Category: Immune Health

Avoid the cold and flue

Avoiding Getting Sick this Cold & Flue Season

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Do you want to avoid getting sick this cold and flue season? Here are 10 steps you can take to avoid getting sick. Natural remedies, home remedies, and tips to prevent getting sick this year.

5 preventative steps:

These are good to do over the cold and flue season to keep your immune health up and prevent getting sick.

  1. Increase Vitamin C intake, a daily dose of 500-2000mg.
  2. Keep sugar intake down, sugar compromises immune function.
  3. Take your vitamin D depending on your vitamin D levels 5000IU to 10,000IUs daily, ask your doctor.
  4. Get your 8 hours of shut eye, lack of sleep weakens your immune system.
  5. Enjoy ginger, garlic, onions & bone broth in soups or tea.

At first signs of getting:

When you have that tickle in your throat, feeling a bit under the weather, or that sick co-worker looks in your direction, this is the time to act! Don’t wait until your knocked on your a$$ to start these powerful natural therapies. Although, if you do miss the window, these tips help to shorten the duration of misery. And the great thing is they work for bacteria and viruses that cause the cold or flue.

  1. Echinacea tincture or herbal blend
  2. Vitamin A 100,000IU
  3. Vitamin D 50,000IU every other day for 7 days
  4. Zinc – if it’s a sore throat 15mg as lozenges, otherwise oral 30mg
  5. Dress warm, pile up the blankets, sweat- infrared sauna

Some good products to have on had at home include Wellness Formula by Source Naturals (found at Wholefoods and other healthfoods stores) or EHB by Integrative Therapeutics, chewable vitamin C and zinc lozenges. And for kids some Elderberry syrup.

Not all of these remedies are suitable for all people, you should always consult your Naturopathic doctor before taking them, especially if your trying to get pregnant, are pregnant or breast feeding.

The autoimmune thyroid, post-partum & hormone connection

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As a Naturopathic Doctor and functional medical practitioner with a passion for thyroid health I diagnose and treat a lot of thyroid imbalances in my practice. The thyroid plays an important role in fertility and pregnancy, and is often overlooked. Ninty percent of thyroid conditions are caused by autoimmunity 1 and the immune system is influenced by hormones. Immune cells have hormone receptors on them, and hormones can up regulate or down regulate the immune system. Testosterone, estrogen, progesterone and the stress hormone cortisol all interact with the immune system. Overall testosterone and estrogen are anti-inflammatory which means they are going to calm the immune system down. Cortisol has immune calming and suppressing action. For example, we often get sick after a stressful time, our immune systems have been suppressed and vulnerable to exposure but unable to mount a response. Once you finally get that holiday at the end of exam time, your immune system comes back to life and mounts a response resulting in you feeling sick.

Why are women more likely to get autoimmune conditions? 

Women are more likely to get autoimmune conditions then men, in fact women make up 75% of those with autoimmunity 2. Women have more estrogen then men, and estrogen is suppose to be anti-inflammatory so what the heck? Well, we often see autoimmunity rear it’s ugly head when estrogen and cortisol are low. For example estrogen soars during pregnancy and autoimmune symptoms generally improve, and many women are diagnosed with autoimmune conditions after pregnancy.  That post-partum time when our adrenals are burnt out, our estrogen is low, the immune system flares up, attacks the thyroid and causes hypothyroidism or other autoimmune conditions. Similarly autoimmune symptoms can be worse on mensuration when estrogen and progesterone are at their lowest. 

Another very common time to see the onset of an autoimmune condition is after a period of stress. The stress system, regulated by the hormone cortisol, plays an integral role in hormone production in the body. When men and women go through prolonged periods of stress the adrenals burns out.  During burn out we don’t have enough cortisol to help calm the immune system when it acts in an abnormal way, like attacking its own tissues as seen in autoimmunity. Low cortisol also drains our sex hormones, when cortisol is low the body shunts all the its hormone making resources towards restoring cortisol, leaving very little resources for making the anti-inflammatory hormones estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. Ever wonder why your libido drops when your stressed out? Cortisol is draining your sex hormone testosterone. 

What does this mean for Post-Partum women? 

It means post-partum can be a very difficult time!  If an autoimmune thyroid condition like Hashimotos kicks in after pregnancy, you are more likely to gain weight, feel depressed and have low energy. Layer this on top of sleep deprivation and huge fluctuation in hormones, and life is going to be a challenge. It can take months even years to recover with out the proper support. 

What type of screening test can be done to find out if you have an autoimmune thyroid condition? 

Most doctors only run TSH, this is not sufficient!! This is why many autoimmune and thyroid conditions go undiagnosed until you are feeling really sick. If you want to get an idea of what your thyroid is doing or if you have an autoimmune thyroid condition you need to see more then TSH. You want to evaluate how your thyroid is producing thyroid hormones, how your body is activating inactive T4 into active T3 and you want to see if the immune system is producing anti-bodies against your thyroid. To evaluate this you need the following tests:

Hypothyroid symptoms, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, natural treatments, alternative therapies, hypothyroid

  • TSH
  • Free T3
  • Free T4
  • Reverse T3
  • Thyroperoxidase antibodies (Anti-TPOs)
  • Thyroglobulin antibodies (Anti-TG’s)
  • Oral temperature
  • Testosterone
  • Estradiol
  • Day 21 Progesterone
  • Salivary Cortisol

 

Take 12 temperature readings with a digital or shake down thermometer at 11am, 3pm, and 6pm. If your average oral tempurature is below 98.6F, your not getting enough T3 into your cells. And this can have you feeling terrible.

As we have seen the immune system is dynamic, interacting with other hormones, and your body is a complex and interconnected web of beauty. Evaluating other hormones is, in my opinion, a must to get the bigger picture of what’s going on. Evaluating your adrenal stress system with a four point salivary test, and looking at your sex hormones can be done in urine or blood. 

What are the treatment options?

As a Naturopathic doctor, we take all these pieces and put it together for you, stress, diet, hormones, and even your spirituality. As I mentioned we are beautiful dynamic beings, our bodies are the most amazing and complicated things. You can’t just throw a drug like Synthroid at everyone with hypothyroidism or corticosteroid at all autoimmune conditions and expect them to feel great, not alone heal themselves. You can heal yourself, you can heal your thyroid and your immune system. The sooner you catch it the better. Don’t wait until the immune system has damaged your thyroid beyond repair.  Remember Hashimoto’s and Grave thyroid conditions are not primarily a thyroid problem. They are an immune problem! 

We take an integrative approach, balance your thyroid so you can start feeling energized and healthy. We balance your immune system so your thyroid can start to repair itself. We correct the diet and improve the gut so the immune system isn’t being fueled in the wrong way. We balance your hormones so your immune system responds and regulates in a healthy way, and help your stress system come back to life.  If you are considering getting pregnant, then you will want to get your adrenal and immune health in order first so you can feel vital and healthy through and beyond pregnancy. 

Sounds like a lot? Yes, healing yourself is a journey. With the right support you get through, you feel better, and you can be vibrant for your family. 

Diet recommendations for a healthy immune system:

Avoid the major allergens until you know which ones are problems for you- corn, gluten, dairy, eggs, tree nuts, peanuts, soy, and shellfish are the biggest ones. 

Increase anti-oxidant rich foods, berries, dark leafy greens, Try including a green juice daily, or adding super-greens powder to your smoothie. 

Get enough iodine and selenium, Brazil’s nuts are rich in selenium, seaweed is rich in iodine. 

Cut out gluten! If you do nothing else with an autoimmune condition this one is crucial. 

Fasting. Fasting has been shown to turn around autoimmune flare ups. Water fasting, the Fasting Mimicking Diet, and juice fasting (low sugar juice only) for 3-5 days. Best done under supervision of a qualified Naturopathic Doctor and not during pregnancy. 

Cut back on the sugar! Sugar is fuel for all things bad in the body. Seriously do it! 

References:

1. Amino N., (1988). Autoimmunity and Hypothyroidism.   Aug;2(3):591-617.

2. Franco JS, Amaya-Amaya J, Anaya JM., (2013). Thyroid Disease and Autoimmune DiseaseFrom Bench to Bedside [Internet]. Bogota (Colombia): El Rosario University Press;  Jul 18. Chapter 30.

3. Fairweather, D., Frisancho-Kiss, S., & Rose, N. R. (2008). Sex Differences in Autoimmune Disease from a Pathological Perspective. The American Journal of Pathology, 173(3), 600–609.

 

5 Natural Treatments to Avoid the Flu this Season

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It’s that time of year again….flue season!! You don’t have to be the one at home in bed sick, throat sore and swollen, nose running, tired and achy. Here are 5 things you can do, naturally, safely, and effectively, to keep you feeling good.

You will need to be Proactive! This is the most important part of stopping that cold and flue in it’s tracks before it takes you down! As soon as you feel that tickle or scratch in your throat, follow these 5 tips and you will be amazed at the result.

  1. Go to bed early, get a full 8hrs of sleep, your body repairs and heals in your sleep.
  2. Cut out sugar and dairy. Sugar and dairy run your immune system into the ground, by avoiding them you can really give your immune system the edge it needs to get ahead of that impending viral or bacterial infection.
  3. Take immune boosting/anti-microbial nutrients and herbs:
    • Zinc, Echinacea, Goldenseal, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, mushrooms – shiitake, maitaki, and garlic.
    • My three favorite supplements for kicking the cold in the butt are Wellness Formula by Source Naturals (found in most health foods stores including Wholefoods), EHB by Integrative Therapeutics (6 capsules daily of either for 3-7 days), and Immune Support by Host Defense.  Host Defense is an amazing company that uses the power of organic medicinal mushrooms. Be sure to read the ingredients and make sure you don’t have any allergies or sensitivities to them. If you tend to react to supplements do the EHB or Immune Support over the Wellness Formula.
  4. Soup! Lots of soup, bone broth, chicken chicken soup, lentil soup, spicy thai coconut soup, it nourishes and warms the body, very important when your trying to avoid at cold.  Add fresh copped garlic and shiitake mushrooms for extra immune boosting.
  5. Try my Homemade NyQuil – 1 oz of brandy, whisky, or dark rum, 1/2 a lemon, and 1 tbsp of honey in 10 oz of hot water. For the under age crowd skip the alcohol and just do lemon honey.

Don’t feel bad if you get taken down, sometimes we just need to stay home, watch Netflix and wallow in our own illness! It’s good exercise for your immune system. If you get there, you will benifit from all the above recomendations, in addition keep warm, embrace the fever if it comes, this is your bodies natural defense to killing the invader! But be sure to check your temperature, fevers over 103F can be harmful.

* I am not affiliated or sponsored by the products listed in this blog.

Good Health & Happy Holidays!

Dr. Tanya Escobedo

Can Type 2 Diabetes Be Reversed?

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Healthy fats can be found in avocado, lean proteins from eggs.

With Type 2 Diabetes, your body becomes inefficient at burning sugar for energy. The hormone insulin, that shuttles sugar from your blood into your cells to be used as energy, stops working. Either your body resists the effects of insulin, or the pancreas doesn’t produce enough. It all starts at the pancreas, in the beta cells that produce insulin, something causes damage here, and insulin dysregulation begins. While many see this as a roadblock in life, we at Wild Women Wellness know you can reverse your insulin resistance.

The First Step is to Uncover the Underlying Cause:

What caused the damage to the pancreas and insulin producing cells to start with? What else contributed to blood sugar dysregulation? There are a number of causes that can trigger the onset of insulin dysregulation such as:

  • Food allergies/sensitivities
  • Dysbiosis, leaky gut and gut microbiota
  • Food additives – like aspartame or high fructose corn syrup
  • Oxidative stress – from inflammation
  • Mitochondrial dysfunction – dysfunction in the energy centres of the cells
  • Toxins- like pesticides on your veggies or plastics in from your water bottle, heavy metal in your teeth and seafood.
  • Obesity
  • Stress or adrenal fatigue
  • Lack of sleep
  • Hormone imbalances
  • Infections – such as residual viral infections
  • Nutrient deficiencies
  • Rx Drugs (Statins and DM)
  • Genetic predispositions/SNP defects
  • High sugar/carbohydrate diet

Insulin resistance and diabetes are also linked to a host of other health conditions such as PCOS, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, cancer, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, hypothyroidism, elevated liver enzymes (ALT/AST), and obesity. The insulin resistance often starts before the weight gain and lab results indicate HbA1C above 6.0. If your fasting blood sugar is above 90 or HbA1C is above 5.5, you will want to dig deeper to investigate if you are having early blood sugar dysregulation. Other clues are weight gain, arthritis, metabolic syndrome, weight around the midsection. You should know however, 60% of people at risk of diabetes are not overweight! If you feel sleepy after meals or irritable between meals this can be an indicator of blood sugar dysregulation. If you believe that you may be suffering from insulin resistance, you need to consult a functional medical or naturopathic doctor and work towards a diagnosis.

Diagnose Appropriately

In order to be diagnosed appropriately, I suggest an initial laboratory evaluation, which can include:

  • Adiponectin
  • Pro-insulin, C-Peptide
  • Glucose tolerance test
  • HbA1C
  • NMR lipoprotein profile
  • Fasting Comprehensive Metabolic Panel
  • GGTP
  • Uric acid
  • Methane breath test
  • Comprehensive stool test looking at the microbiome/flora

Choose Individualized Treatment Plan

Where we see the most success in treatment plans are changing dietary habits. The Westernized Standard American Diet is high in saturated and trans fats, salt, refined grains, and sugars, which can cause imbalances in our bodies and more specifically our gut microbiota. Implementing whole food, which is fresh, unprocessed, organic, colorful, and high in fiber will help work towards decreasing insulin release, modifying the gut microbiota, and increasing your cellular responsiveness to insulin. If it doesn’t look like a plant or piece of meat, then don’t eat it!

Foods to Avoid:

  • Fruit juice and dried fruit
  • High fructose corn syrup
  • Gluten
  • Refined foods – pasta, bread, cereal, baked goods, pastries, packaged food
  • White foods – white rice, white bread, white potatoes, white sugar

Foods to Enjoy:

  • All vegetables (except white potatoes)
  • Free range chicken, fish- salmon, grass fed lean meats 1-3x week, eggs.
  • Fresh or frozen Berries, bananas, apples.
  • Good fats: olives, olive oil, avocados, coconut, nuts and seeds, nut butters like almond butter.
  • Fermented foods- like Kimchi

Meal Structure:

  • Make breakfast and lunch your largest meal
  • Keep dinner light
  • Intermittent fasting: 12-16hrs of fasting in 5 days per week, this can be done by not eating after dinner, and keeping dinner 12hrs before breakfast.
  • Avoid snacking
  • Eat protein and good fat with every meal

A structured sleep schedule is very beneficial in your treatment plan. Get your sleep, with a regular bedtime and wake time. Ideally to bed before midnight and getting 8hrs/night. Your body repairs itself in your sleep, so it’s important to make sleep a priority to help maintain your health.

Come work with us at Wild Women Wellness and we will help you establish a healthy foundation through your diet, address the underlying cause, set you up with a targeted supplement program and rebalance your microbiota so you can rely less on medications, feel better, and prevent serious complications down the road.

Take charge of your health, book your free 15 minute phone consultation here or give us a call at (650)-271-9453

5 things you can do to survive the cold & flu season

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supplement

Cold and flu season is approaching, but don’t fret, there are lots of natural ways to stay healthy this year. The sooner you nip that sniffle in the butt the better. Here are 5 simple things you an the family can do to prevent the cold and flu season getting the best of you!

1. Sleep! Ever notice how after a long weekend of debauchery with your friends you get sick. The reason for this is we use sleep to for repair.  When we deprive ourselves of that vital restorative time, our immune system can get tired and we fall sick easily.  If you feel yourself starting to get sick the best thing you can do is go to bed early and get a good 8-10hrs of sleep.  

2.  Garlic. Garlic is nature’s anti-biotic, anti-fungal, and immune booster! But make note: to get the most of garlic’s natural healing properties you need to prepare it properly.  Chop up about 2 cloves of garlic, let sit for 5 minutes, this activates the allicin or medicinal constituent in garlic, then enjoy it raw or mostly raw. I like to sprinkle the raw garlic on a piece of toast with olive oil and salt.  Enjoy this immune boosting garlic bread, when you first feel a cold or flu coming on to prevent it from taking hold. Or once you are sick have up to 4-5 cloves per day, but don’t over do it if you are on blood thinners like warfarin.  

3.  Vitamin C.  Vitamin C has been shown to shorten the duration and severity of cold and flu symptoms.  It has also been shown to boost the immune system to so you have a fighting chance! It’s good to take a maintenance dose of vitamin C throughout the cold and flu season, about 500-1000mg per day for an adult. Or 1000-2000mg if you need a boost while you’re sick.  Chose a vitamin C derived from a whole food source, with an equal amount of citrus bioflavonoids to citric acid, and one without a bunch of fillers and binders.    

4. Echinacea. Echinacea is an immune booster and has been shown to be especially helpful in prevention of upper respiratory tract infections (ie. Bronchitis).  You will benefit most from echinacea if you use it as soon as you feel that tickle in your throat or upon the first sign of impending flu doom!  Echinacea comes in three popular forms: E. purpurea, E. angustifolia, and E. pallida.  When choosing your liquid tincture of echinacea chose one with a mix of E. purpura whole plant, and E. angustifolia and E. pallida root for the best immune boosting effects. Echinacea is best taken short term (12 days or less) and at the onset symptoms.  

5. Avoid sugar. Sugar suppresses the immune system and will not serve you if you are trying to fight off the cold and flu.  This includes ingredients in many cold and flu medications on the market. Read ingredients and be picky about what you choose to nourish your body with.  

Good health to you and your family this season!