When you have a headache, joint pain, fatigue, allergies, or other occasional issues one of the first things we do is reach for an over the counter medicine to take away the discomfort we are feeling. When in all reality these are signs that our body is in distress. When any of these symptoms come on, instead of reaching for the medication we need to be reaching into our kitchen and keeping our gut in mind. The gut is ultimately responsible for being our first line of defense when exposure happens. 

Realizing that the entire body is related to the gut opens up many opportunities for healing. If we are conscious of what we put in our mouths and how we nourish the gut, we will see a huge reduction in inflammation. Inflammation is the keyword in all of this because inflammation is the one consistent factor contributing to all uncomfortable symptoms. A great example of how inflammation is related to chronic health conditions is by taking a look at fatigue and depression. If we run blood work on a patient who suffers from fatigue and depression we can see that they have higher levels of inflammation markers and leaky gut. 

Lab Work 

A critical part of treating inflammation in patients is obtaining a deeper look at what factors are playing into their symptoms and where they have elevated or decreased levels. To create a proper treatment protocol, lab work is a must. We work with many different lab companies to ensure we get the proper results each patient needs. In a patient who has fatigue and stomach issues, standard blood work might not always reveal the underlying condition. However, when we run a food sensitivity test we will see the specific foods that are causing inflammation and inflammatory reactions. Tests such as these are highly important because although the patient might be eating healthy and ingesting foods such as carrots, cinnamon, and lettuce when we review the food sensitivity panel, it shows increased markers and inflammatory responses to carrots. In turn, by eating carrots in an attempt to be healthy, it is causing adverse reactions. 

Treating Inflammation 

The first step after receiving back blood work is to make the essential dietary changes the patient needs. On top of this, blood work can be screened to evaluate the proper neutraceuticals to encourage the gut and other body functions to repair. Probiotics and a nice form of fiber will help create more short-chain fatty acids in the gut and reduce inflammation naturally.  Along with probiotics and fiber, the patient may be put on a dose of ALA or Alpha Lipoic Acid that will assist in decreasing the antigenicity of food presented in the gut, magnesium to assist in healthy bowel movements, and glutathione to help with biotransformation. *All neutraceuticals and treatment protocols are patient-specific depending on their individual lab work. 

Next Steps

Once inflammation is discovered and symptoms begin to reduce the patient needs to begin a maintenance protocol. Essentially, if the patient reverts back to their old dietary and environmental factors the inflammation will spike up and symptoms will return. In order to avoid this, supplementation and smart nutritional choices should continue.

Inflammation is everywhere! It’s crawling throughout our bodies. Inflammation is necessary but only in small, non-prolonged times. When inflammation gets out of hand through diet and environmental factors, patients start to see an increase in symptoms. The good news is that inflammation can be reduced and with the proper healthcare team and lab work, we can reduce the inflammation and symptoms you are experiencing! – Kenna Vaughn, Senior Health Coach 

References 

Maintz, Laura, and Natalija Novak. “Histamine and Histamine Intolerance.” OUP Academic, Oxford University Press, 1 May 2007, academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/85/5/1185/4633007.

The scope of our information is limited to chiropractic, musculoskeletal, and nervous health issues or functional medicine articles, topics, and discussions. We use functional health protocols to treat injuries or disorders of the musculoskeletal system. Our office has made a reasonable attempt to provide supportive citations and has identified the relevant research study or studies supporting our posts. We also make copies of supporting research studies available to the board and or the public upon request. To further discuss the subject matter above, please feel free to ask Dr. Alex Jimenez or contact us at 915-850-0900.