If You are Gluten Sensitive, Stop! Don't Reach for An NSAID Before Reading this!

NSAIDs are a group of drugs called Non Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory drugs, and they come in pills, tablets, gel caps, eye drops, creams and rectal suppositories. They are promoted to reduce pain and swelling. 

They contribute to a long list of adverse effects some subtle like promoting heart disease and they can promote internal GI bleeding. They are absorbed through the skin and rectum and can still affect the GI system. I am shocked to learn they are linked to infertility. 

I once resuscitated an 80 year old woman who had taken one, her first ever, Ibuprofen which caused a severe GI bleed requiring hospital admission. 

In Canada, over 3,000 people died from the use of an NSAID every year. 

Gluten sensitive people have many reasons to have more side effects from NSAIDs and drugs in general, than the general population: more GI problems, more infections, more arthritis, more infertility, more heart disease and strokes, so why add to the problems. 

There are many natural pain relieving alternatives.

The following excerpt is from an article by Dr. Kaayla T. Daniel but do go to the link to read the whole thing.  

NSAIDS for Inflammation? Think Again.

For decades now Advil, Aleve, Midol, Motrin, aspirins and other non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) have been the go-to drugs for headaches, aching joints, menstrual cramps and other symptoms of painful inflammation. Doctors widely recommend them, they’ve been on the market for years, and the average consumer believes they are safe.

In truth, NSAIDs offer short-term relief, at best, and contribute to a long list of adverse side effects, at worst.

While just about everyone swallows these pills on occasion, 60 million people take them regularly. The cost per year in the U.S. comes to five billion dollars for prescription NSAIDs, and another two billion dollars for over-the-counter NSAIDs.

Here are six good reasons to reconsider regular NSAID use.

Read about the six adverse effects that have been proven scientifically to be associated to NSAIDs in the link above. 

To Your Health

Dr. Barbara (TM)

CeliacBrain (TM) is the trademark and copyright of Dr. Barbara Powell. The right of Dr. Barbara Powell to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Patent and Designs Act 1988.

CLEARING CONTROVERSY ON SATURATED FAT, CHOLESTEROL & HEART HEALTH

Around 2009, I could only watch the first 45 minutes of the movie Oiling of America, by Dr. Mary Enig, presented by Sally Fallon- Morell, because of severe physical symptoms of betrayal. By then I had been in practice 32 years and had done a low fat diet most of my life, suffering its consequences. For the last ten years or so, I now get as much saturated fat as I can get. And I feel the most well in decades.

The truth is we need saturated fats to thrive. The movie is 2 hours and the information is vital.

Over at Jules' Fuel, there is a well written summary of the story of fats. Part 1: The Skinny on Fat Phobia, is here. Many of you will recognize yourself in this narrative. 

This is an excerpt from Part 2.

Assuming Ancel Keys’ research and the government food recommendations are right, a decrease in butter consumption would equate to a decrease in heart disease, right?

Similarly, an increase in government recommended vegetable oil consumption would equate to a decrease in heart disease.

Let’s see how the facts pan out.

1900: Heart disease rare
Butter Consumption: 18 lbs./person/yr
Vegetable Oil Consumption: 11 lbs./person/yr

2012: Heart disease leading cause of death
Butter Consumption: 4 lbs./person/yr
Vegetable Oil Consumption: 59 lbs./person/yr

And heart disease?



Though death resulting from a heart attack has decreased, thanks to medical advancements, it appears that decreasing butter consumption and increasing vegetable oil consumption has resulted in a resounding FAIL for heart disease prevention.

This makes sense, since we learned of the importance of a low Omega-6: Omega-3 fatty acid ratio in Part 1, and how vegetable oils high in Omega-6 fatty acids can contribute to systemic inflammation.

There is an interesting comment on Jules' Fuel, from a lady who discovered the importance of eating saturated fats when she was researching the cures for infertility. Yes, low fat intake leads to increased risk of infertility.

Enjoy your eggs and butter and coconut oil in abundance, and avoid trans fats and oxidized cholesterol in processed fats. It will lower your cholesterol levels and help you thrive.

To Your Health

Dr. Barbara

Sunlight Boosts Nitric Oxide Production, Lowers Risk of Heart disease, Stroke

Sunbathers

Skin exposure to sunshine boosts nitric oxide production and that is a good thing. And researchers have found that the  nitric oxide levels were independent of vitamin D levels. Sunlight triggers healthy metabolism that can reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke.

But many people are worried that they will get melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer, if they should get sun exposure without a sun screen. Sun exposure reduces the risk of many conditions and studies show the benefits of sun exposure outweighs the risks. In regards to dying from skin cancer, studies show your risk is 80 times lower on average than your risk of dying from a heart attack or stroke. So it makes sense to work at  lowering your risk for heart attacks and strokes, with getting some sun exposure. 

A recent study by Dr. Weller et al, has some very important conclusions. We need sun exposure as well as good vitamin D blood levels, from sun and from dietary sources to be well. 

Dr. Weller ,lead researcher is quoted as saying:

"We suspect that the benefits to heart health of sunlight will outweigh the risk of skin cancer. The work we have done provides a mechanism that might account for this, and also explains why dietary vitamin D supplements alone will not be able to compensate for lack of sunlight."

I recommend, unless you conciously fit in time for sun exposure that can be proven to give you a vitamin D level above 120 nmol/l, than get as much sun as possible and take a good quality supplement of Vitamin D3, followed with regular blood tests to verify you are getting enough.

There is more here on how to normalize borderline or high blood pressure, the importance of vitamin D, the real incidence of melanoma and the dangerous effects of fructose on the body.

To Your Health
Dr. Barbara

1247
UVA lowers blood pressure and vasodilates the systemic arterial vasculature by mobilisation of cutaneous nitric oxide stores

D Liu,¹ BO Fernandez,³ NN Lang,² JM Gallagher,⁴ DE Newby,² M Feelisch³ and RB Weller^1,5 1Dermatology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom,²Cardiology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom, ³Medicine, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom, ⁴Leithmount Surgery, Edinburgh, United Kingdom and ⁵Centre for Inflammation Research, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

The incidence of hypertension and cardiovascular disease (CVD) correlates with latitude and rises in winter. Population vitamin D levels inversely correlate with CVD, but oral supplementation does not alter CVD rates. Skin contains large stores of nitrite(NO₂) and nitrate(NO₃). Nitrate is biologically inert, but can be photo-reduced to active NO₂ and nitric oxide (NO). The dermal vasculature enables rapid systemic dispersal of NO₂ and NO.We hypothesised that ultraviolet A (UVA) mobilises NO bioactivity from skin to circulation to exert beneficial cardiovascular effects. Vit’ D is a marker for sunlight exposure. 24 healthy volunteers were sham (temp’ control) irradiated then actively irradiated with 20 J/cm² UVA. Mean arterial pressure (MAP) fell and heart rate rose during active but not sham irrad’n (3.50±0.73 mmHg vs 2.80±0.98). The MAP fall was sustained for 50 mins in the active group only. Temperature rise was the same in both groups. Circulatory nitrite rose (0.50±0.04 μM to 0.72±0.04 μM p<0.001) and nitrate fell (11.79± 0.64 μM to 8.99±0.40 μM (p<0.001)) during active, but not sham irradiation. There was no change in circulating vitamin D levels. 12 volunteers had forearm blood flow (FBF) measured by venous plethysmography while 8 μmol/min of the NOS antagonist L-NMMA was infused to the brachial artery. FBF rose during active but not sham irradiation (23.7±6.5 % over baseline vs no change p<.0002). Physiological levels of UVA irradiation cause systemic vasodilation and lower BP in a vitamin D and NOS independent manner. Deaths from CVD and stroke are 60 to 100 times higher than from skin cancers in northern Europe. This study provides a mechanistic explanation for the inverse correlation between sunlight exposure and CVD mortality. Sunlight has beneficial effects independently of vitamin D synthesis.