Hello my dear readers! Its been a long time since I’ve posted, but I’ve come across some nutritional goodies that I simply cannot resist sharing about. While reading the book Oil Pulling Therapy by Dr. Bruce Fife, I noticed a commonality between the diseases that may be caused by bacteria seeping into the blood stream and spreading throughout the body.
The common cause is inflammation. This should almost be labeled as its own condition. Chronic inflammation is the worst, leading to possible diseases such as diabetes, osteoporosis, or even asthma! The science supporting these theories is astounding, and after reading a few of the supporting articles, I’d have to say that I’m starting to believe much of what Dr. Fife is claiming.
So, the question is, how do we reduce inflammation? That’s a million-dollar question, and one that I hope I can endeavor to help you with in this post. I believe that overall, you can do several things to help reduce systemic inflammation and get your body functioning in its optimal state.
Step #1: Reduce sugar and refined carbs – these raise inflammation levels on their own and produce no nutritional benefits. An occasional treat is ok, as your body can deal relatively easily with the occasional acute inflammation, but have a treat too regularly and you’ll have a problem on your hands. Fruit high in sugar (apples, peaches, grapes, watermelon) should also be avoided, as fructose can also be a cause for inflammation.
Step #2: Eat organic, or as much as you can. Pesticides, insecticides, growth hormones, antibiotics… the list goes on and on for the chemical crap we continually choose to pour into our bodies. Eating organic (better yet, growing your own food and/or raising chickens for meat/eggs) can be a great start to getting this stuff out of your body and helping reduce stress/inflammation.
Step #3: Eat as much saturated fat (coconut oil and butter are Amazing) and avoid polyunsaturated/trans fats. The former has been scientifically proven to help reduce inflammation by reducing cytokines (and coconut oil has natural anti-biotic properties) while the latter contains unstable/synthetic oils that present many opportunities for chronic inflammation to take hold in your body.
Step #4: Oil pulling. This removes many of the harmful bacteria that reside in your mouth. Its not a common idea, but think of this way: Your mouth is a part of your digestive tract, and thus is a good representation of the condition of the rest of your track. A nasty mouth means a bad digestive system. A tablespoon of coconut oil (virgin, non-heat pressed, organic) swished for 10 minutes then spat out is by far the superior oil for oil pulling. As mentioned before, it has anti-biotic properties and as a saturated fat has better permeability for penetrating your gums and doing a thorough cleaning. If you wanna be really gung-ho, try adding a drop of oregano oil, also noted for anti-biotic properties.
Step #5: Supplement. If you follow the above steps (particularly the part about eating organic) you’ve eliminated bad foods which reduces inflammation, but making sure your body has enough high-quality nutrients can also help your body fight inflammation. I take the following regimen, which is broad and helps immeasurably:
Vitamin C – Dual Focus – roughly 10g per day – powder form, stirred in water (bonus: blend Vitamin C with water and 1 Tbsp MCT oil to achieve higher bioavailability): strong antioxidant properties
Vitamin D – Solaray – 6,000 IU per day – pill: affects over 1000 genes and is a precursor for hormone production
Fermented Cod Liver Oil – Blue Ice – 2mL per day – liquid: source of vitamin D and vitamin A, also Omega-3
I also take a variety of nootropics to help my brain function at max capacity. Overall, inflammation is one of the biggest enemies in your body, and the above steps helped me tremendously in my quest for better health.
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