Turmeric Curcumin Bioavailability and Supplement Guide

Article by Stefan Burns - Updated June 2022. Join the Wild Free Organic email newsletter!

Turmeric is a flowering plant (Curcuma longa) of the ginger family and the bright orange rhizome it grows is used as a spice, most notably in India. Turmeric has many medicinal properties due to it’s unique blend of essential oils, plant polyphenols, and it’s main active ingredient curcumin which is a pigment chemical that gives turmeric its bright orange color.

Turmeric and its main active ingredient curcumin have become popular supplements worldwide because of their anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, and antioxidant capabilities (1). There are many different ways turmeric and curcumin supplements are formulated, and some formulations are more effective than others because of their superior bioavailability.

This turmeric and curcumin buyers guide discusses the health benefits of turmeric, the science of how to increase it’s bioavailability, and the characteristics the best turmeric and curcumin supplements share.

Whole turmeric rhizome, slices, and powder

What Are Turmeric Supplements Good For?

The different active compounds of turmeric are known as curcuminoids, and for thousands of years Ayurvedic and Tradition Chinese Medicine have held turmeric root in high esteem due to its healing properties. Turmeric and its curcuminoids are helpful for a variety of health conditions such as cognitive ailments, pain, poor digestive function, and diseases that are inflammation based. I recommend incorporating turmeric spice into the diet for a generalized heath benefit and to also keep a curcumin supplement readily available so it can be used whenever pain or inflammation is experienced in excess. Curcuminoids are especially excellent at relieving pain, such as joint pain, a headache, or generalized discomfort. For those with ongoing health conditions which curcuminoids would help with, using a turmeric and curcumin supplement daily is a safe and practical option.

The drawback to turmeric is curcuminoids are not very bioavailable under normal circumstances. There have been many different attempts made to find a way to increase the bioavailability of curcumin, and this has flooded the supplement market with different turmeric and curcumin formulations some of which are well formulated and effective, and others which will have minimal health effect.

Without reading the research papers directly, detailed information regarding how to best take turmeric and curcumin supplements is hard to find, and this comprehensive guide to turmeric/curcumin supplements solves that problem by explaining the different type of turmeric supplements that exist on the market, their bioavailability and effectiveness, and the health benefits different formulations have on different systems of the body.

Curcuminoids

Curcumin is the yellow to orange pigment found in turmeric. The more alkaline the curcumin the darker the color. Curcumin has a massive catalogue of studied health benefits (2). It's anti-inflammatory, anti-depressive, a minor antioxidant, dramatically reduces symptoms of osteoarthritis, improves prostate health, reduces mucositis, and so much more. Curcumin is one of the most well researched supplements known, and more is still being discovered. It is mostly the curcuminoids in turmeric that give turmeric its noted health benefits.

Most pure curcumin supplements consist of a blend of different types of curcuminoids, such as curcumin, bisdemethoxycurcumin (BMC), and demethoxycurcumin (DMC), which all together usually total around 500 - 750 mg per serving. When analyzed, curcumin is the dominant curcuminoid at 60%, with BMC and DMC coming in around ~20% each.

The issue is that curcumin has nearly zero physiological effects on the body if taken by itself. Like turmeric powder, curcumin has terrible bioavailability, measured at less than 1%. Curcumin’s bioavailability is limited due to its poor solubility in the aqueous phase of the digestive tract. The body also rapidly metabolizes and excretes it. Bioavailability is also different between the sexes, with women on average reaching double the blood concentrations of curcumin compared to men. The reason for this difference in bioavailability between the sexes is unknown.

To fix the bioavailability problem, scientists have various methods to increase the bioavailability of curcuminoids in the body, and supplement manufacturers have created different formulations based on these scientific studies.

Turmeric and Curcumin Bioavailability

The reason so many different types of turmeric and curcumin supplements exist is because turmeric isn’t highly bioavailable in the human body under normal circumstances. If taking a supplement consisting of pure turmeric powder and nothing else, only 1-2% of the curcuminoids that make up part of the turmeric spice will enter into the bloodstream. Curcuminoids make up about 6% of turmeric by dry weight, so if taking a 1000 mg turmeric supplement, then ~1mg of curcuminoids will enter into the bloodstream, an insignificant effect.

Curcumin’s bioavailability is limited due to its poor solubility in the aqueous phase of the digestive tract. Furthermore, curcuminoids are rapidly absorbed by the tissues of the digestive system, limiting their ability to enter into the bloodstream. The digestive system, particularly the small intestine, is under constant stress from having to digest food and being in contact with the microbiome, and as a result it’s inflamed to some degree. Curcuminoids being potent antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds are quickly absorbed by the tissues of the gut for their own use.

Bioavailability is also different between the sexes, with women on average reaching double the blood concentrations of curcumin compared to men. The reason for this difference in bioavailability between the sexes is unknown.

If interested in using turmeric for its digestive healing effects, then taking plain turmeric without any bioavailability enhancement is desirable because it will specifically target the tissues of the gastrointestinal system and little else.

If curcuminoids are able to enter into the bloodstream in large quantities, then they exert their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects throughout the body, reducing pain and inflammation and enhancing cognition.

Methods of Increasing Curcumin Bioavailability

Curcumin is the main active ingredient found in turmeric responsible for its potent health and wellness benefits. Increasing its bioavailability increases its medicinal effect. That said, other compounds exist in raw turmeric that are health promoting, such as turmeric essential oils. Extracting more curcuminoids from turmeric increases the potency of its health effects, but for the complete benefits of turmeric, whole turmeric must also be consumed. The methods below describe how curcumin bioavailability can be increased, but keep in mind that the most effective curcumin supplement will also be one that incorporates some portion of powdered turmeric into its formulation.

Turmeric Dual Spectrum X:1 Extract

One way to achieve the synergistic health effects of raw turmeric while still receiving enough curcuminoids is to take a turmeric supplement concentrated through extraction.

Extraction is used to refine and purify a product. An extract is prepared using alcohol or water, and at the end of the concentration process the resulting extract is more potent. Depending on the level of extraction, curcuminoids can be much more heavily concentrated or just lightly more concentrated. With the right extract formulation, it is possible to create a turmeric supplement which retains all of the beneficial compounds of the turmeric rhizome while still increasing the potency and concentration of the main active curcumin compounds.

Curcumin with Piperine Supplements

Piperine is an enzyme inhibitor found in black pepper, giving black pepper its iconic pungency, and it has been shown to increase the bio-availability of curcumin (and by extension, turmeric) by 20x (3). Piperine works synergistically with curcumin, inhibiting curcumin's rabid absorption by the liver and intestinal wall. This inhibition allows curcumin to circulate into the blood stream for full body anti-inflammatory effects. Curcuminoids and piperine together enter into the blood stream rapidly peaking sharply about an hour after ingestion before being fully metabolized about 2-3 hours later.

When used in supplements, piperine is most often listed as biopiperine. Most studies which have researched the effect of piperine on curcumin absorption have used 20 mg of piperine per 2 grams of curcumin, and most curcumin/piperine supplements use 5 mg of piperine per 500 mg of curcuminoids, which is the same ratio.

Piperine is a bioavailability enhancer for more than just curcuminoids, and it has it’s own long list of health benefits (gastrointestinal aid, cognitive enhancer, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory) that overlap quite a bit with curcumin. Ancient Ayurveda knew this, and it’s why black pepper and turmeric spice are paired together for some many dishes in India.

Nootropics Depot sells a curcumin + piperine supplement which contains 1000 mg of 95% standardized curcuminoids and 6 mg of piperine.

Micellar Curcumin Supplements

Micellar curcumin is a special type of curcumin supplement shown to have better bioavailability that curcumin paired with piperine. Curcumin is a lipophilic molecule, meaning it is poorly water soluble, and that in large part is why curcumin is so poorly bioavailable. A micelle as shown to the left is a collection of lipid (fat) molecules that can simultaneously interact with water and lipids.

When curcuminoids are encapsulated in micelles, their ability to enter into the bloodstream skyrockets, and they stay active in the body for much longer

Through a special chemical process, curcumin molecules can be contained inside micelles. Protected by the micelles which are able to interact with water soluble materials and membranes, the curcumin is much more easily transported though the digestive system and into the blood stream.

Micellar curcumin is incredibly bioavailable (4), more so than curcumin taken with piperine, and curcumin concentrations in the blood stream stay elevated for up to a day as compared to a few hours with curcumin and piperine supplements. This approach to increase curcumin bioavailable is completely independent of enzyme inhibition which is how piperine works.

Because the addition of micelles increases the bioavailability of curcumin so dramatically, its health effects can be too potent at times, and caution is recommended. In a study measuring micellar curcumin’s bioavailability (4), the researchers took note of the side effects observed. Out of 13 women and 10 men total, 7 women and 3 men experienced mild nausea. Since curcumin is ~2x more bioavailable in women in men, we’d speculate that more women experienced nausea than men because they received too much curcumin. 1 woman even vomited! The nausea prevalent with use of micellar curcumin did not occur when those same men and women used the other two formulations (Micronized Curcumin and Meriva® type formulation). Unless you have a serious health condition that would benefit from all day elevated curcumin blood levels, I would stick to the safer and more widely available curcumin with piperine supplements.

Nootropics Depot sells a Longvida curcumin supplement which uses micellular technology to dramatically increase the bioavailability of curcuminoids.

Micronized Curcumin Supplements

Micronized curcumin is effectively “crystallized” curcumin. The method one study used to create micronized curcumin involved mixing 25% curcumin powder with 58.3% triacetin (an anti-fungal) and 16.7% panodan (an emulsifier) and spraying and soaking the solution onto porous silicon dioxide crystals (basically glass, inactive physiologically) (5). The resulting micronized curcumin powder contained ~15% curcumin.

Micronized curcumin was found to be 9x more bioavailable than regular standardized curcumin averaged between men and women. Micronized curcumin was also shown to be more bioavailable in women compared to men. Compared to regular curcumin, the micronized version was more bioavailable, but still less so than curcumin with piperine.

Micronizing curcumin is a complex process which uses a lot of chemicals, and I would stay away from micronized curcumin supplements for these reasons.

Curcumin with Turmeric Essential Oils Supplements

As discussed, it is turmeric/curcumin’s poor water solubility that negatively affects its bioavailability. When taken with fats, curcumin’s bioavailability improves.

It is also usually the case that when an herb or root with medicinal properties is taken in its original whole form a type of entourage effect occurs. With the entourage effect, the secondary compounds which are normally standardized out can now contribute to and boost the overall health effect, and the benefits of supplements that take this into account this holistic nature are broader in their beneficial medicinal effect.

The essential oils found within the turmeric root are some of those secondary compounds, and it’s been shown that when standardized curcumin is taken with turmeric essential oils the bioavailability of curcumin improves significantly (6). This increase in bioavailability is because of the synergistic effect these plant compounds exhibit, and also the fact that the essential oils add fat to the supplement, aiding assimilation into the blood stream.

One formulation that employs this tactic is known as BCM-95 (Biocurcumax), and it’s been shown to be 7x more bioavailable than standard curcumin (7). BCM-95 is more bioavailable than curcumin with piperine, and with piperine added to a BCM-95 curcumin formulation, I think the bioavailability would be improved even further, possibly rivaling or surpassing the bioavailability of micellar curcumin due to the entourage effect.

Curcumin with Emulsifiers (lecithins)

Emulsifiers such as lecithins have also been used in an effort to increase the bioavailability of curcumin. The idea is that the emulsifiers help to carry the curcumin through the gut and into the bloodstream. Meriva is one such formulation, and overall bioavailability is improved compared to just curcumin, but not by much. In one study, a reference dose of 1800 mg of standardized curcuminoids, was compared to a Meriva formulation (8). Compared to the reference dose, the Meriva formulation was 5.5x more potent and stayed in the bloodstream for longer. Interestingly, the Meriva formulation dramatically boosted the bioavailability of demethoxycurcumin (DMC), a less prominent curcuminoid.

The specific physiological effects of just DMC are not well studied yet, and it is unknown why the addition of lecithins to standardized curcuminoids dramatically increases the bioavailability of DMC compared to the other curcuminoids.

Fermented Turmeric Supplements

Fermented turmeric is yet another supplement type. During fermentation curcumin is metabolized by bacteria into a different yet similar compound called tetrahydrocurcumin (THCC). Typically chemical reactions result in more stable compounds, and it’s been observed that THCC is more stable than curcumin. Likely as a result of it’s increased stability, THCC has a longer half-life of 323 minutes in plasma versus 111 minutes for curcumin.

One study which measured the effect of fermented turmeric observed that 36 hours of fermentation using Aspergillus oryzae at 25°C reduced regular curcumin levels from 2.0 mg/g to 0.79 mg/g (9). The reduction in curcumin in fermented turmeric is offset by the creation of THCC, though the exact ratios of how fermentation converts curcumin to tetrahydrocurcumin is unknown.

With rats, tetrahydrocurcumin appears to be more bioavailable than curcumin (10). In general its been observed that rats absorb curcumin much easier than humans. Like curcumin, THCC was found to primarily be absorbed by the intestine and liver. No studies have been performed measuring tetrahydrocurcumin’s bioavailability in humans or rats when paired with piperine or encapsulated in micelles.

Fermented turmeric is highly experimental and as of now it’s medicinal effects are poorly quantified. Fermented turmeric doesn’t appear to be unsafe in any way considering normal usage, but the effects on your body are not well researched. Below are two non-comprehensive lists laid out in layman’s terms outlining some of the benefits of curcumin over THCC, and vice versa. Nootropics Depot sells a Curowhite curcumin supplement which is standardized to 25% to contain dura, hexa, and octa curcuminoids.

Curcumin Benefits over Tetrahydrocurcumin:

• Curcumin was more effective than THCC in preventing skin tumors in mice

• Curcumin was more effective than THCC as an antioxidant

• Curcumin induced apoptosis (cellular death) of leukemia cells but THCC did not

• Curcumin, but not THCC, was effective in reducing amyloid plaque burden and amyloid aggregation (think Alzheimers)

• Curcumin, but not THCC, inhibited Ca(2+) influx through CRAC for activating immune cells

• Curcumin, but not THCC, inhibited entry of hepatitis C virus genotypes into human liver cells

• Curcumin inhibited type A influenza virus infection to a greater extent than THCC by interfering with viral hemagglutination activity (red blood cell clumping)

Tertahydrocurcumin Benefits over Curcumin:

• THCC was more active than curcumin as an antioxidant

• THCC was more active than curcumin for suppression of LDL oxidation

• THCC was equal to curcumin in potency for suppression of histamine release

• THCC was more active than curcumin in normalizing blood glucose and improvement of altered carbohydrate metabolic enzymes in diabetic animals

• THCC was more active than curcumin in increasing plasma insulin in diabetic rats

• THCC was more active than curcumin for antidiabetic and antihyperlipidemic (blood lipid lowering) effects

• THCC was more active than curcumin in a hepatoprotective role in CCL4-induced liver damage in rats and alcoholic liver disease model rats

• THCC was more active than curcumin as an antihypertensive

Comparing Curcumin Supplement Effectiveness

Below are the different well studied curcumin supplements compared across three markers, Cmax, AUC, and Tmax.

• Cmax is the peak concentration reached in blood plasma, expressed in nmol/L.

• AUC (area under the curve) is the concentration in blood plasma over time, expressed as nmol/L * H

• Tmax is the time it took to reach Cmax. Higher values for Cmax and AUC are typically better.

A lower value for Tmax is preferred if you are looking for a fast acting curcumin supplement for immediate pain relief. A higher Tmax value indicates a broader effect.

Cmax (nmol/L)

• 7.1 - 2g Curcumin

• 41.6 - 410mg Micronized Curcumin

• 489 - 2g Curcumin, 20mg Piperine

• 1240 - 2g BCM-95®

• 1765 - 297mg Meriva

• 3228 - 410mg Micellar Curcumin

AUC (nmol/L * H)

• 65.6 - 2g Curcumin (measured for 24 hours)

• 217.2 - 2g Curcumin, 20mg Piperine (measured to zero after 3 hours)

• 582.7 - 410mg Micronized Curcumin (measured for 24 hours)

• 1460.4 - 297mg Meriva (measured for 24 hours)

• 8690 - 2g BCM-95® (measured for 8 hours)

• 12147.7 - 410mg Micellar Curcumin (measured for 24 hours)

Tmax (H - hours)

• 0.69 - 2g Curcumin, 20mg Piperine

• 1.1 - 410mg Micellar Curcumin

• 3.0 - 2g BCM-95

• 3.8 - 297mg Meriva

• 7.5 - 2g Curcumin

• 7.5 - 410mg Micronized Curcumin

If choosing a turmeric/curcumin supplement based purely off of the blood markers above, micellar curcumin is the clear winner, with the BCM-95 formulation coming in second and the Meriva formulation coming in third.

There are other important considerations besides just Cmax and AUC values though. Anytime a drug, supplement, or food is ingested, body chemistry is altered. Care must be taken when taking supplements, as too much of even a good thing can have negative health effects. Take for example that curcumin strongly activates AMPK (adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase), an very important enzyme which governs metabolism (aka fat oxidation or fat storage).

With micellar curcumin, curcumin concentrations in the blood are elevated very strongly and for a long time, overly activating AMPK and other systems throughout the body. If using a curcumin supplement everyday as many people do, using a micellar curcumin supplement will strongly influence AMPK 24/7, and over a long duration the effect this will have hasn’t been studied yet. Positive or negative, the effects are currently unknown. The high reports of nausea from the use of micellar curcumin is also troubling. With a supplement to be used often, exerting caution is always the best approach. Start conservatively, gauge how it affects your body, both physiologically and psychologically, and tweak the dosing from there.

Micellar curcumin was the front runner based on having the highest Cmax and AUC values, but with these concerns noted, I recommend a more conservative approach, and a curcumin formulation that is more holistic in nature.

Where to Buy Curcumin Supplements

After studying into the health benefits of curcumin and how its bioavailability can be increased, the best marketplace I have found for curcumin supplements is Nootropics Depot. They carry three different types of curcumin supplement, each having their unique bioavailability differences which are worth trying separately.

Curcumin + Piperine Capsules

The standard curcumin supplement they sell is a blend of 1000 mg of 95% standardized curcuminoids and 6 mg piperine derived from black pepper. This is a good curcumin supplement that is readily bioavailable and can be used for a wide range of purposes, from treating headaches to joint pain or to boost metabolism.

Longvida Curcumin Supplement

Nootropics Depot also carries a Longvida curcumin supplement. Longvida curcumin has been coated in a blend of highly purified fatty acids and phospholipids, which increases greatly increases curcuminoid bioavailability into the bloodstream. Each capsule contains 400 mg of the Longvida opimized curcumin extract.

Curowhite Curcumin Supplement

Lastly Nootropics Depot carries a Curowhite curcumin supplement which is a blend of tetra, hexa, and octa-curcuminoids standardized to at least 25%. These hydrogenated curcuminoids have differing effects physiologically than regular curcuminoids and are worth experimenting with.

1-2 servings of the any of the curcumin supplements sold by Nootopics Depot will be enough to use for digestive relief, pain relief, headaches, inflammatory diseases, and for general health and wellness purposes.

Mountain Rose Herbs also sells a variety of turmeric products, from the rhizome itself to different supplements and teas.

---

References:

1. Hewlings SJ, Kalman DS. Curcumin: A Review of Its' Effects on Human Health. Foods. 2017;6(10)

2. Kamal Patel. Curcumin. Examine

3. Shoba G, Joy D, Joseph T, Majeed M, Rajendran R, Srinivas PS. Influence of piperine on the pharmacokinetics of curcumin in animals and human volunteers. Planta Med. 1998;64(4):353-6.

4. Schiborr C, Kocher A, Behnam D, Jandasek J, Toelstede S, Frank J. The oral bioavailability of curcumin from micronized powder and liquid micelles is significantly increased in healthy humans and differs between sexes. Mol Nutr Food Res. 2014;58(3):516-27.

5. Schiborr C, Kocher A, Behnam D, Jandasek J, Toelstede S, Frank J. The oral bioavailability of curcumin from micronized powder and liquid micelles is significantly increased in healthy humans and differs between sexes. Mol Nutr Food Res. 2014;58(3):516-27.

6. US Patent 7883728B2

7. Antony B, Merina B, Iyer VS, Judy N, Lennertz K, Joyal S. A Pilot Cross-Over Study to Evaluate Human Oral Bioavailability of BCM-95CG (Biocurcumax), A Novel Bioenhanced Preparation of Curcumin. Indian J Pharm Sci. 2008;70(4):445-9.

8. Cuomo J, Appendino G, Dern AS, et al. Comparative absorption of a standardized curcuminoid mixture and its lecithin formulation. J Nat Prod. 2011;74(4):664-9.

9. Kim SW, Ha KC, Choi EK, et al. The effectiveness of fermented turmeric powder in subjects with elevated alanine transaminase levels: a randomised controlled study. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2013;13:58.

10. Pianpumepong Plangpin, Et al. Study on enhanced absorption of phenolic compounds of Lactobacillus‐fermented turmeric (Curcuma longa Linn.) beverages in rats. International Journal of Food Science & Technology 47(11). November 2012.

Medical Disclaimer: All information, content, and material of this website is for informational purposes only and is not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment of a qualified physician or healthcare provider.

Disclosure: Wild Free Organic is a member of various affiliate programs and if a purchase is made through one of our affiliate links a small commission is received. This does not affect your purchase price. Visit our disclosure page for more information.

---

Other Articles on Natural Supplements

Calisthenics, Weight Training, and Isometrics for Physical Development

Article by Stefan Burns - Updated January 2022. Join the Wild Free Organic email newsletter!

There are many ways to train the physical body for increased strength, vitality, health, and performance. Each training modality is different in where and how it stimulates the systems of the body, and the adaptations that occur. While there are many ways to exercise, three common methods are by using bodyweight exercises (calisthenics), by lifting weights, and using isometrics (zero movement exercises).

Calisthenics is a form of resistance training which relies solely on the movement, weight, and tension of the body. The simple pushup, squat, or pullup are the most common examples of calisthenics exercises, though more advanced gymnastic movements such as muscle-ups, planches, and levers all apply.

With weight training, force is produced against objects of various weight such as dumbbells, barbells, and kettlebells. Machines and strongman training implements like stones and logs also are types of weights. Weight training is scalable by increasing or decreasing exercise weight based on methodologies such as progressive overload.

Isometrics are exercises that involve zero movement, and this can be done resisting the force of gravity using weights, or pushing/pulling against immovable objects. Holding a plank is an isometric exercise, as would holding the open position of a dumbbell fly, or pushing as hard as possible against a large boulder. Isometric exercises can be used to precisely target stabilizer muscles or to generate max force safely.

I have trained with all three modalities for years and have experience in their best use and application. Let’s dig into each exercise modality, how they overlap, and their relative strengths and weaknesses.

Calisthenics, weight training, and isometrics done together can build a strong, resilient, and aesthetic body

Calisthenics for Beginners

The most immediately approachable training methodology is calisthenics. People of all shapes and sizes can use bodyweight movements of different leverage patterns to exercise to a degree appropriate for their body. Vinyasa yoga is a great example of calisthenics exercise with many different movement patterns that stimulate the whole body and can be easily scaled for anyone.

Another example of how calisthenics can be scaled to anyone can be understood using the squat. If a trainee is in great shape and free of injury, they can perform jump squats to increase power output, building muscle and strength in the process. If a trainee is overweight and/or injured, then assisted squats can be done, using gymnastic rings/TRX and a reduced range of motion, both safely deloading the body. As a trainee becomes stronger and more fit, the squat movement pattern can be increased in difficulty and complexity to create further adaptation stimulus.

A basic progression squat progression would be: assisted squat -> parallel squat -> deep squat -> shrimp squat -> pistol squat

Calisthenics exercises have the benefit of being performable just about anywhere. Some advanced moves like pullups and muscle-ups require a bar to hang from, but for most calisthenics exercises all that is required is some open space to move in.

Calisthenics also has the benefit of stimulating and strengthening stabilizer muscles throughout the body. Calisthenics exercises are all open-chain and the entire body must work in symmetrical balance to perform movement correctly. Posture is very important, and when programmed correctly, calisthenics will improve posture while strengthening the connective tissues of the body at the same rate muscular development occurs, reducing the risk of injury.

Calisthenics is a very balanced and safe method for improving the physicality of the body while also increasing other desirable characteristics such as endurance, flexibility. Calisthenics also improves metabolism and it’s not uncommon to build muscle while loosing body fat at the same time while practicing a lot of calisthenics. Calisthenics is great when the primary goal is to lose body fat.

Calisthenics Pros

• Can be performed nearly anywhere

• Improves posture

• Strengthens the body symmetrically

• Increases muscle mass and connective tissue strength

• Calisthenics exercises can be used for endurance training safely

• Most exercises are compound and target multiple muscles at once

• Easy to exercise in nature for other health and wellness benefits (nature bathing, fresh air, grounding, sunlight vitamin D production)

Calisthenics Cons

• Lower upper limit on muscular growth compared to weight training

• More advanced movements are best learned with coaching

• Progressive overload is not as easily applied as it is with weights

• More difficult to isolate and develop a single muscle

Weight Training for Beginners

When sheer muscular size and maximum strength is desired, weight training is the best way to exercise the body. Isolating muscles and applying progressive overload to them is easily accomplished with free weights. Large closed-chain compound exercises like barbell squats and deadlifts stimulate muscular growth and central nervous system adaptations throughout the entire body in a way calisthenics and isometrics can’t match. In addition, weight training can be very precise in application for the stimulation of small muscles to strengthen and grow. The biggest and strongest people on the planet, bodybuilders, powerlifters, and strongmen all use weight training as their primary training modality.

Injuries are also common in these sports, sometimes only minor, sometimes very severe. This is because with weight training it is much easier to develop muscular imbalances. The most successful athletes combine weight training, calisthenics, and isometric exercises in order to stay balanced in muscular, strength, and connective tissue development.

When it comes to dramatically transforming the physicality of the human body, weight training is unequaled. With faith and hard work it is possible to transform from weak and lanky to big and strong using weights and progressive overload. It’s not uncommon for men to add 50+ pounds of muscle to their frame over many years using weight training. Calisthenics will create a beautiful aesthetic body, but weight training has the benefit of allowing the trainee to precisely sculpt the physique in anyway they wish. For women bodybuilders training the glutes, upper chest, and shoulders while tightening the midsection creates the coveted hourglass figure and improves the waist-to-hip ratio closer to the biologically attractive 0.7.

Weight Training Pros

• Greatest potential for lean body mass and strength gains

• Unparalleled ability to shape and sculpt the body

• Weights can range from light to heavy and with proper guidance can be used safely by all people

• Many people use weights, and though experience levels vary, most gym-goers are very friendly and help others learn exercises, provide tips, etc.

Weight Training Cons

• Increased risk of injury if small supportive muscles and connective tissues aren’t developed at the same rate as larger muscles.

• Preexisting muscular imbalances can lead to improperly overloaded joints and muscles, increasing risk of injury

• Weight training requires access to weights, either purchased or at a gym.

• Weight training environments such as the gym can be intimidating for many

Isometrics for Beginners

An isometric exercise is a static muscular tension pattern held for time that involves no concentric or eccentric movement. Every different joint angle of a movement or exercise can be held as a isometric contraction, and as such 1000's of different isometric exercise patterns are possible.

The benefits of isometric exercises is that no joint movement is required, making isometrics a good alternative to conventional exercises when a trainee is injured or returning to exercise after a period of detraining. If weak at a certain point of an exercise, such as the midpoint of an overhead press, an isometric performed at that midpoint can be used to build strength at that specific leverage, improving overall force mechanics for the lift. With the overhead midpoint isometric exercise, force can be directed upwards, inwardly, or outwardly depending on what muscular activations are required to break through the sticking point. Isometrics are like calisthenics in that they don't require any specialized equipment to perform and can be performed with bodyweight exercises, but isometrics can also be done in the gym with barbells/dumbbells/machines, or with specialty-made isometrics equipment.

Isometrics have a remarkable ability to improve mind-muscle connection. By taking movement out of the equation, it’s easier for a trainee to feel how force is loading joints and muscles with a particular posture, and in this way isometric exercises can be very effective at building muscle and strength because the trainee learns how to better control the force they generate. Most isometric exercises involve pushing or pulling against an immoveable object, and this allows a trainee to generate maximum force without any risks inherent with movement. This maximum force generation ability of isometrics makes them very effective exercises for strength development as they dramatically increase muscular innervation, better connecting the mind to the central nervous system and musculature of the entire body while also better aligning the body, joints, and fascia into safe positions which force flows through easily.

Isometrics Pros

• Can be performed anywhere and in a million different ways

• Supportive to both calisthenics and weight training

• Very useful in recovery from injury

• Increases mind muscle connection and helps with sticking points

• Builds strength and can be used to preserve strength when away from the gym

• Can be performed during other wellness activities such as walking, meditation, and breathing exercises.

Isometrics Cons

• With poor posture, isometrics can load joints instead of muscles

• Isometrics have no measurable way of recording force output without sophisticated devices not commonly available (whereas a weight is a quantifiable load)

• Isometrics that involve maximum force generation create a large stress adaptation response which can be deceiving in its scale to new trainees, requiring more recovery time than they realize

---

How to Start with Exercise

A combination of calisthenics, weights, and isometrics will transform anybody into a fitter, stronger, and more resilient individual.

Each of us was given a tremendous gift when born into a human body, and exercising physically in order to reach your maximum human potential is one way to celebrate the beauty of life and to thank the forces of creation. Benefits of physical training include happiness, health, and looking good!

“No man has the right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training. It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.”

— Socrates (470-399 BC)

If you don’t know where to start with physical fitness, I offer coaching services with meal plans and workout routines custom tailored to your individual situation and needs. Coaching at the beginning of a physical transformation or during times of low willpower offers valuable motivation and support that can make the difference between making a positive change or sticking with the status quo.

Use the email contact form to get in touch with me and to schedule your first wellness coaching session.

Biofield Tuning - Electromagnetic Sound Healing

Article by Stefan Burns - Updated January 2022. Join the Wild Free Organic email newsletter!

When examining health and wellness from a holistic perspective, we must see beyond just diet, exercise, and lifestyle factors. The energetic state of the body and mind have a wide ranging and powerful effect on an individual’s health and wellness. Energetic state influences how much energy someone has at their disposal for physical or mental endeavors, their state of mind and brainwave patterns, and whether the possibility for disease exists. Linked to the energetic field of the body are consciousness and emotions (1,2). Present emotional status and past emotional history have a strong effect on the mind and body.

What we believe manifests into reality at different strengths depending on the conviction of the belief, and this principle holds true for beliefs incorporated into oneself in the past. The further back in time a belief is stored, usually the more unconsciously the associated behaviors will manifest.  Beliefs can be positive or negative, and everyone’s unique combination of beliefs makes them who they are. It is through their interactions with belief systems that many alternative healing methods work, be it plant medicine ceremonies, meditation, yoga, or sound healing.

Biofield tuning is a very powerful type of sound healing interacts with the human electromagnetic field in order to discover and heal deep unconscious emotional trauma and limiting belief systems that would have been difficult for a seeker to discover on their own.

What is Biofield Tuning?

Biofield tuning is a type of sound healing that uses metallic tuning forks to interact with the electromagnetic field of the human body, otherwise known as the biofield. The human biofield extends on average 2 meters out from the center of the body and a biofield tuning specialist is able to feel and manipulate this electromagnetic field using tuning forks of different frequencies. According to biofield tuning theory, the magnetic field lines furthest away from the body are those associated with early life, and field lines closer to the body correspond to more recent history. As a result the biofield also can be read as a timeline of past experiences and emotions. Unresolved trauma will manifest in the biofield as discordant energy which a biofield tuning specialist can detect by the shift in vibrational and auditory frequency of the tuning forks.

Emotional trauma and limiting belief systems manifest themselves in the human biofield as “knots”, warped magnetic field lines that correspond to energy blockages in the body. An experienced biofield tuning specialist is able to interact with biofield knots, discover past emotional trauma, and with a clear mind, receive the information stored in the biofield to guide the seeker towards resolution.

---

The Power of Belief and Holographic Theory

To fully understand the power experienced emotions and belief has on one’s existence*, let’s take two individuals who experienced different upbringings, Jack and Joe. Jack was always told he was smart from a young age, and as Jack grew up layers of beliefs that he is smart were built. Jack’s internal deep set belief that he is smart manifested in reality as him actually being very intelligent.

On the other side of the spectrum, if Joe was told from a young age he was dumb, Joe will have built up a belief system that he is dumb which then will manifest itself into reality as his stupidity.

Until Joe dismantles his old belief systems that he is stupid, he will not be able to unlock his full potential. Specific deep set beliefs can be very hard to change as these beliefs actually manifest into reality in such a way as to impede the identification and healing of that belief system. Most everyone has beliefs that do not serve them hidden in blind spots, and this is where bringing in a coach or healer to identify these self-limiting areas of belief is so valuable. Repairing and changing belief structures that do not serve the individual or collective is a requisite step required for complete health and wellness to be achieved. Until all self-sabotaging, limiting, and deleterious beliefs are replaced by beliefs that serve to grow an individual consciously, emotional baggage can manifest as limitations, injury, and disease.

*Holographic theory explains this phenomenon, and for more information on holographic theory I suggest you read the book The Holographic Universe by Michael Talbot.

---

My Experience with BioField Tuning

Being a geophysicist who has an understanding of how biofield tuning works from a physics perspective, and also being a holistic wellness practitioner, having the opportunity to have my biofield tuned was very exciting. Experiencing the physics of biofield tuning to discover self-limiting blind spots and past emotional blockages was a unique synthesis between self wellness and the physics of our universe that I live to better understand and educate others on.

Biofield tuning specialist Angie Bahm of Sound Healings Edmonds was the first person to examine my biofield. I went into the session with an open mind once the session started I found it easy to maintain a deep state of meditation throughout. Through my grounding and meditation practices, my earth star and soul star chakras were identified as being well balanced. By examining my biofield timeline, Angie was able to find unresolved childhood emotional trauma that I had held onto since the age of five, which is when my parents divorced. I have very few memories from this time in my life and everything that I experienced during that turbulent time was stored in my unconscious. By realigning my magnetic field corresponding to that time, Angie was able to offer insight into the emotions I experienced and provided me closure on self-limiting beliefs that I had developed.

To learn more about biofield tuning and to watch my biofield tuning session live, you can watch the video at the top of the article. You can also read the book Tuning the Human Biofield: Healing with Vibrational Sound Therapy written by Eileen Day McKusick, the founder of biofield sound healing therapy.

I wish all of you the best in resolving any past emotional blockages and limiting belief systems you may possess. The wellness journey is never-ending as there is always room for expansion, every step forward takes one closer to their true purpose.

References:

1. Murphy T. Solving the “Hard Problem”: Consciousness as an Intrinsic Property of Magnetic Fields. Journal of Consciousness Exploration & Research. 2019;10(8):646-659.

2. Beck R. Mood Modification with ELF Magnetic Fields: A Preliminary Exploration. Published online 1986.

Disclosure - Affiliate links to Amazon are in this article, from which I receive a commission. The purchase price remains the same if you use the affiliate link, and the commission is used to grow Wild Free Organic. Thanks for your support.

Underarm Care Complete Guide

Article by Stefan Burns - Updated November 2022. Join the Wild Free Organic email newsletter!

On the human body, the armpit, or what we’ll refer to as the underarm mainly, is the connection point between the arms and the torso of the body. After puberty, underarm body hair begins to grow for both sexes and pheromones are produced. For mate selection (aka your love life), pheromones play a big role, influencing mood, focus, and sexual response of your partner (1). The underarm is also the location of a network of 20-40 small axillary lymph nodes, small organs part of your immune system responsible for draining lymph.

With its varied functions and structural location, the underarm is a very important part of the body worthy of attention and not destined solely to be smelly and sweaty. With a good diet, exercise, proper grooming, and consideration of the application of any chemicals applied to the underarm, unpleasant body odor won’t exist, perspiration will be minimal, and the lymphatic system can function as desired for optimal wellness.

The Importance of Underarm Lymph Nodes

Lymph is a clear or slightly white/yellow fluid very similar to blood plasma that consists of about 95% water, plasma proteins, and lymphocytes (white blood cells). Lymph nodes are responsible for processing and returning to the blood any fluids that have seeped out of capillaries and now circulate among the tissues of the body. Cells dump waste into the extracellular space also, and without a well-functioning lymphatic system toxins and debris quickly accumulate, leading to cellular damage and feelings of lethargy and stiffness. During this process of circulation and cleansing through the lymphatic system, expended lymphocytes are processed and any microorganisms encountered in the lymph fluid are destroyed. The lymph nodes of the underarm perform this function for the neck, chest, upper arms, and underarm areas.

Cross-section diagram of a lymph node - CC4.0 by Cancer Research UK

Because of the immune function of lymph nodes, certain cancers like breast cancer can be detected in the lymph nodes if the cancer has spread enough. Similarly, when dealing with an infection, it is common for the lymph nodes of the body to swell due to the increased demand of draining lymphocytes and clearing toxins placed upon them. A wellness check to perform everyday is to gently feel the lymph nodes of the neck and underarms to ascertain their status. A quick 30 second massage keeps the lymph nodes free of inflammation and functioning properly. After the milky lymph is processed, the plasma is drained back into the blood stream. Any failures of the lymph nodes to completely detoxify lymph into plasma will recirculate toxins back into the blood stream near entry to the heart, causing cardiac inflammation and a secondary immune response. This is to be avoided at all costs.

Illustration showing inflamed (red) lymph nodes. CC4.0 from www.scientificanimations.com

Besides manual massage, another way to assist in the proper functioning of the underarm lymph nodes is to practice yoga. Because of its highly varied movement, yoga helps to move and drain excess lymph around the entire body. In kundalini and kriya yoga, special attention is given to the underarms via certain poses and self-massage involving the arms, side body, and rigorous breathing. In general vigorous flow, inversions, and twisting poses aid in reliving lymphatic congestion by getting lymph moving again throughout the body, and if an inflamed lymphatic system is causing health issues, regular yoga practice can help to restore optimal health.

How to Reduce Underarm Sweat

How to stop underarm sweat naturally is a question many people ask without truly believing it is possible. In fact it’s quite simple though it might take some time before seeing the full results of any efforts made. Dietary and lifestyle changes will have the biggest impact.

To reduce underarm sweat a few things must be done:

1. First, chemical laden antiperspirants and deodorants must not be used. The use of these underarm products only exacerbates the sweat and odor issue over time.

   • Essential oils can be used instead for odor and sweat control, recommendations for that later in the article

2. Second, the diet must be altered to remove chemically contaminated foods, highly processed foods, excess simple sugars, and any foods that are intolerant or allergenic to the body.

   • A simple prescription for this is to remove all wheat, added sugars (sweets), and flours (acellular carbs) from the diet. Better for establishing long-lasting beneficial eating behaviors is to replace highly processed foods over time with health promoting foods like whole and unprocessed vegetables (squash, leafy greens, cucumbers, etc), fruits (bananas, blueberries, kiwis), seeds (pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, flax seeds), nuts (cashews, walnuts, pecans, almonds), and pulses (lentils, beans, peas).

3. Proper skin and hair hygiene must be maintained. This means regular showers which scrub the underarms with a natural soap like Dr. Bronner, as well as trimming of the hair. Shaving or a close cut of the underarm hair is best to minimize the microbiome colony that lives in the armpit.

The sweat glands of the underarm push toxins out via sweat. Sweating is one of the reasons heat therapy is so effective at healing the body from injury and trauma. With ample water intake the body has enough water at its disposal to detoxify through the sweat glands without placing the body into a state of dehydration. Toxins and unwanted chemicals being the nasty things they are create less than desirable smells, and in this way body odor can be a great indicator or overall health and wellness. If your body odor is minimal and/or doesn’t smell unpleasant, then your body is in a fairly detoxed healthy state. If your body makes even yourself gag and others are repulsed by it, then that’s an indication that some major health issues are at hand.

When body odor and underarm sweat are encountered, it is common to layer on deodorant and antiperspirants. Chemicals from deodorants and antiperspirants don’t just layer on the skin of underarm where applied, they actively absorb into the body*. Antiperspirants purposefully clog the sweat pores of the underarm with micronized metals like aluminum in an effort to stop the bodies ability to sweat from there, therefore disrupting the natural detoxification process that the body is undertaking if there is a lot of underarm sweating. Micronized metal particles are damaging to the body and brain. When the body doesn’t need to detoxify heavily, underarm sweat is rare and minimal, occurring mostly when needed to cool the body down from the potential of heat exhaustion.

*Note - A simple way to feel this chemical absorption process is to apply a small amount of peppermint or tea tree oil to the armpit. After a few minutes and lasting up to half hour you’ll feel the oil used absorbing deeper into the underarm.

Detox Safely with Fasting

The body is in a state of active detoxification when it is being exposed to undesirable compounds. This can be through diet, environmental exposure, etc. If postponing the detoxification process and storing toxins in bodyfat, then you may feel fine and think there is no problem other than weight gain. If you have no toxins in you whatsoever then you’ll feel great. It’s when you’re actively detoxing that you feel poorly, may sweat a lot, stink, have acne, rashes, and more.

By removing food from the diet during a fast, one of the major sources of toxins in a normal lifestyle is eliminated. Fasting provides the body relief from detoxifying and allows for mindfulness to be applied to the situation in order to understand exactly where the toxins were coming from.

What Causes Underarm Odor?

Armpit odor is a combination of many factors. As previously discussed, the diet and internal state of the body have a big impact on the chemicals released by the underarm sweat glands. Some of these chemicals might be inherently smelly, while others might be part of a chain of events which eventually leads to an unpleasant odor.

The sweat that comes out of the armpit sweat glands is nearly odorless. The breakdown of proteins found in sweat, and how the underarm microbiome responds to these chemicals, is the primary driver of body odor. A higher concentration of apocrine glands (scent glands) which produce sweat with higher concentrations of proteins are located at the underarms. If the body is pushing a lot of chemicals and proteins out through the sweat as a detoxifying measure, there will be more body odor. If the underarm microbiome is balanced and the body is healthy, only minimally releasing proteins out through the apocrine scent glands, then there will be minimal body odor and the attractive smell of pheromones is more likely to be pleasantly noticed by members of the opposite sex.

The Armpit Microbiome

A large and permanent population of microorganisms lives on skin of the human underarm as it’s warm, moist, and usually shielded from UV radiation (sunlight). The underarm microbiome subsists by biotransforming the natural secretions found in sweat into odorous molecules. The resident microbiome mostly consists of Gram-positive bacteria of the genera Staphylococcus, Micrococcus, Corynebacterium and Propionibacterium. The compounds produced by the armpit microbiome which are odorous are short and medium-chain fatty acids, thioalcohols, and pheromones (2). All of these compounds evaporate at body temperatures and it is the microbiome of the underarm which transforms the proteins found in sweat into these compounds.

Every species of microorganism is unique and prefers a certain type of environment. The microbiome of the underarm is an important component of the biological system, so the goal when dealing with unpleasant body odors is not in the elimination of the microbiome but rather the shifting of the microbiome towards favorable species. Corynebacteria are a commensal microorganism particularly associated with the creation of bad sulfurous odors. They are aerobically based but can also exhibit a weak fermentative metabolism (carbohydrates to lactic acid) under certain conditions. Corynebacteria are fastidious and have complex nutrient and environmental requirements for their growth, and therefore having bad body odor is a key sign that the bodily systems are out of balance, creating an environment where a slow growing commensal microorganism can become a pathobiont.

One way to effectively select against pathobionts and pathogens is to practice proper hygiene, eat healthy, and use natural anti-microbial essential oils like tea tree oil, peppermint oil, and lavender oil.

The antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties of essential oils also make them great in treating acne, aiding the immune system and helping the skin to regenerate.

Essential Oils as Natural Deodorant

Essential oils can be used as a natural deodorant and also to shift the microbiome of the underarm favorably away from bad odors. Application is easy and the cost is cheap compared to most underarm products.

There are many different types of essential oils, and the three that I have experimented with by applying them to the underarms are peppermint oil, lavender oil, and tea tree oil. These three essential oils are all anti-microbial, anti-fungal, and have a pleasant smell to them.

To apply essential oil to the underarms, place 2-5 drops into the palm of your hand and run the oil all around the underarm. If you have sensative skin then dilute with a carrier oil like chia seed oil. Repeat this as often as desired! I usually carry a small bottle of lavender oil with me and do this 1-3 times a day depending on my activity level and the weather. The absorption of tea tree oil and peppermint oil are especially noticeable, with both creating a cooling effect as they absorb into the skin.

If you have sensitive skin, do not apply the oil directly, instead diluting it with water or a carrier oil like chia seed oil. For any essential oil, before first use test the diluted oil on a small section of skin to test for allergic reactions.

---

Peppermint Oil Benefits

• Has a fresh pleasing scent

• Creates an invigorating feeling as it is absorbed

• Provides relief from itching and muscle pain. Soothes the skin.

• Inhibits the production of certain bacterial toxins

Note - Avoid peppermint oil if you you have a G6PD enzyme deficiency or take certain medications where the inhibition of enzyme CYP3A4 is problematic. Consult your doctor.

---

Tea Tree Oil Benefits

• Has a clean fresh scent

• Has a slight sensory stimulating effect when absorbed

• Poses strong anti-microbial and anti-fungal effects, effective against acne

• Natural insect repellant

• Reduces Inflammation and boosts wound healing

---

Lavender Oil Benefits

• Has a soothing scent few take offense to

• Has a calming and relaxing effect

• Has powerful antioxidant properties

• Relieves pain, heals burns and cuts

Note - Be careful with lavender oil if using medications for sleep and depressive disorders. Avoid if undergoing anesthesia soon (1-2 days before).

My trusted supplier for organic essential oils is Mountain Rose Herbs. They have hundreds of essential oils and blends which can be used for natural hygiene methods, aromatherapy, cleaning solutions, and much more!

All of these oils can be used for underarm, skin, and hair care. Lavender and chamomile oil aromatherapy is especially useful for treating sleep disorders. Tea tree oil is a strong anti-fungal good for athletes foot, nail infections, and dandruff. Chia seed oil is gentle and moisturizing to the skin and hair, good for fascial work, containing high levels of ALA Omega-3 fatty acids, and acts as a good carrier oil for other essential oils which are best diluted.

The essential oil starter pack I recommend is:

• Chamomile oil

• Tea tree oil

• Peppermint oil

• Lavender oil

• Chia seed oil

Mountain Rose Herbs is also my trusted supplier of tea products I use for the different natural herbal teas I brew.

Herbs can be used to improve sleep, reduce inflammation, fight viral infections, and more.

References:

1. Verhaeghe J, Gheysen R, Enzlin P. Pheromones and their effect on women’s mood and sexuality. Facts Views Vis Obgyn. 2013;5(3):189-195.

2. James AG, Austin CJ, Cox DS, Taylor D, Calvert R. Microbiological and biochemical origins of human axillary odour. FEMS Microbiol Ecol. 2013;83(3):527-540.

3. Winkelman WJ. Aromatherapy, botanicals, and essential oils in acne. Clinics in Dermatology. 2018;36(3):299-305.

Medical Disclaimer: All information, content, and material of this website is for informational purposes only and is not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment of a qualified physician or healthcare provider.

Disclosure: Wild Free Organic is a member of various affiliate programs and if a purchase is made through one of our affiliate links a small commission is received. This does not affect your purchase price. Visit our disclosure page for more information.

Gut Health for Strength Training

To Grow, you need to Eat

Article by Stefan Burns - Updated July 2022. Join the Wild Free Organic email newsletter!

More calories need to be consumed than expended to increase lean body mass and muscle. Physical strength can increase slowly when metabolism is in homeostasis, and to gain strength at a faster rate eating 500 more calories daily will grow useful lean body mass.

So after deciding to make strength training a primary endeavor for health, it’s a known requirement to eat 250 - 500 calories per day in surplus. This additional load of food requires greater work from the gastrointestinal system, and therefore more gut stress is likely to be experienced.

The equation for increasing strength and building muscle by increasing dietary consumption is further complicated by how well food is digested.

• All food eaten is processed perfectly efficiently (100% nutrients captured)

• Food processed with occasional waste (25% not captured)

• Food processed with constantly inefficiency (50%)

• Food processed poorly (75%)

• Zero useful processing (diarrhea) or intake of calories (fasting).

If food isn’t being digested efficiently, then even if calories are consumed in excess for building muscle and strength, those calories and nutrients won’t be utilized by the body and stagnation will occur. It’s rare to be at 100% perfect food absorption or zero food absorption, and most people because of their gut health are somewhat wasteful and inefficient at absorbing everything they eat.

When the goal is to building muscle and strength, and digestion inefficiency is an unknown, then it becomes very difficult to calibrate how much extra food must be eaten to be absorbing the nutrients needed in slight excess for healthy lean body mass to be added. On top of that, if digestion is inefficient and therefore the 250-500 extra calories aren’t absorbed as desired, then if even more food is eaten in order to offset digestive inefficiency, then digestive inefficiency usually will increase even more. It’s a blurry line that makes the whole situation complicated, and it’s for this reason that having good gut health is a prerequisite for any proper strength training cycle to be successful.

Ectomorphs or hardgainers, people who struggle to gain weight yet eat a lot of food, most typically blame their lack of results on an extremely fast metabolism, and there is some truth to that, but the bigger causal factor is usually poor gut health or exaggerated food intake.

Tip - Healing the gut often will heal adrenal fatigue

How to Heal the Digestive System

The first and most important goal with wellness is to be healthy. If you’re very weak to the point of detriment, then strength training improves overall wellness.

When sticking to the goal of maximum wellness and understanding the dynamics of eating on overall anabolism it becomes clear why healing the gut is the first step in pursuing any muscle building endeavors. Once the gut is healthy and processing food consistently at above a 90% efficiency, then a serious strength training routine can be started.

Exercise is acutely stressful on the body, and it is this stress that helps stimulate the body to adapt by growing muscle and getting stronger. Exercise stress also stresses the digestive system, as exercises places a lot of force onto the muscles and tissues of the core. If the digestive system is already functioning poorly and high-intensity exercise is placed on the body, gut health decreases even further and the systemic inflammatory load is to great for adequate recovery to occur.

With a healthy and well-functioning digestive system, systemic inflammation that exercise transiently creates is resisted and nullified with normal rest and recovery. Turmeric and curcumin supplements, cannabis (CBD/THC), and piperine (derived from black pepper), all have anti-inflammatory properties that target the digestive system can also help lessen the impact of exercise stress on the gut. In addition to those useful herbs and supplements, there are a few main factors at play that determine gut health. In a loose order of importance:

• The state of the microbiome (diseased or symbiotic)

• Food eating behaviors

• Eating food allergens (creates massive inflammation)

• Food state of matter (unprocessed to super processed)

• Diversity of foods eaten (eat all the colors!)

• Macronutrient ratios

  • Too many added sugars are bad

  • Not enough fiber is bad

  • Low fat and low protein diets are suboptimal for most

• Dietary consistency (are consistent nutrients being eaten weekly?)

All these factors are important for gut heath, and if they are all not in order or functioning for an individual’s biologic needs, then there is a weakness in the diet, digestive system, and metabolism that ultimately needs to be resolved.

If more than 1 or 2 of these requirements for a well-functioning digestive system are out of balance, then it will take time, willpower, and strategy to restore gut health to optimal. Fixing one or two issues at a time in order of importance until all issues have been dealt with is the best way to proceed.

Through my own personal 10 year experience in healing my gut from a state of disease to function, I have learned how to do this, and I have written about gut health as a result.

Once the digestive system is healthy, chronic inflammation from the gut is reduced to normal levels (the normal rigors of digestion), allowing the immune and hormone systems to properly function once again. At this point the body is well primed for a strength-training program can be followed for many months or possibly years with the goal of increasing lean body mass and strength.

I have written a six month strength training routine for people who are ready to begin strength training to follow. Month one starts with full body workouts and then progresses in complexity from there. Growth enhancing methods like the Cistanche Cholesterol Protocol can also then be cycled on and off at maximum effect.

Gut Health for Strength Training

It’s important to exercise, from activities such as walking, hiking, and gardening to more vigorous activity such as lifting weights at a gym. If the digestive system is poorly functioning and the microbiome isn’t improving digestion, then stressing the body further with excessive ego-driven exercise will be a huge wellness setback. It is not recommended to completely stop exercising, but the frequency, volume, and intensity of exercise should be reduced to a beneficial baseload that allows the body to heal from other hurts.

If you are an intermediate to advanced trainee, then shifting gears to healing the gut for the long-term benefits can result in a loss of some muscle and strength in the short-term. Once the digestive system is healed and properly functioning though, when strength-training frequency and intensity is increased again, muscle memory kicks in quickly and strength and muscle quickly return. With a healthy digestive system, new muscle and central nervous system adaptations can be built at maximum efficiency and in the shortest amount of time.

---

Ready to Heal Your Gut?

sale

Holistic Gut Health Guide eBook

Sale Price:$12.95 Original Price:$18.95

Together the digestive system and microbiome are the foundation of health from which everything else is dependent on.

The Holistic Gut Health Guide contains all the information you need to identify and understand the gastrointestinal and microbiome problems you may have while also providing you the most effective natural methods you can use to heal your gut. No gut health problems are unsolvable, give yourself every possible advantage along your gut health journey by reading an implementing the advice shared in the Holistic Gut Health Guide.

Purchase

Some of the information in the Holistic Gut Health Guide isn’t common knowledge but when implemented it is highly effective in healing the gut and shifting the microbiome towards symbiosis. Give yourself every possible advantage along your gut health journey by reading an implementing the advice shared in the Holistic Gut Health Guide.

---

Medical Disclaimer: All information, content, and material of this website is for informational purposes only and is not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment of a qualified physician or healthcare provider.

Disclosure: Wild Free Organic is a member of various affiliate programs and if a purchase is made through one of our affiliate links a small commission is received. This does not affect your purchase price. Visit our disclosure page for more information.

5 Incredible Health Benefits to Pumpkin Seeds

Article by Stefan Burns - Updated June 2022. Join the Wild Free Organic email newsletter!

Pumpkins are a large squash that can grow to exceptional size, used the world over for Fall decorations and made into pumpkin-flavored treats like pumpkin pie and pumpkin spice lattes. The real treasure of the pumpkin is their seeds. Pumpkin seeds have many notable health benefits, from their excellent micronutrient and macronutrient profiles to their anti-microbial and anti-parasitic effects. Learn the top five reasons why you should regularly include pumpkin seeds into your diet.

In a world that’s go go go and fixated on supplements for correcting nutrient deficiencies, pumpkin seeds are the ultimate snack. Pumpkin seeds are very high in zinc, magnesium, manganese, iron, and phosphorus, while also having appreciable amounts of vitamin B1, vitamin B3, vitamin E, and choline. If you are taking a supplement for one of the minerals listed above, you can replace it by adding pumpkin seeds to you diet!

Pumpkin Seeds Micronutrients

Pumpkin seeds are packed full of vitamins and minerals and are especially notable as a rich source of magnesium and zinc, minerals deficient in most of the modern population. A ¼ cup of dried and shelled pumpkin seeds contains 64% DV manganese, 57% DV phosphorus, 48% DV copper, 45% DV magnesium, and 23% DV zinc. Pumpkin seeds also contain appreciable amounts of B vitamins 1, 3, 5, and 9 as well as choline and vitamin E. The recommended daily value for magnesium is 400 mg, and ¼ cup of pumpkin seeds contains half that amount.

Pumpkin Seeds are High in Minerals

Values from a 1/4 cup of dried and shelled pumpkin seeds. Y-axis is % Daily Value

Pumpkin Seeds Notable Vitamins

Values from a 1/4 cup of dried and shelled pumpkin seeds. Y-axis is % Daily Value

Magnesium deficiency can cause high blood pressure, reduce vitamin D synthesis, worsen asthma, lead to sleep disorders like insomnia, cause mental illness, and increase bone fragility. Pumpkin seeds because of their high magnesium content can be incorporated into the diet to help improve sleep quality and reduce mental illness. Low levels of zinc can weaken the immune system, delay growth, lower testosterone levels, can cause psychological disorders, and reduce the ability to heal from wounds. Solely for the magnesium and zinc eating pumpkin seeds is highly beneficial, and eating pumpkin seeds has other major health benefits in addition to those two minerals.

Vitamin E is an antioxidant best known for its ability to minimize damage from free radicals. The recommended daily intake of vitamin E is 15 mg/day, and only 21% of the global population reaches this threshold daily (1). What’s unique about the vitamin E found in pumpkin seeds is that it comes in a wide variety of forms, with alpha-tocopherol, delta-tocopherol, gamma-tocopherol, alpha-tocomonoenol, and gamma-tocomonoenol all being versions of vitamin E found in pumpkin seeds. Alpha-tocopherol is the most biologically active form of vitamin E, yet gamma-tocopherol is the most common form found in the North American diet, and pumpkin seeds contain both.

The vitamin E content of pumpkin seeds is a good illustration of the concept of vitamin and mineral complexes. Micronutrients found in whole foods come in complexes containing other micronutrients, phytonutrients, macronutrients, and much more. The structure of food also has an effect on it’s digestibility and the bioavailability of the micronutrients it contains (2). An isolated vitamin or mineral supplement, often synthetically derived and taken without food, will not be as bioavailable or holistic in its effects as micronutrients derived from whole foods.

Including a 1/4 cup of pumpkin seeds into your diet everyday has the potential to eliminate many of the daily micronutrient supplements or multi-vitamins you may take, and the vitamins and minerals from pumpkin seeds will be much more bioavailable than those from pills.

Pumpkin Seeds Macronutrients

Pumpkin seeds have a very favorable macronutrient profile. The same ¼ cup of shelled pumpkin seeds has 10 grams of protein, 2 grams of fiber (mostly insoluble), and 16 grams of fat split into a balanced mix of monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, and saturated fats. The three most satiating macronutrients are fiber, protein, and fat (with refined sugar being the worst), and pumpkin seeds contain predominately all three!

Pumpkin Seed Micronutrients

Pumpkin seeds are truly the ultimate grab-n-go snack because a few handfuls will keep energy levels high by increasing fat metabolism, satiate the microbiome with fiber, and provide a sizable amount of protein for use as amino acids. For these reasons, if you suffer from junk food cravings, pumpkin seeds would be the ideal snack to eat to reduce or eliminate the cravings. Fasting also can be used to reduce food cravings, and to learn to identify them in the first place.

Pumpkin Seeds are Anti-Parasitic

Raw dried pumpkin seeds have been used the world over for their anti-helminthic effects, and an amount like the ¼ cup of seeds used earlier is enough to disable, stun, or kill parasites in the body without causing harm to the host (3). Parasitic infections are common in immune compromised people in which a low diversity pathogenic microbiome is often a common association. Autoimmune diseases are increasingly rapidly the world over caused by a myriad of issues such as increasing pesticide use (4) and declining immune system health, and parasite infections are silently becoming more and more common. Industrial feed lot operations for beef, pork, chicken, and fish are highly contaminated in blood, pus, and feces, and it is in these conditions that parasites thrive and enter into the food supply.

Regularly incorporating pumpkin seeds into the diet can help cleanse your body of parasites, pathogenic microbes, and fungal infections, while also keeping you protected from future exposure. Raw pumpkin seeds, being unpasteurized, also can help repopulate and diversify the gut microbiome with symbiotic microorganisms that will work with the host instead of against it (as is the case with pathogenic microorganisms).

Pumpkin Seeds are Anti-Inflammatory

Pumpkin seeds contain beta-carotene, a type of carotenoid which has anti-inflammatory properties, and when pumpkin seeds are added to diet, they show an efficacy on par with anti-inflammatory drugs in reducing anti-inflammatory symptoms of arthritis (5). The anti-inflammatory effects of pumpkin seeds are from a combination of its healing anti-fungal, anti-parasitic, and-microbial effects on the gut, in addition to the useful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory phytonutrients like beta-carotene.

With most people in western society suffering from chronic inflammation, any addition to the diet which is anti-inflammatory is a huge plus and will help return the body to a state of balance. Resetting the digestive system with fasting can greatly help with lowering systemic inflammation throughout the body, and pumpkin seeds are a great food to break a fast with.

Pumpkin Seeds are Good for the Heart

Pumpkin seed oil has been shown to reduce LDL “bad” cholesterol and raise HDL “good” cholesterol significantly (6). Pumpkin seeds contain oleic acid, linoleic acid, pectin, and phytosterols, with these compounds highly responsible for the total blood cholesterol reduction. Blood pressure is also reduced notably by pumpkin seed oil, and as pumpkin seed oil is derived from pumpkin seeds, eating the seeds would have the same effects.

Pumpkin seeds through their beneficial healing effects on the gut reduce systemic inflammation which is a leading factor in causing heart disease, and their fiber, fat, and protein content stabilizes blood sugar levels. Heart disease has many complicating factors such as stress, poor diet, lack of exercise, but much of this boils down to the systemic chronic inflammation caused by poor gut health, an unbalanced pathogenic microbiome, and a highly stress immune system. Because of these mechanisms, and through its constituent elements, that pumpkin seeds ultimately are a very heart healthy food.

In addition to pumpkin seeds, pushups improve heart health drastically if done regularly. An action plan for someone suffering from heart disease, or someone more predisposed to heart disease, would be to do 50 pushups and eat a 1/4 cup of raw pumpkin seeds everyday.

The many Health Opportunities of Pumpkin Seeds

It is amazing how pumpkin seeds so perfectly address many of the common health issues that plague western society. With topsoil increasingly being depleted, and fruit and vegetable nutrient content decreasing as a result, pumpkins are still able to extract from the soil significant levels of vitamins and minerals which many people are dietarily deficient in while being able to grow to incredible size. The unique macronutrient profile of pumpkin seeds is satiating while simultaneously shifting the microbiome to a healthier state and healing the gut.

Through its positive interactions with the digestive system and because of its abundant phytonutrients, pumpkin seeds have a noticeable impact in reducing inflammation, with inflammation being a large driver for hundreds of health issues and diseases. As a result, the simple addition of ¼ cup of raw shelled pumpkin seeds to the diet regularly can reduce risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, sleep issues, mental illness, arthritis, and more.

---

References:

1. Péter S, Friedel A, Roos FF, et al. A systematic review of global alpha-tocopherol status as assessed by nutritional intake levels and blood serum concentrations. Int J Vitam Nutr Res. 2015;85(5-6):261-281.

2. Hiolle M, Lechevalier V, Floury J, et al. In vitro digestion of complex foods: How microstructure influences food disintegration and micronutrient bioaccessibility. Food Research International. 2020;128:108817.

3. EI-Aziz A. Antimicrobial proteins and oil seeds from pumpkin (Cucurbita moschata).

4. Herbicides. Wild Free Organic.

5. Yadav M, Jain S, Tomar R, Prasad GBKS, Yadav H. Medicinal and biological potential of pumpkin: an updated review. Nutr Res Rev. 2010;23(2):184-190.

6. Majid AK, Ahmed Z, Khan R. Effect of pumpkin seed oil on cholesterol fractions and systolic/diastolic blood pressure. Food Sci Technol. 2020;40(3):769-777.

Medical Disclaimer: All information, content, and material of this website is for informational purposes only and is not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment of a qualified physician or healthcare provider.

Disclosure: Wild Free Organic is a member of various affiliate programs and if a purchase is made through one of our affiliate links a small commission is received. This does not affect your purchase price. Visit our disclosure page for more information.

---

Other Articles on Nutrition

Dangers of Pesticides

Article by Stefan Burns - Updated November 2021. Join the Wild Free Organic email newsletter!

The human body, the foods we eat, the air we breathe, and the planet we live on are made up of millions of chemicals. Water, with the chemical formula of H2O, is the main chemical that our bodies are comprised of, being necessary for thousands of essential chemical reactions, and without water you die. Still, water intoxication is possible though. With any chemical, the dose determines the poison, as does the length of exposure to it. For some chemicals like water, multiple gallons of water consumed very quickly is required to reach a median lethal dose (LD50), while some chemicals can be fatal at even less than a gram. Other chemicals like pesticides might not kill you directly, but will affect your health in more insidious ways, and 90% of Americans have been found to have pesticides and byproducts in their bodies (1).

Pesticide usage in agriculture is widespread, being used on 90% of agricultural lands in the US. Herbicides are a type of pesticide.

Exposure to chemicals overtime is very important to consider for this reason. A small dose of a chemical like a residual herbicide might acutely cause no apparent harm, but over time and with consistent exposure to many different herbicides, chronic health conditions can arise which severely impact overall health and wellness and ultimately lead to fatal outcomes. Reducing exposure to chemicals that harm human health over long periods of time as much as possible is a very important aspect of a healthy lifestyle. Herbicides are so widespread in their use that limiting exposure to them can be difficult and requires lifestyle modifications. Therefore consciously voting with your dollar and purchasing foods and products that aren’t contaminated with pesticides is important. Once food and product changes have been made, monitoring your chemical exposure doesn’t require any conscious thought more than an periodic check-in.

One class of chemicals that is out of sight and out of mind for most are pesticides. Pesticides are chemicals used to control pests and weeds, and include all of the following: herbicide, insecticides, fungicides, bactericides, rodenticides, and insect/animal repellents. Herbicides like glyphosate and chlorpropham are the most commonly used pesticide in the United States, and they trace their origins back to the military industrial complex of World War 1 and 2.

---

Increased Usage of Herbicides

Herbicides were first synthesized in the early 1940’s, and originally researched for use during WW2 as a warfare agent. The primary intention of herbicidal warfare was to destroy the plant-based ecosystem of an area. Fiction turned to reality with Vietnam when herbicidal warfare was carried out to thin the thick jungles of Vietnam, and thousands perhaps millions have suffered the effects of this massive herbicidal warfare campaign. Herbicidal warfare has been forbidden since 1978, yet the chemical and agricultural industry increasingly wages herbicidal warfare on the civilian populations of the world through the broad usage of herbicides on agricultural crops. Millions of acres are now heavily contaminated with herbicides that take up to decades to break down.

90% of agricultural cropland is treated with chemicals each year, and an estimated 300 million acres are treated with pesticides each year (also about 90 percent). In the U.S., cropland receives on average about 3 pounds of active ingredient per acre, equating to nearly a billion pounds of pesticides used in total per year. Divide that by the U.S. population and that equals pounds of pesticide active ingredient used for every woman, man, and child (see image 2). Pesticides are commonly used on urban lands too, and at a higher rate of usage (2).

Notice the massive increase in the use of herbicides (red bars) . Also notable is the increase in fumigants/nematicides for nematode control.

In 1997, 17.4 lbs of active pesticide ingredients were used per person in the united states. Much of that ends up in the soil and our water supply, and the rest ends up in you.

By the end of the 20th century, pesticide usage had increased three fold from the early 1930’s.

The data above compiled by the Center for Integrated Pest Management only goes up to the year 2000. Since 2000, world pesticide usage has gone up, with some countries decreasing their pesticide usage while others have increased their pesticide usage (3). Pesticide usage in the United States is at the highest its ever been from 2010 onwards.

---

Mechanisms of Action as Weed Killers

There are many plants labeled as weeds and sprayed with herbicides that are in fact helpful native plants that create beneficial habitat and food for many different insects, birds, and animals. The term weed is incorrectly used very broadly and to the detriment of holistic ecological understanding.

There are many different mechanisms of action that herbicides take to kill plant life. There is significant overlap and interdependence in biology, and it is through the same or similar mechanisms as below that herbicides cause health issues in humans and negatively affect the human microbiome.

• ALS Inhibitors: Acetolactate synthase is the first step in the synthesis of the branched-chain amino acids leucine, valine, and isoleucine. ALS inhibiting herbicides starve plants of these amino acids, inhibiting DNA synthesis and causing death. The ALS pathway does not exist in animals, but many organisms in animal microbiomes utilize the ALS pathway.

• EPSPS Inhibitors: Enolpyruvylshikimate 3-phosphate synthase enzyme (EPSPS) is used in the synthesis of the amino acids tryptophan, phenylalanine and tyrosine via the shikimate pathway. Glyphosate (Roundup) is a systemic EPSPS inhibitor.

• Photosystem I and II Inhibitors: Photosystem inhibitors affect electron flow, ultimately causing oxidation reactions in different cellular structures which can kill a plant.

• Synthetic Auxins: Synthetic auxins mimic plant hormones in various ways. Growth of plants can be controlled via their hormone systems, with synthetic auxins exerting their effects by docking on the membrane of cells.

• HPPD Inhibitors: 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate dioxygenase (HPPD) inhibitors affect the breakdown of the amino acid tyrosine, the breakdown products of which are used to make carotenoids. Carotenoids protect chlorophyll from damage by sunlight, and without protection plants that have inhibited carotenoid production turn white as chlorophyll die and then the plant dies.

The general way herbicides function is through affecting biochemical processes involving amino acids, oxidative systems, and hormonal systems of plants. These are very important foundational biologic systems that when disrupted kill plants and other organisms like bacteria. To introduce into your own biochemistry any of these chemicals can affect your health and the health of your microbiome over long periods of time.

---

Glyphosate (aka Roundup)

Glyphosate is used as a herbicide because it is very effective at killing plants. Glyphosate is an herbicide which disrupts the shikimate pathway, a metabolic pathway used by bacteria, archaea, fungi, algae, some protozoans, and plants. The shikimate pathway consists of seven-steps, and is used by these organisms, but not animals, for the synthesis of folates and certain amino acids. Animals instead must obtain these essential amino acids through their diet, and it is for this reason that agrochemical companies say that glyphosate exposure is okay for humans.

Glycine-Glyphosate Substitution

The interactions of glyphosate in the human body are more complex than claimed by the agrochemical industry. Glyphosate is composed of the amino acid glycine, an important amino acid that is commonly deficient in humans (4), and a phosphonomethyl group that replaces one of the hydrogen atoms. Glycine is a non-essential amino acid, meaning the body can produce it, but its synthesis requires other nutrients, and depending on the biochemical situation, the body might decide to not synthesize glycine. Glycine then could be pulled from connective tissues, where it is the dominant amino acid, and then utilized throughout the body (but to the detriment of joint health), and/or glyphosate could be substituted in. This swap can happen because glyphosate is similar to glycine, and the process is known as glycine-glyphosate substitution (5). Most of the health effects of glycine-glyphosate substitution are still unresearched.

A common glyphosate side effect is poor gut health. Since glyphosate targets the shikimate pathway, it acts as an antibacterial to the microbiome, and this can lead to problems like food allergies and intolerances, IBS, IBD, leaky gut, and malabsorption of food. Glycine can be synthesized internally, but it is easier to acquire via diet by eating the connective tissues of animals or by eating glycine rich foods like pulses (lentils, beans, chickpeas, etc). Glyphosate through its mechanisms disrupts the health of the digestive system, weakening digestive tight junctions, in the process reducing the ability to absorb glycine from dietary sources. Through this insidious effect the body begins to start glycine-glyphosate substitution, and the process gradually worsens while other bodily system that have incorporated glyphosate into their protein structures instead of glycine become newly stressed.

Glycine-glyphosate substitution is bad news because glycine is a very important amino acid throughout the body. Glycine has been shown to improve sleep (6, 7), is an integral component of connective tissues, helps heal injuries (8), and has anti-inflammatory effects (9). Some common glyphosate side effects include poor sleep, digestive problems, brain fog, skin issues, joint problems, thyroid issues, and fatigue.

Glyphosate can be a contributing factor to gluten intolerance. I personally have had gluten intolerance, and it took me many years to heal my gut to perfect health. Take it from me, determining whether gluten or glyphosate is the problem is difficult, so when making dietary modifications it is best to remove both.

The foods which are the most contaminated with glyphosate are GMO products. GMO crops like wheat, soybeans, and corn have been genetically modified to better resist the effects of herbicides like glyphosate. Now with better herbicide resistant GMO crops, the agricultural industry can spray glyphosate and other herbicides in much greater quantities, contaminating the food supply in even greater amounts. When tested non-gmo crops were found to have glyphosate residues at 0.07 mg/kg to 0.09 mg/kg. For a GMO crop, the range was found to be between 3.3 and 5.7 mg/kg (10). This is approximately a 100x difference. Look for the Non-GMO Project verified label on foods, and for your health and the health of the Earth don’t buy GMO foods. Buying only GMO can be difficult, especially if you live in a food dessert.

Finding glyphosate free flour or glyphosate free oats, two commonly contaminated foods, is difficult, though it is becoming easier as more organic and non-gmo products are brought to market. Non-GMO and gluten-free bread products are readily available now in most grocery stores, and these will be much less contaminated, or even free, of glyphosate residues. Finding oatmeal, buckwheat, cereals, and beers without glyphosate is possible when shopping for Non-GMO gluten-free products, of which there are many…and they are very tasty! For the best chance of buying foods without glyphosate, purchase organic, non-gmo, gluten-free products.

If you are unable to buy foods free of glyphosate contamination, focus your diet on whole unprocessed foods and plenty of fruits and vegetables. Glyphosate residues can be washed off on some fruits and vegetables using a dilated mixture of baking soda and water, which is an effective surface pesticide rinse (11). Growing your own fruits and vegetables is the best way to ensure you’re no exposing yourself to the dangerous herbicide glyphosate among many other pesticides.

---

Chlorpropham and Propham

Propham and chlorpropham are synthetic herbicides and plant growth inhibitors most commonly known for their ability to stop potatoes from sprouting. Chlorpropham applications are also used on spinach, blueberries, garlic, tomatoes, carrots, onions, soybeans, and much more. Chlorpropham’s mode of action is by altering microtubule structure and function in plants resulting in the inhibition of cell division (12). Once potatoes are harvested and ready for storage, chlorpropham dust or propham dust is applied to potatoes via a method known as hot fogging. The potato growing industry will store potatoes for up to 9 months, and during this time chlorpropham will be hot-fogged many times to keep sprout suppression under bay.

During storage, mean concentrations of chlorpropham in tubers decreases with time, with 25% gone in a month and 40% gone in two months. Chlorpropham primarily resides in the peel of potatoes, washing potatoes will remove approximately 40% of the chlorpropham while peeling the potatoes will remove 95% of the herbicide. If the potatoes are boiled or fried, chlorpropham residues can be found in the water and oil used (13).

A naturally grown potato will sprout after some time, like shown here, as it’s still alive and able to perform cellular division.

Through chlorpropham’s growth inhibition characteristics, it has been shown that mice, rats, and beagle dogs feed chlorpropham for short periods of time become anemic, undergo weight fluctuations, and have altered thyroid function, with the hematopoietic system being the main toxicological target found with chlorpropham exposure (14). The hematopoietic system is the bodily system involved in the creation of the cells of blood, with the blood cell genesis sites being bone marrow and the lymph nodes.

Chlorpropham has low mammalian toxicity, but it can bioaccumulate and begin to affect major systems of the body.

The EPA assessed the dietary risk posed by chlorpropham (15), and based on a reference dose not believed to cause adverse effects if consumed daily over 70 years, they found chlorpropham to be safe. 42% of the U.S. population is exposed to that much chlorpropham daily, and while the short chlorpropham studies lasting no greater than 24 months showed very troubling health concerns for the animals involved, 70 years of chronic exposure has been signed off by the EPA as OKAY. The fact that chlorpropham is used in great enough concentrations to cause a physiological effect in potatoes, inhibiting their natural life cycle and stopping sprouting, is reason to believe that chlorpropham is used at great enough concentrations to cause long term health effects in humans with regular ingestion.

Through these mechanisms and how often exposure occurs, chlorpropham and propham can be classified as endocrine disruptors. Just as these herbicides affect cellular growth and reproduction (mitosis), low doses over time can threaten thyroid, lymph node, and hematopoietic health. Thyroid conditions affect ~20% of the U.S. population (16), and this percentage is increasing. There are a lot of diseases of the hematopoietic system (17), and some of them could be caused or affected by chronic herbicide exposure.

---

How to Avoid Herbicides

There are four steps that can be taken to limit your exposure to herbicides. Each step will reduce your exposure, and if all three steps are followed then your herbicide exposure risk will be close to zero.

1. Wash Fruits and Vegetables: Washing and/or soaking fruits and vegetables with a 1% baking soda and water mixture can remove pesticide residues. Some pesticides that only coat the outside of produce will break down or bind to the baking soda and be rinsed away, whereas this method is less effective with pesticides that penetrate deep into fruits and vegetables. To create the pesticide rinse, mix 3 tablespoons of baking soda into a gallon of water.
   

2. Buy Non-GMO Food: With the advent of gene editing technology, genetically modified organisms have been created and are now abundantly in the food supply. Through selective breeding has influenced plant and animal genetics for thousands of years, direct genetic modification can insert genetic code from a other organisms such as a worm into the DNA of a plant. The long term health effects of consuming genetically modified organisms is unknown, and the larger concern comes from how GMO crops are managed compared to non-GMO crops.
   

3. Buy Organic Products: The organic certification is regulated by the United States Department of Agriculture (18), and while it is a step in the right direction, it has many loopholes. It only takes 36 months to transition from regular production to being organic certified by the USDA. Since hazardous chemicals can contaminate soil and water for years, there is still risk of herbicide contamination with organic products. Additionally, animal manures from conventional feedlot and confinement systems are allowed in organic production, and so is manure from animals that have been fed genetically engineered feeds (aka highly herbicide contaminated feeds).
   
   With that said, organic farms use techniques such as composting, soil building, chemical free pest management, crop rotation, and many other holistic agricultural techniques. The variability within the organic standard is wide ranging. There can be an organic farm which uses no chemicals or contaminated materials, and there are organic farms which skirt the edge of the regulations. It’s the same product same quality fallacy. As an informed purchaser it’s your responsibility to research the companies you purchase food and products from, and to only support those who practice ecologically safe and sustainable farming practices.
   

4. Shop at Local Farmers Markets: Sourcing your food from local farmers markets, or growing it yourself, is the final and best way you can distance yourself from herbicides and other chemicals. If you grow your own food, you can complete control from start to finish, and there is no reason to use chemicals when environmentally friendly methods of soil building, weed management, and pest management exist and are easy to apply at a small scale.
   
   If you don’t have space for a garden, or during the seasons where growing without a greenhouse is difficult, shopping at a local farmers market is an excellent solution to the problem of where to acquire high quality contamination free fruits, vegetables, and animal products. When shopping at a farmers market, you can speak with the grower and find out how they grow their food. Additionally, produce at farmers markets is typically less expensive than found in a grocery store, and every dollar spent goes directly to a member of the local community.

Engage with the community, save money, and buy interesting and unique foods at your local farmers market.

There are also micronutrients which can internally help protect you from pesticides. Boron protects against the oxidative stress from pesticides (19), as do powerful antioxidants like anthocyanins found in elderberries.

---

Your Health is Your Responsibility

Agroindustrial chemical companies will argue that herbicides and other pesticides are not harmful to human or animal health at the limits required by law, and while a lot of research has been done, it has not been conducted across the right time scales or with the right combinations of pesticides. Chemical producers have betrayed the trust of the public many times through faulty science, redacted data, chemical pollution, cover-ups, lobbying, and millions have died from the chemicals produced by these large multinational corporations formed during WW1 and WW2.

Your health is your responsibility, and when there are food alternatives not contaminated by hundreds of pesticides and herbicides which are easily accessible at a local farmers market, the right choice is easy to make. The risk of eating conventional produced grains, meat, and produce is simply too great, and the only short term reward from purchasing food from the agroindustrial complex is a few dollars saved. The long term effects could be chronic health conditions that untreated could lead to death.

Find a farmers market near you, support your local community farmers, and thrive.

---

References:

1. Chiu, Y., ., Williams, P. L., Mínguez-Alarcón, L., Gillman, M., Sun, Q., Ospina, M., Calafat, A. M., Hauser, R., & Chavarro, J. E. (2018). Comparison of questionnaire-based estimation of pesticide residue intake from fruits and vegetables with urinary concentrations of pesticide biomarkers. Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology, 28(1), 31-39.

2. Arnold L. Aspelin. Pesticide Usage in the United States: Trends During the 20th Century. CIPM Technical Bulletin 105

3. Max Roser (2019) - "Pesticides". Published online at OurWorldInData.org. Retrieved from: 'https://ourworldindata.org/pesticides' [Online Resource]

4. Adeva-Andany, M., Souto-Adeva, G., Ameneiros-Rodríguez, E., Fernández-Fernández, C., Donapetry-García, C., & Domínguez-Montero, A. (2018). Insulin resistance and glycine metabolism in humans. Amino Acids, 50(1), 11-27.

5. Brewster, D. (1991). Metabolism of glyphosate in sprague-dawley rats: Tissue distribution, identification, and quantitation of glyphosate-derived materials following a single oral dose*1. Fundamental and Applied Toxicology, 17(1), 43-51.

6. Yamadera, W., Inagawa, K., Chiba, S., Bannai, M., Takahashi, M., & Nakayama, K. (2007). Glycine ingestion improves subjective sleep quality in human volunteers, correlating with polysomnographic changes: Effects of glycine on polysomnography. Sleep and Biological Rhythms, 5(2), 126-131.

7. Bannai, M., & Kawai, N. (n.d.). New therapeutic strategy for amino acid medicine: Glycine improves the quality of sleep. Journal of Pharmacological Sciences, 118(2), 145-148.

8. Zhang, Z., Zhao, M., Wang, J., Ding, Y., Dai, X., & Li, Y. (2011). Oral administration of skin gelatin isolated from chum salmon (oncorhynchus keta) enhances wound healing in diabetic rats. Marine Drugs, 9(5), 696-711.

9. Zhong, Z., Wheeler, M. D., Li, X., Froh, M., Schemmer, P., Yin, M., Bunzendaul, H., Bradford, B., & Lemasters, J. J. (2003). L-glycine: A novel antiinflammatory, immunomodulatory, and cytoprotective agent. Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care, 6(2), 229-240.

10. Glyphosate-tested. (n.d.). Healthy Traditions.

11. Yang, T., Doherty, J., Zhao, B., Kinchla, A. J., Clark, J. M., & He, L. (2017). Effectiveness of commercial and homemade washing agents in removing pesticide residues on and in apples. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 65(44), 9744-9752.

12. Paul, V., Ezekiel, R., & Pandey, R. (2016). Sprout suppression on potato: Need to look beyond cipc for more effective and safer alternatives. Journal of Food Science and Technology, 53(1), 1-18.

13. Lentza-Rizos, C., & Balokas, A. (2001). Residue levels of chlorpropham in individual tubers and composite samples of postharvest-treated potatoes. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 49(2), 710-714.

14. J. van Engelen. Pesticide residues in food 2000 : CHLORPROPHAM. Centre for Substances and Risk Assessment, National Institute of Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, Netherlands.

15. Chlorpropham. EPA R.E.D Facts. October 1996

16. The Endocrine Society. Endocrine Facts and Figures: Thyroid. First Edition. 2015.

17. Michael T. Busch, Amy L. Dunn. Diseases of the Hematopoietic System. Musculoskeletal Key. July 2016.

18. Agricultural Marketing Service. Organic Certification and Accreditation. USDA

19. Coban FK, Ince S, Kucukkurt I, Demirel HH, Hazman O. Boron attenuates malathion-induced oxidative stress and acetylcholinesterase inhibition in rats. Drug and Chemical Toxicology. 2015;38(4):391-399.

Health Benefits Of Elderberry

Article by Stefan Burns - Updated September 2022. Join the Wild Free Organic email newsletter!

Elderberries are known for their many health effects, most notably for their ability to fight the cold and flu, and they have been used medicinally for thousands of years. Elderberries are harvested from Sambucus, a flowering plant found throughout the world in temperate and subtropical regions that can form large shrubs or small trees. Uncooked elderberries and all other parts of the plant are poisonous, but when the berries are cooked the cyanides are nullified. Elderberries contain notable amounts of vitamin C, vitamin B6 and iron.

Elderberries have many health effects because of their rich concentration of anthocyanins (1). Elderberry syrups, powders, and extracts have powerful effects on the gut, help reduce the length and severity of colds and the flu, and might have muscle building and fat burning effects by improving nutrient partitioning.

Elderberry for Cold, Flu, and Covid Viruses

The common cold is causes by the rhinovirus, the flu is caused by the influenza virus, and SARS-CoV-2 is caused by a coronavirus. Common symptoms of all these virus include fatigue, aches and pains, temperature increases, upper respiratory issues, and digestive issues such as diarrhea and vomiting. The common cold is the least severe of the three, with influenza and coronaviruses being worse, potentially life threatening.

Whereas pathogenic bacteria, fungi, and parasites will attack human tissues, viruses attack the immune system directly, which is what makes them so troubling. When the body is stressed, the immune system becomes stressed, and now weakened, the chance of getting a viral infection goes up dramatically.

“All disease begins in the gut”

— Hippocrates (460 - 377BC)

If you get infected, typically through the digestive system or the lungs, the immune system now ramps up production of antibodies and cells to protect itself from a fast replicating pathogen. Other pathogenic microorganisms which before were being held in check add to the stress by exploiting the hosts weakness. It can become a downward spiral if left unchecked.

One way to fight back against this unfortunate turn of events is by using elderberry! Elderberry reduces cold duration by 50% and the severity of symptoms by 50% or more (2), and elderberry was found to substantially reduce upper respiratory symptoms when sick (3). Elderberry flavonoids bind to and prevent H1N1 infection in vitro (4), and compare favorably to the known anti-influenza prescription medications like Tamiflu (5). Elderberry can also be taken as a preventative to support and strengthen the immune system due its unique natural pharmacology.

Viral infections are often treated with over the counter drugs, antibiotics, and antiviral medications which can have bad side effects and long term health consequences. Because of the covid-19 pandemic, mainstream scientific researchers are starting to better understand the relationship between diet and nutrition, inflammation and oxidative stress, and the immune system (6). What makes elderberry such a powerful natural medicine is because it’s rich in flavonoid phytochemicals, specifically anthocyanins, which exert potent anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatory effects throughout the body which strengthen the immune system via interactions with the gut. To understand more lets learn about anthocyanins and the digestive system.

Elderberry is Rich in Anthocyanins

Anthocyanins are favonoid polyphenol phytonutrients (plant pigments) that can range in color from red, blue, purple, or black.

Elderberry is very high in anthocyanins due to its dark purple to black color, and 66% of the phenolic components of elderberry juice are anthocyanins. Anthocyanins are biologically desirable because they have strong antioxidant effects. Foods rich in anthocyanins include elderberries, blueberries, raspberries, purple cauliflower, black “forbidden” rice, black beans, among many other foods that have red, purple, and black coloration.

Elderberry has an anthocyanin profile that differs from other berries, which includes cyanidin-3-glycoside, cyanidin-3,5-diglucoside, cyanidin-3-sambubioside, and cyanidin-3-sambubioside-5-glucoside. The high concentration of cyanidin-3-glycoside (C3G) is unique, as cyanidin-3-glycoside is a relatively rare anthocyanin, and C3G has unique and desirable physiological effects on the body.

Upon consumption, anthocyanins have a tough time reaching the blood stream because they are rapidly metabolized by the digestive system. Like turmeric and curcumin, the beneficially health effects of elderberry are primarily felt by the bodily tissues that metabolize them. Once ingested, some of the anthocyanins are metabolized by the epithelial cells of the digestive system, and for the anthocyanins that make it through to the bloodstream, elderberry anthocyanins are incorporated by endothelial cells, the cells which make up the inner lining of blood vessels. As anthocyanins are transported, more and more will be absorbed until some finally reach muscle or brain tissues.

Like curcuminoids, anthocyanins that are micro-emulsified into lipid-micellar structures are able to penetrate deeper in the body and can exert their effects on a wider range of bodily tissues.

In the graph below the bioavailability of elderberry anthocyanins cyanidin-3-glycoside (C3G) and cyanidin-3-sambubioside can be seen over 24 hours.

Plasma anthocyanin concentrations after consumption of 720 mg elderberry anthocyanins. Sample size of four elderly women. The point at 24 hr represents all three lines

For C3G, a peak plasma concentration (Cmax) of 42.5 +/- 4.5 nmol/L is reached at the 1 hour mark. The half life is ~100 minutes, and most anthocyanins from elderberry are excreted after 4 hours.

Overall, anthocyanins appear to be absorbed in their unchanged glycosylated forms in humans (7).

Elderberry Improves Digestive Function

Because elderberry contains a lot of flavonoids like cyanidin-3-glycoside and is rapidly absorbed by the the gut, elderberry has potent health effects for the gut. The gastrointestinal tract is the physical barrier that stops the diffusion of foreign materials from the lumen from entering into the circulatory system. The lumen is the soup of microorganisms and digestive fluids always slowly moving through your gut. With a properly functioning gut, only fully digested macronutrients like carbs, fats, and protein, along with small chemicals like micronutrients and phytonutrients, can pass through the intercellular tight junction shield and into the blood stream via guided mechanisms.

Cross-section view of epithelial cells of the digestive system. The tight junctions are where the membranes of the cells press up against one another. Notice the villi up top and how the lumen can filter through them.

Impairment of epithelial tight junctions is associated with various diseases caused by inflammation and immune system stress. This stress is created when partially digested foods and potentially pathogenic microbes enter into the blood stream, requiring cleanup by the immune system but now over a much larger area as compared to just the lining of the digestive system.

Dietary flavonoids, which is what elderberry is rich with, reduce oxidative stress and help to heal the epithelial tight junctions of the digestive system (8). Anthocyanins have been directly shown to improve intestinal barrier function and regulate the gut microbiome in mammals (9). When tight junctions are repaired, the barrier between microbiome, nutrients, and body tissues is reestablished, and normal function can resume. The immune system is still very active with the gut under healthy circumstances, but when the digestive system is compromised, the immune system needs to ramp up and better protect the circulatory system, a much larger and more diffuse area that covers the entire body. As a metaphor, no longer is the fighting solely at the trenches, but it is spread out through the countryside, and civilian casualties begin to occur.

Overtime, this increase in the duties of the immune system is chronically stressful and can lead to disease. To reduce the stress to the immune system and to all the other tissues of the body, the digestive system needs to be strong and intact, forming an impenetrable barrier between the microbiome and the rest of the body.

If you have gut problems like IBS, IBD, chron’s disease, celiac disease, or you just know your digestive system functions poorly, considering using fasting to reset your digestive system. Fasting has very powerful healing effects on the gut and throughout the body, though it is not to be done lightly. Short 24-hour fasts are easier and can also be used to understand and curb food cravings, an important distinction to understand which will improve your food choices and health. Overall elderberries are excellent overall for gut health.

Elderberry for Improved Nutrient Partitioning

Elderberry anthocyanins that make it into the bloodstream are then absorbed to some degree by endothelial cells, which like with the gut, increases protection against oxidative stress (10). In the bloodstream, anthocyanin-rich elderberry extracts enhance glucose and oleic acid uptake into human skeletal muscle cells (11), and anthocyanins, more specifically cyanidin-3-glycoside, increase fat burning and decrease fat storage through altering gene expression (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18). Over time these effects of anthocyanins improve blood glucose markers, saturate muscle tissue better with glycogen, and can heal dysfunctional fat cells.

Overall, once anthocyanins are in the bloodstream they can be considered nutrient partitioners. They aren’t nutrients themselves, but they direct carbs and fats preferentially to muscle and skeletal tissue rather than adipose or visceral fat tissue.

The dosages required for anthocyanins to exert strong nutrient partitioning effects are quite high, and this is still an area that requires more human research.

Elderberry Sources

There are a ton of elderberry products out there, and below are my favorites which I have used and recommend.

Elderberry Juice

Elderberry Juice from Biotta is available in a lot of different grocery stores and has a great flavor. This product is pasteurized and the heat sensitive nutrients will have been destroyed.

Elderberry Lozenges

Therazinc Elderberry Lozenges by Quantum Health. These lozenges can be found nearly anywhere and at the first thought that I might be getting sick I reach for one of these. The combo of zinc and elderberry is great for fighting infections, and caught early can reduce the length and severity of the infection.

Elderberry Powder

Lost Empire Herbs has a 64:1 Full-Spectrum Extract Elderberry Powder, and their extract contains 13-18% anthocyanins. This is the most potent elderberry option of the list, and if you really want to experiment with how high-dosage elderberry makes you feel, this is the elderberry supplement I recommend.

Elderberry Tea

Dried Elderberries like those sold from Mountain Rose Herbs can be steeped in a tea using water anywhere from 170 - 212 F (75-100 C). Water temperature on the lower end of that range will degrade less anthocyanins and for better extraction more time is required. Steep dried elderberries for 10 minutes at 75 C for best effect.

Elderberries from Nature

Should you choose to prepare elderberry juice or syrup yourself, rather than to purchase a supplement, remember that the berries must be properly dried or cooked, since raw elderberries can cause nausea or in large amounts cyanide toxicity. Only ever use the berries — the rest of the plant is poisonous and should not be consumed in any form.

Elderberry Dosing

If using the Therazinc Elderberry Lozenges, the following dosing protocol can be used:

• 1 lozenge daily for general health and immune preventative effects. The lozenge can replace a daily zinc pill like from a zinc balance supplement.

• 3 lozenges daily while experiencing a viral infection, take one lozenge morning, afternoon, and night. This will provide throughout the course of the day 21 mg zinc and 108 mg elderberry powder. The bigger impact here will be from the zinc, not the elderberry.

If using the more potent Lost Empire Herbs 64:1 elderberry powder, the following dosing protocol can be used:

• 350 mg (1/8 tsp) powder daily for general health and immune preventative effects.

• 1 gram daily for viral infections. One serving (1/8 tsp, 350 mg) taken morning, afternoon, and night will keep the anthocyanin levels elevated throughout the body.

• 4 grams daily for glucose improving nutrient partitioning effects, spaced out as 1 gram every four hours (8 am, 12 pm, 4 pm, 8 pm).

If using elderberry tea using the following dosings:

• General Wellness - 1 Tbsp steeped in 8 oz of 75 C water for 10 minutes

• Viral Infection - 1 Tbsp steeped in 8 oz of 75 C water for 10 minutes morning, noon, and night.

For daily preventative strengthening to the immune system elderberry and dandelion is a powerful combination, combine them into a herbal tea and enjoy their many synergistic health benefits.

Reduce your Chance of Getting Sick with Elderberry

Elderberry can reduce your chance of getting sick, and if you do get sick, elderberry can also be used to shorten the duration and reduce the severity of the viral infection. As a natural remedy, elderberry won’t damage your liver like regular cold and flu medications.

Elderberry will always help but it’ll never completely heal you

Elderberry is just a supplement, it can never truly heal you. To heal at a deep level other considerations beyond a “magic” powder are required. Are you…?

• Eating a healthy diet

• Drinking plenty of water

• Minimizing exposure to sick people

• Sleeping every night

• Mindful of stress

• Exercising (weights, calisthenics, yoga, running)

• Washing your hands when dirty

• Aware and considerate of your emotions?

Keep some elderberry lozenges in the cabinet and drink elderberry tea as often or needed as desired. Elderberry is a great preventative herb, fantastic for health if used regurarly.

---

References:

1. Ulbricht C, Basch E, Cheung L, et al. An evidence-based systematic review of elderberry and elderflower (Sambucus nigra) by the Natural Standard Research Collaboration. J Diet Suppl. 2014;11(1):80-120.

2. Tiralongo E, Wee SS, Lea RA. Elderberry Supplementation Reduces Cold Duration and Symptoms in Air-Travellers: A Randomized, Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial. Nutrients. 2016;8(4):182.

3. Hawkins J, Baker C, Cherry L, Dunne E. Black elderberry (Sambucus nigra) supplementation effectively treats upper respiratory symptoms: A meta-analysis of randomized, controlled clinical trials. Complement Ther Med. 2019;42:361-365.

4. Roschek B, Fink RC, Mcmichael MD, Li D, Alberte RS. Elderberry flavonoids bind to and prevent H1N1 infection in vitro. Phytochemistry. 2009;70(10):1255-61.

5. Zakay-rones Z, Thom E, Wollan T, Wadstein J. Randomized study of the efficacy and safety of oral elderberry extract in the treatment of influenza A and B virus infections. J Int Med Res. 2004;32(2):132-40.

6. Iddir M, Brito A, Dingeo G, et al. Strengthening the Immune System and Reducing Inflammation and Oxidative Stress through Diet and Nutrition: Considerations during the COVID-19 Crisis. Nutrients. 2020;12(6)

7. Milbury PE, Cao G, Prior RL, Blumberg J. Bioavailablility of elderberry anthocyanins. Mech Ageing Dev. 2002;123(8):997-1006.

8. Suzuki T, Hara H. Role of flavonoids in intestinal tight junction regulation. J Nutr Biochem. 2011;22(5):401-8.

9. Li J, Wu T, Li N, Wang X, Chen G, Lyu X. Bilberry anthocyanin extract promotes intestinal barrier function and inhibits digestive enzyme activity by regulating the gut microbiota in aging rats. Food Funct. 2019;10(1):333-343.

10. Youdim KA, Martin A, Joseph JA. Incorporation of the elderberry anthocyanins by endothelial cells increases protection against oxidative stress. Free Radic Biol Med. 2000;29(1):51-60.

11. Ho GT, Kase ET, Wangensteen H, Barsett H. Phenolic Elderberry Extracts, Anthocyanins, Procyanidins, and Metabolites Influence Glucose and Fatty Acid Uptake in Human Skeletal Muscle Cells. J Agric Food Chem. 2017;65(13):2677-2685.

12. Sasaki R, Nishimura N, Hoshino H, et al. Cyanidin 3-glucoside ameliorates hyperglycemia and insulin sensitivity due to downregulation of retinol binding protein 4 expression in diabetic mice. Biochem Pharmacol. 2007;74(11):1619-27.

13. Guo H, Ling W, Wang Q, Liu C, Hu Y, Xia M. Cyanidin 3-glucoside protects 3T3-L1 adipocytes against H2O2- or TNF-alpha-induced insulin resistance by inhibiting c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase activation. Biochem Pharmacol. 2008;75(6):1393-401.

14. Tsuda T, Ueno Y, Aoki H, et al. Anthocyanin enhances adipocytokine secretion and adipocyte-specific gene expression in isolated rat adipocytes. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2004;316(1):149-57.

15. Tsuda T, Ueno Y, Kojo H, Yoshikawa T, Osawa T. Gene expression profile of isolated rat adipocytes treated with anthocyanins. Biochim Biophys Acta. 2005;1733(2-3):137-47.

16. Tsuda T, Ueno Y, Yoshikawa T, Kojo H, Osawa T. Microarray profiling of gene expression in human adipocytes in response to anthocyanins. Biochem Pharmacol. 2006;71(8):1184-97.

17. Tsuda T, Horio F, Uchida K, Aoki H, Osawa T. Dietary cyanidin 3-O-beta-D-glucoside-rich purple corn color prevents obesity and ameliorates hyperglycemia in mice. J Nutr. 2003;133(7):2125-30.

18. Grace MH, Ribnicky DM, Kuhn P, et al. Hypoglycemic activity of a novel anthocyanin-rich formulation from lowbush blueberry, Vaccinium angustifolium Aiton. Phytomedicine. 2009;16(5):406-15.

Medical Disclaimer: All information, content, and material of this website is for informational purposes only and is not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment of a qualified physician or healthcare provider.

Disclosure: Wild Free Organic is a member of various affiliate programs and if a purchase is made through one of our affiliate links a small commission is received. This does not affect your purchase price. Visit our disclosure page for more information.

---

Other Articles on Herbalism, Nutrition, and Natural Supplements

Repair and Regrow Joint Cartilage

Article by Stefan Burns - Updated June 2022. Join the Wild Free Organic email newsletter!

Cartilage is a unique human tissue with it’s own cellular physiology same as muscle, bone, brain, and organ tissues. Cartilage is the smooth but very strong protective tissue that caps the ends of bones, protecting bones from erosion as they move back each other during normal movement. When cartilage becomes damaged or eroded over time, the result can be terrible pain and a reduction in mobility. The human body caps bones with cartilage because cartilage is mostly friction-less and can regrow, whereas bone is rough and cannot regrow under normal circumstances. Once bone plates fuse in late adolescence, new bone growth stops.

Contrary to popular belief, which is that once cartilage or connective tissues are damaged then they are unable to heal, human physiological development itself provides the first clue that cartilage can be repaired and regrown. The reason for mistaken beliefs on the ability of cartilage to heal is because cartilage and connective tissues take a long time to heal and only do so under specific circumstances.

With consistency and patience, it is possible to reverse cartilage damage and heal connective tissues by modifying diet, using simple physical therapy techniques, and with intelligent supplementation.

To properly care for cartilage, it is important that equal attention is given to this unique tissue as would be given to muscle, skin, or heart tissue. Yet what we commonly see are people who work out for bigger muscles, or who devote tons of time on their skin care routines, or cardio fanatics who overdo it, but when it comes to the joints of the body, people throw up their hands and say fixing joint problems can’t be done, it’s impossible.

This is simple not true. Healing joints isn’t impossible, it’s just slow. Due to the cellular biology of cartilage, how it is created, and the chemistry of nutrient transport, it takes time to heal cartilage tissues. The methods described below are the fastest and most focused you can follow to repair your joints, but patience will be required.

Science of Cartilage Tissue

Cartilage is a smooth resilient elastic tissue found throughout the body. Where bones meet at joints, cartilage forms the protective cap which allows for smooth friction-less movement. Healthy cartilage is heavily hydrated (clue #2).

Chondrocytes in hyaline cartilage matrix. | CC3.0 - Emmanuelm at en.wikipedia

Cartilage is made up of cells called chondrocytes which are embedded in a cartilage matrix. This cartilage matrix is primarily made of type-II collagen and chondroitin sulfate.

It is the job of chondrocytes to produce a large amount of the collagenous extracellular matrix and ground substance of which they are embedded in. Ground substance is the gel-like material that contains the rest of the materials found in the cartilage matrix except the fibrous materials, providing lubrication for the collagen fibers that chondrocytes produce.

There are three types of cartilage: elastic cartilage, hyaline cartilage and fibrocartilage. Hyaline and fibrous cartilage are the types of cartilage found in joints, with elastic cartilage being what make up ear flaps and similar tissues.

The three types of cartilage, they differ in the ratio of chondrocytes to collagenous matrix | CC4.0 - Shiloh117981894 at en.wikipedia

The smooth, friction-less, and tough characteristics of cartilage are an expression of the unique proteins and molecules that make up cartilage. The main building blocks of cartilage are water, collagen, and chondroitin sulfate. For any cartilage repair and regrowth protocol, it is factors that required targeted therapy.

Just as important as cartilage is connective tissue. Connective tissue is found throughout the body, and it is an important component of overall joint structure. Very similar to chondrocytes, a fibroblast is a type of cell that synthesizes extracellular matrix and collagen. Fibroblasts create the structural framework that holds everything in the body together (1). Collectively this organ is known as fascia, and through the functions of fibroblasts, fascia exerts a huge influence throughout the body. Fascia is what holds all the organs and muscles and soft tissues of the body together and in place while still allowing for a degree of movement. Fascia is very important for posture, strength, and must be considered when healing any wound.

The same nutrients and physical therapy techniques that are effective in triggering cartilage repair and synthesis by chondrocytes are effective at stimulating fibroblasts to repair and regrow connective tissues.

Connective Tissues Require Certain Nutrients

In order to support the maintenance and creation of healthy cartilage tissues, a proper diet high in the right building blocks (fats and amino acids) is needed. You are what you eat, so the easiest way to eat a cartilage supporting diet is to eat cartilage. During digestion, animal cartilage is broken down and absorbed as amino acids, dipeptides, and tripeptides. The body transports these simple proteins to connective tissues where they can be resynthesized into the compounds required grow and repair. If following a vegan diet, then consuming the same amino acids found in collagen and at the same ratios will be similarly effective as eating cartilage. Since cartilage and connective tissues are highly hydrated tissues, drinking enough pure water every day is very important for these tissues to be healthy and function properly.

Collagen peptides are characterized by their high levels of specific amino acids glycine, hydroxyproline, proline, and alanine (2). Glycine is the main amino acid of collagen, making up nearly every third component in the collagen peptide chain. Glycine is a conditional amino acid, meaning that the body is able to produce it, but depending on diet and other factors, it might or might not be produced in sufficient quantities. The standard recommendation for glycine is to consume 10-15 grams per day. Under normal circumstances the body will get about 2 grams from a typical diet, and synthesize another 2 grams from the amino acids serine and threonine (3). That leaves 6+ grams of glycine everyday that the body would like to have for connective tissue and cartilage maintenance, but won’t synthesize at the expense of other metabolic processes and needs.

Glycine helps stabilize blood sugar levels, and conversely, with insulin resistance, glycine metabolism is impaired (4), producing a series of negative downstream effects. Cartilage and connective tissues won’t receive the nutrients they need, and other serious issues like arterial calcification and elevated cardiovascular risk are associated with glycine deficiency.

Having pain, degraded function, and reduced strength in joints is a sign that the body is stressed for glycine and not receiving adequate amounts in the diet, instead slowing breaking down connective tissues to receive the amino acids it needs for more important metabolic processes. In this way connective tissues and cartilage act as a storehouse of key amino acids, slow to fill up and faster to pull from.

To Repair Cartilage Go Plant-Based for Extra Glycine

Incorporating into your diet glycine rich foods consistently is the first and most important way you can positively benefit your joint health and reduce joint pain. This can be done by consuming animal products high in collagen, or better yet by incorporating plant-based foods high in glycine.

For the typical plant-based diet, most of the protein comes from pulses such as beans, lentils, and chickpeas, which contain three to four times as much glycine as methionine (another amino acid). Glycine deficiency is not typically a concern with plant-based diets. Methionine is an amino acid found in high percentages in muscle meat, and methionine consumption in excess depletes glycine. Considering most meat products now are muscle based and contain very little connective tissues or skin, an animal protein rich diet will provide little glycine to begin with and overtime will deplete the bodies stores of glycine due to excess methionine consumption.

I have personal experience with this. When I first started a vegetarian diet, coming off of eating a lot of meat, a couple weeks in I started to have joint pain in my knees, an exceedingly rare event for me. I had hydrolyzed collagen on hand, so rather than waste it, I took 20 grams and for the next week or so all knee pain vanished. I increased glycine concentrations in my body and the first signs of joint concern vanished. As I learned to incorporate more beans, lentils, and chickpeas into my diet, I no longer required the occasional collagen infusion to reduce joint point, instead my body was being provided ample glycine on a daily basis and at a balanced ratio with methionine.

If you’re an omnivore, incorperate collagen-rich animal products into you diet as well as plant-based sources of glycine. If you follow a carnivore diet, eat more collagen-rich animal products than you think you need, and if you’re vegetarian or vegan consistently eat plant-based sources rich in glycine. The following foods are notably rich in glycine:

• Pulses

  • lentils, beans, chickpeas, peas

• Nuts/Seeds

  • pumpkin, sunflower, almond

• Vegetables

  • spinach, cabbage, asparagus, watercress, seaweed, spirulina

• Fruits

  • bananas, appricots, oranges, avocado

• Animal Products

  • bone broth

  • poultry skin

  • seafood

  • connective tissues

  • egg whites

• Dairy

  • cheese, greek yoghurt, cottage cheese

Methods to Repair and Regrow Cartilage and Connective Tissue

Before any application of a systematic cartilage regrowth protocol, being mindful of your diet and making the changes necessary to provide yourself with enough glycine is the important first step that needs to be taken. Once diet is in check, then other variables which help with the repair and growth of connective tissues can be undertaken successfully. First up are a few known biological processes which improve cartilage repair.

Pressure Stimulates Cartilage Growth

Applying pressure has been shown to repair & regrow cartilage is pressure. Starting with simple truths, pressure is useful for healing wounds, from the basics of holding pressure on a wound to stop bleeding to pressures usefulness for healing longer term injuries such as muscle, bone, and joint damage. Pressure changes stimulate the circulatory system, bring oxygen-rich blood and fresh nutrients to the area. In addition to improving blood flow, pressure itself can stimulate changes in physiology, for example with pressure proteins can change their structure to more advanced forms.

Ace bandage wrap on the left, voodoo floss wrap on the right. Both can be used to safely apply temporary or longer lasting pressure to parts of the body.

For muscle tissue, pressure changes (contractions, pumps, etc) will carry nutrients to areas in need of repair and stimulatory growth, but in cartilage no blood vessels are carried into the tissue. Blood flow is limited in reaching cartilage due to the nature of cartilage.

Nutrients are still delivered from nearby blood vessels directly to the chondrocytes and fibroblasts of cartilage and connective tissues, only it happens through osmosis. Osmotic transfer is regulated through differences in concentrations of molecules across boundaries, and by applying pressure to a joint, the osmotic transfer of glycine, chondroitin sulfate, and other building blocks to chondrocytes and fibroblasts is sped up.

The easiest way pressure can be applied to joints or areas of pain is with elastic wraps like ace bandages or voodoo floss bands. For deeper tissues, hard objects can be used to direct pressure to specific areas and break up scar tissue. When scar tissue is broken up, an inflammation response starts, triggered by the fibroblasts, and cellular cleanup begins. If pressure through a wrap is applied to the area after scar tissue is broken up, then healing nutrients will reach the area sooner and the healing process will be more effective.

Functional Range Conditioning Improves Cartilage Health

Many of the same principles for muscle growth and strengthening can also be applied to joints. Productive stress applied to joints and connective tissues, through targeted methods like functional range conditioning (FRC) can stimulate the repair, growth, and strengthening of cartilage tissues. The proper application of strength training will also improve joint strength and function, and will tighten and strengthen the fascia. Yin yoga and hatha yoga are also especially good at improving joint health.

Any of these modalities done properly increases mobility, improves joint strength, and improves body control. By using performing joint healing movements consistently, there will be a reduction of pain and lower chance of injury, plus better body movement and control overall. FRC, strength training, and yoga are best learned from an experienced professional.

Heat Therapy Reduces Inflammation in Joints

Heat therapy has wide ranging health benefits such as improved healing and increased longevity. Heat therapy works on the cellular level by activating heat shock proteins and releasing growth hormone. Heat shock proteins elimate free radicals and heal damaged proteins, meanwhile growth hormone stimulates growth, cell reproduction, and cell regeneration.

You can do whole body heat therapy by using a sauna, steam room, or hot bath, and this will create a systemic full-body healing effect. Or you can apply heat therapy via a heat wrap to the specific joint or body part that requires attention. pairing pressure, heat therapy, and simple joint movements together is a very effective in breaking up scar tissue, cleaning up the resulting damage, and bringing in fresh blood and nutrients, returning joint function to normal.

Joint/Muscle Flossing Stimulates Cartilage Growth

Back to the beneficial application of pressure for healing connective tissues, voodoo floss bands are particularly effective in my experience. Voodoo floss bands are made of latex and can be wrapped around a body part or joint in order to improve performance, increase range of motion, or promote healing. Joint flossing effectively combines pressure and the FRC ideology, and is the single best thing outside of making changes to your diet that you can do to improve joint health. Watch the video below for more information and how to voodoo floss a knee.

Note - I prefer to skip wrapping the kneecap in order to let the knee glide more smoothly during movements. To see how to floss other joints do a search on YouTube.

Supplements For Cartilage and Connective Tissues

There are some well known dietary supplements and herbs which can with help heal cartilage and connective tissues.

Curcumin for Cartilage Pain and Inflammation

Turmeric is a bright orange root used in cooking well known for its potent anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant effects. Curcumin, a type of curcuminoid, is the main phytochemical responsible for the health effects of turmeric. There are many different ways turmeric/curcumin supplements are formulated, and some formulations are more bioavailable than others.

• Dosing - 1000 mg of curcumin with 10 mg of piperine every morning.

• Effects - Reduced pain and inflammation.

• Supplement Recommendation - Curcumin with Piperine by Nootropics Depot.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids for Cartilage Lubrication

Omega-3 fatty acids are a type of fat used throughout the body for a variety of important bodily processes, namely for the cardiovascular system and brain. Omega-3 fatty acids have anti-inflammatory effects and work synergistically with curcumin. Omega-3 fatty acids come in three forms, ALA, DHA, or EPA. ALA is the plant version which requires conversion into DHA or EPA in the body, so it is best to supplement with DHA and EPA omega-3 fatty acids.

• Dosing - 2-3 grams of DHA/EPA combo every morning. It is better to have a greater DHA/EPA ratio.

• Effects - Reduced pain and inflammation

• Supplement Recommendation - 70% DHA Omega-3 Fish Oil by Nootropics Depot.

• Dietary Recommendation - Sardines are a super rich source of omega-3’s high in EPA and DHA. Walnuts, flaxseed, and chia seeds are good sources of ALA omega-3 fatty acids.

Sulforaphane for Joint Inflammation

Sulforaphane is a sulfur-rich naturally occurring compound found in cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, and kale know for it’s potent anti-inflammatory health effects. A diet high in raw or lightly cooked cruciferous vegetables is best, and sulforaphane supplements are also available.

• Dosing - 50-100 mg sulforaphane every night

• Effects - Reduced pain and inflammation

• Supplement Recommendation - BroccoMax by Jarrow Formulas

Glucosamine Sulfate for Joint Repair

Glucosamine sulfate is a chemical created naturally by the body for use in joint and connective tissues, and if levels in the body are deficient, supplementation may help. Glucosamine sulfate used in supplements is derived from shellfish shells. By supplementing with glucosamine sulfate you’ll ensure your body has enough available to repair cartilage and connective tissues.

• Dosing - 1.5 grams every night

• Effects - Reduced pain, improved function

• Supplement Recommendation - Glucosamine Sulfate by Doctor’s Best

Hydrolyzed Collagen for Cartilage Building Blocks

Hydrolyzed collagen is derived from collagen-rich animal sources, and collagen is the main protein that makes up cartilage and connective tissues. Glycine is the dominant amino acid of collagen protein, and glycine has insulin, cardiovascular, cognitive, and sleep quality effects. By supplementing with collagen you’ll ensure your body has enough amino acids needed to repair cartilage and connective tissues.

• Dosing - 20-40 grams every night

• Effects - Reduced pain, improved function, better sleep.

• Supplement Recommendation (animal) - Collagen Hydrolysate by Great Lakes Gelatin

• Supplement Recommendation (plant) - Collagen Building Protein Peptides by Sunwarrior

Boswellia Serrata for Powerful Joint Repair

Boswellia serrata is a gum resin extracted from a tree, with the main active compounds being boswellic acids. Boswellia serrata can suppress pain and immobility from osteoarthritis in as little as a weeks time. Osteoarthritis is a joint disease that breaks down cartilage and connective tissues of joints, causing pain, stiffness, and loss of function.

• Dosing - 1 gram three times a day, for a total of 3 grams every day

• Effects, Increase in mobility, reduced pain, reduced stiffness/immobility

• Supplement Recommendation - Boswellia Phytosome by Thorne Research

Boron for Bone and Connective Tissue Health

Boron is the fifth element of the periodic table, and trace amounts can be found in the Earth’s crust. Even though boron is a trace element, it is critical for plant and animal biology. Boron greatly improves wound healing by interacting with the fibroblasts of connective tissues. Boron has direct actions on specific enzymes found in fibroblasts, and making sure you are not boron deficient, as is common, is another way to make sure there are no weak links in the healing process.

• Dosing - 10 mg per day

• Effects - Improved healing time, stronger connective tissues

• Supplement Recommendation - Pinch of borax by 20 Mule Team

Bonus - BPC-157

BPC-157 is a 15 amino-acid long protein peptide, with BPC short for body protection compound. BPC is found in stomach gastric fluids, and when injected into a problem area, reduces oxidative stress and speeds up wound and tissue healing. BPC-157 has also been shown to heal epithelial tight junctions in the gut. I haven’t used BPC-157 myself, but it’s effects are so powerful I included it as a jumping off point for your own research. BPC-157 is not used in this cartilage and connective tissue healing protocol.

Joint and Connective Tissue Healing Protocol

Using the methods, tools, and supplements above, and with a good diet already in place, a cartilage and connective tissue repair and regrowth protocol can be designed. This protocol will increase collagen protein synthesis using joint flossing, pressure and heat therapy, functional range conditioning, and intelligent supplementation. It’s also very important to better understand posture and how tension runs through the body in order to make a joint and connective tissue regeneration protocol most effective, and so future mistakes aren’t made that require this process to be done more than once. To read my article on the topic click the button below.

The protocol is a week long, and can be repeated as many times as needed until improvement or complete restoration of function. Weight training is recommended once joint health and pain have abated so lean tissue, bones, and connective tissues can strengthen. The general principles of the program are:

• Daily stimulation of the collagen protein synthesis pathway for affected joints via joint/muscle flossing

• Walking 1x a week for general movement and cardiovascular health. Walk more on your own too!

• FRC 2x a week for targeted applications of overload (for strength and resiliency increases) and movement (for range of motion improvements)

• Yin Yoga 1x a week for restorative movement, deep passive stretches, relaxation, fascial stretching, deep breathing, and overall tension release

• Morning Supplements: 2-3 grams omega-3 fatty acids, 500-1000 mg turmeric/curcumin combination, 10 mg boron.

• Evening Supplements: 50-100 mg sulforaphane, 1.5 grams glucosamine sulfate, 20 grams collagen.

Monday

1. Morning supplements

2. Joint flossing

3. Pressure with ace bandage and self myofascial release

4. Evening supplements

Friday

1. Morning supplements

2. Joint flossing

3. Pressure with ace bandage and self myofascial release

4. Evening supplements

Tuesday

1. Morning supplements

2. Joint flossing

3. Heat therapy

4. Evening supplements

Saturday

1. Morning supplements

2. Joint flossing

3. FRC exercises

4. Evening supplements

Wednesday

1. Morning supplements

2. Joint flossing

3. FRC practitioner visit

4. Evening supplements

Sunday

1. Morning supplements

2. Joint flossing

3. Heat therapy

4. Evening supplements

Thursday

1. Morning supplements

2. Joint flossing

3. 30-60 minute walk

4. Evening supplements

All these techniques can be used more often than scheduled in the program, but I reduced their frequency in order to make the routine more realistically possible. If you are really determined to fix whatever joint problems you are experiencing, go all out and devote a lot of time towards these practices. Remember though, healing joints and connective tissues takes a long time due to the biology of it, so doing what you can consistently is best long term strategy to make progress.

The importance of diet can’t be understated. Other than acute injuries, it might have been diet that made these joint and connective tissue problems arise. Having a joint friendly diet is at least half the battle.

References:

1. Bordoni B, Zanier E. Understanding fibroblasts in order to comprehend the osteopathic treatment of the fascia. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. 2015;2015:1-7.

2. Gauza-Włodarczyk M, Kubisz L, Włodarczyk D. Amino acid composition in determination of collagen origin and assessment of physical factors effects. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules. 2017;104:987-991.

3. KEGG PATHWAY: Glycine, serine and threonine metabolism - Reference pathway.

4. Adeva-Andany M, Souto-Adeva G, Ameneiros-Rodríguez E, Fernández-Fernández C, Donapetry-García C, Domínguez-Montero A. Insulin resistance and glycine metabolism in humans. Amino Acids. 2018;50(1):11-27.

Medical Disclaimer: All information, content, and material of this website is for informational purposes only and is not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment of a qualified physician or healthcare provider.

Disclosure: Wild Free Organic is a member of various affiliate programs and if a purchase is made through one of our affiliate links a small commission is received. This does not affect your purchase price. Visit our disclosure page for more information.

---

Other Articles on Recovery

Health Benefits of Panax Ginseng

Article by Stefan Burns - Updated November 2021. Join the Wild Free Organic email newsletter!

You’ve probably heard of ginseng before, either American, Asian, or Chinese ginseng. Asian ginseng, also known as panax ginseng is one of the most popular herbal supplements in the world, and for good reason. This medicinal herb has been used for millennia in Eastern traditions for its health-giving properties. It’s proven to be safe, and modern scientific research has proven many of it’s already known health benefits such as reduced risk of cancer and a strengthened immune system. Read on to learn how you can incorporate panax ginseng into your wellness routine in order to improve your health!

---

What is Ginseng?

Raw ginseng root

To establish the health benefits of ginseng, it’s important to understand the plant genus.

Ginseng is a root plant found in temperate climates across the globe. There are three sub-types: Korean ginseng (P. Ginseng), Chinese ginseng (P. Notoginseng) and American ginseng (P. quinquefolius). All three types of ginseng are used medicinally. Korean ginseng is also known as panax ginseng, and this type of ginseng is the focus of this article.

Panax ginseng is the most thoroughly studied of the three types of ginseng, and therefore the safest in terms of dosing recommendations. American ginseng is relatively well-studied, and Chinese ginseng is far less common in both the environment and the medical literature. All three species of ginseng appear to have potent health benefits if taken appropriately, from reducing cancer risk to improving subjective well-being.

---

Ginseng reduces Inflammation and lowers risk of Cancer

Panax ginseng is a powerful antioxidant (1), especially after extraction and concentration of ginsenosides (the active ingredient). To accomplish this, the root is processed and the active components are extracted using ethanol. The other health effects, namely lower inflammation and reduced risk of cancer, appear to work downstream of it’s ability to increase all three main antioxidant enzymes (OD, glutathione peroxidase, and catalase). Antioxidants are important for human health because they reduce inflammation.

The process of oxidation (redox), where a chemical loses electrons, releases free radicals (hydrogen ions). Free radicals are highly reactive and can lead to chain reactions that may damage the cells of organisms. This is the root cause of chronic inflammation.

The study cited above used dermatitis patients as the trial group. Dermatitis is an inflammatory skin condition. Antioxidant products like ginseng have the potential to reduce symptoms for a wide range of inflammatory conditions, and also for conditions with inflammation as a secondary side effect.

Inflammation is also a main driver of cancer (2), and panax ginseng has been studied to notably reduce colorectal, ovarian, pancreatic (3), and overall cancer risk (4).

---

Ginseng strengthens the Immune System and lowers Blood Glucose

One of the best ways to test the immune-boosting qualities of a research compound is to test it on cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, and ginseng has been studied under these conditions and was shown to alleviate adverse affects from chemotherapy (5). Chemotherapy significantly inhibits immune function because it destroys many cells that are necessary for proper immune function. The study, which administered ginseng to cancer patients that received chemo treatment, found that the group taking ginseng had notably improved immune function once the treatment was completed.

Stop viruses with ginseng

Immune-boosting products like ginseng and elderberry aren’t only good for those with cancer, and it’s believed those beneficial effects from the ginseng can still be useful for preventative health. Year round or even just seasonally during the winter, or for those who get sick with the common cold or flu more frequently than normal, ginseng is a supplement to take for a trial run. These products are also typically known and recommended to people in fields of work that expose them to increased pathogens, like schoolteachers, doctors, or those in public service.

Ginseng has powerful immune regulating effects, and it also has the ability to beneficially assist the circulatory system. As you can see the postive effects of panax ginseng are wide ranging. By boosting the circulatory system, ginseng is able to lower blood glucose levels (6), for most a very good thing) an increase blood flow (7).

---

Ginseng improves Mood, promotes Calm, and enhances Sleep.

It’s been known for over one thousand years in Traditional Chinese Medicine that panax ginseng can improve mood in humans with mood disorders, but modern medicine is just now catching on to studying these more subjective health markers. Ginseng can be especially effective for those with depressive disorders since the product is a minor stimulant and a tonic. And even though ginseng is a mild stimulate, it helps bring about a sense of calmness (8).

Knowing panax ginseng helps with depression is worthwhile because it’s better to use natural medicine to solve health problems at their onset. This is important because mental health drugs tend to be some of the most addictive and laden with side effects. You never want to reduce your health to improve one other.

Panax ginseng not only improved general mental health, but also aided social functioning in those struggling with socializing. These issues are uniquely connected for each individual. Elderly Koreans with Alzheimers reduced their rate of cognitive decline with ginseng (9), and ginseng helps improve sleep quality (10), which everyone knows is vital to proper brain health and function.

---

Keep Ginseng in your Cupboard

When you’re more likely to get sick, periods of high stress, traveling, and to help improve your mood and well-being, ginseng is helpful to have on hand. Especially with a cold or flu, the sooner you can begin supplementing with panax ginseng, elderberry, and zinc the more symptoms will be damped and duration of the sickness will be reduced.

Ginseng can be taken daily safely for up to a few months. As a holistic health supplement, panax ginseng can be taken to improve health while factors like diet, exercise, sleep, and sun exposure are improved. Keep taking the below recommend dosages of ginseng until you feel better. For daily preventative health 200 mg once a day up to 3000 mg spread out for acute uses are safe. Store all supplements somewhere cool and dry and the ginseng supplement should stay good for a long time.

---

My Recommended Ginseng Supplement

There are two factors I consider when choosing a supplement brand: whether the company tests their products and whether the product is based on research. Illuminate Labs does both. They’re a supplement manufacturer that shares all of their test results on their website which is unheard of. They also share all of the medical research papers that went into their product formulation. The Illuminate Labs ginseng extract supplement is my favorite panax ginseng supplement it’s great knowing that what I use is safe and tested.

---

References

1. Hong CE, Lyu SY. Anti-inflammatory and Anti-oxidative Effects of Korean Red Ginseng Extract in Human Keratinocytes. Immune Netw. 2011;11(1):42-9.

2. Coussens LM, Werb Z. Inflammation and cancer. Nature. 2002;420(6917):860-7.

3. Yun TK, Choi SY. Preventive effect of ginseng intake against various human cancers: a case-control study on 1987 pairs. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 1995;4(4):401-8.

4. Yun TK, Zheng S, Choi SY, et al. Non-organ-specific preventive effect of long-term administration of Korean red ginseng extract on incidence of human cancers. J Med Food. 2010;13(3):489-94.

5. Cheng Lin. Ginseng alleviation of adverse effects from radiotherapy or chemother apy in liver cancer patients. Shanghai Cancer Hospital, Shanghai Medical University, Shanghai 200032. 1989-02  

6. Luo JZ, Luo L. Ginseng on hyperglycemia: effects and mechanisms. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2009;6(4):423-7.

7. Jovanovski E, Jenkins A, Dias AG, et al. Effects of Korean red ginseng (Panax ginseng C.A. Mayer) and its isolated ginsenosides and polysaccharides on arterial stiffness in healthy individuals. Am J Hypertens. 2010;23(5):469-72.

8. Reay JL, Scholey AB, Kennedy DO. Panax ginseng (G115) improves aspects of working memory performance and subjective ratings of calmness in healthy young adults. Hum Psychopharmacol. 2010;25(6):462-71.

9. Heo JH, Lee ST, Chu K, et al. An open-label trial of Korean red ginseng as an adjuvant treatment for cognitive impairment in patients with Alzheimer's disease. Eur J Neurol. 2008;15(8):865-8.

10. Kitaoka K, Uchida K, Okamoto N, et al. Fermented ginseng improves the first-night effect in humans. Sleep. 2009;32(3):413-21.

Improve Digestion in Three Steps

Article by Stefan Burns - Updated July 2022. Join the Wild Free Organic email newsletter!

The old adage goes “You are what you eat”, and few times have truer statements been made. And humans have known this to be true for thousands of years. Millennia ago, Hippocrates, Greek physician and the “Father of Medicine” said:

“Let food be thy medicine, let medicine be thy food”

— Hippocrates

This statement, so simple encapsulates so much truth to it. Wellness truths like this, so simple and obvious, have continually been met with skepticism and disbelief over time. In fact, much of the food industry at large endeavors to prove these truths false through new food product iterations such as “protein” candy bars, meal replacement shakes, and more ultra processed foods created from highly processed powders and syrups.

Hippocrates is also famously quoted with the following:

“All disease begins in the gut”

— Hippocrates

If you are what you eat, and if all disease begins in the gut, then it follows that the food you eat, and how you digest it, can have a huge impact on whether you have a healthy or diseased mind, body, and soul.

Whether you follow a diet such as primal, paleo, Whole30, keto, vegan, or a combination, what’s important overall is eating a diet full of whole, unprocessed foods and learning and understanding what foods work and don’t work for your body in order to achieve optimal health. Changing your dietary mindset to be inclusive of all foods and to be mindful of what you eat, is the true path towards effortless health. Once dietary mindfulness is developed, it’ll be common sense to buy foods of the highest quality, which will further improve your health.

A lot of people know what a healthy diet should be like, some people understand, and a few have earned true dietary wisdom by acting on this knowledge. Even less so than diet, there is a lack of understand for the second part of the equation, digestion.

Just as you can choose healthy foods, there are also choices that can be made which impact your digestion, for better or worse. Luckily, sticking to a healthy diet consistently is the hardest part of this two part equation, and with just a little conscientiousness, you can guide and assist your bodies digestive system to smoothly and effectively break down and assimilate everything you’ve eaten.

In fact, you can get started in improving your digestion in three easy steps, one after the other! Make an effort to do these three tips for each meal, but even starting off, implementing these 3 easy digestion hacks for just your smallest meal of the day will have a noticeable impact on everything from your gut health & regularity to energy levels & mood. By following these three steps, you’ll reduce or eliminate painful bloating, uncomfortable gas, and more.

Eat your Meals with Chopsticks for Better Digestion

Before you ask...yes, chopsticks!

Around the world, just as many people use chopsticks daily as fork & knife users, around 2.5 billion. And in the countries where chopstick use is predominant, such as Japan, health outcomes are typically better than their western counterparts (1). This isn’t a permanent suggestion, but there is a really great lesson to be learned here.

The goal of this first digestion improving tip is to improve your mindfulness during meals. Few things will make you slow down and focus on your meal more than swapping out your typical utensils for chopsticks. If you already use chopsticks for the majority of your meals, fantastic, you’re ahead of the pack.

With chopsticks, especially for new users, you’ll eat slower, and those who eat slower are much less likely to be obese than those who eat quickly (2). Why? Well this is due to a multitude of factors. Eating slower you’ll:

• End up full faster, reducing overall calories consumed.

• Chew more, increasing digestive enzymes and decreasing food particle size, making digestion easier.

• Be more attuned to your body and the feedback it's giving you, whether that’s positive or negative.

• Reduce your stress, eating in a relaxed parasympathetic state (which improves digestion) rather than a fight-or-flight sympathetic state.

An additional plus is the foods you can easily eat with chopsticks tend to land on the healthier side of things. Have you ever seen a person eat junk food with chopsticks?

A healthier meal consumed more slowly in a less stressful state and chewed (aka predigested) more can only be considered a win. And if you have frequent gut problems such as gas, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, or worse, eating slower will only improve upon your current digestive situation.

Try eating with chopsticks for a week! You have nothing to lose. In fact, if you walk away from it all at the end unconvinced, at the very least you’ll be better at eating with chopsticks than you were when you started. With new found chopstick prowess, Chinese stir-fries, Korean BBQ, and Japanese sushi will no longer be meals out of reach, literally!

Eat your Vegetables Last for Better Digestion

First, if you’re not already eating vegetables, start now. Vegetables are full of fiber, micronutrients, and phytochemicals. The health benefits are too numerous to list here. Nine cups of vegetables and fruits daily is encouraged.

Second, eat your vegetables last.

Now if you’re not eating any vegetables at all to begin with, following the conventional wisdom of eating some vegetables at the beginning of your meal isn’t bad advice. Changing any bad dietary habits you have is most important, and eating vegetables overall is more important than timing your vegetable intake. With that said, if it makes no difference to your overall vegetable intake, there are serious benefits to eating your vegetables last.

First, you won’t eat dessert as often. Having just finished a meal followed by a salad or a head of broccoli, you probably won’t be reaching for the cookies or ice cream. You’ll already be comfortably full from the vegetable fiber!

And it’s the fiber that’s important. Considering we ate this meal slower and more mindfully, the food will be better “layered” and predigested from the start. Take the following typical meal format:

Carbs → Proteins & Fats → Micronutrients & Fiber

Note - A great example for the above would be a meal of rice, protein, and zucchini.

Carbs are quick and easy to digest, and eating them first allows your body to quickly break down and use the carbs for energy instead of fat storage. Proteins and fats follow, with protein being used for tissue repair and muscle gain, and fats being used for various cellular structures and as a steadier, longer lasting energy source. Lastly vegetables provide your body ample micronutrients and very importantly, fiber for your microbiome. Buy organic non-gmo (or biodynamic) vegetables to ensure your pesticide exposure is as minimal as possible.

The microbiome is so important when it comes to digestion and overall health (3). After your stomach empties from your last meal, you begin to enter a state of fasting. If you only highly processed foods, your microbiome will be starving for a fresh source of energy in a couples hours time. By providing your microbiome tough vegetable fiber to digest in-between meals, overtime you create an evolutionary pressure to improve microbiome diversity while preferentially selecting for the good gut bacteria (4). If you only provide your microbiome carbs and fats with no fiber, after that meal is quickly digested you’ll start to experience cravings for another meal, usually junkier than the last. As most people know but few understand, that’s a state of stomach and mind known as being “hangry”, and it’s governed by the microbiome’s ability to influence your mood via your hormone system (5). Plus, the flavonoids from the colorful vegetables and fruits like elderberry will help heal the tight junctions of the digestive system, stopping microbes from entering into the blood steam improving gut and immune health.

To quickly put an end to a cranky microbiome, fasting can be used to reset the digestive system, or for a slower approach eat your veggies last. Provide your microbiome a snack they can chew on in-between meals, in the process stabilizing your digestion and energy levels.

Your microbiome will thank you and your waistline will thank you as your wellness improves.

Go for a Walk after Eating for Better Digestion

After you’ve eaten your meal with chopsticks, reserving a heaping serving of vegetables for last, you’re ready to implement the final part of this three-step digestion hack, walking.

Walking at a leisurely pace after a meal, undoubtedly an enjoyable and healthy activity in and of itself, has also been shown to improve your digestion and overall response to food. 15 minutes of walking after a meal will lower your blood sugar more than a full hour of walking before a meal (6), and walking also increases the rate of gastric emptying (7), meaning you’ve digested your food better. In fact, walking for just 15 minutes after a meal will improve your blood glucose levels for over 24 hours (8).

Movement of the body is so important for your health and wellness, and walking is one of the easiest & lowest impact ways to incorporate movement into your daily lifestyle. Paired after a meal and it’s a great way to breathe some fresh air outdoors, get grounded, connect with your body, and maintain that parasympathetic stress-free state that your mindfully created by first eating your meal slowly with chopsticks.

There you have it, try it out for a month! Make a habit of incorporating these three digestion hacks into your daily routine and take notes as to how you feel.

Eat Fermented Foods for Better Digestion

As a fourth recommended tip, discover the secrets of kombucha. Yes, that wonderful lightly fizzy drink, kombucha is fermented tea, each batch home to a “mother”. The mother is a unique microbiome colony that created the fermentation (0.5% ABV) in the tea..

The secret to kombucha is that you drink it after a meal. Not a whole bottle, but a small amount as a refresher. A bit of kombucha throughout the day after meals is ideal. Now instead of just having eaten a meal, which can range from raw to pasteurized in microbial diversity, kombucha “seeds” each meal it is drinken with. The residual sugar in the tea provides a bolus dose of easy sugar energy for the mother and the preexisting microbiome in your digestive system to get started in breaking down the main meal. This is one of the few times having added sugar in the diet is OKAY.

If you have kombucha or other fermented foods regularly, the greeting of the fermented microbiome to your existing microbiome is a smooth meeting. Eating a varied diet full of new healthy foods and drinking/eating fermented foods is the key to a successful diet.

My favorite brand of kombucha is from GT’s Living Food. Drink a variety to always be exposed to new mothers and for fun flavors! Mystic Mango, Guava Goddess, and Cosmic Cranberry are the best.

You might be thinking, no way can these three simple steps and kombucha radically change how I digest my food, improving my mood and energy levels while also reducing the unpleasant effects of bloating and more.

Well, sometimes the simplest of things can lead to the biggest changes and results in ones life. Likewise these three digestion tips are simple in practice, and used together, powerful in their effect. “All diseases begin in the gut”, and to live life to your fullest healthiest and happiest, taking care of your gut means taking care of you.

---

Ready to Heal Your Gut?

sale

Holistic Gut Health Guide eBook

Sale Price:$12.95 Original Price:$18.95

Together the digestive system and microbiome are the foundation of health from which everything else is dependent on.

The Holistic Gut Health Guide contains all the information you need to identify and understand the gastrointestinal and microbiome problems you may have while also providing you the most effective natural methods you can use to heal your gut. No gut health problems are unsolvable, give yourself every possible advantage along your gut health journey by reading an implementing the advice shared in the Holistic Gut Health Guide.

Purchase

Some of the information in the Holistic Gut Health Guide isn’t common knowledge but when implemented it is highly effective in healing the gut and shifting the microbiome towards symbiosis. Give yourself every possible advantage along your gut health journey by reading an implementing the advice shared in the Holistic Gut Health Guide.

---

References:

1. World Health Organization, Japan Health Statistics

2. Hurst Y, Fukuda H. Effects of changes in eating speed on obesity in patients with diabetes: a secondary analysis of longitudinal health check-up data. BMJ Open. 2018;8(1):e019589.

3. Makki K, Deehan EC, Walter J, Bäckhed F. The Impact of Dietary Fiber on Gut Microbiota in Host Health and Disease. Cell Host Microbe. 2018;23(6):705-715.

4. Menni C, Jackson MA, Pallister T, Steves CJ, Spector TD, Valdes AM. Gut microbiome diversity and high-fibre intake are related to lower long-term weight gain. Int J Obes (Lond). 2017;41(7):1099-1105.

5. Smithsonian Magazine, Your Gut Bacteria May Be Controlling Your Appetite, Brian Handwerk November 24, 2015

6. Colberg SR, Zarrabi L, Bennington L, et al. Postprandial walking is better for lowering the glycemic effect of dinner than pre-dinner exercise in type 2 diabetic individuals. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2009;10(6):394-7.

7. Franke A, Harder H, Orth AK, Zitzmann S, Singer MV. Postprandial walking but not consumption of alcoholic digestifs or espresso accelerates gastric emptying in healthy volunteers. J Gastrointestin Liver Dis. 2008;17(1):27-31.

8. Loretta DiPietro, Andrei Gribok, Michelle S. Stevens, Larry F. Hamm, William Rumpler. Three 15-min Bouts of Moderate Postmeal Walking Significantly Improves 24-h Glycemic Control in Older People at Risk for Impaired Glucose Tolerance. Diabetes Care 2013 Jun; DC_130084.

Medical Disclaimer: All information, content, and material of this website is for informational purposes only and is not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment of a qualified physician or healthcare provider.

Disclosure: Wild Free Organic is a member of various affiliate programs and if a purchase is made through one of our affiliate links a small commission is received. This does not affect your purchase price. Visit our disclosure page for more information.

The Science of Grounding - Heal Using your Bioelectrical System

Article by Stefan Burns - Updated November 2021. Join the Wild Free Organic email newsletter!

Grounding, also known as “Earthing”, is a wellness therapeutic technique (1) which has been practiced multi-culturally for thousands of years and is now beginning to be take root in western wellness practices.

Geophysicist Stefan Burns with a Geometrics G-858 magnetometer

Grounding is the practice of connecting your physical body to the Earth, which can be as simple as standing barefoot on grass, or as intentional as grounded meditation and self healing. To explain it simply, when your exposed skin is in contact with the Earth, typically your feet or hands, your body and the Earth connect electrically, supporting the movement of electrons throughout your body, the surrounding earth, and in-between. The effects of grounding depend on the method and duration, and can result in simple easily quantifiable effects such as a sense of calm and well-being, to transformative but hard to quantify healing experiences.

---

It All Starts with The Earth

Grounding is the connection between the Earth and the physical body. In fact, you connect electrically to every object you interact with in some capacity. For this discussion, we start with the Earth because it is the largest and strongest electrical object that humans (and all other living organisms) can connect to currently.

How you connect electrically with any object depends on the size of the object, how it is in contact with you, the starting electrical state of both objects, and its inherent conductivity/resistivity.

The Earth is a massive object with a large potential to store, move, and transmit electricity.

The rough physical statistics for the Earth are:

• Diameter - 7900 miles

• Surface Area: 200 million sq miles

• Volume: 2.6x10^11 cubic miles

• Mass: 6.0x10^24 kg

• Magnetic Field Strength at the Poles: 70,000 nT

• Magnetic Field Strength at the Equator: 30,000 nT

To protect life from the relentless bombardment of solar rays from the Sun, the Earth needs a very strong magnetic field.

Magnetic fields have been known of for thousands of years, and it was in the 1600’s that scientist concluded that the Earth behaves like a magnet except on a solar system scale. But how are magnetic fields created?

Magnetic fields are created by moving charged particles. In the case of the Earth, the movement of the Earth’s metallic molten core (2) and magnetotelluric currents throughout the mantle and crust generate and shape the Earth’s magnetic field.

Magnetotelluric (3) currents are naturally varying electric currents that are continuously flowing through the Earth over a wide range of frequencies ranging from 10,000 Hz to 0.0001 Hz. Lower frequencies mean larger wavelengths. Geophysicists have been studying magnetotelluric currents since the early 1900’s, and it is well understood and accepted in the scientific community that magnetotelluric currents are created through the constant influx of charged particles from the sun in addition to the thousands of lightning strikes that discharge massive amounts of energy into the Earth every day.

These high and low frequency electrical currents exist deep within the Earth, from surface to core. Different Earth materials (rock, soil, water, etc) have an effect on the strength and propagation of electrical currents. For example, a nice grassy meadow after a rain would be an excellent conductor, but an electrically resistive geologic layer underneath the meadow would make the area overall more resistive to the Earth’s deeper magnetotelluric currents. Since geology varies across time and space, the electrical status of any area can vary. Areas with only minor geologic and hydrogeologic activity will electrically remain fairly constant. Areas with rapid geologic changes (landslides, earthquakes, floods) will vary electrically over time.

Magnetotelluric waves can be detected at the surface, but trees with deep extensive toor systems are able to bring lower frequency and stronger waves to the surface. Trees are incredible conductors of electrical energy, and it is through trees that most lightning strikes “deposit” their energy deep into the Earth.

Trees are very powerful grounders (4). I had a powerful grounding experience with this tree at the botanical gardens in Rio De Janerio, Brazil.

Geology and trees can affect how well the natural electrical currents of the Earth are present at the surface, and other factors can also influence how easy it is to ground to these currents.

Hydrocarbon based materials like asphalt, plastic, and foam are very resistive. In the modern world, many layers of resistivity are built up that separate humans from grounding to the Earth. Wearing socks, running shoes, and standing on asphalt separate you from grounding to the Earth by three layers of various resistivity and thickness.

“Until connected with nature you are highly insulated from Earth’s electrical life force”

— Stefan Burns - Geophysicist

---

We are Bioelectrical Beings

Electromagnetic fields have a profound effect on the human body and mind and to use an obvious example there’s a reason no one wants to be struck by lightening. 10-30% of those struck by lightening die, and 80% of those who survive sustain long-term injuries to their nervous, muscular, and cardiac systems. The fact that we can survive lightening strikes at all is incredible and worth thinking about (6). Our brains create subtle electromagnetic waves and our hearts have a strong consistent magnetic field 1000x stronger than the brain. I’ve measured mine directly before, and when your heat beats the magnetic field amplitude increases the same as a pulse wave. Blood pulse waves strongly generate lower frequency 8-12 Hz alpha brainwaves. The human body utilizes electromagnetic energy across a variety of scales, from very subtle strengths to easily measurable with a magnetometer from a few meters away. In a lightning strike, the electromagnetic fields are so strong that they will override any balance of electromagnetic energy someone has maintained.

If hit by lightning, a massive amount of electricity conducts down the nervous system from the highest part of the body, through the torso and trunk, into the legs, and then discharged out through the feet into whatever is being stood on.

It’s the central and peripheral nervous system that is largely the main system responsible for moving electrical currents through the body. Nerves transmit electrochemical signals from one part of the body to another, and the nervous system is the foundation of your bodies bioelectrical system (7), with other components of the bioelectrical system including the endocannabinoid system, muscle tissue, fascia, and even your blood.

With a lightning strike, in just milliseconds 5 gigajoules of energy travel through an individual, the same amount of energy as 36 gallons of gas. To survive 10-100 million volts from a lighting strike, the human bioelectrical systems must be incredibly well developed and capable of transmitting and grounding the huge amount of energy rapidly. Some people don’t have this ability, their hearts and minds fry, and they pass on. A lightning strike is very dangerous. If lightning is striking within 10 miles of your position head for shelter.

Lightning is an extreme example, but there are other electrical objects we connect with daily. When you hug someone you share electrons, and sometimes a handshake results in a spark! Driving your car or typing on your laptop places you in indirect contact with electronic circuitry. Most appliances are electrically grounded for safety reasons in order not to spark you. Not all electronics are directly grounded though, such as your cellphone, and with the average cellphone containing an energy dense lithium ion battery (8), during use it will ground and discharge some electrons to the most conductive object it is in contact with. Most often, that is you, specifically your hands, which are packed with conductive nerve endings.

---

Charged or Discharged

Throughout the day, you are in various electrical states. Early in the morning while still in bed, you’ll have had 8 hours to discharge electrons. Depending on your choice of bedding material (conductive natural fabrics vs resistive synthetic fabrics) you either fairly effectively grounded yourself or you remain some percentage charged up from your electrical exposure the day before. Daily grounding is an important part of getting a good nights sleep.

If your activities for the day are active and outdoors, say taking a swim or reading a book on a lawn, you would have grounded throughout the day and therefore would have discharged whatever human charge you had built up.

If your activities for the day instead included heavy cellphone and computer usage, surrounded by low levels of electromagnetic energy in the form of 4G, 5G, and WiFi networks, then you’ll have absorbed more of a charge than you have given off throughout the day, and you’ll be at a higher energy level.

Going to sleep in a charged state, you might find your thoughts scattered, your body restless, and your mind fatigued.

Going to sleep grounded, you’ll discharge the extra energy quickly, your mind will become calm, and you’ll reach a stable baseline charge in sync with the Earth. It’s the stability of the electrical charge that’s important for your wellness. Having a stable electrical balance allows the body to jump right into 8 hours of restorative healing (9), memory maintenance, and smooth digestion.

A grounding bed sheet, connected to the ground plug of an electrical outlet, can quickly rinse you clean of your charged load every night, allowing the body to rest in an electrical environment the same as we evolved with for millennia.

What’s so special about grounding is it allows us a way to discharge and reduce the impact on our mind and body from being in elevated electrical states. Just as modern technology has provided us with revolutionary technology such as the computer and phone, new technology allows people to ground to the Earth in the comfort of more human environments such as your office, living room, or bedroom.

---

Methods for Grounding

Grounding is one of the most easily accomplished, widely available, and free wellness initiatives you can start at any time. All that is required is a connection to the Earth’s surface, the more conductive the better. That can be problematic in the context of a modern lifestyle, which has made it increasingly difficult to accomplish this seemingly simple task.

For example, in public it’s expected and practical to wear footwear. When was the last time you saw someone walk around barefoot? Aside from the chunky foam of your sneakers, in an office or apartment building you’re at best indirectly connected to the Earth through the many floors of the building, the building’s foundation, carpeting, and more. At home while you lay asleep plastic bed sheets keep you insulated and the bed frame elevates you from the floor which itself is elevated from the ground.

To ground yourself consistently, there are a few lifestyle practices you can make habits of, and their are products you can buy to make the grounding process less conscious and something that just happens. The goal is to always make living a happy healthy life, and to stay grounded, the path of least resistance.

The best way to start grounding is to spend some time outdoors everyday, whether that’s at a park, the beach, hiking, in your backyard/communal living space, where ever. It’s well understood that time spent in nature is fantastic for your health and wellness, helping to boost energy levels, reduce stress, promote a sense of relaxation and calm, reduce risk of disease, and so much more (10). All of these beneficial health effects are synergistically linked with grounding, and thirty minutes a day spent grounding outside in these environments is likely to provide the most wellness benefits of all the methods listed here. Kicking off the shoes and spending time in nature is completely free. If you practice mindfulness during these moments, you’ll quickly experience that the wellness benefits of spending time in nature grounding outweigh the use of time. When connections like these are made, that’s when wellness practices become consistent lifestyle practices.

Another way you can incorporate grounding into your everyday life is to do your exercise grounded. Swimming is a great example of a completely grounded activity any sizable body of water is very well connected to the Earth’s natural electrical currents. Walking and/or running is another activity that can be done grounded, granted you wear the right shoes (or go barefoot). For this I recommend Earth Runners adventure sandals. Earth Runners sandals, made for walking or running, feature a conductive lacing which holds snug to your feet, and terminates at a copper grounding plug on the underside of the sandal. You can also transform your own footwear into grounding footwear with Earth Runners DIY Earthing Shoe kit. I personally have grounded my three favorite pairs of shoes this way (two from Vivobarefoot) and enjoy the fact that I’m efficiently grounded anytime I step outside now!

Vivobarefoot Borough (left), Vivobarefoot Primus Lite (middle), Outer (right). Copper Grounding plugs on each situated at the K1 meridian channel.

Another common way to incorporate grounding into your lifestyle is to add a grounding to a common activity you do daily.

If you go walking everyday, stop by the park and walk across it barefoot. If you meditate or exercise with yoga or calisthenics, then do these activities in direct contact with the ground barefoot.

Swimming in a creek, river, lake, or ocean is an excellent way to ground very rapidly to the Earth’s natural electromagnetic currents. Taking cold shower grounds you more effectively to the Earth than the grounding wire in a house.

Contrary to many, I do not typically recommend grounding mats or bedsheets. If you live in a rural area free from large industrial electrical infrastructure, and you drive you own iron ground in at least 50 feet away from your house, then using a grounding bedsheet in these conditions can be transformatively healing. If using a grounding sheet plugged into a modern house’s wall socket, then you are connecting to the same ground all the 50 or 60 Hz electronics in the house use. In an urban environment this ground is right next to the building and in close proximity to other electrical sources. Using a modern house’s grounding system exposes you directly via the earthing sheet to these electric fields, which may or may not be good. The best grounding is always done in direct contact with Earth free of manmade electromagnetic fields.

Using a grounding mat in a home or an office carries the same problems and is best avoided.

---

Quick Start Grounding Guide:

1. Spend ample time outdoors in conductive contact with the ground, either barefoot, with Earth Runners sandals, or your own grounded footwear.

2. Meditate grounded, and enjoy how clear your mind is during meditation and afterwards.

3. Exercise grounded, either by swimming or by running/walking/exercising barefoot or with grounded footwear.

4. Work, study, and relax grounded by installing a grounding mat in your office, at your desk, or your favorite lounging spot.

---

Get Ahead, Ground!

Depending on how nature oriented your lifestyle already is, the effectiveness of using grounding tools can vary. For those very disconnected from nature, incorporating earthing practices and tools into a daily routine can be transformative. For the tree huggers, the additional benefits of being grounded more often will be less obvious. The important thing with grounding and any wellness endeavor is to be consistent. If you forget to ground for a day or a week, don’t sweat it, simply pick up where you left off.

The wellness effects of grounding are not as quickly obvious as say with techniques like fasting or pain-relieving supplements like turmeric and curcumin since the beneficial health effects are much broader in scope. People more in-tune with their body will notice the effects of grounding very quickly, for others still developing electromagnetic awareness, it might take up to a month to really feel the effects of grounding and to understand how earthing is beneficially impacting them.

Use grounding to connect to your mind and body more than ever before.

Updated September 2021

---

References:

1. Oschman JL, Chevalier G, Brown R. The effects of grounding (earthing) on inflammation, the immune response, wound healing, and prevention and treatment of chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. J Inflamm Res. 2015;8:83-96.

2. National Science Foundation, Earth's Core Spins Faster than Earth, Research News

3. Louis Cagniard, Basic Theory of The Magnetotelluric Method of Geophysical Prospecting, SEG Library

4. Seeker Project 4 Spiritual Exploration (SP4SE), Tree Grounding Exercise — Connecting with Nature

5. Quora, What parts of the human body have the most nerve endings and why?, Meet Humunculus Man

6. ABC News, 13-Year Old Kid Survives Lightning Strike, says he feels “Like Superman” after CPR, 2008

7. Levin M. Bioelectric mechanisms in regeneration: Unique aspects and future perspectives. Semin Cell Dev Biol. 2009;20(5):543-56.

8. Wikipedia, Lithium-Ion Battery

9. Müller E, Pröller P, Ferreira-briza F, Aglas L, Stöggl T. Effectiveness of Grounded Sleeping on Recovery After Intensive Eccentric Muscle Loading. Front Physiol. 2019;10:35.

10. Scientific Reports, Spending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is associated with good health and wellbeing, Nature

Use Fasting to Reset the Digestive System

Article by Stefan Burns - Updated November 2022. Join the Wild Free Organic email newsletter! Stefan Burns YouTube.

Fasting for an extended length of time can quickly heal the gut, balance the microbiome, and improve digestion, and as a result fasting can be used to help overcome many health problems such as obesity, inflammatory diseases and conditions, a malfunctioning metabolism, and poor sleep.

Abstaining from food for a significant period of time heals the lining of the digestive system, reduces stress on the immune system, and resets the microbiome by increasing symbiotic microorganism diversity while simultaneously eliminating sugar-loving and disease-causing pathogens through nutrient starvation.

Performing a 1 to 2 day fast after consuming a nutrient dense and fiber-rich meal is a powerful method of healing not only the digestive system but can be used to correct many common health and wellness ailments.

When the digestive system is functioning properly and the microbiome living within is healthy the metabolism is increased and stabilized which provides abundant consistent energy, sleep is deep and restful, bathroom visits are dependable, skin clears up, and a thin waist line becomes possible. Through it’s selective evolutionary pressures on the microbiome (one of the main production centers of neurotransmitters in the body) fasting also has the capability of improving mental health. A healthy gut produces the neurotransmitters we need for proper cognitive function at the right ratios required for optimal wellness. Fasting therefore can be used to help with depression, anxiety, and even neurodegenerative mental disorders.

In this article we discuss the following:

1. How to improve gut health with fasting and 48-hour fasting

2. What microorganisms inhabit the gut and characteristics of an unhealthy microbiome

3. Tissues of the digestive system

4. How drinking herbal teas while fasting helps

5. A 48-hour fast action plan

6. Practicing gut health mindfulness

With proper planning and the right structure, a 48-hour fast is a short enough time period to be accomplished without great stress and is a great way to experience all the amazing benefits of fasting for yourself.

If you’re completely new to fasting, I recommend you read this article and my article titled Fasting for Beginners. After reading both you’ll have a good handle on what fasting is, how it is beneficial to health, and how to perform it safely. In addition to these resources, Chapter 8 of the Holistic Gut Health Guide is entirely devoted to fasting and how it can be used to improve gut health.

---

Ready to Heal Your Gut?

sale

Holistic Gut Health Guide eBook

Sale Price:$12.95 Original Price:$18.95

Together the digestive system and microbiome are the foundation of health from which everything else is dependent on.

The Holistic Gut Health Guide contains all the information you need to identify and understand the gastrointestinal and microbiome problems you may have while also providing you the most effective natural methods you can use to heal your gut. No gut health problems are unsolvable, give yourself every possible advantage along your gut health journey by reading an implementing the advice shared in the Holistic Gut Health Guide.

Purchase

Some of the information in the Holistic Gut Health Guide isn’t common knowledge but when implemented it is highly effective in healing the gut and shifting the microbiome towards symbiosis. Give yourself every possible advantage along your gut health journey by reading an implementing the advice shared in the Holistic Gut Health Guide.

---

Improve Gut Health with Fasting

Restoring the digestive system back to a state of normal functioning will liberate you of digestive woes everyone has experienced at some point, which include brutal stomach aches, intense bloating, waves of nausea, or even running-to-the-bathroom trips. Poor gut health places a huge energy drain not only on health but on life as a whole as it’s hard to deal with anything else when dealing with a gut flareup.

From my personal experience in healing my gut, I have found fasting to be an absolute gamechanger and the quickest way to heal an ailing digestive system. Once all the organs of the digestive system are healed and functioning normally, fasting does not need to be done as frequently.

Healing my gut was a ten year health journey that led me to research the cutting edge of metabolic and microbiome science as well as study the ancient wisdom of herbalism. Tempered with ample personal experience, I discovered that most people need to reexamine their relationship with food, not only what they eat, but when and how often they eat. The body has two metabolic operating systems which are vastly different in how they function; eating places you into an anabolic state of growth and inflammation, whereas fasting places you into a catabolic state or repair and healing. Both are useful and necessary states of the body but they must stay in balance to one another.

Changing the food you eat doesn’t matter much if fundamentally the reason why you’re experiencing any number of health problems is because the body needs to go catabolic in order to heal and repair at a cellular level. Until then, staying anabolic will only exacerbate any health issues that exist. Only by going catabolic and by spending sufficient sufficient time catabolic in the protective state of cellular cleanup and repair known as autophagy will certain health issues resolve and then a more normal eating schedule can be resumed.

Making the changes necessary to incorporate fasting into your everyday life is far less risky than doing nothing at all. Never letting anabolism and catabolism enter into unbalanced territory is the real key to staying healthy and fit over the long term, and I’ve developed a simple dietary framework known as the FoodFast Method to make living this balanced lifestyle easy. The FoodFast Method teaches you when it’s best to eat and when it’s best not to eat, and it also offers guidance on what foods are best in terms of nutrition, gut health, and the microbiome.

The 48 Hour Fast

The first reaction many people have to the suggestion of a two day fast is “You’re telling me I can’t eat for 48 hours? I won’t do that, it’s crazy!”

In western culture fasting is rarely done, and going without food for more than a few hours is uncommon. If unaccustomed to fasting, long lengths of time away from food leave most with stomach convulsions, intense hunger, and maybe a side dish of hangry.

It’s best to ease into new health modalities. whether it be fasting, keto, vegetarian, etc. Going all in often leads to going all out shortly later, so my advice is if you’re completely new to fasting, then completing 2-3 introductory 24-hour fasts is recommended over starting right off with a 48-hour fast. A 24-hour fast is logistically and psychologically much easier to complete successfully, will help reset and heal the gut noticeably, and will provide you valuable experience on how to identify and control food cravings. Now that my gut is healthy, a 24 hour fast is my favorite way of gently nudging my gut health back to balance if disrupted for some reason.

If you are ready for a full 48 hour fast, the process is simple. You don’t consume any calories from food or drinks for 48 hours. Water of course is allowed, as are natural zero calories beverages such as black coffee or tea. Using artificial sugars are a strict no-go, more on that below. I recommend only drinking pure spring water during fasts as natural electrolytes will be present without the chemical contamination that tap water has. Drinking tea is also okay during a fast and in many ways is actually beneficial. For those with inefficient metabolisms, drinking green tea while fasting is a very effective way to reduce appetite while increasing the metabolism of body fat. Green tea fasting is the most powerful form of fasting that i’ve discovered. Herbal teas are also very useful, for example dandelion and chamomile are herbs both great at normalizing digestive function and a 1:1 herbal tea blend of dandelion and chamomile is a great way to expedite the gut healing process during a fast. More on that below.

I recommend starting fasts 24 hours or longer after a 6 pm dinner. With this schedule, the first 10-14 hours will be easily accomplished with a full stomach during the evening and then during sleep. Breakfast is easy to skip if one drinks plenty of water and keeps moving, and skipping breakfast is something everyone has done before. It’s during the afternoon when the real challenge of having not eaten appears, as it’s a natural lazy point in the day. For a 24 hour or longer fast, a quick walk, 15 minute nap, or cup of green tea fixes any dip in energy experienced.

If you’re performing hard mental or physical work during a fast it will be more difficult as energy demands will be higher. In this context a fast is not recommended unless safeguards are put in place and fat metabolism is already strong and well established. Fasting is a profound healing tool, but in its own way it is a unique stressor to the body, especially if never experienced before. Respect the process and don’t overutilize your energy reserves. One thing that fasting teaches is how to balance the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. Periods of time spent in both sympathetic (go go go activity) and parasympathetic (rest and digest) states are needed for optimal wellness. Fasting is a great tool to use to help deeply relax.

With a fast that starts at 6 pm if lunch is eaten at noon the next day then that marks the end of a 18-hour intermittent fast. Waiting to eat until dinner at 6 pm would be a 24 hour fast or the halfway point for a 48-hour fast. At 24 hours into a fast the body is burning body fat for energy while extracting the final nutrients available from the digestive system. The quality of the last meal eaten is very important for this reason.

After 24-hours energy levels may begin to dip. Others report experiencing a surge in energy due to their unique physiology. To be successful in fasting for a full two days, cruise control must be maintained. On day 2 the goal is to avoid the traffic jams of life, simply skipping breakfast and lunch again, relaxing when possible, and eating your first refeed meal at 6 pm for dinner. Staying grounded in the present moment is they key to successfully completing a fast and it’s all worth it in the end because you’ll feel significantly better and also because the refeed meal will be one of the best of your life.

By the end of a 48-hour fast there should very little to nothing left in your gut. No fresh food means the microbiome has to scavenge and work extra hard to survive in a low resource environment. Fasting has all these amazing health benefits partly because of the selective evolutionary pressure it applies to the microbiome. Microorganisms that depend on sugar die off while hardier microorganisms that can process more difficult nutrients like fiber survive in greater proportions. There are many ways to cleanse the microbiome, and fasting is one of the easiest and most powerful.

What Microorganisms Inhabit the Gut?

There are three types of organisms that make up the microbiome: symbiotic, commensal, and pathogenic. Pathobionts are a subsection of commensal organisms which lean pathogenic.

• Symbiotic Microorganisms

  Symbiotic microbes work with us, and the relationship between host (us) and microbe is beneficial to both parties. Symbiotic microbes will provide nutrients and/or energy in exchange for shelter and food. The microbes which primarily digest indigestible fiber are symbiotic, in the process releasing short chain fatty acids in the colon for our metabolic use. Symbiotic microorganisms also help by breaking down nutrients into pieces small enough to be transported into the body across the gut-blood barrier. The cellular mechanisms of the body are unable to transport and use nutrients that haven’t been broken down sufficiently, so microorganisms that assist in fully digesting food down to the smallest parts possible is advantageous to the host.

• Commensal Microorganisms

  Commensal microbes coexist with us without harming us. They’re like your friendly neighbors you never talk too. They assist in the breakdown of food but more for their benefit than yours. The issue with commensal microbes is when they start to overpopulate the small intestine, a condition known as small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), which has many health complications such as gas and inconsistent gut motility. Additionally, when commensal microorganisms reach populations that are too large, they begin out-competing helpful microorganisms though the power of numbers, reducing the nutrients you uptake while further growing their population in size. If this trend isn’t stopped, commensal microorganisms can evolve into pathobionts.

• Pathobiont Microorganisms

  Pathobionts are commensal organism that can cause harm under certain circumstances. A good example of commensal that turn into pathobionts are those who form biofilm colonies. Biofilms are communities of microorganisms that are difficult to dislodge due to the protections they have been built up around them. Biofilms have a hard time forming on mucous layers, which is one reason why sufficient and consistent digestive mucous production is important, and if mucous coatings are thin then pathobionts will form biofilms directly on the surface of human epithelial cells, causing inflammation and a strong immune response. The immune system has a difficult time breaking apart biofilms as they typically lie outside the body and in the digestive system. As a defense mechanism biofilms that are disrupted release harmful chemicals. Pathobiont biofilms are hard to readily identify and treat, but are usually a contributing factor in gut health problems, especially unexpected gut health flare-ups.

• Pathogenic Microorganisms

  Pathogenic microbes are harmful to health. When their populations are low, their detrimental effects on health are negligible, and the immune system keeps them actively under check, but when the gut is inflamed and epithelial tight-junctions are eroded and unhealthy processed foods are the norm, then the perfect environment for pathogenic microbes is created. Pathogenic microbes aren’t content gnawing on a thread of fiber, they seek out quick energy, and under the conditions of a fast when energy is scarce, pathogenic bacteria are the first to go. This die-off reaction can cause symptoms like fatigue, headache, and stomach pain, and this is something to be aware of when performing fasts longer than 24 hours. Selecting against pathogenic microbes is highly desirable for long term health and wellness, and if a large pathogenic microorganism population exists in the gut, a die off reaction will occur during fasting which may cause symptoms. During a fast keeping the kidneys and liver stress free by limiting the chemicals or medications that are used is best (examples being alcohol, NSAIDS, or prescription drugs).

An Unhealthy Microbiome

With an unhealthy gut, beneficial microorganisms are in short supply, commensal populations are large and unruly, and pathogenic microorganisms exist unchallenged. This type of microbiome is one that preferentially craves sweets, fried foods, and excess salt, and after having its demands met produces metabolic waste products known as endotoxins that leads to symptoms of brain fog, unstable energy levels, and fat gain.

How to Restore Healthy Gut Flora

The pathogens that contribute to you feeling awful are not helpful in any way (besides bringing awareness to the problem that exists), and a primary objective in transitioning from a diseased digestive system to healthy gut is to restore the microbiome to a state of symbiotic balance. Fasting is effective at doing this as fasts longer than 24 hours eliminate microbial overgrowth and assist in the removal of biofilms as protective mucous layers are restored. A 48-hour fast will wipe out a lot of pathogenic microorganisms, and if you don’t feel them what they need afterwards then their populations will stay low. With reduced nutrients available some of the symbiotic microorganisms will not survive either (we’re talking about trillions of microorganisms dying), but with a healthy refeed meal symbiotic microorganism populations quickly rebound and will have evolved to be more resilient to future periods of resource scarcity.

After a few 24 and 48-hour fasts with healthy eating in-between the composition of the microbiome will be radically different and the digestive system will have healed tremendously. The secret with fasting is to be extremely discretionary with what enters into the body. Limiting intake to just water (and herbal teas), air, and sunshine makes for the best effect. No diet soda, no chewing gum, and limit the black coffee.

Now let’s discuss artificial sugars. Artificial sugars have an undesirable effect on your microbiome by eroding mucosal linings. Artificial sugars reach the deep recesses of the gut by eroding protective viscoelastic mucus lining, creating an energy-rich pathway for commensal and pathogenic microorganisms to get into direct contact with now unprotected epithelial cells. Once directly on these cell membranes pathobionts create their biofilm strongholds. Biofilms are resistant to probiotic and antibiotic treatments and are often the source of unexplainable reoccurring gut problems. Pathobiont biofilms are very tough to dislodge, and the double whammy of consuming artificial sugars is that they are toxic to many other microorganisms. For these reasons never consume artificial sugars, especially during a fast.

Gut Health and Microbiome Basics Video Short Course

by Stefan Burns

Cells of the Digestive System

Epithelium cells are the barrier of the digestive system that separate the contents of the gut from the bloodstream. Epithelium cells are on the front line every minute, allowing nutrients to pass through them to enter the bloodstream but blocking entry to microorganisms, nutrients too large for easy transport, or toxins.

If all things are functioning normally the epithelium regenerates completely every 5 days. Therefore, 20% of the epithelium is regenerated daily. When fasting, autophagy (cellular cleanup and repair) increases and healthy cell turnover of the intestinal epithelium quickens now that it is no longer being setback by the active digestion of food.

A two day fast is enough time for about 40% or more of the epithelium to completely regenerate in a low-inflammation environment.

The human digestive tract

When the digestive barrier and mucosal lining are fully regenerated and the tight-junctions between cells are strong, then when normal inflammation from digestive returns, the responsibilities of the immune system are decreased compared to when excess inflammation is present. With greatly reduced numbers of microorganism invaders and undigested food particles entering into the blood stream, the immune system can regenerate after a period of overactivity and stress, taking the time it needs to heal. The immune system requires certain components in sufficient amounts to function properly, and micronutrients such as zinc, vitamin D, and vitamin C are critically important for normal immune function. When under stress, the greater demands of the immune system can cause nutrient deficiencies to occur which then place stress on other areas of the body. Healing the digestive system, diversifying the microbiome, and improving diet can help remediate or even eliminate diseases of the immune system.

Fasting for Auto-Immune Diseases

For those who suffer from auto-immune issues, fasting can be a major breakthrough in recovering from their condition. The digestive system is the main patrol ground of the immune system, it’s where the most interactions between the human body and the outside world occur on the microscopic level. A cross-wired immune system that attacks itself is increasingly being found to result from a dysfunctional and diseased gut environment. Auto-immunity and the microbiome are intricately linked.

After thousands of years of gut health education from wise ancients like Greek philosopher Hippocrates, the collective consciousness is now beginning to understand the huge importance of the digestive system for overall health and wellness.

Simultaneously the importance of the microbiome is being better understood by the general public. The impact of the microbiome passed from mother to child during birth has lifelong health implications. A healthy birth from a healthy mom results in a healthy baby and future adult. If microbiome inoculation that occurs during birthing is disrupted, such as during a caesarian section, then that child is more likely to experience a range of undesirable health outcomes such as asthma, auto-immunes, troublesome weight-gain, and more. Thankfully the microbiome is simply a collection of microorganisms that is relatively easy to manipulate once you have the tools to do so. Fasting is the most powerful of those microbiome altering tools, and therefore it’s also one of the most powerful tools for people looking for relief from their auto-immune issues.

Autophagy & Apoptosis

We’ve touched on autophagy already and now we’ll go more in-depth.

Autophagy is the protective state that the body goes into when nutrients are scarce. Autophagy increases the recycling of malfunctioning cellular components, helps old cells die peacefully, and promotes the regeneration of new cells in their place. The longer a fast goes for and the scarcer nutrients become, the deeper into autophagy the body goes. 16 hour intermittent fasting boosts autophagic processes throughout the body noticeably, whereas 24-72 hour fasts increase autophagy to a much greater degree, and for an even more profound regenerative healing effect, fasting for a week or longer can work miracles. Many “incurable” diseases and severe auto-immune issues have been cured through multi-week fasts under medical supervision at fasting clinics worldwide.

Autophagy is also incredibly important in the fight against cancer. Cancer cannot be cured until the autophagic system can be deployed to destroy the cancer cells plaguing the body. In the case of cancer, fasting-induced autophagy has been shown to protect healthy cells from chemotherapy treatments while increasing the effectiveness of the chemotherapy on cancer cells.

sale

Holistic Gut Health Guide eBook

Sale Price:$12.95 Original Price:$18.95

Purchase

Autophagy is clearly a very useful process that thankfully is encoded into human DNA. It has to, we wouldn’t be able to live otherwise because without rate limiters reactions in the body would spiral out of control and life simply wouldn’t be able to sustain itself.

Autophagy is difficult in its own way though. Autophagy increases as available nutrients and energy decreases. To go into autophagy means to dive into nutrient and energy scarcity. If purposefully utilizing the power of autophagy for deep cellular healing and renewal, be mindful and listen to the needs of your body. Recording how you feel and any observations you make in a health journal is highly recommended.

If you want to learn more about extended-length fasting, I highly recommend you watch an amazing documentary, The Science of Fasting.

---

Drink Herbal Teas while Fasting

As touched on earlier, one way to greatly increase the efficacy and safety of fasting is to drinking herbal teas throughout the fast. This can be green tea, or herbal teas like a 1:1:1 blend of dandelion root, chamomile flowers, and peppermint leaves.

Green Tea for Fasting

Green tea fasting is one of the easiest types of fasting I’ve experienced. Drinking 2-3 cups of green tea (zero additives) everyday during a fast reduces appetite and increases fat oxidation. Energy levels are more stable throughout the fast when drinking green tea, and the amino acid L-theanine found in green tea promotes a sense of calm and relaxation.

Pique Tea sells a wide selection of organic teas in their unique “tea crystal” format. Tea crystals readily dissolve in hot or cold water and are super convenient for on-the-go use.

Use the code WILDFREEORGANIC for 5% off at checkout

Mountain Rose Herbs has a wide selection of organic green teas that are perfect for use in green tea fasting. I prefer their pearl jasmine green tea for its flavor and extra flavonoids.

Steep the leaves in 170 F (75 C) water for 3-5 minutes and enjoy!

Herbal Teas for Fasting

Green tea is an excellent beverage to drink while fasting, and so are herbal teas in general. For example a dandelion root, chamomile flower, and peppermint leaf herbal tea has the following benefits for the digestive system:

• Reduces inflammation of the digestive system from the stomach to the large intestine.

• Exerts beneficial antimicrobial pressures on pathogenic microorganisms while promoting the growth of helpful symbiotic microorganisms.

• Increases the production of digestive enzymes and restores beneficial mucous linings.

• Strengthens epithelial tight junctions thanks to flavonoids like apigenin.

• Restores normal gut motility (the transit of food through the system).

• Boosts fat metabolism which reduces energy lulls from improper digestion or from the fasting process itself

Another herbal tea that would be very helpful to drink during a fast would be a ginger, elderberry, and ginseng tea. Endless combinations exist, and drinking a new tea in the place of breakfast, lunch, and dinner helps to keep the fasting process exciting which has clear benefits.

Mountain Rose Herbs carries a huge assortment of organic herbs perfect for those interested in adding herbal remedies to their fasting and gut health protocol. Next to fasting drinking herbal teas are the next best thing you can do to improve your gut heath. Again the introductory herbal tea I recommend is a 1:1 blend of dandelion root, chamomile flowers, and peppermint simply because its so effective.

Meal Recommendation for Breaking your Fast

Next to the action of actually completing a fast, refeeding after the fast is the second most important part of the gut healing process. The body and microbiome are longing for food so feed yourself and your microbiome only with the best. The body is uniquely poised to use the new influx of nutrients for the proliferation of new healthy cells, and the greater the quality of the the refeed meal the greater the healing effect that will be experienced overall. Make no food mistakes*!

Refeed meals also influence the composition of the microbiome that will soon rebound in population, as bacteria double in as little as twenty minutes under ideal conditions. A meal which is undesirable to pathogenic bacteria but loved by healthy symbiotic bacteria like lactobacillus and bifidobacterial is ideal. Raw and fermented foods harbor their own healthy microbiome populations and assist in the digestion of the first reintroduced meal while also diversifying the surviving microbiome.

The foods that make up a refeed meal and its size depends on the length of fast completed. A 48 hour fast for example should be broken with a high-fat content meal as it’s likely that the first stages of ketogenesis is being experienced and to eat a sugar-heavy meal would cause quick metabolic and blood glucose changes which wouldn’t be beneficial. Fiber is another beneficial nutrient to select for in refeed meals as fiber influences the microbiome beneficially and is transformed into short chain fatty-acids in the colon which benefits fat metabolism.

*Note - Pesticides are to avoided at all costs as they erode the lining of the digestive system and function similarly to antibiotics. Eat organic non-gmo foods to reduce your exposure to dangerous pesticides like glyphosate.

Post Fast Salad:

• 2 Cups Mixed Greens

• 1/2 cucumber, sliced

• 1 Tbsp raw pumpkin seeds

• Drizzle extra virgin olive oil

• Drizzle raw honey

• Drink - GT’s Raw Kombucha

The meal above is great as a first refeed meal after a 24 to 48-hour fast because it is easy to prepare, completely raw, and will supercharge the regenerative effects of the fast. Having a salad shifts the microbiome favorably, and the addition of a fermented food helps to diversify it further. The body will absorb every nutrient possible from this meal. A fast is a period of low sugar intake, so only drink a quarter of the kombucha in order to limit the amount of quick sugars ingested.

When a salad and kombucha are combined as a meal, the mother (microbiome) of the kombucha begins attaching to and breaking down the raw foods of the salad right away, improving digestion as compared to if the salad was eaten only by itself. The cucumber and pumpkin seeds go great on a salad, adding nutrient and flavor variety to the meal, while both having antimicrobial and anti-parasitic benefits. Parasite infections can also be a huge source of gut health issues.

Pro Tip - Take a piperine supplement with your refeed meals to further improve the digestion of the meal. Piperine is derived from black pepper and it one of the most gut-helpful phytochemicals known, improving digestion and enhancing the bioavailability of other nutrients. Nootropics Depot sells a 10mg piperine supplement which you can take 1-3 of with a meal, or if you want to keep it 100% natural simply crack extra black pepper onto your plate.

In my introductory FoodFast Method article I have many more pre-fast and refeed meal suggestions that are worth checking out. Eating the right food after a fast is very important and don’t underestimate the important of a refeed meal in helping the gut to heal as quickly as possible. Fasting to fix gut health issues but continuing to eat poor quality foods in-between will only make limited progress. Best progress will be making in resetting the gut with fasting when equal attention is paid to both fasting and feeding.

My Personal Experience with Fasting

Ever since grade school I noticed I had an unruly digestive system which manifested in various ways, and as I entered into the world of strength-training and bodybuilding in my twenties, I increased my food intake in order to build muscle, which placed even more stress on my digestive system. I did begin improving my diet dramatically during this time, increasing my consumption of whole and unprocessed foods, but this did not provide all the relief I was hoping for.

The only way things were going to turn around was if I provided my digestive system an extended break from the stress and rigors of digestion, and once I stumbled upon fasting my gut health began to quickly take a turn for the better. Some health issues take a long time to heal, but thankfully most of the tissues of the gut turns over so quickly that once the right solution is found the digestive system can be healed quite rapidly. It took me many years to figure out what I needed to do to heal my gut simply because almost no one, from my gastroenterologist to discussion online, was examining the situation from a broad enough vantage point. That’s the still mostly the case it seems, though awareness on natural healing methods for the gut like fasting and herbal teas is increasing.

After some periods of daily intermittent fasting and a few longer 24, 48, and 72 hour fasts, I quickly learned which foods were best for my body, what foods I was intolerant to, and what foods I needed to 100% avoid. Fasting gave me control over food and sugar cravings and eventually eliminated them as I began to crave more vegetables. Healing my gut shifted my microbiome to the point where it could actually process fiber and other plant materials without creating excess gas and flatulence, a serious problem for me before.

Quickly into my discovery of fasting for gut health, I noticed a few things always happen at the end of long fasts:

First, the digestion of vegetables improves. Desperate for energy, the microbiome and digestive system is happy to work together to fully break down tougher to digest foods such as lightly cooked or raw vegetables. A 48-hour fast improves microbiome balance and diversity, and the newly evolved microbiome helps to breakdown and process fiber and other complex plant-based nutrients that before may have been difficult.

Second, fat metabolism improves noticeably. After a period of fasting, energy dips throughout the day are filled in faster by a metabolism that is able to quickly switch to fat burning, whether from short-chain fatty acids produced by microorganisms digesting starches and fiber in the colon, or from body fat stores. A 48 hour fast takes the body right to the edge of ketosis, a metabolic state where only fatty acids and amino acids are used to fuel the body in the absence of carbs, and visiting ketosis regularly, even if just for a few hours, is good for the development of a strong metabolism.

Third, the gut is very thankful for the break in digestion with every fast. When eating a regular breakfast, lunch, and dinner day 24/7, it’s easy to overwork and stress the digestive system, which leads to chronic gut inflammation. To use a quote from Yoda as inspiration:

“Chronic gut stress leads to leaky gut, leaky gut leads to IBS, IBS leads to gut disease”

Humans evolved in conditions of ever changing nutrient availability. In conditions of resource scarcity, the body most regenerate to stay alive. During autophagy, epithelial tight junctions heal rapidly, solving many of the problems of leaky gut, IBS, and SIBO. Healing intestinal tight junctions helps to reduce systemic inflammation of the body and overtime can reset food intolerances and allergies. I have experienced this myself, having fully eliminated a fructose, gluten, and dairy intolerance that my body knew I had but my brain refused to recognize for many years.

Having practiced the FoodFast Method for a few years now, I have a lot of experience with how different diets may affect a fast.

Other Fasting Lessons Learned

Before I was a vegetarian, fasting was relatively easy because meat protein takes a long time to digest, and I consumed a lot of meat protein (>2 grams per kg daily). That said, my gut health significantly improved after transitioning into a vegetarian diet because it caused me to eat way more vegetables and living foods. With a vegetarian diet, fasting can be more difficult if fat metabolism isn’t well developed, so consuming a diet abundant in healthy fats from sources such as avocado, nuts, and seeds will maintain and improve fat metabolism in-between fasts, in turn making the fasting process easier.

For most people going vegetarian will be a big benefit for gut health for more reasons than I can discuss in this article, but care must be taken to not go too high-carb and to stick away from junk food and sweets that are technically vegetarian but really shouldn’t even be characterized as food.

Ready to try a 48 hour fast? Here’s the Action Plan

Below is a step by step guide to help you safely and easily accomplish a 48-hour fast so you may experience the powerful healing effects of fasting for yourself and with the least amount of stress and complications.

• Drink More Water while Fasting

  Starting before the fast begin drinking more water. Less food intake means you’ll need to drink more to intake the same amount of water, so drinking sufficient water beforehand will be prepare you to be successful and not become dehydrated. Water quality is very important, I recommend only drinking spring water, reverse osmosis water is okay too.

• Eat Dinner Early and then Sleep 8 Hours

  After a full dinner it’s easy to put the snacking and cravings aside, so in my opinion it’s the perfect time to start a fast. Eat your last meal before the fast as an early 6pm dinner. The meal eaten before a fast should be hearty and nutrient rich with plenty of fiber, a vegetable grain bowl with avocado being an excellent option. Go to sleep around 10 pm and after a full eight hours of sleep you’ll be well rested and ready to attack the day while already being one quarter of the way into the 48-hour fast.

• Listen to your Body, Follow the Plan

  Once you’ve waken up, you now have to make it to bedtime again without eating. Listen to your body, keep drinking water or herbal tea, and flow with your energy levels. About 16 hours into the fast you’ll have exhausted all quick sources of glycogen (carbohydrate) energy sources for your body and will be burning body fat in greater amounts. The food in your digestive system is also still providing a slowly dwindling stream of nutrients and energy for your body to run on, that’s why the couple of meals before a fast are so important.

  If you feel sluggish and hungry while working, change what you’re doing find a different way to stimulate yourself. Going outside into nature is always highly refreshing and keeps a fast on track. Stay active but don’t overexert yourself, drink something lightly caffeinated like green tea if experiencing an energy slump, or simply take a short nap if tiredness really sets in. Don’t reach for the food unless it’s absolutely necessary! You should never feel bad about breaking a fast if you truly need too.

• Trust Yourself to Make the Right Decisions

  Once you’re comfortably in cruise control, look at your future schedule and plan around the chaos of the everyday. Building order and structure into your routine allows you to persevere and stay on track in case of unexpected events happening.

  If at any point you experience extreme dizziness, loss of vision, or other troubling signs of low blood sugar, end your fast with a small healthy snack like apple slices with almond butter. Be happy with the progress you made and prepare to try again for a longer attempt when better prepared. Every fast completed better prepares you for the next.

  For safety I recommend having a small healthy meal prepared and ready at all times during a fast so the fast can be broken with a healthy meal and not with whatever is most immediately available.

• Reintroduce Food Slowly

  Once you’ve finished your fast of whatever duration, reintroduce food back into your system. I would not recommend eating a huge meal after a fast; start simple! Bone broth, steamed veggies, a salad, or soup are all good choices. The longer the fast the longer the food reintroduction period should be. Buy the food needed for the first couple refeed meals the day before you end the fast so you’re prepared even if you have to break the fast early. Eat the freshest food possible for the refeed meals.

  To track how long I’ve been fasting, I use the app ZERO (found on iTunes and the Google Play Store). It can be used to track mood and how you feel throughout the fast, and you can keep a record of your fasts to compare to each other. Very useful!

You Successfully Completed a 48 Hour Fast!

Congratulations, you’ve finished your first 48 hour fast! I’m sure you experienced positive gut health changes from the beginning to the end of the fast.

I developed the FoodFast Method to make it easy to incorporate fasting into one’s lifestyle at the right frequency for optimal health and wellness. I wish I had discovered the FoodFast Method when I first began healing my gut and microbiome because it would have saved me years of gut health suffering, but I am grateful I experienced what I did because that is what led me to develop the method that others can now use. Now that I’ve been following the FoodFast method intuitively for a few years now, I can confidently say that it’s the single most effective way of keeping the gut healthy that I know of.

“Practicing a lifestyle centered around wellness does not have a singular end destination, but rather is an ever evolving journey. Be open to all health possibilities and trust your instincts.”

Practice Gut Health Mindfulness

During any fast or health experiment, be observant! Pay attention to everything you experience. At any given time ask yourself “How does my body feel, what emotions am I experiencing, and what is my current state of mind?” If you’re going to be your own doctor, then you need to play the role of the observant scientist.

Only with careful observation will the truth of what’s happening in your body be fully realized.

Because fasting severely restricts what enters into the body, used correctly it can be used as a diagnostic tool that by its own right is powerfully transformative.

Heal Your Gut Naturally

sale

Holistic Gut Health Guide eBook

Sale Price:$12.95 Original Price:$18.95

Purchase

If you read all the way here then it’s clear to me that you’re ready to do what it takes to finally restore your digestive system and gut microbiome back to healthy and optimal function.

I wrote the Holistic Gut Health Guide to help you accomplish exactly this! It contains all the information that you need to understand the gastrointestinal system, gut-brain axis, and microbiome in-depth, and the Holistic Gut Health Guide also educates you on the natural methods you can holistically use together like fasting and herbalism to transform your health from the inside out.

I’m so excited to be able to help you along your gut health and overall wellness journey with the Holistic Gut Health Guide! Please contact me with any questions you have and wishing you the best.

---

IMPORTANT - Please only attempt a fast if you are ready, physically and mentally, to go through a period of no food consumption. If this will be dangerous to you, please do not attempt this.

References:

1. Correction to Lancet Infectious Diseases 2020; published online April 29. https://doi.org/10.1016/ S1473-3099(20)30064-5. Lancet Infect Dis. 2020;20(7):e148.

2. Suez J, Korem T, Zeevi D, et al. Artificial sweeteners induce glucose intolerance by altering the gut microbiota. Nature. 2014;514(7521):181-6.

3. Harpaz D, Yeo LP, Cecchini F, et al. Measuring Artificial Sweeteners Toxicity Using a Bioluminescent Bacterial Panel. Molecules. 2018;23(10)

4. De luca F, Shoenfeld Y. The microbiome in autoimmune diseases. Clin Exp Immunol. 2019;195(1):74-85.

Medical Disclaimer: All information, content, and material of this website is for informational purposes only and is not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment of a qualified physician or healthcare provider.

Disclosure: Wild Free Organic is a member of various affiliate programs and if a purchase is made through one of our affiliate links a small commission is received. This does not affect your purchase price. Visit our disclosure page for more information.

How to Reset Dietary Beliefs

Article by Stefan Burns - Updated July 2022. Join the Wild Free Organic email newsletter!

There exist hundreds of popular dietary protocols, each diet having a hallmark distinction. The paleo diet advocates you as our paleolithic ancestors did 10,000 years ago, which means no processed foods. The vegan diet eschews all animal products, from meat to honey. Whole30 cuts out added sugars, beans/legumes, alcohol, dairy, and grains. As much as these diets might seem different from each other, they all are the same in one respect, they restrict and limit your food choices. If you want to break the viscous cycle of lose weight → gain weight → lose weight→ gain weight then a different mindset is needed.

Many individuals have great success following the paleo, vegan, or Whole30 diets, even though the foods that are allowed to be eaten vary dramatically. And for some this new diet fits their lifestyle and they are able to remain permanently at a healthier weight. For most though, dietary restriction only works in the short term. In the long term, it has consistently been shown that 80-95% of dieters who lose significant amounts of weight regain the weight they lost months later (1). In fact, almost everyone who has dieted before has experienced life-changing weight loss at one time or another.

When foods are restricted and activity levels increase, dramatic short term changes in body composition and health can be achieved, but during the diet, psychologically it’s like a rubber band being slowly being pulled back more and more.

Once the rubber band can stretch no one, and the initial goal of twenty, thirty, or fifty pounds lost is achieved, dieters let their discipline slip and reintroduce the foods they crave back into their diet. The rubber band snaps back. A small reward for a job well done becomes a binge, and then snowballs back into old dietary habits. Dieters didn’t break their sugar addiction or eating disorder, they created a temporary bubble where they put bad habits on pause, and then the bubble popped.

If the psychology of dieting isn’t addressed, then most diets will end in failure.

Inclusion > Exclusion

When a new diet, habit, or lifestyle practice is started, the first thought might be to conceptualize all the foods, bad habits, and environmental factors that will be cut out of your current life in order to improve your health and wellness.

On the surface, this appears good. Undoubtedly there are many things can be damaging to your health in excess, and eliminating them from your life can be a huge step forward.

The issue is, exclusionary ideologies do not take into account human behavior or psychology. Humans are not machines or robots. To permanently change your dietary mindset, it is imperative to switch to a mindset of inclusion rather than exclusion. As omnivores, we evolved with digestive systems that are capable of digesting most any food.

To heal a damaged dietary psychology or food disorder, the first step that needs to be taken is for all the foods of the world to be made available and OKAY to eat to the dieter.

Often times, it is the fact that a food is restricted that makes it so appealing. Likewise, and we’ll use the example of ice cream, if ice cream is made off-limits, then once the protocol has been broken, feelings of guilt and shame can compel someone to begin an ice cream binge, which spirals back into their eating disorder. If the ice cream isn’t made strictly off limits (even if it is best to avoid the processed calories), then a bowl of ice cream is much less likely to turn into a binge. Having a bowl of ice cream might not have been the best decision, but it is much better than a binge session fueled by negative emotions. Since the ice cream isn’t odd limits, and the consumption of food comes from a place of self love rather than self hate, feelings of guilt, shame, or self loathing never manifest. With personal growth and patience, you can empower yourself to skip the ice cream or eat something else entirely, even if the ice cream is allowed.

Empower Yourself to Eat Healthier Foods

To elevate beyond the junk food, practicing a inclusive diet is much more powerful when we examine healthy foods. Take the following example:

Let’s say you have a goal to reduce your processed grains consumption, and now it’s dinner time. On your plate you have a baked potato, chicken breast, and bread. You notice that there are no green vegetables.

If your goal is to reduce processed grains consumption, there are two ways to approach the issue.

The first is to totally exclude the bread and test your discipline. The second option is to simply add an additional healthy food to the meal. For example, add some salad greens and make sure to eat the salad greens before the bread. By doing using this method, the bread isn’t banned, but rather selected against. Overtime habits like this will become second nature, and overall food quality eaten day to day will improve.

When following inclusive dietary practices, time is given to the dieter to make the health connections they need to understand in order to fix the underlying problem. In this example, this person realizes when they eat bread, they don’t feel well, experience big energy swings, and have poor digestion. Once realized, why would they want to eat bread?

By practicing mindfulness and the gradual reduction of trouble foods, these connections between trouble foods and negative physiological effects are made possible. Once the connection is made, it’s no longer a question of willpower to not eat something, it’ll be a decision that is consciously made and stuck with.

With an inclusive mindset, unhealthy foods can initially be used to encourage healthy food behaviors. If these inclusive principles are structured right, lasting healthy food behaviors can be established. As healthier foods start to make up a majority of the diet, taste-buds will change and now junk food once desired becomes gross and overly sweet.

You might have noticed this strategy is one that many parents will use with their kids to encourage them to eat their vegetables. “You can’t have your dessert until you finish your vegetables!” For old or young minds alike, this strategy works.

One of the caveats to this method is that food allergies and intolerances should be strictly avoided. It is possible to reverse a food allergy and/or intolerance, but it takes a significant amount of time, as the gut needs to heal many times over and the immune system needs to completely forget the trigger it learned and become non-reactive to those food proteins. For allergies or intolerances, it will take many months if not years for these issues to possibly be resolved.

Food Frequency: Weekly vs Daily

Another important aspect of any diet is food frequency. Everyone has their stable foods they enjoy, and the depending on what someone eats in a day, their calories, macronutrients (fats, carbs, protein), fiber, vitamins, and minerals can vary dramatically.

When considering starting a new diet, often macronutrient and micronutrient goals are established. For example, a new diet could dictate the following:

Macronutrient Ratios:

• 35% fats

• 40% carbohydrates

  • 40 grams fiber daily

• 25% protein

Micronutrients:

• 100% RDA magnesium, calcium, potassium, zinc

• 100% RDA B-vitamins (B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9, B12)

• 2000-5000 IU Vitamin D

• 100% RDA vitamins A, C, E, K

If using a calorie tracking app like MyFitnessPal, it can satisfying hitting macronutrient and micronutrient targets daily, but what happens is overtime discipline wanes and it becomes harder and harder to hit exact macronutrient targets. Or maybe you hit your protein target early in the day through protein heavy meals. Later in the day, in order to stay “in range”, all protein must be avoided. Having a healthy unprocessed meal without any protein is difficult, but it sure is easy with a large bowl of ice cream! Macronutrient tracking certainly can be effective, but it also create situations at times when it is okay binge on junk food because macros must be met.

For micronutrients, things get even trickier. When trying to hit exact micronutrient targets everyday, it is very difficult to get every exact micronutrient to 100% daily with a healthy diet composed primarily of unprocessed foods

Supplements then can be seen as the answer, with certain supplements needing to be taken on certain days to bump everything to 100%. You can use protein shakes, ice cream, and supplements to hit macronutrient and micronutrient targets, but is the diet healthy or sustainable?

“For a diet, when macronutrients and micronutrients are the priority, and not the consumption of whole organic unprocessed foods, it is still possible for food quality to decrease while being within the parameters of the diet”

For further illustrate the point, let’s use magnesium. Magnesium is the second most common micronutrient deficiency worldwide, a master micronutrient used in hundreds of chemical reactions and cellular tasks. Clearly it’s important to get enough magnesium, and in the context of a holistic diet, which do you think is better? A magnesium supplement, or eating a 1/4 cup of pumpkin seeds? Both with provide 200 mg of magnesium, but the bioavailability of the magnesium in pumpkin seeds will be much greater, while also providing unique phytochemicals, helpful health benefits, and satiating fiber, protein, and fat. The supplement won’t come with calories, but the bioavailibility will be lower, and the fillers it is combined with is questionable. You need calories to survive, so don’t shun calories from health foods so you can indulge in junk foods.

Macronutrient ratios and micronutrients are lower priority than eating for health, longevity, and wellness. When eating a well-rounded diet from a variety of whole unprocessed foods, macronutrient and micronutrient targets might not be achieved everyday. The mindset of hitting targets daily can be very limiting, but thinking of hitting targets on a weekly time schedule is very liberating. This is especially true in the context of the modern agricultural system, where quality and nutrition of the same foods have been declining for decades. Think depleting soil nutrients, increased pesticide and dangerous herbicide usage, monoculture farms, etc.

The body is able to store glycogen, fat, amino acids, and micronutrients (2). On some days ratios or RDAs might vary from the weekly target, but over a week long period, everything typically will come into balance. Additionally, with a weekly mindset, having a treat now and then isn’t “allowed” or “banned” based on macronutrient rations. Instead emotions and energy levels can guide food choices intuitively, an important step towards outgrowing an eating disorder. How you arrive at a desirable outcome is just as important as the outcome itself.

Think and Act Long Term

The journey towards wellness is one of patience. When your health is suffering, it is highly seductive to reach for the solution that promises the quick fix. If it took many years to develop an eating disorder or add 30 pounds of body fat, you cannot expect the fix to be quick. It might take as long to heal as it took to become unhealthy, though typically the journey is shorter by at least a factor of two.

Patience, love, understand, and being at peace with your current situation are the first steps that need to be taken in order to begin the healing process. Until honesty and truth are at the forefront of your wellness journey, expect to yo-yo between progress and setbacks.

Mindfulness is one of the most powerful tools available at your disposal. Bring conscious awareness to your actions and the decisions and you’ll be surprised by how fast things can accelerate when setbacks no longer occur.

Develop a long term mindset, and instead of eliminating your worst food offenders, incentivize the healthy foods, making sure to include those first into your day. Before you realize it, you’ll be past any prior plateaus you struggled with accelerating towards your long term health goals!

---

References

1. Wing RR, Phelan S. Long-term weight loss maintenance. Am J Clin Nutr. 2005;82(1 Suppl):222S-225S.

2. James Collier. Storage of Micronutrients in the Body. Dietetics

Medical Disclaimer: All information, content, and material of this website is for informational purposes only and is not intended to serve as a substitute for the consultation, diagnosis, and/or medical treatment of a qualified physician or healthcare provider.

Disclosure: Wild Free Organic is a member of various affiliate programs and if a purchase is made through one of our affiliate links a small commission is received. This does not affect your purchase price. Visit our disclosure page for more information.

Daily Supplements for General Health

Article by Stefan Burns - Updated December 2021. Join the Wild Free Organic email newsletter!

Some nutrients are absolutely essential for good health, and with a healthy, balanced diet, it is possible to get enough of them to avoid any health issues. The Standard American Diet (SAD), the diet most common in the western world, is high in sugar, acellular carbs, heavily processed and oxidized oils, unknown additives, and chemical contamination; it’s a diet disaster. And if you do follow a healthier diet predominately featuring unprocessed foods, you won’t be eating as nutritious as you believe. Modern agricultural practices have reduced the micronutrient loads of most fruits and vegetables over the past 50-100 years (1). Even if you follow a healthy diet you might not be receiving the micronutrients your body needs to function at its best due to declined soil nutrition.

When switching from a Standard American Diet (SAD) to a healthier diet consisting primarily of organic, micronutrient-rich unprocessed foods, there is an awkward transition period that can be stressful mentally, physically, and emotionally. During periods of stress it is doubly important to make sure you are getting enough of the most commonly deficient micronutrients, as this will improve your stress response. Otherwise if your diet is overall good and you’re really trying to optimize your health, then I recommend taking the following daily supplement to cover common nutrient imbalances and deficiencies.

Again the goal should be to get all nutrients from a healthy diet over the course of a week, but with a modern lifestyle that’s not always possible. Having these supplements on hand allows you to intelligently supplement these key nutrients when needed for a healthier lifestyle.

Optimize Health with Five Supplements

All values listed for the minerals are in reference to the elemental form. The weights listed on a supplement bottle are always in reference to the elemental weight per serving, not the overall chemical weight per serving.

Take every morning/early afternoon (with a meal):

• 5000 - 10000 IU Vitamin D3

• 15:1 mg Zinc:Copper

• 1.5 - 3 grams EPA + DHA Omega-3 Fatty Acids (fish oil or algae oil)

Take every evening (with a meal):

• 200 - 400 mg Magnesium

• 3 -10 mg Boron

Supplement with Vitamin D

Vitamin D is produced endogenously through sunlight exposure. How long you need to stay in the sun to synthesize your daily amount of vitamin D depends on the color of your skin, but this ranges from 10-60 minutes. Darker skin colors need more time in the sun to produce the same amount of vitamin D as lighter skin colors.

Vitamin D is the most common micronutrient deficiency worldwide, affecting an estimated 50% of the global population (2). Even “healthy” adolescents are commonly vitamin D deficient (3), and that’s a big deal when vitamin D is critically important for growth and development during adolescence (4). A vitamin D deficiency can have wide ranging negative effects on your health, such as increased risk of infection, fatigue, depression, muscular pain, bone loss, hair loss, and more.

If you are experiencing very cloudy weather, live in a low-sun area, or can’t work some sun exposure into your schedule for whatever reason, supplementing with vitamin D3 is a good thing to do.

A Note on RDA’s: The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for vitamin D is 600 IU’s of vitamin D a day for adults, and 800 IU for those 70 and older. Keep in mind though that the RDA for a micronutrient isn’t set based on optimal health outcomes, but rather the bare minimum of that micronutrient required to prevent disease for 97.5% of the populace. Preventing disease =/= optimal health, as anyone can tell you. The RDA for vitamin D is the minimum amount needed to prevent rickets.

So what is optimal then? The Vitamin D Council recommends vitamin D blood levels between 40 and 80 ng/mL to be optimal. 40 to 20 ng/ml are classified as normal, and levels below 20 ng/mL are deficient. Vitamin D levels beyond 80 ng/ml are not achievable naturally, instead requiring supplementation, and levels beyond 150 ng/ml are classified as being toxic. After testing your vitamin D blood levels, use the graphic below to determine the amount of vitamin D needed to reach the recommended 70 ng/ml via supplementation.Without blood testing, most people average vitamin D levels of 15 - 30 ng/ml.

Vitamin D blood levels and the amount of vitamin D supplementation to reach them.

I recommend taking the vitamin D in the morning, as vitamin D is typically synthesized via sun exposure. Vitamin D with it’s link to the circadian rhythm is stimulating, and taking vitamin D at night might impact sleep quality. I recommend the Vitamin D3 5000 sold by Nordic Naturals . I like their supplement because they suspend the vitamin D3 in extra virgin olive oil instead of lesser quality expeller-pressed soybean oil which is common practice for most Vitamin D3 supplement manufacturers.

---

Supplement with Zinc + Copper

Zinc deficiency, defined as a lower intake than the RDA, can be caused through reduced dietary intake, inadequate absorption, or increased body system utilization (i.e. gaining muscle, bodybuilding). The most common cause of zinc deficiency though is reduced dietary intake, which illustrates just how little of this micronutrient most people consume. Remember the RDA is the bare minimum needed to not enter a diseased state.

Copper and Zinc are synergistic and antagonistic, and if too much zinc is consumed, a copper deficiency can occur, or vice versa.

Most common is copper excess, with zinc being deficient. In order to stay balanced, it is recommended to take a supplement which balances both minerals.

An excess of copper can lead to a variety of serious health issues (5), and a zinc deficiency leads to many of the same health issues:

Copper Excess Health Issues

• Learning disabilities

• ADHD, Autism

• Anxiety, Depression

• Acne, Hair loss

• Allergies

• Anemia

• Poor Immune function

• Sleep problems

• Poor concentration and focus,

• Chronic fatigue, and much more.

Zinc Deficiency Health Issues

• Compromised immune system

• Delayed growth

• Psychological and cognitive disorders

• Decreased testosterone levels

• Loss of appetite

• Wounds that won’t heal

• Lack of alertness

• Increased rates of anorexia.

Copper and zinc are absolutely essential to the proper functioning of the immune system, the endocrine system, and the nervous system, and an imbalance of copper and zinc throws those systems out of balance. The optimal ratio of zinc to copper to 10:1, but in the context of a copper rich diet, a supplement containing zinc to copper at a 15:1 ratio is more desirable. Jarrow’s Zinc Balance supplement (pictured above) contains 15 mg of zinc and 1 mg of copper, and I recommend to most people to take it daily to mitigate any zinc deficiencies and to help balance out their immune and endocrine systems. Have digestive issues? Zinc helps by healing epithelial tight junctions.

I find zinc to have a slight stimulating effect, so it’s best taken in the morning, and also with a meal. Zinc taken on an empty stomach can cause nausea. The higher the dosage, the greater then nausea, and that’s one of a few reasons why I don’t recommend 50 mg zinc supplements. 50 mg is above the tolerable upper limit (TUL) of 40 mg per day, and taken daily can quickly lead to a copper deficiency. Even with a zinc-demanding lifestyle (intense exercise, regular sex, heat therapy like a sauna), 15 mg supplemented is sufficient, and paired with a zinc rich diet, one zinc balance pill a day should balance out zinc and copper levels nicely.

---

Supplement with Magnesium

Magnesium is the second most common micronutrient deficiency (6) behind vitamin D, and it’s critically important for a variety of processes throughout the body, such as cognition, high blood pressure, asthma, osteoporosis, muscle cramps and twitches, fatigue and muscle weakness, and an irregular heartbeat. In fact, low levels of magnesium have often been found to be a contributing factor for people with chronic diseases.

Magnesium is high in foods like pumpkin seeds, cashews, avocado, dark chocolate, bananas, and black beans.

Magnesium Breakthrough by biOptimizers

Magnesium Breakthrough by biOptimizers

The RDA of magnesium for adults (7) is 300 mg for women and 400 mg for men. If you exercise a lot an experience changing pressure in your ears, you have a magnesium deficiency. Magnesium citrate is a common supplemental form of magnesium, but magnesium citrate can cause diarrhea at higher dosages of 200+ mg.

Magnesium glycinate is a better alternative, and taken before bed can also help get the body relaxed and ready for sleep. Both magnesium and the amino acid glycine have been shown to increase deep restorative sleep when supplemented with.

Start with 200 mg of magnesium glycinate per night and see how you feel after a couple weeks, then bump to 400 mg and if there is a noticeable improvement, stay at that nightly dosage. Magnesium glycinate is a low-cost, widely available supplement. I recommend Magnesium Breakthrough by biOptimizers, they sell a highly absorbable magnesium supplement containing seven different bonded forms of magnesium that is highly bioavailable and easy on the stomach. If you prefer a natural food source, pumpkin seeds have lots of magnesium, with a 1/4 cup containing nearly 200 mg.

---

Supplement with Boron

For modern agriculture, Boron is the second most common micronutrient deficiency in plants, and therefore deficient in everything else moving up that food chain. This is very important because we know boron is essential for the growth and maintenance of bone tissue, greatly improves wound healing, beneficially improves hormone levels (estradiol and testosterone), improves vitamin D status, and is cancer protective, just to name a few.

If you want to experience some of Wolverine’s superpowers, you can easily supplement with boron yourself.

On average most people ingest about 2 mg of boron a day, which is under the 3 mg or greater ideal dietary intake. For a person with a diet low in plant products such as fruits, vegetables, and nuts, their dietary intake of boron could be lower than even 1 mg of boron per day.

As more research is done on Boron, its importance as a trace micronutrient is becoming better understood. In the meantime, take zero chances and add boron to your daily supplement stack. You can either buy a boron supplement which is mostly filler, or use borax. Borax (sodium borate) has the same safety as table salt (similar LD50 as NaCl for Rats, and by extension, humans), and since it is a salt, borax is highly bioavailable. Buy a box from 20 Mule Team which is pure and nicely refined, and save a small jar for personal use. Use a 0.5 ml scoop (G82 Ultra Small Measuring Spoon), to dose ~10 mg boron per scoop.

Most studies on boron supplementation use a dose of 3 mg of elemental boron often through a compound like borax. Occasionally boron fructoborate has been used in studies on boron, but I prefer borax as it orders of magnitude cheaper, easier to use, and extremely bioavailable. I’ve supplemented with 10 mg a day for years, and that dosage covers all the scientifically supported beneficial effects boron has, and I’ve never experienced any negative health effects.

---

Supplement with Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Omega-3 fatty acids are a type of polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), and there are three main types of Omega-3 fatty acids: α-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). The two Omega-3 fatty acids that humans require are EPA + DHA. ALA is an Omega-3 fatty found in plant foods such as flax meal and chia seeds, and while it’s not necessarily bad for you, only approximately 5% converts into EPA and DHA, the primary Omega-3’s shown to have wide ranging health benefits.

Omega-3 fatty acids are a necessary and incredibly important fatty acid needed throughout the body, from the cardiovascular system to the brain. DHA and EPA have slightly different functions throughout the body, but overall Omega-3’s are essential for pre- and postnatal brain development, have a major influential on behavior and mood, are critical for cardiovascular health, reduce inflammation, and are required for the building of various tissues throughout the body (skin, brain, etc).

In the context of the overall diet, the higher your omega-3 to omega-6 ratio, the better. And don’t worry about an Omega-3/Omega-6 ratio that is too high. It’s very difficult to achieve a 1:1 ratio in the context of modern society, and it would be nearly impossible to consume a diet dangerously rich in omega-3’s (over 10:1 possibly). Unless you are already consuming a seafood heavy diet rich in omega-3 fatty acids and also minimize your omega-6 intake, the best way to ensure a good omega-3 to omega-6 ratio is through supplementation.

Algae Omega by Nordic Naturals is the best balance between price, purity, and environmental impact. Being derived from algae, each Algae Omega pills contains a higher amount of DHA Omega-3 fatty acids that is typically found in fish oil, which is better for brain health. Vitamin D3 is best taken in the morning because of it’s energizing impact due to circadian rhythm pathways.

Omega-3’s are also synergistic with turmeric and curcumin supplements, with both taken together reducing pain and inflammation more than if taken separately. For a curcumin supplement I recommend BioSchwartz Turmeric Curcumin Supplement.

---

Live Healthier with Five Supplements

Before starting supplementation of any of the above micronutrients, please consult your health practitioner, and ideally get blood work done for reference to see if you are below the levels suggested for optimal health. If your vitamin D, zinc, an omega-3 levels are low but your magnesium is fine, then you can skip the magnesium supplementation!

There are a few ways to implement this supplementation routine. If you really wish to feel the unique effects of each supplement, and learn the most about how each of these compounds can improve your general health, energy, and mood, introduce one new supplement into your routine weekly. Take notes of how you feel and any positive or negative symptoms you experience. I would introduce them in this order.

Week 1 - 5000 IU Vitamin D

Week 2 - 200 mg Magnesium

Week 3 - 10 mg Boron

Week 4 - 15 mg Zinc + Copper

Week 5 - 2 grams of EPA + DHA Omega-3’s

If you want to dive in head first, taking all five supplements simultaneously at their prescribed dosages and timings, will cause a noticeable effect. It will be harder to determine which supplements fixed the most glaring nutrient deficiencies compared to if you follow the weekly plan above.

---

References:

1. Donald R. Davis. Declining Fruit and Vegetable Nutrient Composition: What Is the Evidence? American Society for Horticultural Development.

2. Nair R, Maseeh A. Vitamin D: The "sunshine" vitamin. J Pharmacol Pharmacother. 2012;3(2):118-26.

3. Gordon CM, Depeter KC, Feldman HA, Grace E, Emans SJ. Prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among healthy adolescents. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2004;158(6):531-7.

4. Kremer R, Campbell PP, Reinhardt T, Gilsanz V. Vitamin D status and its relationship to body fat, final height, and peak bone mass in young women. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2009;94(1):67-73.

5. Judy Tsafrir M.D. Copper Toxicity: A Common Cause of Psychiatric Symptoms. Psychology Today.

6. Guerrera MP, Volpe SL, Mao JJ. Therapeutic uses of magnesium. Am Fam Physician. 2009;80(2):157-62.

7. Magnesium Fact Sheet for Health Professionals. National Institutes for Health, Office of Dietary Supplement

Disclosure: Amazon affiliate links are used throughout the article. Wild Free Organic makes a small commission when a purchase is made through those links. This does not affect the purchase price and the proceeds go towards the growth of Wild Free Organic.