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