Hello NY! Yeah, it’s January and yeah, it’s cold. But there’s even snow in Florida! So you know it’s really cold up north! I hope you are safe and snuggled up. I really do appreciate working from home on days like these. Damn, does this mean no more snow days? Shucks!
I’d like to take a moment to discuss cold hands and feet that are NOT related to the weather! Some people with thyroid disease (like me!) will blame it on the thyroid (like I used to!). But the thyroid labs are all normal and I’m still an ice pick in the summer! The more I learn about the immune system and cellular debris, I realize there is a different answer, ROS- reactive oxidative species. This is equivalent to rust on your car but it is happening in your body. It is what makes an apple turn brown after it is cut. This is a simplified description of course, click the link to Wikipedia if you are interested in the nitty-gritty, but I will try to describe it to you below.
How do we get ROS?
ROS occurs all the time and is a natural part of our immune system. It is triggered when something foreign enters our body like pollen, mold, viruses, bacteria, parasites, toxins, chemicals like herbicides and pesticides…anything the body doesn’t recognize as self tissue. Our immune system sends in the troops to take care of the foreign substance and that microscopic chemical process creates the ROS. The body then has to clean up the garbage from the attack which creates more ROS. The good news is, our body also creates the chemicals (resolvins) to turn off the ROS when the clean up is done. Oftentimes we can’t make enough resolvins to keep up! Some people genetically may not make enough. Unfortunately, there are SO MANY more foreign things in the world that makes it hard for our body to keep this balance as well as it should. Our bodies were designed at the dawn of time when all of these toxins did not exist.
What other symptoms are caused by high rOS?
Symptoms come from the inflammation ROS creates. So, where ever inflammation lands is where you will get symptoms. Everyone is different here due to genetics and how much inflammation there is. Her are a few examples:
- Pain (of almost any sort!)
- Brain fog and dementia
- Autoimmune diseases
- Fatigue
- Metabolic dysfunction/Diabetes
- Arthritis
- Allergies
- Cardiovascular disease: high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke
- Cancer
- Asthma
- And many more!
How do we help the balance?
- Increase Antioxidants by eating more vegetables and fruit
- Clean air
- Clean food (organic as much as possible)
- Clean water
- Exercise without overdoing it
- Avoid processed foods and trans fat
- Manage stress
- Quit smoking/vaping
- Use natural cleaning products
- Avoid air freshener sprays and plug-ins
- Avoid toxins in perfumes/make up/shampoo/lotion and other personal care products
- Maintain a healthy body weight
- Eat wild caught fish to promote resolvins
Try using essential oils instead of smelly perfumes and air fresheners. I have 3 dogs and use essential oils to keep my house smelling fresh. I also use them for cleaning! (The essential oils, not the dogs! Though they do help pick up crumbs!) Get a water filter/purifier. Plant your favorite vegetable and see how much better it tastes when it is organic and fresh from your garden. Do some deep breathing exercises and meditate. Don’t microwave in plastic containers as it displaces the plastic into your food.
You can do it, i can help.
If you are interested in looking deeper at your health for the causes of your ROS imbalance, please see the services/prices tab and consider an appointment. We can discover if your overload is because of mold, heavy metals, viruses, Lyme disease, vitamin deficiencies. Maybe you are one of the genetically challenged people with an imbalanced immune system and could use specific nutrients to push your immune system into balance. We can check that.