By Joan L. McDaniel October 2, 2017
In my last article, Coconut Oil Helped Me Get Well Again
I said “Coconut oil is not a cure-all but it sure can help. It help me fight the free-radical inflammation damage and help kill the bad bacteria and fungus that had overrun my system.”
I suddenly realized that more needs to be said about the bodies inflammation process and how we get sick but better yet is —-
How the Body Fights Back to maintain balance and health.
I had covered this subject in the article Inflammation, Free Radicals and the Health Benefits of Nuts.
That was almost five years ago. Since that time, there has been a great deal of attention and activity from publications (Books), research, studies, and web-sites dedicated to the understanding of how the human body maintains itself in health and balance. I welcome the addition attention on the subject and decided to do an update on my inflammation and nut article.
“All Illness is caused by Inflammation.”
(NaturalNews) “Persistent, systemic inflammation is at the root of practically all known chronic health conditions, including everything from rheumatoid arthritis and high cholesterol to dementia and cancer. These health conditions are not necessarily inevitable, and neither is chronic inflammation.” This inflammation can be reduced and cured by watching what you eat and eating foods that help fight inflammation.
Free radicals – Are toxic renegade molecules that attack and destroy other molecules
Accumulation of damage over the years results in degenerative tissues and loss of function that typifies old age. Basically a free radical is a molecule that is missing a neuron; it is a reactive element that then steals this neuron from healthy cells thru a process call oxidation. The tissue becomes impaired over time. (Oxidation is the process that also causes iron to rust.) Once a free-radical reaction is started, it causes a chain reaction which in turn will destroy thousands of cells. The brain tissue of neurodegenerative diseases are also riddled with free radical damage.
Your Body fights disease with antioxidants
But did you know your body is equipped with a way to fight back? It is called Antioxidants.
Inflammation is your immune systems response to fighting disease. The only way to stop free-radical damage is to give your immune system the ammunition it needs. The ammunition you system needs are antioxidants.
During my research I found this diagram. It seems to explain what I’m trying to say. All I know is I stopped my inflammation and slowly got well by what I ate
Free Radicals and Antioxidants
Free Radicals and Antioxidants
Where do antioxidants come from?
Antioxidants come from fresh food. Many of these foods are also called super foods. The best place to start is to eat a good diet and stop eating processed foods that cause inflammation.
I bet you don’t know what a flavonoid is? It has to do with the energy and power of fresh food and nutrition.
Carotenoids and flavonoids are naturally occurring pigments that have powerful antioxidant properties. They are what gives fruits and vegetables their vibrant colors. There are over 700 different ones depending on the type of fresh fruit or vegetable and its color. They can only be found in Fresh food straight from the farm or garden.
Antioxidants provide the electron that the free-radicals want. Once free radicals are neutralized by antioxidants, they become harmless and are eventually eliminated from the body.
Antioxidants come from fresh unprocessed food. Free-radicals come from processed foods like the low-fat foods recommended by the Standard American Diet (SAD) or food stripped of all nutrition. The USDA’s Food Pyramid or Food Plate is a diet high in simple carbohydrates and refined sugars and low in fat especially saturated fat.
Antioxidants come from fresh unprocessed food
Antioxidant foods burst with color
Free Radicals come from:
Free Radicals come from processed food, inflammatory oils, and last but not least SUGAR. They are used by your body to kill the cell and make way for new ones. Which is good when in good health and is bad when there is nothing but free radical cells left because of toxins and inflammation .
Inflammation
When you talk about inflammation the following terms come into the discussion. Antioxidants, decease, free-radicals, illness, immune system, and oxidation.
The concepts of how the human body works is complex. In fact understanding its complexity, and effectiveness boarders on magic, miracles, mysterious and spiritual powers. The energy in the body and its ability to heal is still being researched and understood or many cases miss-understood.
Not to over simply, but basically all illness starts with inflammation. Damage from free-radicals over time causes a chain reaction which causes serous illness. Free-radical damage to the cells happens when we take in more toxins then nutrition. These Toxins are found in the environment and in incomplete nutrition. Processed food and including foods high in sugar are incomplete and they cause free-radical damage.
Video
Free Radicals & Antioxidants
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_Xo5AaTH8U
Some Terms Used That May Need Clarification
Antioxidant – Basically an antioxidant is any substance that prevents or slows the process of oxidation, which produces cell-wall erosion and cell death. This cell death is caused by a chain reaction of free-radical damage. Antioxidants neutralize free radicals. Antioxidants provide the missing electron the free-radical destroyed. It is the ammunition your immune system needs and in a word “Puts the Fire out” and prevents further inflammation. Antioxidants can only be found in fresh, non-processed foods.
Anti-inflammatory – acting to reduce certain signs of inflammation, as swelling, tenderness, fever, and pain. In allopathic medicine and pharmacology it is a synthetic medicine like a NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) such as aspirin and ibuprofen.
Anti-inflammatory Food, Herbs and spices – There is a long list of anti-inflammatory foods and herbs that help prevent unnecessary inflammations. Following is a list of 15 anti-inflammatory herbs and spices; Basil, Black Pepper, Cardamom, Cayenne, Chamomile, Chives, Cilantro, Cinnamon, Cloves, Garlic, Ginger, Nutmeg, Parsley, Rosemary, and Turmeric. This is not what allopathic medicine calls anti-inflammatory they are talking about a synthetic drug like NSAIDs.
Cell Wall Erosion – If the cells in your body do not get enough energy the wall of the cell weakens and dies. The cell is powered by what is called Adenosine triphosphate (ATP). If the ATP has cells damaged by free radicals it becomes weak and cannot hold the cell together and the cell is destroyed.
Inflammation is your immune systems response to injury, and stress to the body. This includes the damage done by free radicals and other toxins. Generally the immune system uses inflammation to isolate the toxin so that it can be destroyed by the body. In today’s world our immune systems are being overwhelmed with more and more toxins both from the environment and our food. The immune system needs ammunition that you give it from the food you eat.
Free-Radicals – Free radicals are a normal body process which causes Oxidation and the death of a cell to make room for new. When all things are normal free-radicals are very useful. But, when the body has too many free-radicals a chain reaction results overrunning your body with oxidized, sick dying cells. Your immune system becomes overwhelmed. It fights back as best it can. The weapon it uses is inflammation to isolate the dying cells and wash them out of the body.
Free radicals are responsible for biological oxidation. “Oxidation” reactions are also called “biological rusting”. Free radicals are renegade molecules that attack and destroy other molecules and cells by stealing oxygen electrons.
You wouldn’t eat a tomato that has turned black. It has turned black because it contains toxins. Toxins are free radicals. These free-radicals have an acid balance and feed off thus destroying oxygen and cause cell destruction and death (tomato turns black). Remember processed food and processed sugar are considered to be a free-radical.
Accumulation of damage over the years results in degenerative tissues and loss of function that typifies fatigue, loss of energy and old age.
ORAC Score – Orac is an acronym for Oxygen Radical Absorption Capacity. It is used to qualify and anti-oxidant and its ability to absorb and fight free-radicals. We need to consume a minimum of 20,000 ORAC points a day and we only get 1,500 See more on ORAC Score later
Oxidation is a natural process where cells die. This is a natural process. Cells do not live forever and are completely replaced over a period of a month or so. But in today’s world where there has been a major increase in toxins from the environment and foods with incomplete nutrition, the oxidation process is now out of control. Our immune system is working overtime and in many cases is overwhelming.
Basically oxidation causes rust in iron. Oxidation is illustrated best by when you cut an apple it will turn brown once it is exposed to oxygen. The enzymes cause this change and the fruit decays almost right in front of your eyes.
Toxins – are poisons
There are additional causes of inflammation such as environmental toxicity, not drinking enough clean water, lack of sleep, and lack of exercise all contribute to low levels of chronic inflammation. But diet is the main cause. Inflammation often goes undetected for many years until disease finally emerges.
Antioxidants and anti-inflammation foods work together giving the body the ammunition it needs to stay well.
What type of food should you eat to stay well and fight free radicals
Foods I ate that helped my immune system rebuild and remove free radical damage and detox
I found and ate what I call Superfoods, including several beans, herbs, roots, and seeds. Most of the superfoods I ate I wrote an article showing my research. Besides superfoods, I began to use different herbs and seeds.
My No No’s
I never ever again touched any food that had a label which read:
“Artificial, Diet, fat-free, High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), hydrolyzed fat, low-fat, Natural, Corn, or Vegetable Oil (Crisco)” also Monosodium Glutamate (MSG): Looking at the label you will probably not find the words MSG instead, the FDA Allows, 20 other pseudo names for it including autolyzed yeast extract, calcium casinate, free glutamate, glutamic acid, hydrolyzed corn, hydrolyzed soy protein, soy lecithin and many others.
I refused most things colored white like white flour, potatoes, salt, starch, sugar, or anything processed or made in the lab. Except, of course, Coconut Oil but that isn’t made in a lab – it fell off a tree. There are in fact several highly nutritional foods from nature that are colored white but I hope you know what I mean.
I refused to eat anything that had more than 5 ingredients listed, and more than two chemicals I couldn’t pronounce.
The food that comes from my garden is covered with dirt not labels.
What is a Super Food?
Super foods – Foods that are loaded with a combination of critical fatty acids, anti-oxidant phytonutrients and essential amino acids.
List of some superfoods are;
Almonds, Apples, Avocado, Beans, Berries (Blueberries, Blackberries, Raspberries, and Strawberries), Broccoli, Coconut, Dark Chocolate, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Flaxseed, Garlic, Honey, Kale, Nuts like Almonds, and Walnuts. Olives, Onions, Papaya, Pomegranate, Spinach, Soy, Salmon (Wild caught), Tea, and Tomatoes.
Other Suggestions:
- Eliminate inflammatory oils: canola, corn, cottonseed, safflower, soybean, sunflower or vegetable oil.
- start eating healthy fats like avocado, Grass-fed butter, coconut oil, and Ghee. Get more Omega 3 fats and less Omega 6 fats they should be balanced.
- Stop eating refined processed foods especially foods loaded with processed carbs and sugar or anything in a box
- Get enough fresh food, fiber, and fermented food. If you have difficulty with fermented food try
- The Bitter principle. Food that’s bitter like the lemon and grapefruit.
- Filter your tap water and increase your intake of filtered water not bottled.
- Use the ORAC Scale to determine the foods ORAC
The ORAC SCALE LIST THE VALUE OF ANTIOXIDANT FOODS
Ken Jorgustin July 18, 2017
Charts list high valued foods and their ORAC value
A note about the ORAC value charts. I have found this web-site and its charts listing the top 100 antioxidant foods.
ORAC is an acronym for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity and was developed by the National Institutes of Health in Baltimore. It is used to qualify and anti-oxidant and its ability to absorb and fight free-radicals.
I went to the web-site and found many herbs at the top of the list of powerful antioxidants. Note you would not be eating 3.5 ounces of one particular herb in one sitting. You couldn’t eat that much. Mother nature packed nutrition into herbs so they can be used like salt shakers. You can add them when and where you want to when you need that particular vitamin. Herbs and spices also help the taste and are heavily used in traditional foods.
Till next time
Sources
Books
Cancer is Not a Disease By Andres Moritz
The MD Emperor Has No Clothes Everybody is sick and I know why By Dr. Peter Glidden, BS, ND
Quantum Healing By Deepak Chopra, M.D.
Web Sites
For a complete article read Dr. Mercola’s The Ultimate Guide to Antioxidants
http://www.thesweetbeet.com/vegetables-nutrients/
http://ezinearticles.com/?Carotenoids-and-Flavonoids-Are-Important-to-Your-Health&id=4747711
http://www.axiscw.com/2012/08/05/lees-summit-chiropractor-decrease-inflammation/