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.  



Vitamin C: Do You Have Some in Your Lungs? (Biohacking Series 1 of 25)

It has been a crazy amount of learning that has taken place over the last 11 years with my son being diagnosed at 2 weeks old with having the two genes for Cystic Fibrosis.  DD508. What I didn’t know then was, well, everything.  


Vitamin C is a corrector for the second step down from the gene if you will.  Similar to the big drugs coming out these days for changing the face of CF.  Would you believe me if I told you that Vitamin C could also accomplish this?  Read on if you would please.  

What I am going to share, I believe is only part of the puzzle.  The other parts of the puzzle for changing the face of CF will be in future articles.  One step at a time is how to impact CF and make lifestyle changes that will impact the thick and sticky mucous situation.  The longer you have had the thick mucous around the longer it will take to detoxify your body, but do not give up.  The results will be well worth it.  Change is possible.  Inspite of what you may have been told.  


So let’s get on with the layman’s summary of the science articles listed at the end of this blog.  Taking Vitamin C in functional doses in order to target the amount of liquid that gets into the surface of the airways in the lungs is what it is all about.  See, the body does not make Vitamin C, so if you are not taking it in a supplement you are missing out on a very important function that it does.  

Vitamin C  targets the lungs.  In other words, when you take it, it knows to go to the lungs as it’s primary function.  When it gets to the lung tissues it draws in water to itself thereby increasing the liquid on the surface of the epithelial tissue.  This is crucial in thinning out secretions.  

When this happens, it helps to correct the fold in the protein which is the problem created by the genes that cause Cystic Fibrosis.  


That is the very short story of why you need Vitamin C in your line up of supplements to take on a daily or twice daily basis.  My son took 1.5 g of vitamin C twice a day as part of his regimen making all the difference in clearing secretions.  That, along with many other bio-hacks that I will share in future writings.  Stay tuned… 

Below are the links to articles used to backup my writing here today aka references:  https://www.pnas.org/content/101/10/3691

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.  


Hello, and thank you for coming to my blog!

This blog is intended to give you articles that will help you work your way up to better health, whether it is through learning about the dangers of too much radiation caused by all the convenient electrical devices in use today or taking a supplement in higher doses than you previously did, as you begin to understand more about functional medicine and also depletion of certain vitamins and minerals in the body and in our soil.  Food is not the same today as it was 100 years ago and so we should not be expecting the same results from eating, a head of lettuce, for example.  

So hang on to your skeptability and open up your mind to a world where excellent health is possible.  Prayer will also be spoken of and so will God’s word.  I am a mixture of all these things which I will refer to as being a “bio-hacker” or practicing the art of BIO HACKING.  What this means in simple terms is short cuts to help the body function better, as it was designed by God, to heal itself.  

How much sense does that make?  Well, you don’t have to answer that yet, I will attempt to do that as I summarize great scientific articles, hopefully reducing the intimidation of where to start with your health or your child’s health, one “bio-hacking” step at a time.  

The first articles will deal with supplementation.  Getting the gut healthy is of utmost importance if the rest of the systems in the body are going to work right as well. If you don’t get this cleaned out it will be like trying to change the oil in your car without first emptying out the old oil.  Pointless.  

The other key to remember is that this process should not be done quickly.  If you attempt to get rid of toxic waste held in your colon that has been there for 30 years then you will feel like you have had a rat die inside you and you are working to extract him through a narrow passage way.  Sorry, was that too graphic?  

What I am trying to say is start slowly.  See how your body copes with having layers of waste removed from it’s insides and then slowly replacing the lost materials with high quality nutrient dense foods and high quality supplements at a higher dose than normal, to get you through as painlessly as possible. 


To Trikafta or Not to Trikafta? That is the question...

To Trikafta or Not to Trikafta? That is the question...
Being a public person, I am often asked about my thoughts on Trikafta.  (dramatic pause). 

This is a heavy decision, in my opinion, because of the weight of the possible side effects but also the potential gain.  When I make a decision it is always based on prayer and I hope that I "hear" right.  Although I don't hear an audible voice, I often get an impression.  But I guess that is not the scientific answer you were hoping for, am I right?  

Each family will have to come to a decision on their own about this potent drug because only they know the condition of their child and the weightiness of the side effects.  Recently, because my son has been taken off of the gluten, dairy free diet with lower sugar, his intestinal disease has advanced.  

It is only a matter of time before he would lose lung function.  Why is that you ask?  Because the gut and the lungs are closely intertwined.  You may not hear that directly at the doctor's office but they are saying it in so many words when they tell you that lung function is directly correlated with weight gain.  So my question to you is how much effort are you willing to do in regards to diet modifications and epigenetic support?  

Personally, my son is going through a discovery of new delicious glutinous foods and lots of dairy because his Dad doesn't understand why I limited our son all those years.  His taste buds have become accustomed to the processed foods and it has become harder to feed him healthy options as in the past.  Because of this scenario, I am guessing this is why I am sensing our son needs to go onto Trikafta.  

Stop gap measure.  

People are gaining large amounts of lung function in a short amount of time, so I am guessing it is because they are breaking up stool in the colon.  The gut-lung axis cannot be underestimated.  Improve the function of the colon and you improve the lung function along with the absorption of nutrients which then lead to weight gain.  Have you heard about the people with CF or with a child with CF getting concerned about too MUCH weight gain?  I have.  It is real.  Suddenly, everything about this person with two copies of genes for Cystic Fibrosis is different.  

And, they are being asked to eat more fat around the time they take the Trikafta.  Please hear me, fat is not evil.  Good fats are excellent, but to be considered a good fat, I would have to say it should be a plant based fat.  Dairy, peanut products and processed food containing rancid or hydrogenated fats are not good for the body and likely will lead to weight gain and inflammation.  

(in case you are not aware, Trikafta needs to be taken with fatty foods twice a day)

So, what have we achieved?  The trick with Trikafta, if it is needed will be to eat it with plant based fats (in my opinion) otherwise, after there is desired weight gain, it may be necessary to take a serious look at food choices.  

This is where I draw the line. I would have preferred to use bio-hacking to get my son to complete health but life is not always a clean easy straight path.  So, even though I am concerned about the side effects, I had to weigh in the risk factors that my son is facing right now due to his intestinal disease.  

Which brings me to the point, if you have an infant with two genes for Cystic Fibrosis, you can choose to make things different from the start and do the bio-hacking.  If you reach a point where it is not enough, then you may of course choose to move forward with a pharmaceutical.  Please hear me, there is no condemnation whichever way you choose, but understand if you are using all the supportive measures which I teach and endorse, it may make the dosage required of this medicine change.  Speak to your doctor about this.  

It is similar to a patient with a transplant situation.  The choice of whether or not to use essential oils in combination with having a new set of lungs will need to be made with their CF team.  I just pray that this would be an open discussion.  Pharmaceuticals are a wild card, so to speak and they can potentiate the effects of the essential oils.  Is this a bad thing?  That is hard to say.  

Again, educating our physicians on what happens with essential oils will be key.  

No matter, it will always be the best thing to use plant based products as your makeup, bathing products, home cleaning agents.  When looking at a person with cancer, it has been suggested to first get rid of toxic laundry products and candles. This is what I love about Young Living products, there is a solution to every toxic issue in our homes.  Please remember you are the gatekeeper of what comes into your home and it may well make all the difference for your DNA, hormonal system and digestion.  

It is just that serious.  

 
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