weakened immune system Archives - Amazing Health Advances

7 SURPRISING Ways Sugar Can Harm Your Health

AHA Publisher — Wed, 15 Sep 2021 07:00:00 +0000

Stephanie Woods via NaturalHealth365 – Let’s face it, sugar is extremely prevalent in today’s society. Many of the prepared and processed foods in grocery stores contain an alarming amount of sugar. This is why it’s well worth taking the extra minute or so to read the nutrition label before buying any packaged food item. We already know the typical dangers of sugar consumption such as obesity, tooth decay, and low energy, but there are many other conditions out there that you may not be aware of. Excessive Sugar Intake Damages Your Health in MULTIPLE Ways, Studies Show Here are seven surprising ways that sugar harms your health. Studies link high intake of sugar to a depressive mood. Sugar intake has been shown to increase depressive mood. It causes certain chemical processes in the brain that cause depression. If you experience depression, cutting back on sugar may help boost your outlook on life. Immune function reduced by eating too much sugar. Sugar consumption, especially fructose and high fructose corn syrup, lowers your immune system’s ability to function. What’s more, yeast and bacteria feed on sugar so consuming excessive amounts of sugar can cause infections as these organisms build up in the body. Instead of all the sugar-laden foods, eat ones that are rich in probiotics. Sugary foods can make your anxiety worse. When sugar is a standard part of your diet, you could be inviting in anxiety. High amounts of sugar in the diet have been shown to induce mood disorders in both women and men, namely anxiety. Eating too much sugar can sabotage your weight loss goals, but it can do even more harm. Regular sugar consumption can cause weight gain and obesity. When you couple this with the depression and anxiety that is common with such a diet, body dissatisfaction becomes more prevalent. Even someone who is not overweight may start to feel self-loathing and dissatisfaction with themselves. Sugar-laden diet may cause you to lose self-control. All too often, a person will indulge in sugar even though they know exactly what it does to their bodies. Even if a person is diabetic or pre-diabetic, he or she will often still consume sugar just because they want it or feel compelled to have it. Sugar takes a toll on your skin, destroys collagen production. High sugar diets damage the collagen and elastin molecules in the skin. This results in sagging and wrinkles. This can make you look older than you actually are. It can also cause your skin to appear dull, giving you a haggard appearance. Too much sugar cheats you out of nutrients. When you eat a lot of sugar you might be cheating your body out of important nutrients like vitamins A, C, B-12, and the mineral calcium. This can lead to nutrition deficiencies, which is a foundation of obesity. What’s the bottom line? Although low sugar diets are very popular, do not fall into the trap. Not all sugar is created equal, and you should not avoid sugars from whole foods such as organic fruits. Whole fruits offer many benefits to your health, including dietary fiber, disease-fighting antioxidants – and no added sugar. Many processed and prepared foods contain a lot of sugar, even those foods that you would never expect. The best thing you can do is always read the label. One of the best ways to reduce sugar in your diet is by eliminating sugar cravings. While this may seem like a daunting task, it is well worth the effort as over time, you will feel different mentally and physically in a good way. You will feel better, healthier, and you will have more energy. This is the only body you are going to get in life. Take care of it so that it will work for you in years to come. Sources for this article include: UTHM.edu DSpace.Library.uu.nl SCIRP.org NIH.gov TandFOnline.com NIH.gov To read the original article click here.

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Super Sanitizing in the Age of COVID: Can You Be Too Clean?

AHA Publisher — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 08:00:20 +0000

Lorie Johnson via CBN News – In the last decade, health experts touted the benefits of having plenty of good bacteria in the gut. They say having a diverse gut microbiome strengthens the immune system. As it turns out, a diverse microbiome in our environment operates the same way. In other words, there are plenty of good bugs all around us that can help us fight off disease. However, during the COVID pandemic more than ever before, many of the good bugs in our environment are being wiped out with high-powered cleansers like antibacterial agents and bleach. While health experts stress the importance of fighting COVID by washing hands and surfaces with mild cleansers, such as old-fashioned soap and water, they say disinfecting may literally be overkill. When New York City shut down the subways for four hours each day for disinfecting it deprived untold residents of much-needed transportation. Many of these travelers worked at hospitals and other health care facilities treating COVID patients, the last people who needed additional hardship during the pandemic. To make matters worse, some scientists declared the subway shutdown a colossal waste of time and money. “It looks a bit to me like ‘cleaning theatre,'” Dr. Jack Gilbert, microbiome researcher, University of California San Diego professor and author of Dirt Is Good: The Advantage of Germs for Your Child’s Developing Immune System told CBN News, adding the purpose of the disinfecting project may actually have been “to make people feel more comfortable about using those environments. Bleaching the surfaces will have very, very little impact upon the spread of the disease.” That’s because science tells us COVID-19 is spread mainly through personal contact. Furthermore, Dr. Gilbert points out the fact that once a surface is sanitized, it doesn’t stay that way for long. “If you sterilize a surface, in a few minutes after sterilization the microbes from our body are re-colonizing that surface.” During this pandemic, welcoming some of the germs living all around us may seem scary, but it’s generally better than killing them all. “The negative consequences of bleaching the environment, especially if you have very young children in the environment, can actually lead to chronic consequences which may be worse,” Dr. Gilbert said, adding the good bugs we encounter, especially as youngsters, can help prevent food allergies, skin problems like eczema and even issues associated with autism. “Those experiences that those children are getting shape how their immune system develops. And that can shape how our brains develop,” he said. Growing Up With Dirt Think about all the germs surrounding barnyard animals or even household pets. Turns out, those bugs are good for us. Growing up with animals can reduce the lifetime risk of a number of ailments. For example, asthma strikes about one in ten Americans. Children who grow up with a dog, however, are 13-percent less likely to develop this serious lung disease. Kids on farms do even better, enjoying a 50-percent reduction. In the age of COVID, doctors say it’s never been more important to wash our hands. However, we can go overboard. Mayo Clinic researcher Dr. Heidi Nelson told CBN News that exposure to certain microorganisms can help fight disease. “Keeping clean is good, but there probably is such a thing as too clean,” she said, adding that exposure to a diverse array of microorganisms in the environment can help fight disease. “We all grew up playing in the dirt and it didn’t hurt us and it probably kept us healthy and having a strong immune system,” she said. In his book, Eat Dirt: Why Leaky Gut May Be the Root Cause of Your Health Problems and 5 Surprising Steps to Cure It, Dr. Josh Axe, who has the number one natural health website, told CBN News that a preoccupation with disinfecting everything in sight puts us at risk for chronic illnesses. “What a lot of people don’t realize is by using excessive sanitizers and bleaches they’re actually weakening their immune system.” The Natural Approach Dr. Axe says some cleansers contain harsh chemicals that can harm the skin and gut. He recommends a more natural approach. “If we use things like essential oils that are referenced in the Bible we’re not going to have those same side effects, yet it’s going to help sanitize us and keep us healthy,” he said. He recommends this recipe for a general household cleanser. HOMEMADE HOUSEHOLD CLEANSER INGREDIENTS: 8 Ounces Water 4 Ounces Distilled White Vinegar 15 Drops Tea Tree Essential Oil 15 Drops Lemon Essential Oil DIRECTIONS: Fill a spray bottle with ingredients. Close bottle and shake to mix. Shake bottle before each spray. In addition to gentle cleansers that kill bad germs while still allowing our immune system to flourish, Dr. Axe points to other COVID-fighting strategies. “I recommend getting zinc, around 30 milligrams a day, Vitamin D at 5,000 IUs a day and Vitamin C at 1,000 milligrams a day,” he said, continuing, “I really like echinacea because of how it strengthens the lungs, elderberry because of how it fights viruses and astragalus for its immune-boosting properties.” So while health experts advise washing hands and surfaces often with plain, old soap and water or another type of mild cleanser, they warn that super-sanitizing with antibacterial soap or bleach may literally be overkill. To read the original article click here. For more articles from CBN News click here.

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How to Detox Your Body from Mold Without Stressing Out Your Kidneys & Liver

AHA Publisher — Fri, 16 Oct 2020 07:00:04 +0000

Isaac Eliaz, MD, MS, LAc via Dr. Axe – You may not be aware of it, but mold is probably affecting your health. So even if it’s not on your mind, “how to detox your body from mold” should be something we all need to be asking. Even if mold is making you sick, you might not know it’s the source of your symptoms. That’s because mold toxicity can act like many other conditions, so it often goes misdiagnosed and untreated. Exposure can cause many different symptoms, including: Fatigue Cough Shortness of breath Fever Headache Joint pain Memory problems Dizziness Sinus infections Wheezing Trouble concentrating Sensitivity to light Skin rash Digestive problems One of the main reasons mold toxins can cause so many different symptoms is this: These toxins can suppress or damage your immune system. Not only can they bring on symptoms themselves, they can make you more vulnerable to other illnesses. Surrounded by Mold Mold exposure is shockingly common. It’s found in the air, damp or water-damaged buildings, even the food you’re eating. Foods that commonly contain mold include cereal grains, nuts, spices, coffee, bulk foods (like the kind you buy from bins to save money) and dairy products. You come across mold inside and outside, and it can travel around with you. Mold spores can attach to things like: Clothing Shoes Pets Reusable grocery bags That means it can come home with you from just about anywhere. And if it ends up somewhere even slightly damp, it will grow and multiply. Mold Produces Toxins In nature, mold speeds up the break down (decomposition) of things like dead trees and fallen leaves. Some molds are used to make cheese or create antibiotics. But many types of mold can be hazardous to your health. These molds produce mycotoxins, poisons that can cause severe health problems and a wide variety of symptoms. The two most common harmful mycotoxins are aflatoxin and ochratoxin, and exposure to either (or both) of these can trigger substantial health issues — from chronic allergies to cancer. What’s more, if your body can’t remove these toxins on its own, they can slip into long-term storage to cause lasting or recurring damage. Mycotoxins Damage Your Health (and Your Immune System) Mycotoxins are sneaky. While mold itself can’t enter your bloodstream — though it can hang around and colonize in spots like your nostrils and lungs — mycotoxins can get into your bloodstream and circulate throughout your body. These opportunistic toxins can hijack your immune system, making you more vulnerable to infections. If your immune system is already compromised (such as people with autoimmune conditions or undergoing cancer treatment), mycotoxins take advantage. If you’re healthy, they can make you very sick. Studies show that mycotoxins can: Cause lung inflammation that can make it harder to breathe Disrupt your gut health by reducing beneficial bacteria and encouraging pathogens Trigger chronic fatigue syndrome Affect brain function and cognition Cause liver damage, including cancer Worsen allergy and asthma symptoms Unfortunately, mold toxicity is frequently misdiagnosed. Because of its wide-ranging effects, it’s typically mistaken for other conditions including depression, multiple sclerosis, or autoimmune conditions. Plus, because mycotoxins are opportunistic, they’re often connected with debilitating diseases such as Lyme disease, IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) and fibromyalgia. Your Genes Can Make You More Vulnerable Around 25% of people are genetically predisposed to get sick from mold exposure. A simple test, called the HLA-DR, can tell you if you’re in that more susceptible population. If you are, it means your immune system can’t easily identify and get rid of mycotoxins. That can allow them to build up in the body, causing harm wherever they end up. On top of that, because of that genetic twist, even relatively small exposures to mycotoxins can affect you. And even if you’re not genetically susceptible to mold sickness, it can still impact your health. Healthy people can get sick from chronic or intense mold exposure. People with already compromised immune systems — even if their bodies can identify mold — are also extra vulnerable to mold toxicity. If that’s you, be sure should to double down on how to detox your body from mold. How to Detox Your Body from Mold Even if you’re not especially sensitive to mold, your body still needs help safely clearing out mycotoxins. When these aren’t removed properly and completely, they can cycle back around, and cause ongoing damage and symptoms. The best way to clear out these toxins is with proven toxin-binders. It’s important to make sure you’re working with safe, gentle detoxing agents so they don’t overtax your body’s clearance system (mainly your liver and kidneys). At the same time, you must use proven binders that don’t allow toxins to be reabsorbed in the intestines rather than excreted from the body. One prescription cholesterol-lowering medication called Cholestyramine binds strongly to some mycotoxins — especially ochratoxin — and keeps them getting reabsorbed. On the natural front, modified citrus pectin (MCP) has been extensively researched as an effective detoxifying agent. Because MCP works so gently, it’s safe for long-term use, which is often necessary for completely removing mycotoxins from your system. MCP works especially well when paired with another natural detoxifier: seaweed-derived alginates, natural gel-like substances that bind tightly to toxins. The combination of MCP and alginate prevents toxins — including mycotoxins and heavy metals — from being reabsorbed in the intestines. And although they make a strong detoxifying team, MCP and alginate are easily tolerated and their gentle action won’t strip essential minerals from your body. Equally important, MCP offers additional benefits that are essential when combating mold: Breaking the biofilm — By blocking galectin-3 and disrupting the biofilm backbone structure, it makes it easier for the body to identify the mold hiding in these areas and clear it, along with fungal infections that produce mycotoxins. Removing heavy metals — Fungus thrives on mercury. MCP as well as alginate are superior binders that safely remove mercury as well as lead, cadmium, uranium, arsenic and other heavy metals from the body. Calming inflammation — MCP reduces the excessive inflammatory response that is responsible for many of the mold-driven symptoms. Other mycotoxin detoxifiers include: Activated charcoal Bentonite clay Glutathione Chlorella In addition to utilizing detoxifiers when answering the “how do I detox my body from mold” question, it’s also important to strengthen your gut microbiome (the trillions of bacteria that live in your gut) with a high-quality probiotic and prebiotic combination. And, whenever possible, avoid mold exposure. This can be tricky, as mold can be tough to detect (if it’s inside walls, for example) and remove. Most important, if you’re concerned about mold toxicity, it’s critical to work with an experienced health practitioner who knows what to test for and which therapies are most appropriate for your situation. With the right support, you can identify—and resolve—any long-standing mold issues, and experience greater long-term health and vitality. To read the original article click here. For more articles from Dr. Axe click here.

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