Gold. Frankincense. Myrrh. Three gifts talked
about throughout the holidays often are neglected the rest
of the year…except gold. We do hear a lot about gold! Well, frankincense is among several nutrients and phytonutrients receiving
more attention for its anti-inflammatory traits. Patients
at Satterwhite Chiropractic hear us chatter on about inflammation and its role in Oxford
back pain and neck pain very often, so anti-inflammatory
supplements with anti-inflammatory nutrients are welcome!
ANTI-INFLAMMATORY NUTRIENTS
A new narrative review of medical literature about
the effects of certain nutrients and phytonutrients on the function of the immune system and on inflammation reduction concluded that patients with
all sorts of health issues, minor to severe, may well get some
advantage from daily supplementation of acetyl-L-carnitine, Vitamin
C, Aloe vera polysaccharides, Vitamin B12, beta-glucans, bilberry, black seed
oil, coenzyme Q10, curcumin (turmeric), garlic, resveratrol, ginger, hydrolyzed
rice bran, lipoic acid, mistletoe, N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), omega-3 fatty
acids, Vitamin E (d-alpha- and gamma-tocopherol), selenium, shiitake mushroom
and its derivatives, isoflavones, Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol), zinc, and frankincense.
Such supplementation may be added to conventional medications
and medical therapies. The goal of such
supplementation is to decrease inflammation which is regulated
by the immune system and which is a contributing factor to
chronic disease in addition to acute illness. The review covered
many specifics like how supplements impacted
inflammatory and immune factors - whose names you may not know very well but have a role in your health
- like interferon-g, nuclear factor-Kappa B, interleukin-6, tumor necrosis
factor-a, and CD4+ T cells, among others. Studies like these are garnering
lots of attention today as the need to prevent
chronic illness and reduce the severity of acute illnesses of all
sorts that people around the world are
dealing with. (1) Satterwhite Chiropractic is excited
to see these developments in the more natural approaches to health come
about!
ANTI-INFLAMMATORY FRANKINCENSE
You’ll notice that frankincense
was one of the nutrients talked about above. A recent
study highlighted the benefits of its supplementation. Frankincense is an oil extract taken
from the Boswellia tree. It’s been used in
anti-inflammatory folk remedies for a long time. Using
bowellic acids like the 3-O-acetyl-11-keto-βBA (AKBA) are unique
anti-inflammatory components of frankincense. In combination
with docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosahexaenoic acid (EPA), it promoted
lipid mediator change of innate immune cells from pro-inflammatory to boosted
anti-inflammatory action of frankincense from Boswellic acid. (2) For Satterwhite Chiropractic,
frankincense needs to be gifted throughout the year and not just
during the holidays! Nutritional findings like this are just so
interesting, particularly when we know
that inflammation has a role in spine-related pain that we treat
every day. Let’s talk about our anti-inflammatory nutritional supplement at
your next Oxford chiropractic appointment.
CONTACT Satterwhite Chiropractic
Listen to this PODCAST
with Dr. James Cox, developer of The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain
Management, on The Back
Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes the interaction of the immune system and inflammation as well as how
spinal manipulation can benefit the
immune system.
Make your Oxford chiropractic
appointment now to see us! Though we’re not sure
when myrrh will get its due, we’ll be happy to see that frankincense is getting
its due for the role it may hold in reducing
inflammation!