Today’s blog post is all about two herbs that were discovered quite by accident by one of our own CF mothers! I would like to thank Sam, for her life changing discovery. She was even able to get funding for a study, which in today’s pharmaceutical world speaks volumes for the importance of this herbal combination.
There isn’t much to say about today’s topic, as the title says it all really. Serving size and recommendations are all written out on a page I will link you to here at the bottom. What I do think bears explaining here is exactly what the CFTR gating mechanism is and so it may help you to understand further about gene mutations and how we can influence them with herbs and other natural therapies.
Let’s start with the basics of cells. Cells have DNA inside them which is told what to do by genes. Genes can give good directions or as in the case of the CF gene, give bad directions to the DNA which then make malformed proteins. More specifically, the proteins formed are folded and so cannot do their job properly, which is to travel to the edge of the cell and form a channel, in which chloride can properly flow into the cell which is important for proper hydration of a cell. Not enough water in the cell equals thick sticky mucus rather than thin slippery mucus.
While we are told this information about CF, what is not emphasized is the fact that we are a protein machine. More than half of the cells contents are made up of proteins. And if we positively influence the rest of the cellular content then we can have hope to thin out thick sticky CF mucus.
The other missing piece of information that is not told, is that we can use natural therapies to influence the DNA thereby influencing the genes. Notice we are not changing the sequence of the gene but influencing the DNA to work it’s best at silencing the bad information it gets from abberant genes like the ones causing Cystic Fibrosis.
The body is amazing in that it always seems to have a second or even third way to correct a deficiency. If we even partially correct the first issue, we can also count on the other mechanisms to also kick into action in order to make cell function as close to normal as possible.
We want our DNA functioning as perfectly as possible in order to have the best shot at optimal cellular health. This is the subject of my other blogs in this bio-hacking series. Bio-hacking is a fancy word for biological short cuts to influence health via the DNA. Of utmost importance would be my blog on how environmental factors influence DNA. https://pureliving316.com/blog/29182/environmental-factors-that-influence-your-dna
It all comes back to reducing inflammation so the body can operate at peak performance. I would once again say a deep thanks to this selfless mother who gathered data and made a difference throughout the world.
We need more studies of her kind and we also need physicians who are willing to listen to the anectdotal evidence so that parents can have open honest interactions with their doctors about what seems to be working and what doesn’t. Until then, we will continue to have a serious breakdown in care for our children with CF.
https://dutchmagicfactory.blogspot.com
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4939241/
- "My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body." ~ Proverbs 4:20-22
- "A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." ~ Proverbs 17:22
- "Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise." ~ Jeremiah 17:14
"if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place." ~ 2 Chronicles 7:14-15
- "But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,’ declares the LORD" ~ Jeremiah 30:17
- "Worship the LORD your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you…" Exodus 23:25
- "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." ~ Isaiah 41:10
- "Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed." ~ Isaiah 53:4-5
- "I have seen their ways, but I will heal them; I will guide them and restore comfort to Israel’s mourners, creating praise on their lips. Peace, peace, to those far and near,” says the LORD. “And I will heal them.” ~ Isaiah 57:18-19
- "Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security." ~ Jeremiah 33:6
- "Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well." ~ 3 John 1:2
- "And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus." ~ Philippians 4:19
Epigenetics, a funny word isn’t it?
Epi. What does that mean? Above.
So, in essence the study or practice of epigenetics is working on things that are above or out of the realm of trying to correct the genetics but just fix or clean up all the other areas, to support the health as much as possible.
Epi. What does that mean? Above.
So, in essence the study or practice of epigenetics is working on things that are above or out of the realm of trying to correct the genetics but just fix or clean up all the other areas, to support the health as much as possible. But would this influence the gene? More on that at a later date. First let’s talk about what can be done to “clean up” the cells via various methods.
- Clean up your thinking. “Huh? You say.” As a man thinks in his heart, so is he. So goes an old Proverb. If you think you are sick and dying with a terminal illness then the body will be sure to go in that direction. This is why it is key to be around people who think like you, that CF is not the death threat that doctors and nurses believe it to be.
- Clean up your thinking. Oh, did I write that already? Guess this one bears repeating. It cannot be emphasized enough. Kind of like God’s word where he repeats himself a LOT. The word most often found in scripture is “fear”. As in, do not fear. You will find this word over 99 times in the Old and New Testaments. Why? It is detrimental to your body’s health. Cortisol levels go up (a catabolic hormone), tissue breakdown is imminent and the immune system is suppressed when we are stressed or fearful.
- Clean up your language. Isn’t that related to your thinking? Well, yes and no. If you are thinking negative thoughts all day about your health, you might as well be speaking curses over yourself or your loved one. Although speaking has a whole additional level of impact on a person’s cellular network. And you thought cellular networks were just for mobile phones? Nope.
- Speak life not death. The power of life and death is in the tongue. Another powerful verse in the scriptures that gives us guidelines to live by. This does not mean you have to lie or not speak about difficult things but the phrasing and the way in which you ultimately believe i.e. think about the health condition will also impact the cellular function.
- We are a protein machine. Some people will lead you to believe that you are what your genes say you are. That it is all in the genes and the DNA. The thing you are likely not told is that you can up-regulate a disease or down regulate it by things you do that impact the cellular network. Please don’t give this disease more power than it already is given by the medical community in general that will tell you that your disease WILL progress and a limited life span is imminent.
- The cells are made up of more than half proteins. Why does this matter to you? Because you can influence the protein network to thereby influence the DNA which in turn can eventually influence the genes. There I said it. CF is not an incurable disease but it is one that can be influenced, it just depends on what lengths you are willing to work on it.
The questions that are begged to be asked at this point all have to do with the “hows” I suppose.
How do I change my thinking considering what I have been told and what I have read online?
How do I change my thinking considering what I have been told and what I have read online?
How do I believe differently?
How do I influence the cellular network and why does that matter?
When my son was diagnosed at a mere 2 weeks old, I already made up my mind that he would be fine because God’s word says that He heals ALL our diseases. Now, I know that may not be your experience even if you are already a Bible believing Christian. But, even without Christianity and the beliefs of the Bible, studies are out there that prove there is power in positive thinking and also in affirmations.
A dear friend of mine sent me 7 healing scriptures to begin reading over my son when she heard about his diagnosis. She said it was VERY important that I begin speaking these life giving words over him as often as I could. And so I did as I rocked him to sleep at night.
She also told me that we needed to pray for a new beginning to my son’s life, as when he was born he was not breathing. He was actually blue and not making a peep. Immediately a code was called and it was as if the emergency response team was standing right outside the labor room waiting to come in when the call went out.
After the excitement was over, I recalled how the Lord had told me to pray for the right medical personnel to be there at the right time. I suppose I prayed this a few times before I was in my last month of pregnancy. And boy did he answer that prayer in a big way. There is a certain trust level that is built through experience with God, but I had never expected my faith to be tested and tried this long and this hard.
Now think about how you are feeling and acting around your child. Are you upset? Nervous as a cat?
Please don’t shoot the messenger but there are so many things that we must realize are only making a situation worse. That is why I recommend getting help- whether it be a medication for you or your spouse, and using calming supplements and essential oils to help create a calm atmosphere to care for your child.
EVERYONE’s emotions matter. Children are great hearers but not great interpreters. They won’t understand why you are freaking out, just that there must be something to freak out about.
The more technical side of epigenetics involves modification of the DNA without changing it’s sequence which thereby influences the genes. This is all wrapped up in what I wrote about above and also in more detail on my former blog entitled “Environmental Factors that Influence your DNA”. You see, information goes both ways, not just from genes to DNA but from the DNA to the genes. You may have heard of gene silencing? That is the potential given to us but still is not being taught in our medical schools. OR is it?
Bruce Lipton, author of “The Biology of Belief” actually could no longer participate in a medical system that was not coming clean on the truth of how we can influence our DNA and thus our genes. There is hope. There is life after diagnoses with Cystic Fibrosis and I plan to tell you all about the process and the steps to work towards that end.
Did you know that there are things you can change in your environment that will help your body to heal faster? What are the “things”? Where do I start. I guess I could go room by room. Yes, maybe I will start there.
The bathroom: toilet paper. Toilet paper? (TP) Do you use scented or unscented? Partially recycled materials or no? 
Whoever thought to read the label on a toilet paper roll? I didn’t. Until I had female problems, I learned that if I used pure wipes with a gentle essential oil for awhile my body would be able to balance things out more quickly.
Whoever thought to read the label on a toilet paper roll? I didn’t. Until I had female problems, I learned that if I used pure wipes with a gentle essential oil for awhile my body would be able to balance things out more quickly.Makeup, bath and body products: Look at the ingredients, are you feeding your hair, skin and nails parabens (wax), SLS, lead, talc, formaldehyde or other questionable chemicals?
Did you know your skin absorbs around 50% of what you put on it? What are you feeding your skin and thus putting into the circulation or depositing into the very cellular network of your body?
Did you know your skin absorbs around 50% of what you put on it? What are you feeding your skin and thus putting into the circulation or depositing into the very cellular network of your body?The forehead is the most absorbent skin on your body, other than your mucous membranes. Do you know you have sinus cavities on your forehead? Mucous membranes are up to 300 times more absorbent, thus the previous paragraph on TP. Shaving cream? Perfume or Cologne? Nasal Sprays? Moisturizers? Zit cream? Shampoo and Conditioner? I could go on but you get the idea, the bathroom is full of products containing chemicals along with other chemicals that have not been studied together and are causing your body to work even harder to achieve homeostasis, not to mention possibly clogging the pores and passageways.
Further than that though, if every cell contains precious DNA that is coding what it wants the cell to do, then why confuse it with chemicals that do not belong and it does not understand? Or worse yet, chemicals that impersonate another messenger. Have you heard of phytoestrogens? No, wait I meant to say xenoestrogens. Fake estrogens. Yup. Up regulation of estrogen in the body can have many devastating effects besides the fact that higher estrogen levels are known to feed certain cancers. 
O.k. back to the rooms, the other two key rooms I would say are the laundry room and the kitchen. Please, if you haven’t already, ditch the dryer sheets! And consider a plant based laundry detergent. If your clothing has melted plasticized beads on it from the dryer sheets or the fabric softener then you are feeding your skin plastic 24/7. If you enjoy the fragrance of your laundry detergent then chances are so do your private parts, or do they? 300 times more absorbent. I’ll just leave that there.
The kitchen? What residues are being left on your cooking utensils or the utensils you put in your mouth? Can you smell the chlorine from your dishwasher detergent down the hall? Then so can your lungs. Once again, I just think of the DNA throughout your body getting messengers of the wrong kind from multiple chemicals that it wasn’t supposed to encounter, however due to man wanting to preserve the shelf life of products, you might be surprised at what you are allowing into your home and thus into your body.
Be the gatekeeper of your home and thus your DNA. That’s the short story.
CBD aka cannabis aka cannabidiol, what is it exactly? We know it is from a plant and some people mistakenly think that it can get you high. Well, to be fair, it can but it won’t.“Huh?” You ask.
I’m glad you asked! What I meant to say was that if a company is producing it in a manner that is legal for most states then it will have been necessary for them to fully extract the component that people know marijuana for, THC.
So, in summary, CBD comes from a plant and the hallucinogenic portion must be extracted in order to be legal, at least here in the great state of Texas. Marijuana is legal in some states, so in that case CBD with THC might also be legal. Check the label and your local laws when you go to purchase.
But I am here not to tell you about buying CBD but about how it impacts the body. The properties of a plant in its’ entirety will always be more complex than a pharmaceutical, which takes a plant and copies a component of it.
Studies have shown CBD to activate vitamin receptor sites as well as cannabidiol sites. Did you know we had a cannabidiol system in our bodies?
What does that mean?
It means that the body already has a system in place ready to receive this plant. It is a potent antioxidant, is anti-fibrotic and anti-inflammatory. It also acts as the key that turns the lock for vitamin receptor sites, mostly A, E and C.
CBD is a food for your body, a plant food if you will. You can ingest it in food, drops under the tongue and some choose to vape it. I would not recommend vaping as the impact on the throat and lungs is questionable. Why do I say that? I know a few people who vape and the impact can be heard in the tone of their voice. That was enough for me to “just say no”. I chose drops under the tongue for my son.
He LOVES the taste of the CBD oil that is mixed with a citrus essential oil. I don’t do the mixing, it comes from a company that makes ingestible oils and the great thing, as I mentioned in my last article on MSM, is that essential oils make supplements more bio-available or easier to absorb. And yes, in case you were wondering, CBD is a supplement!
The other great effect that has been well studied is the impact on emotions. Not only does it improve one’s sense of well-being, it has been known to decrease anxiety AND the state of our emotions in turn influences our mind which impacts our health.
Please be sure to let your health team know if you are using CBD as part of your health regimen. The anti-inflammatory effects of CBD cannot be over emphasized.
