Really wanted to go somewhere fun for my birthday week. … This isn’t it! … Going home soon. Long explanation I don’t care to expound on. No, I have not been OK and I’m not OK. Haven’t shared and don’t want to share on Facebook. They asked if I wanted to stay. Said no. Goodnight.
UPDATE 7/29: Thank you everyone, for your wonderful thoughts and prayers. I am so sorry I have not replied to everyone individually. The short answer is, no I am not feeling better. I live with unfathomable flu-like symptoms and pain every day. In addition, I have been dealing with overwhelming stress and crisis after crisis after crisis with my mom, which has caused me to feel like I am going to have a heart attack or stroke several times a week for the past 2.5 years. On top of that, I have been battling several other serious conditions for almost a year and it has been 7 months I have been in non-stop horrific agony in which my bones, tissues and muscles are being demolished. Please keep me in your prayers.
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My new Physical Therapist, whom I saw for the third time yesterday asked me, “So, how many pairs of these ‘lounge pants’ do you have??” I told him, “Oh boy! About 15!”
People don’t realize I wear pajamas day in and day out, because it is extremely difficult and energy zapping to change clothes and an all day process to shower and wash my hair.
I even wear them outside on the patio with my goats! My neighbors probably don’t just call me the Goat Lady, but the Pajama Goat Lady! LOL!
HEY! Just trying to survive over here! Gotta do what I gotta do!
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Scientists long ago discovered that a class of naturally occurring pigments called carotenoids held powerful antioxidant properties that are crucial for your health.
Carotenoids are the compounds in your foods that give you that vibrant cornucopia of color—from green grasses to red beets, to the spectacular yellows and oranges of bell peppers—as well as all of the beautiful flowers in your garden.
There are more than 700 naturally occurring carotenoids, but most people are familiar with only a few. Right now, you probably have about ten different carotenoids circulating through your bloodstream.
Only recently has one particular carotenoid jumped to the front of the line in terms of its status as a “supernutrient,” becoming the focus of a large and growing number of peer-reviewed scientific studies.
Synthetic (laboratory-made) astaxanthin is now commonly used worldwide to supplement fish feed lots in order to help them obtain the desired pinkish to orange-red color. You really should avoid synthetic astaxanthin because it’s made frompetrochemicals.
Not only does natural astaxanthin carry potent antioxidant abilities, but as it turns out, it is also a powerful anti-inflammatory, which will be the focus of this article. Other carotenoids are easily obtainable through a good diet rich in fresh organic produce. However, this powerful carotenoid is harder to come by.
Astaxanthin Is in a League of Its Own
Astaxanthin is produced only by the microalgae Haematococcus pluvialis when its water supply dries up, forcing it to protect itself from ultraviolet radiation. It’s the algae’s survival mechanism—Astaxanthin serves as a “force field” to protect the algae from lack of nutrition and/or intense sunlight.
There are only two main sources of astaxanthin—the microalgae that produce it, and the sea creatures that consume the algae (such as salmon, shellfish, and krill).Astaxanthin is now thought to be the most powerful antioxidant found in nature.
This pigment is the most commonly occurring red carotenoid in marine and aquatic animals and is what gives salmon their characteristic pink color. Astaxanthin is far more powerful than beta-carotene, alpha-tocopherol, lycopene and lutein, other members of its chemical family. It exhibits VERY STRONG free radical scavenging activity and helps protect your cells, organs, and body tissues from oxidative damage and inflammation.
What Makes Astaxanthin Special?
There are many properties that make this carotenoid unique. Here are the main differences:
Astaxanthin is by far the most powerful carotenoid antioxidant when it comes to free radical scavenging: astaxanthin is 65 times more powerful than vitamin C,1 54 times more powerful than beta-carotene, and 14 times more powerful than vitamin E.
Astaxanthin is far more effective than other carotenoids at “singlet oxygen quenching,” which is a particular type of oxidation. The damaging effects of sunlight and various organic materials are caused by this less-stable form of oxygen. Astaxanthin is 550 times more powerful than vitamin Eand 11 times more powerful than beta-carotene at neutralizing singlet oxygen.
Astaxanthin crosses the blood-brain barrier AND the blood-retinal barrier (beta carotene and lycopene do not), which brings antioxidant and anti-inflammatory protection to your eyes, brain and central nervous system and reducing your risk for cataracts, macular degeneration, blindness, dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease.
Astaxanthin is soluble in lipids, so it incorporates into cell membranes.
It’s a potent UVB absorber and reduces DNA damage.
It’s a very potent natural anti-inflammatory.
And how about some more great news?
There have been no adverse reactions found for people taking astaxanthin. Before I go into how astaxanthin works as an anti-inflammatory, let’s review what inflammation is and how it can cause devastating disease.
What You Need to Know About Inflammation
Inflammation is a necessary and important biological process that allows you to survive. It’s your body’s response to fighting infection and repairing damaged tissues—in other words, it’s part of your natural healing process. If you didn’t have inflammation, you’d never heal from any infection or injury.
When a foreign bacterium or virus enters your body, your inflammatory body kicks in to eliminate it. If you sprain your ankle, your inflammatory system activates to begin repairing damaged tissues.
There are five classic signs and symptoms of inflammation:
Redness
Pain
Warmth
Swelling
Loss of function
Even sunburn is a sign of inflammation—when UV rays begin to damage your skin cells, the inflammatory “machine” turns on, making your skin red and warm. Mast cells are the key initiators of inflammation, activating potent “mediators.” The mediators attract white blood cells, and activate cells that produce additional mediators.
Mediators come in many forms, including:
Histamines
Tumor necrosis factor-alpha
Nitric oxide
Hydrogen peroxide
Interleukins
Prostaglandins (produced from arachidonic acid and the COX-1 and COX-2 enzymes)
Although having a red, swollen and painful sprained ankle is a clear sign you are experiencing inflammation, you may have an undercurrent of inflammation in your body and not even be aware. And silence can be deadly.
Chronic Inflammation: Silence Is Deadly
Inflammation comes and goes in your body as part of the normal healing process. However, prolonged inflammation can be devastating. Many people are experiencing ongoing, low-level inflammation without even knowing it—and this is a crucial factor behind chronic disease.
This systemic or “silent” inflammation is the evil twin of oxidation, and where you find one, you nearly always find the other. But this type of inflammation doesn’t cause you any pain—it lives “under the radar,” quietly lingering for years and even decades, where it silently injures your heart, brain, and immune system.
Left unchecked, systemic inflammation can lead to anything from asthma to rheumatoid arthritis to Alzheimer’s disease. In fact, the number of diseases linked to chronic inflammation is staggering:
Ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and colon cancer
Allergies
There are many, many more. Unfortunately, Americans have the highest levels of silent inflammation in the world, with over 75 percent of people afflicted.
Why?
Two words: diet and lifestyle. Some of the largest contributors to chronic inflammation are smoking; a diet high in sugar, fried foods and trans fats; inadequate exercise; stress; and vitamin D deficiency. There are a couple of ways to measure how much inflammation is silently occurring in your body.
One blood test measures a substance called C-reactive protein (CRP), which might actually be a better predictor of your heart attack risk than lipids. Another test is called Sed Rate (or ESR for “erythrocyte sedimentation rate”), which is especially helpful in monitoring rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases.
CRP is produced in your liver and coronary arteries, then released into your bloodstream when your body is fighting inflammation. In one study, natural astaxanthin was found to reduce CRP levels by 20 percent in just eight weeks. Another study found astaxanthin caused 43 percent of people with high CRP levels to drop into the average-risk range.
Clearly, this powerful agent has a remarkable ability to cool down the inflammatory process, thereby decreasing your body’s need to produce CRP.
By decreasing inflammation, astaxanthin can help prevent, and treat, a number of problems that result directly from inflammation, including rheumatoid arthritis, tennis elbow, carpal tunnel syndrome, and other repetitive stress injuries, which I will talk more about shortly.
Anti-Inflammatory Drugs Are Definitely NOT the Answer
Anti-inflammatories have earned a bad reputation. This is due to the fact that most of the compounds people commonly recognize as anti-inflammatories are DRUGS, rather than natural agents. Natural anti-inflammatories, on the other hand, can be very beneficial and lack the adverse side effects of anti-inflammatory drugs.
As a quick review, let’s review the truth about some anti-inflammatory drugs:
Aspirin can cause your stomach to bleed (acts on both COX-1 and COX-2)
Tylenol (acetaminophen) can damage your liver
Vioxx and Celebrex (non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, or NSAIDS) can cause heart problems (act strongly on COX-2 only)
In 1999, the New England Journal of Medicine stated that NSAIDS have caused as many deaths as AIDS. Vioxx alone has killed more than 60,000 people! I urge you to avoid these dangerous anti-inflammatory drugs since they have the potential to cause very serious side effects and even death. But astaxanthin is a different story and will not harm you.
Astaxanthin affects a wide range of mediators, but in a gentler, less concentrated mannerand without the negative side effects. And it works for 4 out of 5 people. In one study,2 more than 80 percent of arthritis sufferers improved with astaxanthin.
Folks, that is four out of five people, that is impressive.
How Astaxanthin Tells Your Inflammation to ‘Chill’
A great deal of research has been done into how astaxanthin reduces inflammation. As is true for many antioxidants, its anti-inflammatory properties are related to its powerful antioxidant activity.
Astaxanthin suppresses a variety ofinflammatory mediators—including tumor necrosis factor alpha, a major prostaglandin and a major interleukin, nitric oxide, COX-1 and COX-2 enzymes. It takes longer to produce effects than NSAIDS, but this means it doesn’t result in the dangerous side effects.
As G. Cole, UCLA Professor of Medicine and Neurology, reported to Newsweek Magazine in a Special Summer Issue in 2005 (pages 26-28):
“While anti-inflammatory drugs usually block a single target molecule and reduce its activity dramatically, natural anti-inflammatories gently tweak a broader range of inflammatory compounds. You’ll get greater safety and efficacy reducing five inflammatory mediators by 30 percent than by reducing one by 100 percent.”
So, what sorts of conditions can astaxanthin treat?
Astaxanthin May Help You Be an Athlete Extraordinaire or Weekend Warrior
The evidence is very positive for astaxanthin’s effects on a variety of inflammatory disorders. Let’s take a look at the human clinical studies related to four common inflammatory complaints: tennis elbow, carpal tunnel, rheumatoid arthritis, and exercise-related joint soreness.
Tennis elbow (tendonitis): Caused by inflamed tendons, tennis elbow results in pain and decreased grip strength when gripping something with your hand.
A study by the Health Research and Studies Center involved giving tennis elbow sufferers an eight-week course of astaxanthin. The treatment group showed a 93 percent improvement in grip strength, as well as decreased pain.
Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS), aka “repetitive stress injury”: CTS is a debilitating disease of the wrist that manifests as numbness, pain, and even paralysis.
A study by the above group found eight weeks of astaxanthin supplementation resulted in significant pain reduction, both in terms of severity and duration, leaving researchers concluding that astaxanthin might be a viable alternative to surgery.
After receiving astaxanthin for only eight weeks, RA sufferers showed a 35 percent improvement in pain levels, as well as a 40 percent improvement in their ability to perform daily activities. [Journal of the American College of Nutrition. 21(5):Oct, 2002.]
Post-exercise joint soreness: Can astaxanthin be of benefit to you if you are healthy and have no disease or affliction?
In 2001, Dr. Andrew Fry of the University of Memphis studied the effects of astaxanthin on healthy people who trained with weights and who would typically experience exercise-induced joint soreness. He gave young male subjects astaxanthin for three weeks, while they performed strenuous workouts, and then evaluated them for knee pain.
The placebo group experienced post-training knee soreness, lasting up to 48 hours after their workouts. But the treatment group showed no increase whatsoever in knee joint soreness following workouts. [Fry, A. (2001) “Astaxanthin Clinical Trial for Delayed Onset Muscular Soreness.” Human Performance Laboratories, The University of Memphis, Report 1, August 16, 2001.]
So it appears that this amazing nutrient can help you, whether you are a top athlete or a weekend warrior, whether you have mild overuse symptoms or a major inflammatory illness—it truly seems to have benefits for anyone and everyone!
Make Sure Your Astaxanthin Is the Natural Variety from Marine Algae—NOT Synthetic
Some aquaculture companies are beginning to use natural astaxanthin instead of synthetic, even though it costs more, because it’s better for the health of the animals, and it’s far superior for pigmentation. Animals fed fish food with natural astaxanthin have higher survival rates, better growth rates, better immunity, fertility, and reproduction. Unfortunately, synthetic astaxanthin still dominates the farmed salmon industry worldwide.
If your salmon label does not read “wild” or “naturally colored,” you’re probably going to be eating a coloring agent somewhat closer to motor oil than antioxidant. Natural astaxanthin is more than 20 times more powerful as an antioxidant than synthetic astaxanthin.
Wild salmon are 400 percent higher in astaxanthin than farmed salmon, and 100 percent of their pigment is natural astaxanthin, rather than synthetic. Plus, wild salmon have much higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids than the farmed version.
But even if you are successful in purchasing genuine wild salmon, there is the problem with high levels of mercury and other unwanted toxins, not to mention the skyrocketing prices.
Final Recommendations
You may recognize the name astaxanthin because I have mentioned it in reference to krill oil, my favorite source of animal-based omega-3 fatty acids. One of the reasons I am such a fan of krill is that itnaturally contains astaxanthin. And our krill oil has the highest concentration of astaxanthin of any krill oil on the market today.
But, as high as it is, new research suggests you could enjoy even MORE benefits by further increasing your astaxanthin, even if you are already taking a krill oil supplement.
If you decide to give astaxanthin a try, I recommend with a dose of 8-10 mg per day. If you are on a krill oil supplement, take that into consideration; different krill products have different concentrations of astaxanthin, so check your label.
Learn why krill oil is a safer and smarter choice than fish oil through the Fish Oil versus Krill Oil: The Cold, Hard Facts infographic. Use the embed code to share it on your website or visit our infographic page for the high-res version.
<img src="https://media.mercola.com/assets/images/infographic/krill-oil-vs-fish-oil.jpg" alt="krill oil vs fish oil infographics" border="0" style="max-width:100%; min-width:300px; margin: 0 auto 20px auto; display:block;"><p style="max-width:800px; min-width:300px; margin:0 auto; text-align:center;">Learn why krill oil is a safer and smarter choice than fish oil through the <a href="http://www.mercola.com/infographics/fish-oil-vs-krill-oil.htm"><strong>Fish Oil versus Krill Oil: The Cold, Hard Facts</strong></a> infographic. Visit our infographic page for the high-res version.</p>
Many spices have powerful medicinal properties, which is why they’ve been used to promote healing for thousands of years prior to the advent of patented synthetic drugs.
Some spices are clearly more useful than others, and one “star player” within Nature’s pharmacy is turmeric, a yellow-pigmented curry spice often used in Indian cuisine.Turmeric also has a long history of medicinal use in traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurveda.
Curcumin—one of its most well-studied bioactive ingredients—exhibits over 150 potentially therapeutic activities, including potent anti-cancer properties. Curcumin is also capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier, which is one reason why it holds promise as a neuroprotective agent in a wide range of neurological disorders.
Researchers have previously investigated curcumin for its potential role in improvingParkinson’s, Alzheimer’s disease, and stroke damage. It can also promote brain health in general, courtesy of its potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
One of the ways it works, which is similar to vitamin D, is by modulating large numbers of your genes. But unlike vitamin D that influences thousands of genes, curcumin has been shown to influence about 700 genes.
Previous research1 has also demonstrated that curcumin acts by inserting itself into your cells’ membranes where it changes the physical properties of the membrane itself, making it more orderly.
Yet another part of the answer for turmeric’s multifaceted benefits lies in the herb’s ability to affect signaling molecules.2 For example, curcumin has been shown to directly interact with:
Inflammatory molecules
Cell survival proteins
Histone
Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV1) integrase and protease
DNA and RNA
Various carrier proteins and metal ions
Turmeric Compound Boosts Regeneration of Brain Stem Cells
Recent animal research3,4 suggests another bioactive compound in turmeric called aromatic-turmerone can increase neural stem cell growth in the brain by as much as 80 percent at certain concentrations. Neural stem cells differentiate into neurons and play an important role in self-repair.
The findings suggest aromatic-turmerone may help in the recovery of brain function in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and stroke—provided the effect also applies to humans. As reported by Time Magazine:5
“[T]he same research group found that rodent neural stem cells grew when they were bathed in a solution of aromatic-turmerone. The cells bathed in the turmeric compound also appeared to specialize into certain types of brain cells more rapidly.
‘It is interesting that it might be possible to boost the effectiveness of the stem cells with aromatic-turmerone,’ Maria Adele Rueger, a researcher on the team, told the BBC. ‘And it is possible this in turn can help boost repair in the brain.’”
Previous research has also shown that curcumin may help inhibit the accumulation of destructive beta-amyloids in the brain of Alzheimer’s patients, as well as break up existing plaques.
People with Alzheimer’s tend to have higher levels of inflammation in their brains, and curcumin is perhaps most known for its potent anti-inflammatory properties.
The compound can inhibit both the activity and the inflammatory metabolic byproducts of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX2) and 5-lipooxygenase (5-LOX) enzymes, as well as other enzymes and hormones that modulate inflammation.
Turmeric May Be One of the Most Useful Herbs on the Planet
The effects of turmeric are not limited to brain health. As noted in a previous GreenMedInfo6 article on this subject, turmeric has been “empirically demonstrated to positively modulate over 160 different physiological pathways.”
A study published in the Natural Product Reports7 in 2011 describes curcumin as being therapeutic for a wide range of diseases, including:
Lung and liver diseases
Neurological diseases
Metabolic diseases
Autoimmune disorders
Cardiovascular diseases
Inflammatory diseases
For example, curcumin has been shown to benefit those with osteoarthritis. Research8published in 2011 found that patients who added 200 mg of curcumin a day to their treatment plan had reduced pain and increased mobility, whereas the control group, which received no curcumin, had no significant improvements.
A 2006 study9 also found that a turmeric extract composed of curcuminoids (plant-based nutrients that contain powerful antioxidant properties) blocked inflammatory pathways, effectively preventing the launch of a protein that triggers swelling and pain.
Studies now numbering in the hundreds have shown that curcumin and other bioactive compounds in the spice may be helpful for a wide array of health problems. For example, research has shown turmeric can:
Support healthy cholesterol levels
Prevent low-density lipoprotein oxidation
Inhibit platelet aggregation
Suppress thrombosis and myocardial infarction
Suppress symptoms associated with type 2 diabetes
Suppress symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis
Suppress symptoms of multiple sclerosis
Protect against radiation-induced damage and heavy metal toxicity
Inhibit HIV replication
Suppress tumor formation
Enhance wound healing
Protect against liver damage
Increase bile secretion
Protect against cataracts
Protect against pulmonary toxicity and fibrosis
Curcumin—A Potent Anti-Cancer Herb
Dr. William LaValley is one of the leading natural medicine cancer physicians. He has spent a considerable amount of time immersing himself in the science of curcumin, which has the most evidence-based literature10 supporting its use against cancer of any other nutrient. This includes vitamin D, which also has a robust base. Curcumin has been shown to be nontoxic and appears to be safe in the treatment of all cancers. Interestingly, it appears to be universally useful for just about every type of cancer, which is quite odd considering cancer consists of a wide variety of different molecular pathologies. You wouldn’t necessarily suspect that there would be one herb that would work for most of them.
As mentioned, curcumin has the ability to modulate genetic activity and expression, and in cancer, it can both destroy cancer cells and promote healthy cell function. It also promotes anti-angiogenesis, meaning it helps prevent the development of additional blood supply necessary for cancer cell growth, and affects more than 100 different molecular pathways once it gets into a cell.
As explained by Dr. LaValley, the curcumin molecule may cause either an increase in activity of a particular molecular target, or a decrease/inhibition of activity—either way, studies repeatedly show that the end result is a potent anti-cancer activity. This is why it appears to work for virtually all cancers. Furthermore, curcumin does not adversely affect healthy cells, suggesting it selectively targets cancer cells. Research has also shown that it works synergistically with certain chemotherapy drugs, enhancing the elimination of cancer cells.
How to Use Curcumin
For clinical results, it’s not enough to liberally add turmeric to your food. The turmeric root itself contains only about three percent curcumin concentration, and curcumin is poorly absorbed by your body to boot. Even in supplement form it’s unlikely to provide the results shown in various disease studies. Poor absorption is also the drawback that makes curcumin unsuitable for emergency treatment of stroke. When taken in its raw form, you’re only absorbing about one percent of the available curcumin.
It is easiest and far more convenient to find a high-quality turmeric extract that contains 100 percent certified organic ingredients, with at least 95 percent curcuminoids. The formula should be free of fillers, additives, and excipients (a substance added to the supplement as a processing or stability aid), and the manufacturer should use safe production practices at all stages: planting, cultivation, selective harvesting, and then producing and packaging the final product.
According to Dr. LaValley, typical anticancer doses are up to three grams of good bioavailable curcumin extract, three to four times daily. One work-around is to use raw curcumin powder and make a microemulsion by combining a tablespoon of the powder with 1-2 egg yolks and a teaspoon or two of melted coconut oil. Use a high speed hand blender to emulsify it. Just take precautions to avoid “yellow kitchen syndrome.” Curcumin is a very potent yellow pigment and can permanently discolor surfaces if you’re careless.
Another strategy that can help increase absorption is to put one tablespoon of the curcumin powder into a quart of boiling water. It must be boiling when you add the powder as it will not work as well if you first put it in room temperature water and then heat the water and curcumin. After boiling it for 10 minutes, you will have created a 12 percent solution that you can drink once cooled. It will have a woody taste. The curcumin will gradually fall out of solution, however. In about six hours, it will be down to a six percent solution, so it’s best to drink the water within four hours.
Because it’s a fat-loving or lipophilic molecule, many newer preparations now include some sort of oil or fat, which improves its absorbability and bioavailability. Such preparations typically have seven to eight times higher absorption than the raw, unprocessed 95-percent-concentration of dry powder. There are also newer sustained release preparations, which Dr. LaValley prefers and recommends.
The moment you all have been waiting for!! OK maybe not, but here it is! The video of me speaking at the 2013 Invisible Disabilities AssociationAwards Night. Special thanks to CBS4 Ed Greene for helping me out!
I guess the biggest things I miss about work are being healthy, being able to get up in the morning, shower and dress, getting a lot done, spending time with people, feeling accomplishment and getting a paycheck.
Instead, I am at home, in pain, feeling like I have the flu and my job is to do my physical therapy, try to get my food, make doctor appointments, go to doctor appointments, file insurance claims and try to wash my hair once in a while. Not only am I missing a paycheck, but I get lots of medical bills instead.
In the past 18 months our family has been through some very serious tribulations. As you may know, I fight for my life daily due to Progressive Multiple Sclerosis, Chronic-Late Lyme Disease, Chemical Injury and Brain Injury.
Later in 2011, our brother, Jim, unexpectedly passed away. Our family has been in deep mourning for his loss. Jim was one of those men who was always there for his family and friends. He was our champion, protector and I can’t even begin to express what a hole he has left in our lives.
Now, in December 2012, my sister was diagnosed with cancer. At first, they thought removing the tumors and having treatment would be the plans. But after her surgery, there was concern about the lymph nodes. She underwent a mastectomy and had over 20 lymph nodes removed (about half were malignant).
Everyone who knows my sister, knows she is a very strong and courageous woman! What some may not realize is that she is the glue that keeps everyone together. She is the one who “gets things done” in our family, with her grand-kids, friends and in her business. She is Superwoman!
Like many, with the economy, Deb and her husband’s businesses have been down (she is a graphic artist and he owns a drywall company). However, now they also have the added burdens of medical bills, deductibles, co-pays, coinsurance and expensive out of pocket medications.
Currently, she is now receiving chemo. As many experience, she lost her hair and struggles with debilitating fatigue, which is cutting further into her work and time with family.
I am trying to set up a fundraiser for my sister on Indiegogo. Thank you so much for considering helping me help my sister get through yet another major life challenge for our family.
