease and diabetes.2
I mention the liver specifically because of its interconnectivity to the digestive, endocrine, and urinary systems of the human body, namely the pancreas, kidneys, and adrenal glands. These organs play a role in the processing and elimination of toxins and glucose. Glucose levels that are higher than the body can regulate will ultimately contribute to the insulin resistance.
Speaking to the idea of toxins, there are a number of ‘excitotoxins’ that are found in most processed foods in one form or another. MSG, aspartame, and hydrolyzed vegetable protein are the most common, but they can masquerade under the following names as well: vegetable protein, textured protein, hydrolyzed plant protein, soy protein extract, caseinate, yeast extract, and natural flavoring. An excess of these excitotoxins can lead to improper glucose response, internal cellular starvations, and hormone imbalance. Over time, it can also lead to increased susceptibility to neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s, ALS, and Alzhemier’s. 3
When we constantly consume ultra-processed foods, our bodies have to work harder to maintain the proper levels of the enzymes and hormones needed for true health. Thankfully, there are lifestyle changes that we can make which will improve our bodies’ ability to repair itself and maintain a healthy internal balance.
-
I hope you find this information as enlightening as I did. We’ll do a deep-dive on different topics in the coming months.
Thanks for stopping by. It was a pleasure as always to see you and I hope you have a great week.
Your Friend,
Dave
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/24854-histamine
https://www.arthritis.org/health-wellness/healthy-living/nutrition/foods-to-limit/8-food-ingredients-that-can-cause-inflammation
L. Blaylock, R. (1999). Food additive excitotoxins and degenerative brain disorders. Medical Sentinel, 4(6). https://www.jpands.org/hacienda/article27.html
Thanks for writing about this!