Coeliac disease and B vitamins
Coeliac disease is a typical example of a malabsorption syndrome which significantly raises the risk of deficiency, including that of folate and vitamin B12, which results in high levels of homocysteine in newly diagnosed coeliacs.
In a study published in the World Journal of Gastroenterology in February, the VUmc University Medical Centre in the Netherlands found that daily supplements of vitamin B6, folate, and vitamin B12 daily had a significant effect on homocysteine levels.
The study reinforces earlier findings that coeliac disease, and its severity, had a marked effect on homocysteine levels and that the regular use of B vitamin supplements resulted in higher vitamin B6, folate and vitamin B12, and lower plasma homocysteine levels.
For the full research report http://tinyurl.com/atfncp
(Source: FoodsMatter)
Little Giant 專為穀膠不耐症人士而設，貨品完全不含小麥、穀膠、牛奶等，受coeliac問題困擾的人士也可食用。
2009年7月24日 星期五
Childhood constipation as serious as asthma or ADHD 兒童便秘
Childhood constipation as serious as asthma or ADHD
兒童便秘跟哮喘及過動症一樣嚴重
Having studied data on children under 18 who were diagnosed with constipation or prescribed a laxative over two consecutive years (2003 and 2004), researchers at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital at Ohio State University suggest that the burden of illness in children suffering from constipation, and the costs associated with this condition, are roughly of the same magnitude as those for asthma and ADHD, but that constipation does not receive anywhere as much attention in public health campaigns.
Despite being considered by many a relatively benign condition the day-to-day struggle caused by constipation can often be emotionally devastating, and can impact on the overall health and well-being of affected children and their families.
One in four children will have constipation at some point, caused by a number of things such as not eating enough fibre or fruit and vegetables, not wanting to use unfamiliar toilets and ignoring the urge to go while playing.
Parents should talk to their children about their toilet habits and make sure they are having a bowel movement at least every other day.
For mild cases of constipation, prune or apple juice, high-fibre cereal, or over-thecounter softeners or laxatives made for children may help.
If the problem persists, parents should seek the advice of a doctor.
The study is to be published in the Journal of Pediatrics in early 2009
More at http://tinyurl.com/5uzysl
via JS
(Source: FoodsMatter)
Little Giant: The best way to cope with constipation is intake of
1. fibre e.g. pysllium husk, cellulose, bran;
2. probiotics e.g. Klaire Labs probiotics - one of the few dairy free, hypoallergenic probiotics in the world;
3. MAGNESIUM CITRATE. You are almost sure to have bowel movement in 2-8 hours after taking magnesium citrate. IT WORKS!
兒童便秘跟哮喘及過動症一樣嚴重
Having studied data on children under 18 who were diagnosed with constipation or prescribed a laxative over two consecutive years (2003 and 2004), researchers at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital at Ohio State University suggest that the burden of illness in children suffering from constipation, and the costs associated with this condition, are roughly of the same magnitude as those for asthma and ADHD, but that constipation does not receive anywhere as much attention in public health campaigns.
Despite being considered by many a relatively benign condition the day-to-day struggle caused by constipation can often be emotionally devastating, and can impact on the overall health and well-being of affected children and their families.
One in four children will have constipation at some point, caused by a number of things such as not eating enough fibre or fruit and vegetables, not wanting to use unfamiliar toilets and ignoring the urge to go while playing.
Parents should talk to their children about their toilet habits and make sure they are having a bowel movement at least every other day.
For mild cases of constipation, prune or apple juice, high-fibre cereal, or over-thecounter softeners or laxatives made for children may help.
If the problem persists, parents should seek the advice of a doctor.
The study is to be published in the Journal of Pediatrics in early 2009
More at http://tinyurl.com/5uzysl
via JS
(Source: FoodsMatter)
Little Giant: The best way to cope with constipation is intake of
1. fibre e.g. pysllium husk, cellulose, bran;
2. probiotics e.g. Klaire Labs probiotics - one of the few dairy free, hypoallergenic probiotics in the world;
3. MAGNESIUM CITRATE. You are almost sure to have bowel movement in 2-8 hours after taking magnesium citrate. IT WORKS!
Gluten intolerance and migraines 偏頭痛與穀膠不耐症的關係
Gluten intolerance and migrainesThe relationship between gluten sensitivity and migraines has been frequently noted. For example, in one study, neurologist Marios Hadjivassiliou described a middle-aged man whose migraines began in childhood and did not respond to treatment but stopped completely after he was diagnosed with coeliac disease and switched to a gluten free diet (American Academy of Neurology, Feb 14, 2001).Researchers Gabrielli and colleagues in Italy found that blood donors with migraines were more likely to have coeliac disease than those who were healthy.Dr Vikki Petersen runs a medical clinic in Sunnyvale, California with a strong focus on gluten sensitivity. She is the co-author of The Gluten Effect in which she notes that many physicians lack awareness of the symptoms gluten sensitivity can trigger including ataxia (balance and gait disorders), seizures, and development of brain lesions and calcifications as well as migraines.Tests results may often be misleading, registering ‘normal’ in someone who is gluten sensitive. However, a number of symptoms may alert a physician or migraine sufferer to suspect gluten sensitivity as a trigger. According to Dr Petersen, ‘Having migraines is a “red flag”, as is a craving for gluten and starchy foods. Patients who have no problem with gluten typically can “take it or leave it” in their diet. It'sthe patients who feel they “can't live without it” that definitely should check for a sensitivity.’Adams, Scott; Migraine Headaches: Gluten Triggers Severe Headaches in Sensitive Individuals; Celiac.com; 02/15/2001 DeNoon, Daniel J; Migraines Linked to Celiac Disease; WebMD HealthNews; March 21, 2003 Gabrielli, M, et al, Association Between Migraine and Celiac Disease: ResultsFrom a Preliminary Case-Control and Therapeutic Study, AM J Gastroenterol.2003 Jul; 98 (7):1674(Source: Foods Matter)
Thinny Skinnies –the low-down on leaky skin and allergies
Thinny Skinnies –the low-down on leaky skin and allergies
皮膚薄導致多種皮膚問題
Micki Rose looks at recent research and suggests how you might deal with the problem.In the past few years, scientists have become pretty convinced that people suffering with skin disorders such as dermatitis, eczema and psoriasis do so partly because they have thinner or leakier skin.This type of skin lets more environmental substances (bacteria, pollens, moulds, chemicals etc) through than it should. These are thought to set off an allergic reaction as they enter the bloodstream. As the immune system weakens over time and the skin gets more porous, food intolerances and asthma are thought to follow. If being a ‘thinny skinny’ is at the heart of skin allergy problems, is there anything we can do to prevent it starting or worsening, or are we just sitting ducks with the wrong geneticmake-up? Well, there’s an argument for both, so let’s start by looking at how the skin barrierworks, what the genetic scientists think is going on, consider how we might be making the problem worse for ourselves and end with ways we can limit our leakiness.The barrier an average person has about 1.75m2 of skin. At the top of the epidermis is the stratum corneum, which is made up of dead skin cells glued together to form a layer of keratin cells and lipids, which give it toughness and moisture.This, in effect, is the barrier. It acts as a layer of bricks with the fats in between as the mortar. There are 15 layers of this stratum corneum which constantly move closer to the surface to be shed – a new layer forms every two weeks.Beneficial bacteria live on this part of the skin and form part of the barrier by inhibiting pathogenic bacteria. Some of this bacteria is shed with the skin cells and needs to be constantly replaced as well.The barrier is dependent on us maintaining the right levels of moisture in the skin, its pH, the content of the fats or lipids, between the cells and the rate ofshedding. The deeper layer is the dermis and this is where most of thenutrients are needed to grow healthy skin, which then moves up gradually to form the stratum corneum.It should be pretty obvious, then, that to maintain a good non-leaky skin barrier we need to feed the dermis the right nutrients, keep moisture, fats and pH levels right and avoid doing anything that encourages too fast shedding.
Genetics
Now let’s look at what do geneticists think might be going wrong. Scientists realized a while ago that, in many cases, children with eczema had no antibodies in their blood that would explain an allergic cause of eczema. This set them looking for other reasons.There was no doubt that certain substances kicked off a skin flare, so they assumed the substances were somehow getting through the skin’s naturaldefense barrier – but why?A team at Dundee University discovered that about half the people they tested had a genetic defect in the gene that that controls the production of fillagrin,a protein found on the skin’s surface thought to be involved in maintaining the barrier.
Too little, or no fillagrin explained the leaky skin. But clearly, if they found only half had this problem it can’t be the full story, and the researchers themselvessay it’s unlikely to be the only factor involved.
Thinny Skinnies –the low-down on leaky skin and allergiesMicki Rose looks at recent research and suggests how you might deal with the problem.Interestingly, the team felt that it may, in fact, be a genetic advantage since a mildly leaky skin would allow a small amount of pathogens, such asbacteria, through acting rather like a ‘natural vaccination’ process and leading to a stronger species immunity.
So thinny skinnies may actually be the top of our species tree, which is a nice thought!Other teams found that the LCE gene cluster may also be implicated and, again, this genetic variant would likely lead problems maintaining the skin’s proteins and therefore the barrier.Yet other scientists believe that eczema sufferers lack what are termed AMPs (anti-microbial peptides), more proteins that help specifically to fight offbacteria. These AMPs live in the outer surface of the skin and if you don’t have enough, you are more prone to bacterial attack.If you injure your skin normally you’d see an increase in AMPs at the site to fight off infection, but this doesn’t happen as effectively in skin sufferers and so bacteria attacks the skin, injures it and prompts a skin flare. We do know that many eczema sufferers have a lot more staphylococcus aureus bacteria in the upper skin layers than most people and this could be the reason why they can’tfight infection off as well.If antibiotics are regularly used they damage the skin’s natural bacteria further and make the whole problem worse longer term, while the skin may also develop resistance to them.So, it appears there may be several genetic mechanisms involved in why we have leaky skin, and there is clearly much more to learn. We need to keep in mind that many illnesses have been found to have a genetic component, but that it is often lifestyle and environmental elements that tip the sufferer over the edge. Think of most cancers: we know genes make us vulnerable but scientists also know that diet and lifestyle are the straws that break the camel’s back.
So, what else could be going on?
Moisture loss
This seems to be the biggest issue. Thin skin is often dry skin. Dry skin is often itchy. Scratching damages the skin and allows in the bacteria and other pollutants leading to yet more itching and more scratching, and so it goes on.
The trick must be, then, to keep the skin well oiled and that’s the argument behind many barrier creams.
Babies in the womb are covered in a kind of waterproof cream called vernix caseosa, made up of fats, water and dead skin cells, which forms the skin’s all-important barrier.One team of scientists is trying to make a synthetic version of this for use when the barrier is compromised, as in eczema.
Researchers in India applied sunflower oil several times a day to vulnerablepremature babies to strengthen their immature skin barrier and found that therewas a drop in deaths by a staggering 26%.
Simply keeping them well moisturised prevented them absorbing damagingenvironmental pollutants.So far, so good, but as I said in my article in the February Foods Matter, barrier creams are often toxic and mineral-oil based.
Some experts think this compounds the problem, as they don’t allow the skin to breathe and hold petroleum by-products and sweat next to the skin for much longer than normal, possibly contributing to more damage.Therefore it’s important to choose your moisture cream made of fats, ceramides and cholesterol.These are used to make phospholipids which form cell and other membranes. So it much make sense to ensure we’ve got enough of the right elements to go around.Lipids in our bodies are dependent upon our consumption of essential fatty acids like omega,3, 6 and 9.
Research suggests that eczema sufferers tend to have higher than average levels of linoleic acid and lower amounts of polyunsaturated fats like GLA, EPA and DHA.Even more interesting, one study found that there was a definite correlation between pregnant women who ate more omega 6 rich foods such as margarineand vegetable oils, in their last four weeks and the number of their children whohad developed eczema and other allergies by two years old.
The babies of the mothers who ate more fish (Omega 3, DHA/EPA) didn’tdevelop allergies.
This may partly be because of the impact of omega 3 fatty acids on strengthening our immunity, forming strong membranes and lowering inflammation levels, but could also be because people have a problem converting LINOLEIC acid into the more beneficial fats.This conversion is dependent on specific nutrients, most importantly zincs, needed for the enzyme delta-6-desaturase required for conversion to take place.Zinc is a key skin and immune nutrient, and this could go some way to explaining why zinc often helps in these cases, both as supplements and as zinc oxide cream applied topically.Giving omega 3 oils as fish oils is likely to help people sidestep this conversion problem, although vegetarian sources of these such as linseed may not, as these still need to go through a conversion process.Since cholesterol plays a really important part as one of the barrier and cell membrane substances, we must also avoid over zealous reduction of our cholesterol levels.
Research suggests that we should be aiming for a healthy total cholesterol level of between 4.9 and 5.4 and that cholesterol, as well as causing problems when it is too high, can also be problematic when it’s too low.
Compromised membrane and barrier strength is one of the key issues.Lastly, we mustn’t forget the importance of water. Remember what the babies’ natural ‘cream’ is made of: fats and skin cells but mostly water.
Hydration is key. And fats have a role to play here too, since efficient hydration of the body only happens if you have the correct essential fats in place.
If you’re deficient in the right fats, you won’t hydrate effectively no matter how much water you throw down.
DamageSo that deals with genetic factors, moisture and fat content of the skin, but what about the pH of the skin and skin shedding?We already touched on the damage chemicals can cause.
In hand dermatitis studies, researchers have found that hand washes can alter pH, destroy resident good bacteria and reduce the level of fatty acids(loosening the glue holding the barrier together).
Damage is pretty much immediate, even after one wash, and is cumulative,with repair taking 17 days after using a hand wash for a week.
Just imagine what you’re using on your whole body, and how long you’ve been using it for, then think about how long that might take to repair!Consider what’s in your water and how many chemicals you are using every day on yourskin in seemingly innocuous toiletries.We can only guess from the damage a simple handwash does what may result from a concoction of chemical beauty, washing and cleaning products slathered onto our bodies on a daily basis.
Put it this way, if you’re predisposed to leaky skin, it’s not going to help.
Skin shedding
Now consider the shedding of the skin cells and think about how often you do something that removes a top layer of skin – exfoliation techniques like scrubs,loofahs, skin brushing, peel masks, microdermabrasion, waxing etc.
Even simple rubbing with a hard towel will encourage a layer of skin to come off.Sometimes that’s a good decongestant for dull skin, but not if you have a thin skin and are prone to skin allergies.
A team at University College, London showed that even ripping a piece of cellotape off the skin once was enough to allow allergens through into the blood.They showed that these allergens epidermis, and are then taken to the nearest lymph node to be dealt with, ie an immune response.
Other impacts• Scratching, of course, causes damage, which is why the moisturizing and avoiding it is so important.• Steroid creams have been found to thin the skin and hence could make the problem worse in the long term.• Dust mites are also an important consideration. An enzyme released in their faeces is thought to be able to harm the skin barrier so it’s vital to take steps to avoid them.In fact, some experts believe that it is these environmental allergens as well as pollens, moulds, fumes and animal dander that are the first allergens to enter a leaky skin.
This precedes the development of food allergies, intolerance and other allergies such as asthma as the immune system becomes weaker and the skin allows more and more in.
An interesting study showed that in some babies, the bum was the only part of the body not affected by eczema probably because it had been covered up and therefore not exposed to environmental allergens.
• Ozone. One of the major environmental pathogens is air, or the ozone in it anyway. We know that part of the body’s ageing process involves exposure tooxygen, creating free radicals that must then are taken up by Langerhan be quenched by antioxidants.
Think of what happens when your car is scratched. If left exposed it rusts. This iswhat happens to our skin. This oxidative damage occurs in the stratum corneum all the time. This layer is particularly rich in vitamin E, a powerful fat-soluble antioxidant. So a lack of antioxidants, especially vitamin E, is going to mean alower ability to repair the oxidative damage.
• Trauma. I know several cases, including my own, where skin problems occur only where there has been a trauma, such as a burn or infection.Highly toxic hair products designed to get my hair to stand on end when I was young (don’t ask!) have left me with a vulnerable scalp and eczema in myears when I’m stressed.
I also wonder whether an episode as a very young child when I fell practically naked into a nettle patch exacerbated an already allergic tendency by damaging my skin barrier.
Who knows, but it’s an interesting concept? As a naturopath, I would also have to consider the link between skin allergies, a leaky gut and respiratory problems such as asthma.To a naturopath, our lungs and bowel are just bags and tubes of the same sort of skin we can see externally. It stands to reason that if we have a tendency for leaky skin on the outside, this may be no different on the inside.
This could explain the established link between skin and bowel issues, wherebythe skin is often simply reflecting what is happening in the bowel.If I see a person with IBS or constipation, for example, they invariably have some form of skin problem too.
And could the leaky gut be at the heart of the later food intolerances and othersensitivities – leaky skin, leaky gut?
And what about the link between early eczema developing into asthma – is this simply a reflection of leaky lung skin?
Prevention, protectionand repair
So what can be done to limit the damage and repair it? Obviously, we can’t do much about our genetic predisposition, but just because you have a genetic issue, it doesn’t mean the problem will develop, and we can do plenty to prevent it doing so through lifestyle choices.
Here are my top tips:1. If you’re pregnant, take good quality fish oils in the last trimester especially.
2. Keep babies’ skin covered up lightly with clothes and oil to avoid environmental pollutants affecting the immature barrier.
3. If your skin is dry, make sure you have plenty of fatty acids in your diet, keep nicely hydrated and check out your thyroid – underactivity is a common cause.
4. Moisturise well daily with a non-toxic, no perfume, no-mineral products, oil based lotion.Vitamin E, vitamin C and green tea extracts have been found the best to offset free radical damage.
Use oil in the bath to coat skin and dry naturally.
5. Fit a whole house dechlorinator so any water that comes into contact with your skin is as chemical-free as you can get.And whilst you’re at it a reverse osmosis filter on your drinking water wouldn’t go amiss either – remember your internal skin.
6. Make sure you eat plenty of foods rich in essential fats such as fish, seeds and nuts, and, to make sure, take a good quality fish oil supplement daily.
7. Avoid any form of harsh chemicals such as toiletries and cleaning products. Wear gloves as a protective barrier.
Avoid over zealous skin cleaning.
8. Choose organic cotton, nonscratchy clothes, towels and bedding wherever possible.
Cotton is one of the most toxic, pesticide-ridden fabrics there isand you need to avoid chemical ingestion.
9. Get your environment right. Invest in a HEPA air filter and clear the rooms you use most, especially your bedroom and lounge, of pollens, moulds, mites, dander etc. Use a HEPAfitted vacuum cleaner for your house, bed and upholstered furniture to get rid of dust mites and other allergens. Keep temperaturecontrolled: neither too hot, nor too cold.
10. Avoid physically damagingyour skin with exfoliation, waxing or biological washing powders.
11. Cover your skin lightly to limit environmental and ozone ingestion.
12. Eat plenty of organic fruit and vegetables to keep antioxidant levels high.
To make sure, invest in a good broad-spectrum antioxidant supplement that includes plenty of zinc and take it daily.
You could even have an oxidative stress test done to check your internal levels of antioxidants and show which ones you need specifically.
13. Avoid steroid and antibiotic use as much as possible.
Choose creams containing licorice extracts (glycyrrhetinic acid), which have been shown to have a similar effect to steroid creams.
DGL, a form of licorice, is used often to heal internal skin wounds such as ulcers so it makes sense it would help external skin too.
Creams containing probiotics, such as acidophilus, will boost your natural levels of good bacteria to fight the baddies more effectively.
Take a probiotic daily for your inside skin.
14. Do not lower your total cholesterol levels too far.
Instead, aim to achieve a high level of protective HDL cholesterol and less of the harmful LDL cholesterol with a good diet and lifestyle.(Source: FoodsMatter)
皮膚薄導致多種皮膚問題
Micki Rose looks at recent research and suggests how you might deal with the problem.In the past few years, scientists have become pretty convinced that people suffering with skin disorders such as dermatitis, eczema and psoriasis do so partly because they have thinner or leakier skin.This type of skin lets more environmental substances (bacteria, pollens, moulds, chemicals etc) through than it should. These are thought to set off an allergic reaction as they enter the bloodstream. As the immune system weakens over time and the skin gets more porous, food intolerances and asthma are thought to follow. If being a ‘thinny skinny’ is at the heart of skin allergy problems, is there anything we can do to prevent it starting or worsening, or are we just sitting ducks with the wrong geneticmake-up? Well, there’s an argument for both, so let’s start by looking at how the skin barrierworks, what the genetic scientists think is going on, consider how we might be making the problem worse for ourselves and end with ways we can limit our leakiness.The barrier an average person has about 1.75m2 of skin. At the top of the epidermis is the stratum corneum, which is made up of dead skin cells glued together to form a layer of keratin cells and lipids, which give it toughness and moisture.This, in effect, is the barrier. It acts as a layer of bricks with the fats in between as the mortar. There are 15 layers of this stratum corneum which constantly move closer to the surface to be shed – a new layer forms every two weeks.Beneficial bacteria live on this part of the skin and form part of the barrier by inhibiting pathogenic bacteria. Some of this bacteria is shed with the skin cells and needs to be constantly replaced as well.The barrier is dependent on us maintaining the right levels of moisture in the skin, its pH, the content of the fats or lipids, between the cells and the rate ofshedding. The deeper layer is the dermis and this is where most of thenutrients are needed to grow healthy skin, which then moves up gradually to form the stratum corneum.It should be pretty obvious, then, that to maintain a good non-leaky skin barrier we need to feed the dermis the right nutrients, keep moisture, fats and pH levels right and avoid doing anything that encourages too fast shedding.
Genetics
Now let’s look at what do geneticists think might be going wrong. Scientists realized a while ago that, in many cases, children with eczema had no antibodies in their blood that would explain an allergic cause of eczema. This set them looking for other reasons.There was no doubt that certain substances kicked off a skin flare, so they assumed the substances were somehow getting through the skin’s naturaldefense barrier – but why?A team at Dundee University discovered that about half the people they tested had a genetic defect in the gene that that controls the production of fillagrin,a protein found on the skin’s surface thought to be involved in maintaining the barrier.
Too little, or no fillagrin explained the leaky skin. But clearly, if they found only half had this problem it can’t be the full story, and the researchers themselvessay it’s unlikely to be the only factor involved.
Thinny Skinnies –the low-down on leaky skin and allergiesMicki Rose looks at recent research and suggests how you might deal with the problem.Interestingly, the team felt that it may, in fact, be a genetic advantage since a mildly leaky skin would allow a small amount of pathogens, such asbacteria, through acting rather like a ‘natural vaccination’ process and leading to a stronger species immunity.
So thinny skinnies may actually be the top of our species tree, which is a nice thought!Other teams found that the LCE gene cluster may also be implicated and, again, this genetic variant would likely lead problems maintaining the skin’s proteins and therefore the barrier.Yet other scientists believe that eczema sufferers lack what are termed AMPs (anti-microbial peptides), more proteins that help specifically to fight offbacteria. These AMPs live in the outer surface of the skin and if you don’t have enough, you are more prone to bacterial attack.If you injure your skin normally you’d see an increase in AMPs at the site to fight off infection, but this doesn’t happen as effectively in skin sufferers and so bacteria attacks the skin, injures it and prompts a skin flare. We do know that many eczema sufferers have a lot more staphylococcus aureus bacteria in the upper skin layers than most people and this could be the reason why they can’tfight infection off as well.If antibiotics are regularly used they damage the skin’s natural bacteria further and make the whole problem worse longer term, while the skin may also develop resistance to them.So, it appears there may be several genetic mechanisms involved in why we have leaky skin, and there is clearly much more to learn. We need to keep in mind that many illnesses have been found to have a genetic component, but that it is often lifestyle and environmental elements that tip the sufferer over the edge. Think of most cancers: we know genes make us vulnerable but scientists also know that diet and lifestyle are the straws that break the camel’s back.
So, what else could be going on?
Moisture loss
This seems to be the biggest issue. Thin skin is often dry skin. Dry skin is often itchy. Scratching damages the skin and allows in the bacteria and other pollutants leading to yet more itching and more scratching, and so it goes on.
The trick must be, then, to keep the skin well oiled and that’s the argument behind many barrier creams.
Babies in the womb are covered in a kind of waterproof cream called vernix caseosa, made up of fats, water and dead skin cells, which forms the skin’s all-important barrier.One team of scientists is trying to make a synthetic version of this for use when the barrier is compromised, as in eczema.
Researchers in India applied sunflower oil several times a day to vulnerablepremature babies to strengthen their immature skin barrier and found that therewas a drop in deaths by a staggering 26%.
Simply keeping them well moisturised prevented them absorbing damagingenvironmental pollutants.So far, so good, but as I said in my article in the February Foods Matter, barrier creams are often toxic and mineral-oil based.
Some experts think this compounds the problem, as they don’t allow the skin to breathe and hold petroleum by-products and sweat next to the skin for much longer than normal, possibly contributing to more damage.Therefore it’s important to choose your moisture cream made of fats, ceramides and cholesterol.These are used to make phospholipids which form cell and other membranes. So it much make sense to ensure we’ve got enough of the right elements to go around.Lipids in our bodies are dependent upon our consumption of essential fatty acids like omega,3, 6 and 9.
Research suggests that eczema sufferers tend to have higher than average levels of linoleic acid and lower amounts of polyunsaturated fats like GLA, EPA and DHA.Even more interesting, one study found that there was a definite correlation between pregnant women who ate more omega 6 rich foods such as margarineand vegetable oils, in their last four weeks and the number of their children whohad developed eczema and other allergies by two years old.
The babies of the mothers who ate more fish (Omega 3, DHA/EPA) didn’tdevelop allergies.
This may partly be because of the impact of omega 3 fatty acids on strengthening our immunity, forming strong membranes and lowering inflammation levels, but could also be because people have a problem converting LINOLEIC acid into the more beneficial fats.This conversion is dependent on specific nutrients, most importantly zincs, needed for the enzyme delta-6-desaturase required for conversion to take place.Zinc is a key skin and immune nutrient, and this could go some way to explaining why zinc often helps in these cases, both as supplements and as zinc oxide cream applied topically.Giving omega 3 oils as fish oils is likely to help people sidestep this conversion problem, although vegetarian sources of these such as linseed may not, as these still need to go through a conversion process.Since cholesterol plays a really important part as one of the barrier and cell membrane substances, we must also avoid over zealous reduction of our cholesterol levels.
Research suggests that we should be aiming for a healthy total cholesterol level of between 4.9 and 5.4 and that cholesterol, as well as causing problems when it is too high, can also be problematic when it’s too low.
Compromised membrane and barrier strength is one of the key issues.Lastly, we mustn’t forget the importance of water. Remember what the babies’ natural ‘cream’ is made of: fats and skin cells but mostly water.
Hydration is key. And fats have a role to play here too, since efficient hydration of the body only happens if you have the correct essential fats in place.
If you’re deficient in the right fats, you won’t hydrate effectively no matter how much water you throw down.
DamageSo that deals with genetic factors, moisture and fat content of the skin, but what about the pH of the skin and skin shedding?We already touched on the damage chemicals can cause.
In hand dermatitis studies, researchers have found that hand washes can alter pH, destroy resident good bacteria and reduce the level of fatty acids(loosening the glue holding the barrier together).
Damage is pretty much immediate, even after one wash, and is cumulative,with repair taking 17 days after using a hand wash for a week.
Just imagine what you’re using on your whole body, and how long you’ve been using it for, then think about how long that might take to repair!Consider what’s in your water and how many chemicals you are using every day on yourskin in seemingly innocuous toiletries.We can only guess from the damage a simple handwash does what may result from a concoction of chemical beauty, washing and cleaning products slathered onto our bodies on a daily basis.
Put it this way, if you’re predisposed to leaky skin, it’s not going to help.
Skin shedding
Now consider the shedding of the skin cells and think about how often you do something that removes a top layer of skin – exfoliation techniques like scrubs,loofahs, skin brushing, peel masks, microdermabrasion, waxing etc.
Even simple rubbing with a hard towel will encourage a layer of skin to come off.Sometimes that’s a good decongestant for dull skin, but not if you have a thin skin and are prone to skin allergies.
A team at University College, London showed that even ripping a piece of cellotape off the skin once was enough to allow allergens through into the blood.They showed that these allergens epidermis, and are then taken to the nearest lymph node to be dealt with, ie an immune response.
Other impacts• Scratching, of course, causes damage, which is why the moisturizing and avoiding it is so important.• Steroid creams have been found to thin the skin and hence could make the problem worse in the long term.• Dust mites are also an important consideration. An enzyme released in their faeces is thought to be able to harm the skin barrier so it’s vital to take steps to avoid them.In fact, some experts believe that it is these environmental allergens as well as pollens, moulds, fumes and animal dander that are the first allergens to enter a leaky skin.
This precedes the development of food allergies, intolerance and other allergies such as asthma as the immune system becomes weaker and the skin allows more and more in.
An interesting study showed that in some babies, the bum was the only part of the body not affected by eczema probably because it had been covered up and therefore not exposed to environmental allergens.
• Ozone. One of the major environmental pathogens is air, or the ozone in it anyway. We know that part of the body’s ageing process involves exposure tooxygen, creating free radicals that must then are taken up by Langerhan be quenched by antioxidants.
Think of what happens when your car is scratched. If left exposed it rusts. This iswhat happens to our skin. This oxidative damage occurs in the stratum corneum all the time. This layer is particularly rich in vitamin E, a powerful fat-soluble antioxidant. So a lack of antioxidants, especially vitamin E, is going to mean alower ability to repair the oxidative damage.
• Trauma. I know several cases, including my own, where skin problems occur only where there has been a trauma, such as a burn or infection.Highly toxic hair products designed to get my hair to stand on end when I was young (don’t ask!) have left me with a vulnerable scalp and eczema in myears when I’m stressed.
I also wonder whether an episode as a very young child when I fell practically naked into a nettle patch exacerbated an already allergic tendency by damaging my skin barrier.
Who knows, but it’s an interesting concept? As a naturopath, I would also have to consider the link between skin allergies, a leaky gut and respiratory problems such as asthma.To a naturopath, our lungs and bowel are just bags and tubes of the same sort of skin we can see externally. It stands to reason that if we have a tendency for leaky skin on the outside, this may be no different on the inside.
This could explain the established link between skin and bowel issues, wherebythe skin is often simply reflecting what is happening in the bowel.If I see a person with IBS or constipation, for example, they invariably have some form of skin problem too.
And could the leaky gut be at the heart of the later food intolerances and othersensitivities – leaky skin, leaky gut?
And what about the link between early eczema developing into asthma – is this simply a reflection of leaky lung skin?
Prevention, protectionand repair
So what can be done to limit the damage and repair it? Obviously, we can’t do much about our genetic predisposition, but just because you have a genetic issue, it doesn’t mean the problem will develop, and we can do plenty to prevent it doing so through lifestyle choices.
Here are my top tips:1. If you’re pregnant, take good quality fish oils in the last trimester especially.
2. Keep babies’ skin covered up lightly with clothes and oil to avoid environmental pollutants affecting the immature barrier.
3. If your skin is dry, make sure you have plenty of fatty acids in your diet, keep nicely hydrated and check out your thyroid – underactivity is a common cause.
4. Moisturise well daily with a non-toxic, no perfume, no-mineral products, oil based lotion.Vitamin E, vitamin C and green tea extracts have been found the best to offset free radical damage.
Use oil in the bath to coat skin and dry naturally.
5. Fit a whole house dechlorinator so any water that comes into contact with your skin is as chemical-free as you can get.And whilst you’re at it a reverse osmosis filter on your drinking water wouldn’t go amiss either – remember your internal skin.
6. Make sure you eat plenty of foods rich in essential fats such as fish, seeds and nuts, and, to make sure, take a good quality fish oil supplement daily.
7. Avoid any form of harsh chemicals such as toiletries and cleaning products. Wear gloves as a protective barrier.
Avoid over zealous skin cleaning.
8. Choose organic cotton, nonscratchy clothes, towels and bedding wherever possible.
Cotton is one of the most toxic, pesticide-ridden fabrics there isand you need to avoid chemical ingestion.
9. Get your environment right. Invest in a HEPA air filter and clear the rooms you use most, especially your bedroom and lounge, of pollens, moulds, mites, dander etc. Use a HEPAfitted vacuum cleaner for your house, bed and upholstered furniture to get rid of dust mites and other allergens. Keep temperaturecontrolled: neither too hot, nor too cold.
10. Avoid physically damagingyour skin with exfoliation, waxing or biological washing powders.
11. Cover your skin lightly to limit environmental and ozone ingestion.
12. Eat plenty of organic fruit and vegetables to keep antioxidant levels high.
To make sure, invest in a good broad-spectrum antioxidant supplement that includes plenty of zinc and take it daily.
You could even have an oxidative stress test done to check your internal levels of antioxidants and show which ones you need specifically.
13. Avoid steroid and antibiotic use as much as possible.
Choose creams containing licorice extracts (glycyrrhetinic acid), which have been shown to have a similar effect to steroid creams.
DGL, a form of licorice, is used often to heal internal skin wounds such as ulcers so it makes sense it would help external skin too.
Creams containing probiotics, such as acidophilus, will boost your natural levels of good bacteria to fight the baddies more effectively.
Take a probiotic daily for your inside skin.
14. Do not lower your total cholesterol levels too far.
Instead, aim to achieve a high level of protective HDL cholesterol and less of the harmful LDL cholesterol with a good diet and lifestyle.(Source: FoodsMatter)
Soya in Chicken 大豆過敏者注意:雞也可能令你過敏?
Soya in chickenReaders will remember that in the November Foods Matter (p17) and on the FM website athttp://tinyurl.com/3adyvy, Tracy Smith, Jacqui Broadway and Julie Rogers all reported that,being ultra-sensitive to soya, they reacted to chickens and eggs that had been fed a soya dietthroughout their lives although they could tolerate organic chickens which had only been fed soya before slaughter.Professor Jonathan Brostoff said that this was an area in which very little work had been done; the laboratories we consulted said that they thought it was very unlikely that any soya residues would remain in the flesh.Jacqui Broadway decided to test this out and sent a piece of organic chicken to be analysed using the ELISA method (see opposite).The laboratory was right – the test did not detect any soya. We then sent a piece of ‘normal' chicken, which had presumably been fed soya all its life, for DNA testing – but with no more positive a result.But the fact remains that three of our readers (and how many other people) who are proven to be soya sensitive, become ill after eating chickens or eggs that have been fed a diet high in soya and do notafter eating chickens fed a diet very low in soya.Are they imagining their symptoms? Or are the tests currently available simple not sensitive or sophisticated enough to pick up the soya residues to which they are reacting?(Source: FoodsMatter)
Natural Himalaya rock salt 天然喜馬拉亞山岩鹽
Click here
Himalayan salt - The Gift of Mother Earth
The origin of Himalaya Rock Salt goes back to over 100 million years. In ancient days,
it was more precious than gold.
It was used by ancient Ayurvedic seers who found it suitable against various diseases.
Today, Himalaya Rock Salt brings you the same prehistoric, pollution-free, chemical-free yet mineral-rich natural resource.
100% Himalaya Rock Salt contrains many natural trace minerals in minute quantities.
喜馬拉亞山岩鹽的源頭已有超過1億萬年歷史，是大自然的恩賜。在古時，它比黃金更貴重。
它被古代Ayurvedic智者認為有助對抗多種疾病。今日，喜馬拉亞石鹽為你帶來與古時一樣不含污染物、化學物質，但礦物質豐富的天然資源。
100%喜馬拉亞石鹽，僅少量便含有多種礦物質。
Gluten free fruit rice crispies 不含穀膠果乾脆米通
這一次我們以不含穀膠的材料去製作 果乾脆米通
材料如下
脆米
米糖漿
果乾
不含牛奶植物牛油
一個膠盒(我們準備的容器大約是放下炒香了的 脆米 還餘約20%的空間)
Ingredients:
Dried fruits (Lyme Regis fruitus nuggets)
Dairy free margarine / Organic ghee butter
1 plastic container
要使脆米夠香口和脆 我們可以先用平底鍋把脆米再炒香(不加油)
Dry fry the rice crispies in a pan.
之後我們就可以準備做混合脆米的糖漿了
首先我們把Gluten free植物牛油放下去平底鍋 小火就足夠我們使用的了
加熱熔化
Melt the butter / margarine in a pan on low heat.
Gluten free植物牛油都熔化後就可以把米糖漿加進去
Add rice syrup to melted butter.
等熱力令 米糖漿 變得容易搞動後 就再把 果肉乾(糖) 放進去
When the syrup turns runny, add fruit nuggets.
果肉乾(糖)放進去後搞動大約1分鐘
就可以和之前炒好了的 脆米 混合在一起了
Stir for about one minute and you can mix the solution with rice crispies.
再壓平
Press.
待材料都冷卻後就完成
Cools down.
-----------------------------------------------------------
做好了的 脆米通 我們可以切成條狀 方便當成早餐,外出小吃
而糖漿 和 果肉乾方面 可以選擇的不同的組合 或加入自己喜歡的材料也可以
但 脆米 最好選擇本身味道較淡的 這樣 脆米通做出來就不會怕過甜了
訂閱：
文章 (Atom)