MSM, How's It Good For Cystic Fibrosis? (Biohacking Series 6 of 25)

When looking for research on MSM (methylsulfonylmethane) for Cystic Fibrosis it was hard to find.  In fact, I cannot say for sure that there is any.  But this brings up a good point that I would like to make anyhow.  It is important to know that just because something has not been studied in particular for CF does not mean that it should not be considered. 

The body works as it should in most respects when the CF genes are present.  The body is still responsive to many of the same supplements that people without CF genes can benefit from.  The obvious ones that we consider might be vitamin C or Vitamin D.  Stop, wait, I know you are wondering about the absorption issues.
 
That is where maintaining a clean intestinal system is key.  And this is where the problem comes in with many pharmaceuticals.  Phalates.  If you are taking a pharmaceutical you are most likely to also be ingesting phalates.  What are phalates?  Plastic.  Basically.  Phalates are a binder for pills and can also be found in everyday items such as Tupperware and toys.  Why is this material used for making capsules and tablets when it basically clogs up the intestines and causes all sorts of havoc?  
 
I honestly don’t know.  There are other ways of accomplishing the same thing.  Maybe it has to do with shelf life?  Or ability to withstand higher temperatures?  Stability of the product? Or is there a benefit to a manufacturer to give you something that then causes another issue that then requires another medication.  Nah.  I’ll save that for another time.
 
Back to MSM, boy that was a long rabbit trail on phalates.  Or was it?  The facts are, intestinal health must be working in order to get the best or most benefit from the supplements that you ingest.  The other consideration is the quality of the vitamin, supplement or what have you.  Whatever it is that you are trying to take and absorb needs to be in a highly or should I say readily absorbable state.  

That is the beauty of having a molecule like MSM combined with essential oils which help make a supplement more easily absorbed or more bio-available.  Some herbs can also help with this bioavailability.  
 
So in case you were wondering, there are plant foods that contain MSM but it is often degraded with cooking.  MSM is a form of sulfur and is the third most abundant mineral in the body and is commonly found with amino-acids which are building blocks of proteins, so it is a very important mineral!
Anyhow, once again, back to the point of MSM.  MSM is an awesome anti-inflammatory.  I have taken it for years and when I go off of it, I know it.  Now think of how much inflammation is caused by the excess mucus cycle in CF.  Excess inflammation is a constant problem, so once again, I recommend looking at a high quality MSM if you carry the genes for Cystic Fibrosis .  

I also recommend considering our modern world that is full of processed foods and sugar, I know they can be hard to resist.  Ugh.   As always I recommend dietary changes as the foundation to reduce inflammation and then adding in supplements, essential oils and certain tinctures to further help the body to function more normally.  

For years, MSM has been studied for diseases like arthritis and even lupus.  Think how you can benefit from the anti-inflammatory effects of MSM and you will not want to be without this supplement for long.  

https://www.nutraceuticalsworld.com/contents/view_breaking-news/2017-04-25/decades-of-discovery-summarized-in-new-msm-review/; 
 


Zinc; What’s it to you? (Biohacking Series 5 of 25)

When thinking about zinc supplementation I did a little research.  Afterall, since the C-o-v-i-d virus has been around, the awareness about zinc has skyrocketed.  At least in the circles I run in, which made me curious, what could it do for someone with CF lungs?  After all, what we do know is "Children with Cystic Fibrosis have been reported to suffer from micronutrient deficiencies.  The are more prone to illnesses caused by zinc deficiencies, such as acrodermatitis, which improve with supplementation.  Deficiencies of micronutrients, including zinc, is associated with an increased risk of infection."✼

Studies show an improvement in FEV1, weight for height and energy levels, as well as less infections.  The question that appeared to come up in one study that failed to see a difference was how much is enough?  And maybe their sample size was too small.  This paper went on to cite other studies that did indeed show a positive difference with use of this supplement.

"The primary outcome variable was a reduction in the average days o f systemic antibiotics in the zinc group as compared with placebo. The secondary outcomes were an improvement in FEV1 and a difference in the rate of colonization with Pseudomonas in the zinc and placebo groups." ✼
 
When considering getting a zinc supplement, you might consider a liquid form as they are absorbed better than a capsule.  But either way, just get it in! As far as dosage is concerned, you may want to do some research as it will be quite variable between individuals depending on how well you are absorbing vitamins in general.
  
The interesting thing about zinc was that there were higher levels of zinc found in CF sputum than controls.  What does that tell us?  It seems that there may be a transport issue of this ion in people with CF, similar to the concerns over the chloride and salt ions.  Therefore, correction of the zinc ion may play a valuable role, at least that is what I gathered from the studies I read.  
 
You can read them too- and please, comment in the thread below the post, it would be great to hear what your thoughts are and also do you already use this supplement?  If so, how much?  Does your clinic test for zinc levels?
 
Thank you as always for reading.

  Much love-                
   Paula


p.s. food images in my blogs typically pertain to foods high in the supplement written about. It is highly recommended by this author to get your nutrients from food as much as possible, however food today is not what it used to be, so supplementation and even hyper-supplementation may be required.

p.p.s. scientific articles: 
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18446019/

Disclaimer:  I am not a medical doctor and I do not prescribe supplements, only report what I have found and at times what I have done with my son to support the body to heal itself.


The Importance of Vitamin D in Depression and Bone Density (Biohacking Series 4 of 25)

When I was a girl, about 22 I would say I began to suffer with significant depression.  I actually don’t recall all the whys and wherefores but I wish I had known how a simple vitamin could help.  
 
What I do know is that I craved getting out into the sunshine and now I think I know why.  Vitamin D.
 
I believe it was the second year when I was on Facebook that another CF Mama posted about the importance of mega-dosing with vitamin D when our kiddos are ill.  Research does seem to support that Vitamin D plays a large role in aiding the lungs and the immune system somehow.  
 
What they don’t always say is how much is enough?  And my mind goes immediately to the thought of why not have adequate doses circulating in the system to aid with the issue of malabsorption and lack of sunlight that can occur if our children are in the home not feeling well or hooked up to a vibrating machine (or two)?  More on that later.
 
I will say now though that it makes me crazy all the time that is prescribed to be hooked up to devices when the time could possibly be better spent outdoors with our feet on the ground and the sunshine getting onto our skin.  Please, don’t shoot the messenger, I will support all that I write in later articles, including scientific studies. 
 
Anyhow, back to the vitamin D.  I can only share what I have done with my son and of course you will have to do your own research, but throughout my son’s life from the age of four, I began to hyper-supplement him with this vitamin.  
 
How much you ask?  5,000 I.U.s per day on average.  My son was sick and inside for many years due to recovering from black mold illness that nearly wiped us all out.  I remember not being able to even speak, we were so toxic at the end of being in our home before realizing we needed to flee.  More on that later as well. 
 
This was when I began getting extremely serious about my son’s gluten, dairy and mostly sugar free diet.  I could not believe how that diet along with good supplements including a tincture called Biocidin, could bring my son back to life.  We also used oral activated charcoal on the weekends to mop up all the bacteria we had killed off during the week with the tincture.
 
Not sure how I got off on that rabbit trail but, oh yeah, when I started to get serious about supplementation was after the black mold incident.  This was when I discovered the simple Vitamin D supplement.  
 
What I learned from a doctor that I was seeing was that Vitamin D was like a bank.  Put in multiple deposits and be sure to check the balance on a fairly regular basis.  Annually was fine for my son.  When I look back at his blood work, I definitely can tell the years when I was more focused on his supplements.  When he was getting the average 5,000 IU dosage/day his blood work showed he was in the mid 40’s ng/ml, when I slacked off it would drop back down into the 30’s which is too close to the lower end of the range for my taste.
 
I don’t understand why the recommended amounts of vitamin d would be so low, especially in a population known to have malabsorption issues as well as thinning of the bones and mood disorders.  


E.P.O. as an Anti-Inflammatory Agent (Biohacking Series 2 of 25)

E.P.O, no I did not mean to write U.F.O..

Sorry for the painful humor, it is just my odd sense of humor that comes out every once in a while.  Consider yourself warned.  O.k. really now, onto the summation of why it is important for you to take a supplement known as E.P.O. or Evening Primrose Oil.  


We all know we need healthy fats in our diet, right?  Well, EPO is a very important one that you are not going to find readily available in foods, expect for some nuts and a few grains.  That being said, in order to get the amounts you need to do what it needs to do, I highly recommend you consider looking at a quality supplement of EPO.


Why this fat?  Because of it’s ability to reduce inflammation.  It also can help with aiding precursors to glutathione, a very important anti-oxidant which is often low in people who have CF.  

Each tip that I write about will likely be connected to decreasing inflammation.  That is our biggest goal, as the body works it’s best when it is not having to deal with the effects of inflammation.  Don’t get me wrong, sometimes you want an inflammatory response, to fight off infection for example, but as you may (or may not) know, with CF the inflammatory cycle keeps on repeating into a viscous cycle making it difficult to get rid of the thick and sticky mucus that is accumulating as the bodies way to capture an infection. So inflammation backfires in this disease, and the  body gets  backed up with the mucus thereby trapping the very infection it is trying to get rid of.  


Please, grammarians, if you will overlook the fact that I just ended that last sentence in a preposition. Probably a bad run on sentence too. I know. I know.  Anyhow,  moving right along.  Grammar was never my strong point.

Adding in evening primrose oil can be done via gel capsules or in a liquid form.  I was not aware of this supplement being important for my son until he was old enough to swallow capsules, so I don’t have any suggestions on the liquid form, except that there are some.  You could wait to take this step until your child is old enough to swallow gel capsules, they go down easier anyhow.  Be sure to find out the size of the gel capsule you are buying before purchasing to ensure it is small enough if giving this to a child.

As always, I must remind you that I am not a doctor and I don’t play one on t.v. nor on my blog.  These are just methods that I have used with my son that gave us awesome results.  Please read on for the scientific article regarding use of this supplement in CF:


Disclaimer: Please do not take my blog to be medical advice, just sharing what I have done with my son and what the research shows.  Please consult your doctor when adding any supplements to your regimen.  




HypoMagnesia as an Issue with Cystic Fibrosis (Biohacking Series 3 of 25)



When my son was just 2 years old his pediatrician found a heart murmur when we went for his annual “well baby” exam.  It sounded awful, as I pressed my ear up against his chest to understand what the doctor had told me was an irregular heart beat.  He said we needed to see a cardiologist, but before I could get an appointment, I was in to see my D.O. for some pretty severe hormonal imbalances and fatigue.  
 
I mentioned that my son had this abnormal heart beat and he told me I should give him magnesium and CoQ10.  O.k. I thought, I definitely wanted to do something right away and if it was natural then I was all for it.  
 
I ended up on Amazon, ordering a brand that had not only the Magnesium but also trace minerals.  I gave our son several doses throughout the day.  It took no time before his energy improved and if I am not mistaken, his heart beat was not quite as crazy sounding. 
 
When it came time to take him to the cardiologist, we had been giving our son the magnesium for at least three weeks.  She still heard a “murmur” but nothing like what I had heard.  She said it would go away on it’s own quite possibly and not to worry about it.  But, for whatever reason, if my son missed even a single dose of the magnesium we gave him twice a day he would get chest pain.  


 
At first it scared me but soon I began to realize there was NO missing even one dose of magnesium for him. This article I post below will explain how hypo-magnesia is an issue for those with CF.  

Dark Chocolate is high in magnesium
 
Sadly, it doesn’t seem to be a known fact by doctors that when a person has genes for CF, they are also going to need more supplementation than your average joe.  Vitamin C as I spoke of in my last article and Magnesium as I found out when my son was 2.5.  
 
Disclaimer: Please do not take my blog to be medical advice, just sharing what I have done with my son and what the research shows.  Please consult your doctor when adding any supplements to your regimen.  



 
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