Your First-Line Immune Defense The mucosal barrier—your first-line immune defense—refers to all of the mucous membranes that comprise the primary interface between the external environment and the internal environment of the body. This mucosal barrier lets beneficial things into your general circulation and keeps harmful ones out.

To clarify this, an analogy can be made between the earth’s ozone layer and your body’s mucosal barriers. The ozone layer lets the right amount of sunlight through, sustaining life on earth; your mucosal barriers allow nutrients through, sustaining your health. The ozone layer prevents harmful radiation from getting through; the mucosal barriers prevent infectious agents and allergens from invading your body. But just as our planet has a damaged ozone layer, many of us have damaged mucosal barriers.

Consequently, we are not protected from harmful substances such as parasites, viruses, and bacteria. No disease or symptom needs to be present to warrant protecting the mucosal barrier of the intestines; keeping it healthy helps to keep us strong and disease-resistant.

Strengthening the gut lining is applicable to relieving and avoiding the impacts of asthma, arthritis, food allergies, ulcers, Crohn’s, ulcerative colitis, celiac disease, autoimmune diseases, alcoholism, chronic fatigue, joint pain, migraines, diarrhea, parasitic infections, dysbiosis, candidiasis, multiple sclerosis, and diabetes, all of which can have their origin in harmful substances entering the body from the intestines. Inflammation—commonly caused by food intolerances and infections—damages these tissues.

Continue reading “Your First-Line Immune Defense: The Mucosal Barrier Of The Gut”

 

Leaky gut syndrome is a rapidly growing condition that more and more people are struggling with everyday. This condition may be the cause of your allergies, low energy, joint pain, autoimmune conditions and weight gain.

When someone has leaky gut (often referred to as increased intestinal permeability) the “net” in your digestive tract gets damaged, which causes even bigger holes to develop in your net, so things that normally can’t pass through, are now be able to.

Some of the things that can now pass through include proteins like gluten, bad bacteria and undigested foods particles. Toxic waste can also leak from the inside of your intestinal wall into your blood stream causing an immune reaction.

This leads to inflammation throughout your system and can cause symptoms, such as:

• Bloating
• Food sensitivities
• Thyroid conditions
• Fatigue
• Joint pain
• Headaches
• Skin issues like rosacea and acne
• Digestive problems
• Weight gain
• Metabolic Syndrome X

One of the biggest warning signs that you may have leaky gut can be that you’re experiencing multiple food sensitivities. Partially digested protein and fat can seep through your intestinal lining making their way into your bloodstream which will cause an allergic response.

Continue reading “Leaky Gut Leads To Multiple Food Allergies And Autoimmune Disorders”

People are becoming more aware of the ravages of stress and how it leaks into every corner of their lives. Of course, increased stress means increased sleep disturbances for many. Less sleep means they experience more stress the day after. This pattern continues in a vicious cycle, making stress and sleep loss in terms of hours and quality intimately interconnected.

If stress has somewhat depleted the adrenal glands, which is often the case, people under stress do not wake feeling rested. Cortisol, an adrenal hormone, is needed to allow that person to wake feeling refreshed and bouncing out of bed in the morning. It is also important to induce an alpha wave, a requirement for the first phase of sleep. If cortisol is low, falling asleep is difficult.

Continue reading “Sleep & Adrenal Fatigue”

A Successful Story utilizing Functional Medicine:

Are you tired of trying different hormone combinations to try to control your menopausal/Peri-menopausal symptoms. Have the hormones left you feeling worse? Did the hormones seem to  help in the beginning but now your symptoms are back? Let’s look at a successful case of hormone symptoms that was corrected without adding in hormones.

 

Continue reading “Hot Flashes, Night Sweats and Loss of Libido Caused By Compromised Estrogen”

It’s the itchy eyes, sneezing, runny nose, congestion season. Spring is now upon us and with it pollen, grass, and trees put irritants into the air that have many miserable this time a year. While an immune reaction to a foreign invader, such as a fever to kill a virus, is a sign of a healthy immune system, when you have a strong reaction to a whiff of grass or flower pollen your immune system is overreacting.

Symptoms range from itchy eyes and throat, sneezing, runny nose, sinus congestion, asthma, post-nasal drip, headaches, foggy thinking, fatigue and even diarrhea.

Depending on who you are, these symptoms can be from mild to severe.

So, what can you do?

Continue reading “How to Survive Allergy Season Using Natural Methods.”

Yes, we drank the kool-aid, took the red pill – jumped in and started utilizing the healing benefits of essential oils.

We are always looking to add products and services that increase our patients’ ability to regain their health and stay healthy, so essential oils is a natural fit to our herbal and whole food remedies.

Essential oils utilize the healing properties of the plant. Defined as “highly concentrated plant constituents possessing potent medicinal and cosmetic qualities”, they are the life force or the soul of the plant.

Why Essential Oils?

We were looking for products that were easy to use and got immediate and great results. How could I not recommend something that got great results!

Continue reading “Why We Jumped On The Essential Oil Bandwagon”