Smoke and fire recovery, what can you do and why do you need to do it.
I participated in a really great lecture from a couple very smart and wonderful environmental medicine doctors recently. Dr. Walter Crinnion ND (http://www.crinnionopinion.com) and Dr. Louise Tolzmann, ND (http://www.doclouise.com). Among much of the great information from both of the well-informed docs was some interesting things about exposure that I have been aware of in the back of my head, just didn’t want to give power to just yet. No more ignoring the facts for me, we are/have been/will be exposed to particulates in our air that can effect our lungs, heart and brain health. As well as all of our organs of elimination: kidneys, liver, and skin. With all of the ‘Spare the Air’ alerts for the Bay Area I am no longer willing to look past the effort required to support the processes of my body that detoxify and eliminate the harmful particulates.
The most vulnerable people in our population are probably what you would think, but there is some astounding research that shows downstream effects on body systems that may be surprising. The most vulnerable are: the elderly, pregnant women, children and those with compromised physiology already (COPD, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, cystic fibrosis and other lung compromised individuals, and those dealing with specific genetic deformities/deficiencies pertaining to glutathione levels). This research article shows an interesting connection to the developing brain and mom’s exposure to particulates that are within the range of those being released during a fire in scale to Sonoma County and Southern CA fires: Neurodevelopmental toxicity induced by maternal PM2.5 exposure and protective effects of quercetin and Vitamin C, PubMed ID:30218877.
The inflammation caused by not only the direct insult from the particulates, but also from downstream effects of the body’s need to direct/control/detoxify those particles, needs to be dealt with. If oxidation is the body’s way of dealing with insult, anti-oxidation, or ‘reduction’ for all those fellow chem nerds out there, is the necessary response we need to support in order to fight back. Our body makes an amazing substance called Glutathione for just that reason! Supporting it’s production through vitamins, amino acids, nutrients and food is primary. The downstream effects including the most acute (redness, swelling, heat, pain) to the chronic and/or subtle (fatigue, anemia, brain fog, chronic illness, rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, psoriasis) can result due to reduced or inability to respond to depleted reductive substances (ie: glutathione) in our body.
Diet is a great place to start and especially those colorful veggies and dark green ones that give us important building block vitamins as well as directly remove the things we don’t want to keep around. Some dark green veggies contain sulforaphane which has a beneficial effect on our repair/response mechanisms to oxidation. Carotenoids are colorful and can be obtained easily in the diet Lycopene, in particular is one to watch out for as it is greatest at dealing with oxidative stress. A great list posted by the Linus Pauling Institute is a resource for foods and their respective active constituents pertaining to oxidative stress (https://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/dietary-factors/phytochemicals/carotenoids#food-sources). Vitamin C and E are also great at reducing those reactive particles in the blood. Great research has shown that adequate levels in the blood can be obtained through dietary intake of Vitamin C, and that supplementation can achieve a more biologically active and higher blood levels (1).
There are many other things that can be done to supplement diet and lifestyle choices even low force interventions that can be done in the office or at home on your own, contact your doctor to find out more! Thanks for reading.
1. Myths, Artifacts, and Fatal Flaws: Identifying Limitations and Opportunities in Vitamin C Research, PMID: 24352093
Resources
Carr A.C., Vissers M.C. Synthetic or food-derived vitamin C—Are they equally bioavailable? Nutrients. 2013;5:4284–4304. [PMC free article] [PubMed]
José C. T. Carvalho et. al. Role of Natural Antioxidants from Functional Foods in Neurodegenerative and Metabolic Disorders. Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity Volume 2018, Article ID 1459753, 2 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/1459753
https://waterfallmagazine.com
Do you mind if I quote a few of your articles as long as I provide
credit and sources back to your website? My website is in the exact same area of interest as
yours and my visitors would certainly benefit from some of the
information you present here. Please let me know if this okay with you.
Thanks a lot!
Yes, feel free to quote from anything you read on my website. I hope my knowledge and experience treating patients will help others. Thank you for reading and your request!