Extraordinary Health Magazine EHMagazine Vol 38_Final | Page 29

These days there are plenty of wearable devices
that can provide very meaningful information that
will allow and encourage you to make changes to
foster a better night’s sleep. That said, some helpful
tips include stopping caffeine after 2 PM, minimizing
screen time in the evening as blue light from
computers, tablets, phones, and TV, can inhibit the
hormone melatonin and make it more difficult to fall
asleep. Try to make your bedroom as dark as possible,
and you might even consider lowering the temperature
by a degree or two.
is certainly a greater emphasis these days on
including foods that contain both probiotics
(fermented foods) as well as prebiotic fiber
(to enhance the growth and metabolism of
the probiotic bacteria in the gut). The reason
there is such an emphasis on the gut bacteria
has to do with the role of these organisms in
maintaining the integrity of the gut lining.
The lining of the intestinal wall represents a
powerful line of defense, keeping the rest of
the body isolated from various gut related
chemical compounds that can aggressively
increase inflammation. This explains the
important relationship between the health
of the gut and systemic inflammation.
Threatening the function, health, or diversity
of our resident microbes, as can happen
with inappropriate food choices, taking
various medications like antibiotics, and even
exposure to pesticides and herbicides can
ultimately play out as increased permeability
of the gut lining, now commonly referred to as “leaky gut.”
And, to reiterate, this is a situation that powerfully enhances
inflammation, setting the stage for a wide array of diseases.
Specific gut bacteria are known to play important roles in
maintaining and even reducing intestinal permeability. Our gut
bacteria thrive when they are nurtured by foods rich in prebiotic
fiber as well as polyphenols. Prebiotic fiber, as mentioned
above, is the type of dietary fiber that nurtures our good
bacteria, allowing them to produce their metabolic products
that ultimately provide health benefits. Supplements containing
acacia gum and baobab fruit derivatives are also a terrific source
of prebiotic fiber.
Polyphenols contribute to gut the health by further enhancing
the growth of beneficial bacteria while helping to suppress
the growth of potentially pathogenic organisms. In addition,
polyphenols are actually antioxidants in and of themselves and
help reduce inflammation. Foods rich in polyphenols include
apples, blueberries, peaches, raspberries, broccoli, spinach,
black beans, almonds, flax seeds, cinnamon, coffee, dark
chocolate, olives and olive oil, and red wine.
Sleep
Quality sleep remains incredibly underrated in terms of its
importance for health and disease resistance. It’s been estimated
that a full two-thirds of American adults do not get adequate
amounts of restorative sleep. This very much plays into risk
for chronic to generative diseases as lack of restorative sleep
directly enhances inflammation. This may well explain, at least
in part, why sleep disorders are associated with increased
risk for things like cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease,
and type II diabetes. Even one night of non-restorative sleep
has consequences the very next day not just in terms of
inflammation, but in other areas like hormone balance and even
blood sugar regulation.
Stress
From multiple perspectives, our environment
seems to be getting more and more toxic. Stress,
for example, is one of the most obvious toxins
that has become virtually ubiquitous in our
modern world. Stress, leads to an increased
production from the adrenal glands of the
hormone cortisol. Chronic elevation of cortisol,
a manifestation of chronically being exposed to a
stressful environment, causes important changes to happen
in the gut. Changes occur not only in terms of the various
species that are represented, but in addition, cortisol acts
directly on the gut wall to increase permeability, which,
as noted above, powerfully enhances the production of
inflammatory chemicals throughout the body. So, it is through
this mechanism that we are able to understand a relationship
between our stressful modern world and the ever-increasing
rates of chronic degenerative diseases.
Two important ways that we can offset the damaging effects of
stress in our lives include meditation and exposure to nature.
Meditation, even for as little as 12 minutes each day, has been
shown to lower cortisol, reduce inflammation, balance the
immune system, and even improve empathy and compassion.
Exposure to nature has similar effects. Essential oils that
are secreted by trees increase our sense of wellness. Nature
exposure, even in an urban environment, has been shown to
dramatically reduce cortisol levels, and this occurs even after just
a few minutes. To be clear, nature exposure doesn’t mean that
you have to plan a trip to Yellowstone each week. Measurable
benefits have been demonstrated by simply being around a
plant. One recent study demonstrated reduced measurements of
stress in individuals in a hospital waiting room when there was a
plant present.
Conclusion
Inflammation plays an important role in helping combat
infections, and recover from injuries. But, when the fire of
inflammation continues to smolder over a long period of time,
it ushers in any number of chronic degenerative conditions. The
good news is our lifestyle choices can make a huge difference in
terms of keeping inflammation in check and as such, help us live
long and healthy lives.
Extraordinary Health ™ • Vol 38 27