NAC: Your best Cold & Flu Defense, Part I

A little-known dietary supplement maybe ne your best defense against symptoms of the flu and common cold. This supplement. N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is a form of the amino acid cysteine and a component of protein-containing foods. It is also one of the most potent immune boosters around. Never heard of it? Virtually every hospital emergency room in the country stocks NAC as an antidote for acetaminophen (Tylenol) poisoning.

Overdoses of acetaminophen, as common analgestic drug, deplete liver levels of glutathione, one of the body’s most powerful antioxidants, and lead to lover failure. Large supplemental doses of NAC restore liver glutathione levels and help the organ to break down acetaminophen.

NAC has also been used since the 1960s as a “mucolytic” agent – that is, to break down lungclogging mucus in chronic bronchitis and other respiratory disorders. Rich in what chemists call “free sulfhydryl groups,” NAC break down the disulfide bonds that make mucus thick-in essence, thinning it out.

Low Cellular Energy, Low Blood Sugar Part IV

Pancreas – Adrenal – Liver Coordination Paying Dues for Sugar Blues

Taken from article by Dr. Edward Bauman and Mary Claire Blakeman (additions and edits by Dianna Pardee, RN ND)

Besides diet, the reduction of stress is an integral part of gaining wellness. Stress is any extra burden placed on your body: anxiety,fatigue, stimulants, pollutants, chemical additives, change, injury, or surgery. Stress raise the body’s requirements for most nutrients. If these requirements are not met and sugar is substituted for quick energy, the low cellular energy pattern is reinforced, along wit its depleting side effects.

Chocolate and coffee (which contain excess caffeine), tobacco, and alcohol, all cause stress on the body. Their relation to low cellular energy is like that of sugar and white flour. Craving any of these substances indicates a low cellular energy condition, which is only temporarily relieved and then worsened by partking of these “treats”. Toxins formed by yeast organisms and reabsorbed from the bowel also act like sugar to over stimulate the pancreas. This is why overeating carbohydrates of any kind causes problems. Exposure to allergens and chemicals does the same kind of overwork to the pancreas, adrenals, and liver.

If you suspect you suffer from low cellular energy, consult a Naturopathic Physician. Begin to make improvements. Don’t worry – it only aggravates the condition. 

By heeding the signal of low cellular energy and responding positively, you can correct this pattern, and save yourself more serious health problems later in life.

Low Cellular Energy (Low Blood sugar), part III

Low Cellular Energy (Low Blood sugar) 

Pancreas – Adrenal – Liver Coordination Paying Dues for Sugar Blues
Taken from article by Dr. Edward Bauman and Mary Claire Blakeman (additions and edits by Dianna Pardee, RN ND)

When these glands, which are important in handling stress, can no longer do their job, the cortex becomes worn out. At this point, low cellular energy affects the mind. Brain waves become abnormal, the person becomes more sensitive to noise, becomes depressed, and often is unable to relax or sleep. Insufficient cellular energy in the blood contributes greatly to neurotic behavior. 

Other symptoms include nervousness, exhaustion, dizziness, and hunger. In extreme cases, convulsions and come may occur. 

Low cellular energy may remain at an undetected yet mildly troublesome level for years, growing steadily worse, until it can no longer be ignored. Medical authorities disagree on the incidence, but some estimates put the number of sufferers at one in five Americans, with higher figures in children.

Dietary suggestions for low cellular energy included high, complete protein foods taken frequently in moderate portions; fresh, low-carbohydrate vegetables; whole grains; legumes; unsaturated fats (in seeds, nut, and cold-pressed oil); occasional fresh fruit; and a complete vitamin/mineral supplement program, strong in the b-complex group. When preparing a diet program, remember that hidden sugar is almost always present in commercial, canned, frozen, or restaurant food. 

Commercial salt usually contains a sugar-like dextrose. When you read labels, know your sugar words; any word ending in –ose: fructose, dextrose, sucrose, lactose, maltose, glucose, corn sweetners, date sugar, sucanat, cane sweeteners, invest sugar, corn syrup, honey, sorghum, rice bran syrup, and molasses, ect. 

Low Cellular Energy, part II

Pancreas – Adrenal – Liver Coordination Paying Dues for Sugar Blues

Taken from article by Dr. Edward Bauman and Mary Claire Blakeman (additions and edits by Dianna Pardee, RN ND)

When a blast of glucose enters the bloodstream, the pancreas responds by secreting the hormone insulin to get the cells to absorb excess sugar. This action stimulates the liver to take the glucose from the blood, in order to return the insulin level to normal for that person. If there is a continual intake of refined carbohydrates, the pancreas becomes overactive, and then deplete. The adrenal glands which make the stabilizing hormones for the pancreatic function become depleted, too. A pattern is created in which the pancreas releseas to much insulin, leading the rapid energy drops throughout the day and/or night.

At such a time a person feels weak, shaky, or tired, and so s/he may reach for a candy bar, cup of coffee, or a sort drink, in hope of a quick pickup. (According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the average American consumes 158 pounds of sugar per year.)

Ingesting sugar in a low cellular energy state is like pouring gasoline on a dying fire. The result is a brilliant, but short-lived blaze, and subsequent exhaustion.  The sufferer craves sugar, but the more s/he eats, the worse the symptoms become, and the further the system is thrown out of line. Not only are the pancreas and lover effected, but adrenal cortex glands.

Hypoadrenia and Adrenal Fatigue, Part IV... last part

Some practical ways to recover and regain your adrenal health:
Some of these suggestions might seem like common sense but your adrenal health is greatly affected by your lifestyle; how you spend and conserve your energy and create your energy, what you eat and drink, the thoughts you think and the beliefs you hold are all very important factors. 

People with adrenal fatigue often have food allergies and sensitivities. 

Avoid people and situations that take away your energy.
Change your way of thinking toward a more positive outlook. You can use some simple tools as meditation or motivational CD’s, good friends, a trusted counselor. It’s important to undo negative self talk and especially that which produces more stress. 

Learn and implement relaxation techniques.

Get enough sleep. It’s important to be in bed before 10 or 11 each night.

Laughter 

Rest during the day.

Fun light exercise, like walking, yoga, ta’I chi, dancing and making love 
Keeping your blood sugar balanced is one of the most important! Eating small nutrient packed meals with some protein, often throughout the day.

Eliminate white flour and sugar products, they are huge energy suckers!

Salt craving is a very common symptom of all stages of adrenal fatigue. Physiologically, you need salt (mineral or Celtic salt) right now and the majority of people with adrenal fatigue suffer from low blood pressure not high. As long as you are well hydrated and getting potassium rich foods in your diet it will balance out. 

Some supplement recommendations next!

Low Cellular Energy "Low Blood Sugar" part I

Pancreas – Adrenal – Liver Coordination Paying Dues for Sugar Blues
Taken from article by Dr. Edward Bauman and Mary Claire Blakeman (additions and edits by Dianna Pardee, RN ND)

If you wake up tired, experience erratic mood swings, and cannot focus you attention, you could be experiencing a low cellular – energy condition. Some sources call this condition hypoglycemia or low blood sugar. It can affect all of us to varying degrees at different times and it is a signal of physiological imbalance within the body. This disturbance is the price one pays for the high-stress lifestyle in which real nutritional needs are continually unmet. When the roof falls in on your mental, emotional, and physical health, low cellular energy has caught up with you. 

Contrary to the assumption that a high sugar intake raises one’s energy levels (which it does only for a short time), the overall effect of sugar is to lower energy drastically, as the body overcompensates due to stressed pancreas – adrenal – liver coordination.

In a condition of optimal health, the body’s glandular system secrets hormones that hold the level of glucose in the body relatively constant. Among the biggest affronts to this naturally balanced system are refined carbohydrates, especially granulated sugar and white flour products. Refined sugar is difficult for the body to metabolize properly, and poses as acute problem. Over consumption of carbohydrates is equally problematic.

Signs and Symptoms of Adrenal Fatigue

Signs and Symptoms of Adrenal Fatigue 

1. difficulty getting up in the morning 

2. Continuing fatigue not relieved by sleep

3. craving for salt and salty foods

4. Lack of energy

5. Increased effort to do every day tasks 

6. Decreased sex drive

7. Decreased ability to handle stress

8. Increased time to recover from illness, injury, or trauma

9. Light-headed when standing up quickly 

10. Increased PMS 

11. Symptoms increase if meals are skipped or inadequate. You need to drive yourself with sugary snacks and/or caffeine to keep going can be due to tendency towards low blood sugar

12. Inability to focus, fuzzy thinking

13. Become irritated easily

14. Feel better after evening meal

15. Afternoon low generally between 3 and 4

16. Decreased productivity, takes longer to complete tasks

No one symptom is a diagnosis but if several of these symptoms seem familiar to you then it is likely you are suffering from some level of adrenal fatigue.