Category: Immune Health

Benefits of Grounding: In Honor of Earth Day

By Brianna Manginelli, MS, CNS, LDN, DSS

Let’s Celebrate by Connecting with our Beautiful Earth and Harnessing its Healing Power!

Grounding, or earthing is the practice of connecting with the Earth’s electrical energy by placing your feet directly on the ground outdoors (barefoot), sitting or lying on the ground, and [with modern technology] accessing the benefits through indoor grounding devices.

Today, we are exposed to unnatural amounts of EMF/radiation which can disrupt cell health and function by increasing the production of free radicals. These can damage cells and DNA, as well as alter the permeability of cell membranes.

The Earth’s surface has a negative electrical potential. Making direct contact with the Earth through your bare feet or body can help you absorb electrical energy to mitigate some of the negative exposures. Furthermore, the time spent inside and the barrier produced between our body and the Earth by wearing shoes leaves us more deficient in this natural source of healing energy than our ancestors.

Backed by Research

Recent research suggests that connecting with the Earth’s surface electrons may have positive effects on inflammation, immune response, wound healing, and the prevention and treatment of chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases (Oschman et al., 2015). It has also been associated with decreased RBC aggregation, thereby reducing blood viscosity, which is a major factor in cardiovascular disease (Chevalier et al., 2012).

Additionally, it may enhance muscle recovery after intense exercise. One study found that grounding after moderate eccentric contractions reduced muscle damage (Brown et al., 2015).

Other benefits include the potential for improved sleep, reduced pain, and reduced stress levels. A pilot study on grounding during sleep showed changes in cortisol levels and subjective reporting of sleep quality, pain, and stress. Reduced night-time levels of cortisol and resynchronization of cortisol hormone secretion in alignment with the natural 24-hour circadian rhythm profile were observed (Ghaly & Teplitz, 2004).

Although more research is needed to fully understand the long-term effects of grounding, these findings highlight its potential as a simple, FREE, and non-invasive way to promote overall health and well-being.

Now go out and connect with the Earth!

If you want to learn more, here is an additional education suggestion: https://www.earthingmovie.com/

https://www.earthingmovie.com

Resiliency and Recovery During the Pandemic

An informative video where Dr. Miller covers both food, lifestyle and supplement options for supporting ones immune system.

Here is a breakdown of when certain topics are covered:

2min    How fear is detrimental to our health leading to decreased immune function, decreased ability to detoxify and more to promote repair

5min    Resiliency –Risk factors that worsen our outcome with corona virus: diabetes, heart disease, low Vitamin D, low Secretory IgA, vaping/smoking

7min    Why does diabetes & high blood pressure increase your risk?

8min    What is inflammation?

9min    What is a cytokine and cytokine storm? It is not the corona virus that results in death

10:30   Post covid syndrome/Long haul: Healing the damage that was done to feel better 

11:45   The course of the virus, when you’re most infectious, 98-99% of people have a mild clinical case

13min  Testing options and possible limitations. Antigen vs. PCR vs. Antibody testing

15:45   Understanding branches of the immune system and how they react to foreign invaders. Once you make an antibody do you have it forever? 

17:45   Active immunity vs. passive immunity

19min  Mucosal Immunity: What probiotics, vitamins and minerals help improve the immunity in the gut. 

21min  Imbalanced gut leading to increased inflammation and impaired immune function. 

22min  Importance of medical mushrooms, astragulus, elderberry. When you want to avoid taking elderberry.

23min  Additional supplements to consider such as quercetin, EGCG found in green tea, NAC and resveratrol  esp with recovery and function in the lungs. 

24min  How obesity can play a role in worsening corona virus. Leptin resistance and oxidative stress

27min  Diabetes and COVID

29min  Genetic variations that make you more/less at risk for the corona virus

30min  Vaccine overview: Does it stop transmission?

35min  Could you have immunity to corona virus without showing antibodies?

37min  Dietary changes to prevent severity of disease

38min  Sleep: Why sleep is critical, tryptophan steal and neurotransmitter overview

40min  How to improve sleep and the downside to using sleep aids

42min  Exercise and how it applies to post covid recovery

43min  Ways to activate your parasympathetic nervous system 

45min  Post covid/Long haul syndrome

47min  Oxidative stress, liposomal glutathione and detoxification

47:30min  Supplement summary – when to stop calcium, methylation and helping lung tissue recover

51:45   Why is Vitamin D so important-preventing viral replication

53:45   Zinc & Copper ratios

56min  Optimizing Melatonin to quiet inflammation

57min  Additional supplements to consider

Tips for a Strong Immune System

We know the news over the last few months has been quite frightening and the stats can be scary and overwhelming. Although there have been reports that those dying from Covid have no co-morbidities, further investigation is finding our lifestyle and nutrition choices are contributing factors. Most commonly, lower vitamin D levels, eating a SAD diet (standard American diet) of processed or packaged foods and/or a sedentary lifestyle contribute to weakening our immune defenses.

We want to remind all of our patients that you have more control over your health than we are led to believe.  Our choices influence our genetic activation (genes are NOT our fate) and inform our immune system on the status of our world. Nutrition can seem confusing and contradictory but the fact remains that our health comes down to the choices we make, especially in the areas of food, toxins, sleep and stress.  

Are we under physical or emotional stress? Is our diet nutrient dense or nutrient poor?  Do we skip meals or are we “running on Dunkin'”? What is our toxic load (heavy metals, pesticides, plastic water bottles, personal hygiene products?) Do we take time to get out in nature and breathe deeply or are we “going and doing and going and doing?”

The best prevention from cold and flu season is a strong and robust immune system.  Below are our top tips for a strong immune system this season.

FOOD

Avoid packaged and processed foods and focus on a eating a rainbow at each meal. Smoothies are your friend here! Aim for 3 colors minimum per meal

Load up on liver loving, detoxifying veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts and cabbage. Aim to have 1/2 your plate to contain 50-70% plant based veggies of all colors

Limit alcohol consumption. Boo hoo! Yes it’s true, alcohol is a toxin no matter which way you slice it! 

Probiotic rich foods like kefir (Califia farms makes a great dairy free yogurt), kimchi, pickled veggies, in addition to a good quality probiotic of mixed strains and at least 20 billion CFU’s

STRESS MANAGEMENT & SLEEP

High stress = high cortisol release (sympathetic dominant state) = high inflammation = down-regulated immune system.  The body heals, rests and digests ONLY when in a parasympathetic state and it is estimated that digestive secretions are decreased up to 50% when we are under stress. 

Take time to breathe. click here for one of our favorite breathing techniques that can be done anywhere, even in the bathroom at work! 😆

Walking in nature – notice what is beautiful around you. Even this winter aim to bundle up and get outside it does wonders for your mood!

SLEEP – shift your bedtime slightly earlier and aim for a minimum of 8 hours of rich deep sleep/night and try to stick to the same time each evening. Limiting screen time and blue light exposure around bedtime is essential for a strong immune system.

SUPPLEMENTATION

There are many supplement companies that make high quality products, and many who do not. This is especially true for certain products, such as glutathione, curcumin, and probiotics. For more information please visit https://us.fullscript.com/welcome/drjessicamiller

**At minimum, we recommend that you take:

Vitamin D: 2000-5000iu daily (unless you have kidney issues)

Vitamin C: 1-3g daily

If you get sick:

Curcumin 500-1000mg daily

Vitamin D- increase to 50,000iu twice daily for 3 days (not for those w/ compromised kidney function)

Zinc Picolinate or zinc lozenges 25-50mg

Quercetin 500mg 3x/day

If there are lung issues or shortness of breath:

N-Acetylcysteine (NAC): 600 – 900 mg twice/day

Vitamin A: up to 10,000 – 25,000 IU/day (not safe for pregnancy)

**Please note that these recommendations are NOT medical advice.  Most are not safe for pregnant women, and if you are taking medication or have any serious health condition, please make an appointment with your doctor to customized a regimen for your unique circumstances