What Makes Your Internal Garden Grow
I looked back at last week's email and I think I went over a very important point too quickly.
"Lung inflammation is the main cause of life
-threatening respiratory disorders"
COVID-19 infection: the perspectives on immune responses, published March 23, 2020. This report is from front line researchers in Italy and China.
"We propose some simple, but largely ignored, approaches to the treatment of COVID-19 patients. We believe that the two-phase division is very important: the first immune defense-based protective phase and the second inflammation-driven damaging phase. Doctors should try to boost immune responses during the first, while suppressing it in the second phase." Inflammation is the immune response in the second phase.
The CEO of the health club Life Time Fitness, Bahram Akradi, recently said health must be one of your key focuses right now — “As for advice I have right now, it’s to do at least 20 to 30 minutes of moderate exercise. That helps your immune system. Also eat healthy and stay away from packaged foods, and stay away from anything that causes inflammation.
Inflammation is the enemy,”
And yet, shopping carts are full of processed foods that people are panic buying -- and these foods stimulate inflammation.
Moderation is the key to a good exercise program. Moderate exercise can help your immune system. Overexertion can actually hurt it.
From webmd, "Research has shown that vitamin K-rich leafy greens like spinach and kale curb inflammation, as does broccoli and cabbage. And the substance that gives fruits like cherries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries their color is a type of pigment that also helps fight inflammation (anthocyanins)."
"Potatoes contain anti-inflammatory components such as resistant starch, fiber, and anthocyanins. Given the wide variation in potato germplasm for these compounds, there exists an opportunity to further develop potatoes as a potent anti-inflammatory staple crop."
America Journal of Potato Research Make sure your potatoes are organic to avoid Roundup.
Our salad mix is loaded with an assortment of beneficial nutrients like vitamin K and anthocyanins (from organic red cabbage and organic red kale). It also has beta carotenes from organic carrots (another potent anti-inflammatory). The wonderful fiber provides ideal, slow release carbs for your gut.
Something to note is that all studies show these protective phytonutrients, (such as anthocyanins, carotenes, and flavonoids), are found in higher concentrations in organic produce.
How diet makes a difference
One very important reason that foods containing fiber and resistant starch are good for your health is because they contain the carbohydrates that fuel your gut microbiata. These carbs are resistant to digestion in your stomach and small intestine, and pass into the large intestine intact. The digestion in the large intestine occurs through a kind of fermentation process. During this process, the carbohydrate calories from fiber and resistant starch are released. These carbs feed your gut microbiata and cells lining your digestive tract.
Simple carbs, like those found in processed foods, break down before reaching the large intestine and can increase blood sugar and inflammation. Complex carbs found in real foods like fruits and veggies, break down slowly and their calories feed your gut microbes as much as your body.
When you eat too much protein, the excess protein that enters the large intestine breaks down and creates compounds that
cause inflammation. Fruits and veggies that enter the large intestine promote the production of compounds like butyrates that are anti-inflammatory. This dietary difference can make a huge difference when your body is trying to deal with an infection like covid 19 which can stimulate an inflammatory response that kills.
And without the essential micronutrients that your gut microbes and your body need, normal metabolic processes start to break down.
A dense and diverse microbiata not only means better absorption of nutrients from your food.
These microbes also produce many chemical compounds that are provide benefits for our health. They can break down nutrients that cannot be used by our bodies into forms that are more bioavailable. Bioavailable means that a substance can be absorbed and used by the body.
More diversity and density of these microbes and more diversity and density of nutrients in your food means more bioavailable nutrients for our bodies -- and a stronger immune system.
Take the example of anthocyanins mentioned above. Most of the anthocyanins found in foods are not in a bioavailable form. However, gut microbiata, and some enzymes, can convert the non-bioavailable anthocyanins to bioavailable forms of anthocyanins. So even if you have a diet rich in anthocyanins, you might not be able to receive the health benefits from them because of a poor gut microbiata. Anthocyanins also have been found to inhibit the ability of viruses to both enter and exit cells, thus slowing their growth and spread. Having them in your diet and having a healthy gut microbiata can be a big help to your body in fighting off the disease.
Our major health problems today are a result of fewer nutrients in our food -- lower production of beneficial compounds by gut microbes -- and lower absorption of nutrients because of gut microbiata damage. The damage is being done by pesticides like Roundup, antimicrobial food preservatives, and diets low in fiber and resistant starch. We are both poisoning our gut microbes and starving them with modern diets.
Your large intestine is like a pot containing a magical witches brew. It is constantly releasing nutrients and other compounds created by microbial actions, into our bodies. When it contains the right ingredients (foods), these are very beneficial compounds. When the recipe is off, it can discharge injurious substances into your body.
For years, I have been trying to get people to understand the importance of micronutrient deficiencies in our farm crops, and our diets.
Under normal conditions, a lack of these essential nutrients can mean premature aging and chronic degenerative diseases, When your immune system is embattled against something like covid 19, the results of micronutrient deficiency becomes much more short term -- and accute.
"The immune system has an especially high turnover rate in chronic diseases or infections. Immune cells must be activated rapidly in the right place at the right time. This is why the immune system is particularly vulnerable to a lack of micronutrients. Any shortage in the supply of micronutrients to the immune system should therefore be prevented by a regular, appropriate intake."
The results of a Rutgers study said that tomatoes (and spinach) should contain 2,000 (parts per million) iron. It also said the great majority of Americans are eating tomatoes in the 5 ppm iron range. Using those numbers, you would have to eat all of the tomatoes in both boxes below to get the equivalent amount of iron as the well grown tomato in the middle. Commercially grown tomatoes don't just lack flavor, they lack essential nutrients. They went on to say the micronutrient content of veggies (and fruits) is a reflection of the fertility of the soil they were growing in -- so tend to your soil microbiata and feed the soil instead of your plants.
