Many of you, my lovely Purehealth family of followers, said you really enjoyed the Clinic Notes I was recently doing for practitioners. So, I thought I shall try and do a regular, lighter-touch Clinic Notes still, but this time aimed at everyone. It’s a great way to share quick, interesting, important titbits that might help you, family members, friends or people in other groups (do feel free to share), and I really enjoy doing it, so let’s see how it goes.
First, a little Clinic news….
TEST REPORTS, 1, 2, 3… I have split the test report now so that you can have 1, 2, 3 or more tests analysed rather than having a BIG Test Report that covers up to 3. Much cheaper if you don’t need much. Check it out here.
LDN. A great article here on LDN (low dose naltrexone) and Naltrexone in general. LDN is often used for pain (eg. Fibromyalgia) , fatigue, especially ME/CFS, inflammation and autoimmune disorders. An Update on the Uses of Naltrexone in Clinical Practice. Where do you get it from? How are you doing on it? Please share.
AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE. Do Vitamin D and Fish Oils help autoimmunity? Well, it appears yes, but especially Vitamin D. “In older adults, supplementing with daily vitamin D (2,000 IU) for 5 years decreased the incidence of autoimmune disease by 22%. [That is HUGE!]. Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation alone decreased incidence of autoimmune disease by 15% but was not statistically significant. The combination of vitamin D and omega-3 did not appear to have significant added benefit. Omega-3 supplementation alone did appear to be more beneficial for prevention of autoimmune disease onset in those with a positive family history and also appeared to have more impact in the later years of the study. Vitamin D May Protect Against Autoimmune Diseases
COVID TASTE AND SMELL LOSS. Lost your sense of taste and smell after Covid? Here’s a possible approach to restore them. You need:
1. restoration of mucosal epithelial integrity and removal of cellular aggregates eg. Glutamine, to repair epithelia. NAC to degrade thick mucous that can accompany the formation of cellular aggregates. Perilla and astragalus, to downregulate Th2 dominance associated with epithelial inflammation.
2. restoration of nerve endings eg. Lion’s mane mushroom.
3. support for vascular integrity eg. ginkgo, butcher’s broom, feverfew, vinpocetine.
4. inhibition of inflammation, particularly related to IL-6 eg. Baicalin, not only to downregulate IL-6, but also as a repairer of mucosal tissue.
5. Inhibition of fibrosis eg. Glutathione, both as an inhibitor of the TGF-beta/ROS loop that can drive fibrosis and also as a support for epithelial repair.
I’ve added this to the free Covid Factsheet too.
SALT. What Is the Healthiest Salt for You? I would always say go for potassium chloride rather than sodium chloride where you can as most people need more potassium than they do sodium. Even better, use a mix with other trace minerals or flavours in. The exception might be people with adrenal fatigue who tend to do well with high sodium levels sometimes in the afternoons. That’s me and I use Maldon.
MENOPAUSE. Liking this new MenoShake for women needing a little support through this change of life. Good ingredients and useful to use on the run or as an easily-digestible protein shake for breakfast or lunch (I often do that). I think I’d like a little more magnesium and a little less calcium and that calcium to be a different form than carbonate if I’m being picky. I’d actually add a separate magnesium powder to bring the ratio to 1:1 Mg to Ca. You can read the FAQ about it here. Hey, they should have asked me to formulate it, ha!
NON-TOXIC SUNSCREEN (TGF). A great new 4 ingredient zinc oxide SPF 25 sunscreen for those who can’t use the normal stuff. Shea butter, coconut oil, zinc oxide and beeswax. Useful. Let me know what it’s like if you try it. For a different approach, I used Green People No Scent myself in Africa, worked a treat. That one’s not TGF.
NEW MULTI. Pure Encaps have released a new multi aimed at promoting macular eye health, healthy brain signalling, cellular function and emotional balance. It’s designed specifically to address common genetic SNPs such as Vitamin A and D conversion. Clever. More info here and you can get it here.
INSOMNIA. This new Restful Sleep Complex looks a goodie. I like the 5 HTP, chamomile, cherry and theanine mix.
OBESITY. ‘Not Their Fault’: Obesity Warrants Long-term Management. Interesting article. Agree with what they say about obesity often being a chronic illness type with hormone imbalances etc. However, I’m not sure I’d like people on long term weight management drugs. Maybe we could address those same mechanisms with supplements – although that’s the same ‘take a pill’ approach really, but usually a heck of a lot less harmful long-term. Makes you think.
BREATHWORK. One of the most crucial bits of a better health strategy is proper breathing. We tend to focus on exercise and healthy eating, good sleep etc but breathing correctly can also have a significant effect. I like Chris Kresser’s recent video on this, and you can also laugh at me demonstrating some in my Anxiety Tips video.
MEDS. An Aspirin 101 here. I must confess I learned a few things I didn’t know. Aspirin for migraine..??
CHOLESTEROL. Is this the beginning of the end for the, in my view erroneous and over-used, prescribing of statins…? Interesting that the EU have opted to drastically reduce the eligibility so far fewer people will get them prescribed. UK remains high. We should be concentrating on other cardiovascular factors and not just the often red herring cholesterol. Check my Cholesterol factsheet out for more on this.
ARTHRITIS. New word for me to learn this week: monoarthritis. Means pain/swelling in one joint (obviously), just never heard of it before. Often gout, infection, autoimmune etc rather than osteo or rheumatoid arthritis at least in early stages. You can read more about it here. I do like new words! PS. Did you know: RA is more common among women than men, whereas gout is more common among men than women? And: RA and AS (ankylosing spondylitis) are the two most common rheumatic diseases. Symptoms associated with AS usually present in individuals younger than 30 years, whereas RA symptoms typically begin at age 40-50 years. Genetic factors are associated with the development of both RA and AS, although environmental factors (ie. diet, toxins, exercise level etc) are also known to play a role.
ORAL HEALTH. Everything you ever wanted to know (and didn’t know you needed to know!) on teeth brushing and flossing here. There are lots of different natural toothpastes here on ND. Have a look around. I particularly like the Aloe Dent, Nature’s Answer Perio and Nouveau’s Dentura Med and Biomed’s Calcium Hydroxyapatite ones. Bio.Me. Oral Probiotic mouthwash is also fab. For more tips, check out my Mouth/Oral Health Factsheet.
GENERAL HEALTH: CIRCADIAN RHYTHM. Recently, I have developed more of an appreciation of just how important our circadian rhythms are, especially in fatigue, sleep and mood cases. Good article here. It reminds us that: “The primary recommendation is to expose yourself to as much sunlight as you can during your day, especially upon waking, dimming the lights before sleep and making your bedroom really dark, exercising and eating at a time that is consistent and relevant to health….Look to ingest most of your calories earlier in the day. Most of all, try to keep your schedule consistent across the week, including weekends.” Don’t underestimate it, as I have.
HEALTHCARE. A great quote today: “Connecting patients to one another, especially if the members have similar health goals, can amplify the physician care.”. This is why things like shared courses and Facebook groups/patient forums can be so helpful. Everyone shares and learns together. I’m proud of the way I see you all help each other in the Purehealth and TrulyGlutenFree groups, makes me smile. Purehealth is for general natural health support whereas TGF, as we call it, is for gluten-sensitives/coeliacs not getting well, grain-sensitives, chronic illness and autoimmune peeps. Do join us.
RECIPE. To finish this issue, here’s an idea for a brilliant cold tea as the weather is warming up again as I type – thanks to Archturus for the idea. Brew some AlkaTea and cool in the fridge. Make plenty. Then add a slice of fruit/lemon/whatever you can have and some ice. Or, go the whole Archturus-hog:
200 ml AlkaTea, cold
100 ml ginger ale
20 ml pomegranate syrup
80 ml cherry juice [or a shot of very powerful, high Vit C Cherry Active]
2 tbsps pomegranate seeds
Mint for decoration
Preparation
Put all ingredients in a shaker, shake well and divide between two glasses filled with ice. Garnish with mint.
AlkaTea has 52 different herbs in it designed to alkalise the body and help it cleanse. I’ve not tried it myself (allergies) but I’m told it is quite delish, especially cold. The other thing you could do is get a SHS tea to suit your needs eg. Nerve Tea, Fem Rep Hormone Tea, Digestive Tea or Lu Tea (for lungs, sinuses etc).
Ok, hope you found something useful there. Please do let me know and share for anyone you think that could help. Onward…
Retiring, but loads of help still here!
I have now retired from Purehealth, but I have left my site, books, newsletters etc all up so that you can still access all this lovely info from the last 30 years! I won’t be updating it now, but there is a LOT of really good info here still. Check My Favourites page for where to find info, supplements, tests, practitioners, courses and more. Anything I think could help. And Start Here if you’re not sure where to start with your symptom or condition.
Please continue to support me by using the links, which might give me a bit of commission and you some discounts, and you can buy me a coffee here if you feel moved to.
You can still follow me here.
Bless your cotton socks from me. Thanks for all your love, support and fun over the past 30-odd years. I will miss you, Micki x