When I was fifteen, I rode my bicycle everywhere. It was a red, ten-speed, Schwinn, with the wide comfy seat. It had a flat shelf attached to the rear mudguard. It was equipped with a headlight, a squeeze horn, and a basket in front of the handlebars. Its funny, but I can still remember the road rules published by the State of Oklahoma for cyclists; as well as the hand signals! (Back in the early 70’s, so many teens rode bikes to our particular Junior High School, an entire section of the parking lot was designated just for us.)
Come to think of it, not only was my bike red, but
my combination bike-lock chain was red too.
One evening, I rode my bike to a babysitting job.
The home of the four children I would be watching was only three or four blocks
from our house. It was dusk when I headed that way, and I failed to see a large,
fresh divot in the asphalt. Riding blindly into it, my bike suddenly dipped,
tipping me over. I faltered, and then fell. On the way down, somehow, my right
foot ended up stuck between spinning spokes. Immediately, the foot began to throb. When I raised my bike up, taking the saddle once more, I quickly realized I was unable to put pressure on the foot. Within an hour, a nasty red, blue and purple line was clearly visible where the offending spokes had made contact with my foot. By morning, the foot was three times its normal size. In fact, it was so swollen, that ex-rays were inconclusive as to whether any bones had been broken. Later, thankfully, when the swelling subsided, the radiologist was able to determine no bones had been broken.
“You see,” he told me, “when a part of the body is injured, the brain instructs the circulatory system to send water, hormones, and platelets to the injured area. The swelling serves as a natural pad of sorts, protecting the foot from further injury until it heals. However, you might always have a little bit of squishy tissue on the top of that foot. It was badly bruised, and some bruises take a long time to heal.”
He was right. Today, some forty-five years later, there is still a little scar tissue under the skin on the top of that foot. And it still hinders me wearing shoes with constriction in the middle of the shoe (like athletic shoes.) In fact, there have been times in the last forty-five years when I have been out, shoe shopping, and have been unable to purchase a pair of dress shoes because the right foot couldn’t accommodate one style or another.
Since my diagnosis in 2010, I have been on a learning journey. One of the largest discoveries I have made in the process has to do with chronic inflammation. Did you know? The human body responds to harmful stimuli (like viruses, infectious bacteria, cellular damage, allergens/irritants) with swelling? The proper term for this swelling is “inflammation.” The same simple explanation I was provided when I was fifteen (in regard to my foot) can be used to explain the basis of almost every chronic condition emerging in our physical bodies today.
In its creative design, inflammation is an initial protective response to injury, sickness, or disease. As it did with my foot injury, the body sends immune cells, blood platelets and molecular mediators to the source of the problem. The purpose? To cleanse and eliminate the primary cause of injury, removing damaged and dead cells from the area, beginning the repair of tissues and organs.
Years ago, the medical field did not yet know that the majority of major diseases begin with the same systemic problem: that there is one systemic cause for major diseases. Now, it is generally understood that most disease begins with inflammation. (The pre-cursor to such inflammation is
now recognized: chronic stress, which the leads to inflammation. Some diseases have now become linked to a person’s emotional responses to stress overload, which lead then leads to a build-up of toxins and sleep deprivation, which in a majority of cases spark the onset of a chronic disease.)
Inside the nucleus of a cell, each person’s individual genetic code, is designed in twisted, ladder-like strands of molecules. This artistry of chromosomes is commonly referred to as DNA. The “cross threads” of each ladder are called “telomeres.” It is telomeres that guard the thousands of “files of genetic code.” They keep the ends of the DNA from “fraying” at the ends. It is telomeres which keep the chromosomes from sticking to each other, scrambling/destroying vital information.
Each time a cell
divides the width between the two “outer strands” of each DNA ladder gets
smaller. This shortens the cell’s
telomeres. When those “cross threads” become two short, the cell is unable to
divide, and it dies. This shortening process of telomeres has been likened to a
lit fuse on a bomb, simply because they shorten naturally with the onset of
aging.
Most pain and diseases
have chronic inflammation at their core. The DNA telomeres begin to shorten,
sometimes causing a fragmenting of the genetic code as the “cross threads” thin
and weaken. Inflammation begins unseen,
1.
in the liver (which is the purifying organ, where excess toxins and
chemicals are stored);
2.
in the digestive system (the feeding and fueling organs, causing re-gurge
and/or irritation);
3.
in the endocrine system (the hormonal and energy providing organs –
breakdown causes thyroid issues, pancreatic issues, etc.);
4.
the circulatory system (the healing and oxygenating organs – breakdown causes
blood pressure issues, heart attack, etc);
5.
the renal system (the liquid processing/cell waste expelling organs –
breakdown causes kidney failure);
6.
the respiratory system (the air processing organs – breakdown causes such
diseases as emphysema).
7.
The skin system (the toxin expelling organ – breakdown causes cancers, age
spots, liver spots, etc.
8.
The skeletal system (the bones; blood regeneration occurs within the bone
marrow)
In the past few years, people in
the health and exercise industries have begun taking HGH (or Human Growth Hormone.)
It is currently marketed as a steroid, and banned in athletic competitions.
It has been shown that people who systematically utilize de-toxifying supplements (liver and/or colon) experience greater health, more energy, as well as a greater positive outlook. And in the same studies, subjects who were given anti-inflammatories and/or antioxidants experienced a rescue of unhealthy tissues, enhanced autocrine and paracrine feedback, which stabilized DNA damage.
Now, here’s what all that boiled down to for me, in my situation, dealing my own diagnosis.
First: all of the issues I have been dealing with in my physical body have their basis in chronic inflammation. Now, I am fifty-nine years old (a few months from sixty.) I am now trying to work with my body, cooperating with what is healing.
Second: every time I put a processed or artificially constructed food into my mouth, I am encouraging my body to react with inflammation – within one system or another. This includes processed flour products and sugars. (I have come to believe that the “choke and gag” reflex was one such signal my digestive system was trying to send me. (It was a mistake to “force myself” to take them.) Organic and/or natural is better.
Note: There are alternatives to processed cane sugar, that can be used sparingly. (Stevia, Agave syrup, Xylitol plant extract, and Palm Coconut sugar). Each of these have low glycemic indexes, and do not affect blood glucose a great deal. I have to rotate them, because after a while I become aware of an aftertaste.
Third: Dealing with my health to rebuild from the core outward, (cellular health first), is more effective than treating the more apparent outward symptoms, no matter how strong the medicine.
Fourth: It is good to supplement with a few herbals for cellular heath. I do have a couple supplements I take daily….. 1) NAC (N-acetyl Cysteine) … 2)Turmeric and Bromelain (NOW Company capsules) … 3) Dr. Tobias Probiotic Capsules
Fifth: If you find your appetites are more accustomed to sweets or salts than they should be, it is better in the long run to make small changes incrementally, eventually coming to a place where your appetites are healthy.
There are several oils I use each day for inflammation. I use the recipe below morning and evening. I put it on the bottoms of my feet, in the middle of the arch (foot reflexology point for the pancreas and liver.) I also rub a few drops on the right side of my belly, just outside the pancreas and liver areas. If you want to use it aromatically, drop a few drops on your hands, and rub them together. Hold your hands like a cup, covering your nose. Take a deep breath and hold it for 15 seconds, then breath out slowly. Do this 5-6 times.
ANTI-INFLAMMATORY BLEND
Drop these oils into a dark, glass 3 milliliter roller bottle.
10 drops each: thyme wintergreen turmeric
Rose eucalyptus chamomile
Copaiba bergamot clove
fennel
Fill the remainder of the bottle with fractionated coconut oil. Store in
A cool place, out of the light.
Next up: Using citrus for metabolism
©2016 Debbye Graafsma/Awakened to grow. No part of this publication may be reproduced without permission.
Disclaimer: Although I am a counselor, and hold my doctorate, I am not a medical doctor. So, the views and suggestions which have helped me in my own healing journey may or may not work for you. While I hope that my stories and suggestions will help and encourage you, nothing I post here should be taken as a diagnosis or medical opinion. If you are concerned about your health, please seek the advice of a professional.
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