Pandemic

I studied pandemics in school but never could I have imagined what it’s like to live through one.  The worry of the unknown, the stress of trying to keep your family safe and healthy, the exhaustion of looking at how to balance home-schooling with working remotely.  Realizing how much I take advantage of the luxuries I have in my life.  

I consider myself a mama bear, I try to keep pain and worry out of my children’s lives but with a pandemic I can’t shelter them from the truth of what is happening and there has been something wonderful about sheltering them indoors while having honest and open conversations.

It’s important that children can express their emotions, talk about their fears and worries.  Denying those feelings will only result in more worry and fear. What I keep talking to my children about is what we take away from this experience in our lives.  Traumas are going to happen, sometimes we will be faced with a lot of uncertainties in our life, but what we take away from them, what we learn from them is how we effectively cope with them.

Kids need to stay healthy physically and mentally during this time.  I can’t believe how many free resources are out there to keep kids engaged physically and mentally. My son Gabe and I today just made a volcano after stumbling onto Science Buddies.  There are online family yogas sessions. I made my oldest do a backpack HIIT workout with me (stuff her backpack with books). Our dining room table has been taken over by a giant puzzle that we as a family contribute to as we walk by.  I’ve made hikes into scavenger hunts in attempts to avoid whining. Light sabers on hikes work great too!

Have the kids pick out a recipe and let them cook for everyone. 

For the sanity of everyone, chunk out the day into activities that are educational, physical, fun, and down time.  I’m trying to stick with my 9 year old 25 min bursts.  

Most importantly take time for yourself.  So many places are doing free online classes, I’ve tried out so many classes that I have never got to do before since I am a groupex junky at the MAC.  MAC instructors and trainers are starting to post workouts online and I just think how awesome it is that people are coming together remotely and in solidarity.  I well up with tears of joy seeing neighborhoods doing zumba classes or bingo from their decks.  

I try and believe that in every curse there may just be a blessing in disguise.  I am consciously making an effort every hour of the day to be thankful to have my family healthy and that I get this extra time with them guilt free; because soon the pandemic will be over, I’ll have to go back to work, they’ll go back to their phones or ipads and friends but I do believe this will all make our community and our families stronger.  No one will ever forget the pandemic they lived through, so how do you want yourself and your children to remember it?

I am still seeing patients remotely via telemedicine.  If you are interested please reach me directly via my email drlsnelson@gmail.com.

COVID-19

So what we do know about the Covid-19 is that immune compromised people seem to be at the greatest risk of complications or morbidity.  Too many people are taking advantage of this time, where fear is circulating making claims that they can prevent, treat or cure Covid-19.  It’s a disgusting practice but I will say it certainly doesn’t hurt to do everything we can to stay healthy and eat foods that boost or support our immune system.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but during this time of stress even though our fridge is stocked with fresh vegetables and fruits I seem to keep turning to the pantry.  Eating foods I normally wouldn’t think twice about, baked cheese puffs?!?! So I am not immune to stress eating, and I’m not shaming myself when I do but I am also reminding myself this is not how I am going to stay healthy for myself, my kids, and the rest of the world.  

Eliminating or cutting out sugar alone will immensely improve your immune system.  Stop eating packaged foods with ingredients you can’t even pronounce. I have given nutrition lectures to children and I always said to them, eat the rainbow.  During my stress eating times it seems I’m eating a shade of color that doesn’t exist in the rainbow, a shade of tan with some frightening orange color. But there are also days I’m eating the rainbow and I know those days I am also feeling like I’m ready for this long fight.  So what else can we do to help our immune system fight. Nature has provided us with so many foods that are powerful antioxidants, immune boosting, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, anti-viral, etc. But we are on lockdown, so maybe many of those fresh foods are not available to us.  

So my top foods that are shelf life stable, and support your immune system are:

Turmeric I have written about before but it deserves its place in this list, it is a very powerful anti-inflammatory and immune enhancer.  Being a relatively mild spice it can easily be added to many foods. I personally add it to my smoothie every day. My family loves whole bowl sauce and there are many online recipes for a version of Whole Bowl sauce that not only includes turmeric but other amazing anti-inflammatory immune improving herbs.

Garlic has anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory properties, making it an ideal herb for boosting your immune system and adding flavor to most meals.  

Sweet potatoes are full of immune supporting vitamins like vitamin A and C.  Sweet potatoes are good on their own, as part of a morning hash, made into healthy chips, mashed, etc.

Green tea is a powerful antioxidant.  Drinking a cup or two a day is one option but there are also recipes for adding tea to cooking, like cooking pasta in tea instead of water.

Mushrooms are amazing immune modulators and vitamin packed fungi.  They of course have a shelf life but the good news is you can buy dried mushrooms and then add them to your meals.  Making your own ramen with mushroom broth is a fun way for everyone in the house to doctor up their own dinner.  

Finally miso soup.  Buy some miso paste and play around with making your own miso soup.  Miso is a fermented food that helps balance your GI microbiome. Since the majority of our immune system is made in our gut I think it’s vital we have a healthy GI. 

Have fun finding recipes to incorporate some of these immune supportive foods and don’t fret over the times you only reach into the pantry for some beige food.

Inflammation and Chronic Disease

Inflammation is the body’s natural response to injury or harmful stimuli.  When a cut gets red, hot and swollen, it is because the body is producing an inflammatory response made up of a combination of white blood cells and chemicals. Their goal is to clean the area, prevent disease by killing bacteria, rid the body of an invader, and close the wound.

The above is a positive example of inflammation, but what happens when there is chronic inflammation?  Some of the leading causes of mortality in the United States such as heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer's, and diabetes have an inflammatory component to them.

In an example of a negative response to inflammation, the body may view plaque in the artery wall as a foreign invader.  The body then tries to wall off the plaque by cutting off blood flow to the area. It is possible that a portion of that plaque comes into contact with blood, breaks off and forms a clot.  The majority of strokes and heart attacks are caused by plaques and clot formation. Also, higher levels of inflammatory chemicals such as cytokines are seen in people with diabetes, and the role of inflammation in Alzheimer’s disease is currently being researched.

Other less severe examples of chronic inflammation include allergies, rashes, join pain, and headaches.

As a Naturopath, I look at the possible role diet and lifestyle play into someone’s inflammatory risk.  What modifications can be made? Anti-inflammatories are big pharma business and research into anti-inflammatories continues to grow.  But, some of the pharmaceutical anti-inflammatories come with potential negative side effects. For preventative inflammatory options turmeric is highly regarded, well-researched, option, with also very little-top-no risk factor.

Want more advice, January 15, 2019 I will be giving a lecture on inflammation and treatment from a naturopathic approach.  Or feel free to stop by my new office in the massage suite and ask me in person.

 Live well,

Dr. Lindsey Nelson


Staying Sane During the Holidays

Stress, anxiety, depression and insomnia – these are words I hear more and more in my practice.  Even if a patient’s immediate complaint is a stomach issue, most times we end up discussing mood and stress levels.  Sometimes, just being able to open up and discuss these issues unleashes a flood of emotion for the patient. This is because stress and our mental and emotional state directly and greatly impacts our health.  Stress, in many ways, is part of an underlying trigger for disease processes.

And although stress can happen anytime of the year, holidays are rarely stress free.  Even though the holidays can be a happy time, they also bring many obligations – to shop, entertain and travel, which can lead to financial worries and more stress.  And these nagging pressures can sometimes create more havoc in our bodies than the big life stressful events.

How does stress impact our health?  Stress releases cortisol, which is our flight or fight hormone.  Its release causes our heart rate to accelerate, our blood pressure to increase stored sugar gets released and hormone secretion decreases.  Blood flow is directed towards major muscle groups and shunted off to areas of the body that aren’t essential for immediate survival. These mechanisms are essential for survival in a fight or flight situation, but remember what I said about day to day stressors.  Does the body really need to mount such an extreme response because one has too many social obligations? Financial worries?

The negative impacts of stress can be enormous, especially when they have been persistent for months or even years.  The release of stored glucose leads to blood sugar irregularities and possibly diabetes and obesity. Blood shunted away from the gastrointestinal tract can lead to digestion problems such as ulcer, IBS, GERD, etc.  Cortisol’s effect on the arterial walls can lead to cardiovascular disease. The list of complications from stress are too many to all be listed and discussed in this short article.

What can be done?  Telling a patient to not stress is obviously ineffective and can lead to more stress.  That is why I recommend ways to naturally relieve stress, like exercise. One of my favorite exercises is the Ellove Method.  I recommend to so many of my patients because tuning into our bodies with exercise and movement helps us not only release stress, but it gets us more present in our lives.  Also, exercise releases endorphins which are a natural pain reliever and other brain neurotransmitters like dopamine that help with mood swings.

And finally, Ellove’s meditation element allows the mind to get grounded with the body.  Meditation gives us the capacity to note stressful situations, but not become entrenched in them.


Thyroid: Master Metabolizer

When diet and exercise do not result in desired weight loss, the answer may be due to thyroid malfunction.

The thyroid, which is your master metabolizer, is a small gland located in the neck. It releases two hormones, T4 and T3, which enter virtually every cell in the body, converting oxygen and calories into energy. These hormones can either rev up your metabolism or slow it down.  

Since thyroid affects every cell in the body, the symptoms of low thyroid function are far reaching. In addition to the inability to lose weight or weight gain, other symptoms may include fatigue, sensitivity to cold, constipation, dry skin, hair loss, brittle nails, puffy face, hoarseness, muscle weakness, elevated cholesterol, joint pain or swelling, numbness or tingling in the hands, abnormal menstrual cycles, depression, slow heart rate, and impaired memory.

In the USA, Hashimoto’s Disease, which is an autoimmune condition, is the number one cause of hypothyroidism.  Since it is an autoimmune condition, standard TSH testing does not diagnosis the majority of these cases. If your TSH is normal, but you have a family history of thyroid disease or you have numerous hypothyroid symptoms, ask your primary care doctor for a full thyroid panel including thyroid antibodies.

I also recommend a full review of your medications with your physician since some can interfere with proper thyroid functioning.  Those medications could include beta blockers like Atenolol, birth control pills, estrogen, lithium, anti-epileptic drugs like phenytoin, and theophylline.  Deficiencies in certain nutrients like iodine, iron, selenium, zinc, vitamin A, riboflavin, pyridoxine, and B12 can also affect proper thyroid hormone functioning.  

Once the cause of thyroid dysfunction is discovered, your physician can determine the most beneficial course of treatment, which could include vitamins, minerals, compounded hormones, or pharmaceutical drugs.