Polysaccharides as Immunomodulators

Plant Sugars that can help boost your immune system.

The terms immunostimulation and immunomodulation
are relatively new. They were not used in traditional herbal medicine. Some plants are described in ancient pharmacology as
increasing resistance to infections, or to outside influences.

The studies that were done in recent years on the cells and ingredients involved in the immune system, and the understanding of the mechanism of their activities. This enabled the
discovery of compounds that stimulate the activity of the immune system, and can therefore be used to help restore an impaired defence activity.

Polysaccharide Immunomodulators as Therapeutic Agents: Structural Aspects and Biologic Function

Polysaccharides are also found in Astragalus membranaceus. This plant was also used in Chinese Supplements since ancient times. The root is used as one of the most important tonics.

It stimulates the immune system and strengthens the non-specific and specific immunity. It stimulates the production of interferone, and it’s the polysaccharides that are responsible for the immunomodulating activity. The main polysaccharides are astragalan and astragalucan.

Reference:

Medicinal Herbalism, The Science and Practice of
Herbal Medicine by Hoffmann D. 2003 Astragalus
membranaceus, pp. 532, Healing Arts Press,
Rochester, Vermont.

Eczema and Lifestyles - Day 10

Detoxification is very difficult, the flare ups are more intense and sometimes very hard to manage. Cold Intra spray helps but only for a while. You might not believe this but I use a breathing technique, like in Yoga on the Wii.

Relaxation Breathing Techniques

It sounds silly but it works, if you focus and relax all your muscles you actually can stop itching the flare up. Once you scratch you can’t stop, so it is best not to touch it at all.

The feet are looking better, sometimes I am so tempted to use creams but lucky I have some aloe gel. It works better if you refrigerate it. Cold Intra spray and cold aloe gel is a great combination.

Eczema and Lifestyles - Day 8

I volunteered in a Track and Field for children with Multiple Exceptionalities. It was a hot day and 27 degrees Celsius. It was great and the students enjoyed the outdoors.

I am new at blogging so I still need to play around with the options. As you can see on the menu, we are setting up our children for failure in food choices. The "berries" you see on the menu are candy "Swedish Berries".

The line up was long and most of the customers had something in common. They were either obese or malnourished.

High Fructose Corn Syrup

If you love your liver and all its functions. Lifestyles Detoxifier is what I have used daily for the past week. I feel more energy because if you liver is over worked you will feel tired all the time. Then we use stimulates to keep us awake during the day. But people don't understand that we need to drink 8-10, 8oz glasses of clean filtered water a day. Caffeine and sugar dehydrates the body, so the real recommendation is 10-15, 8oz glasses of clean filtered water. Clean water encourages the detoxification process.

Eczema and Lifestyles - Day 6

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mark-hyman/dairy-free-dairy-6-reason_b_558876.html?c=ptwit

More reasons you should not drink milk.

Eczema and Lifestyles - Day 5

Facts about Milk

Milk is one of the worst things to drink. Yet people still say it is healthy. There is lots of research out there still claiming milk is good. Take it from me, I stopped drinking milk 10 years ago and I finally had better control of my Eczema. The flare ups were less and I had more sleep due to the fact I was itching less. Calcium is needed for cell function but luckly I take the Calcium Formula from Lifestyles now. It is plant based and has the ability to be absorbed quickly. It is absorbed quicky becasue of the Vitamin D and Magnesium the building blocks to healthy bones.

Vegetabes have calcium like Bak Choy, Broccoli, Beans and a variety you can't go bored with. Vegtables are important and we all need to eat 8-10 fruits and vegetables everyday.

Canadian Food Guide

Eczema and Lifestyles - Day 4

Skin feels very dry today, at least there was not a lot of weeping fluid anymore but a lot flaking. While I was cleaning my room I remembered something about dust mites. Even the cleanest home contains many thousands of dust mites, unfortunately about 33% of all dust mites in a typical house live in one of the mattresses. The average person loses around 10 grams of dead skin every week and it is this dead skin, or dander, that is the main food supply for these tiny creatures. If you have cats or dogs, the dead skin from your pet only helps to make the problem worse. Eczema sufferes are not average, I think if I weighted mine it would be 5 or 10 times more the norm.

I sweep my room every week. The picture above is only a weeks worth of dead skin. The throw rug has almost as much. I don't just lose skin in my bedroom, I bet I have much more in my car and computer room.

I found out that dust mites love warm and humid environments and are often more enjoy the fall and winter months, when most houses tend to be heated more. No wonder, I like my room very cold in the winter, when I close the vents my room can get as cold as 15 degrees Celsius. Which cools my “damp heated” skin, making it comfortable. Even though the skin feels dry sometimes, it doesn’t have major flare ups.

For many people, dust mites are not harmful, although they are the leading cause of allergies and can be particularly harmful to a child suffering from allergies. It’s actually the dried feces of the dust mites that causes symptoms in breathing, runny nose, watery eyes and a burning feeling in the throat. Most Eczema sufferers are asthma sufferers too. So when exposed to dust mites the symptoms get worse especially at night if you are sleeping in a bed infected with dust mites; another clue that allergies are caused by dust mites and are not seasonal, is that allergy symptoms are apparent year round. Also we use to have carpet throughout the house and we renovated to put in hardwood floor. After that, my allergies were mostly gone and my mom’s hay fever lessened dramatically.

Beyond Topical Steroids: A Solution for Childhood Eczema!

Beyond Topical Steroids: A Solution for Childhood Eczema!

This is a great article talking about the chinese philosophy about Eczema.

Eczema and Lifestyles - Day 3 con't

To prevent flare ups at night I used Intra spray bottle before to going bed. I took it out the fridge. I am following my routine of daily eating schedule and using the Intra spray before going to bed. The cold Intra felt better on my lesion skin areas and cooled it down. A chinese doctor once told me to place my hand over the affected area and asked me what I feel. When I place my hand over the affected area it was warmer then other unaffected areas. That is why having something cool on it really helps. I learned something new, using Intra cold has a different effect.

I read in a chinese "Wet eczema", which is damp heat. Luckily the fluid coming out is clear because yellow fluid means there is bacteria. Lets see if I get some better rest tonight.

Eczema and Lifestyles – Day 3

The problem with Eczema is that it can get really really itchy but you can’t itch it. So you need to keep your mind and hands away from it by going on the internet. Also keeping your nails short all the time just in case you itch by accident and I have woken up many times with unknown scratches.

before

Intra in a spray bottle.

after

I was told that Intra can be used externally, so I placed in a small spray bottle I got at the Dollarama. It is 3am, so why not try it now. So used it on the most itchiest part of my hands and massaged it till it dried. Massaging will help the circulation and help the hand absorb it better. But it felt a little sticky but after I fully massaging it in till it dried, the stickiness went away. My skin looked and felt less dry. And didn’t feel itchy anymore, which is a relief. I think I should do this routine every night before I sleep so I can prevent itching in the night. That will be part of my routine.

Daily Routine, I must follow to have health skin everywhere.

Morning Supplement - 2oz Intra, 2cap Nutria, 2cap Detoxifier Breakfast – Vegetarian Snack – LifeShape Shake w/fruit

Afternoon Supplement – 2tablets Calcium Formula, 2cap Detoxifier Lunch – Vegetarian Snack – LifeShape Shake w/fruit

Evening Supplement - 2oz Intra, 2cap Nutria, 2cap Detoxifier Dinner – Vegetarian and maybe fish Snack – LifeShape Shake w/fruit

Exercise minimum 30mins a day to improve circulation and decrease stress. Also drinking 8-10 glasses of filtered clean water to assist is faster detoxification.

Before sleep use Intra spray bottle and massage into hands, feet, and affected areas, to prevent night itching.

Eczema and Lifestyles Day 2

Had only 3 meals today. Which is not good. But at least I drank a LifeShape Shake making it 4 meals. While waiting for a good friend, I had some time at Shoppers to take my blood pressure. I hope it is normal, but I will check out what do these numbers mean later.

2oz Intra, 2 capsules of Nutria, 2 Capsules of Detoxifier, and 2 tablets of Calcium Formula.

Doing the Wii everyday will keep me on track. I should urinate before leaving the home because finding a washroom when you really need it sucks. I might need to plan my water consumption to arrive at a washroom facilitated area. Overall the skin is looking ok, the lesions are not weeping much fluid. But my bed still has a lot of dead skin.

And that is only a small portion and one night. Try having dead skin everywhere for 30 years. For sure my bed sheets need to be washed every week since there are more bed mites in beds like mine. I love you Ivy for putting up with my eczema, but I will do my best to keep a routine to make this history. Routine is very important for everyone because it reduces stress and the body loves routine.

Eczema and Lifestyles – Day 1 con’t

Forgot to post pictures of my feet.

I have trouble walking most of the time. On both my feet.

And hands.

Just a few for now, I will use the rest to compare later.

Eczema and Lifestyles - Day 1

I have lived with Eczema all my life and never really found a remedy that got rid of it. So, I am giving myself the Lifestyles challenge. I am going to develop a Lifestyles routine with the products in order to encourage the self healing process within because as with any disease or condition the body is unbalanced. That is why many of us experience high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, cancers, migraines, abdominal pain and other reason combined.

First is choosing the right supplement that will provide me a balanced nutrition required for daily activities in this fast paced world we live. It will all come from http://myintrasite.com/Daniel It was cheaper and more economical to become an Instant Direct member then buy quality products at retail. It came with a personal “free website” why not? I added the globe for fun.

Second is to stay away from animal based diets. Less or no meat is best because of all the growth hormones and being a vegan doesn’t kill. And no dairy products at all because dairy will aggravate and unbalance my 8 biological systems. You can ask: http://www.peta.org/ about eating meat and if you can endure 90mins of watching http://www.earthlings.com/ you can search it on “youtube”.

Third is exercise a minimum 30mins a day. Either on the Wii or in my rarely used gym. Benefits of exercise as it will reduce stress, protect against heart disease, and many many benefits to count. A fit heart pumps 25% more blood per minute when at rest and over 60% more blood per minute during exertion then an unfit heart. And make sleep a routine, can’t forget that.

Forth is water and lots of it. The human body is made up of 90% water. Replenishing the body with water will help in digestion and cleansing. When detoxing water is very important, so I will be drinking 8-10 glasses of pure filtered water or bottled per day.

I will do my best to drink from my filter in the reusable bottle all of the time to save the environment.

Fifth is to document and have fun doing it. Having a record of my progress will keep me motivated. This blog will help and the Wii is great in documenting my information and weight too. Also I might even meet new people that have the same ideas in staying healthy in an unhealthy world.

CBC News - Health - Kids' jewelry a lead threat: Health Canada

CBC News - Health - Kids' jewelry a lead threat: Health Canada

Kids are never safe these days, no matter how you shelter them.

CBC News - Health - Pneumonia, diarrhea biggest killers of kids under 5

CBC News - Health - Pneumonia, diarrhea biggest killers of kids under 5

"Secrets to Healthy Cooking" Dr. Fuhrman's Anti-Cancer Soup

The key to prventing cancer is right in your own kitchen.

"Health Food" vs. Healthy Food -- How to read labels

Very interesting how can we as people survive in a world that clouds everyone in what we are ingesting.

Cool stuff at the Downsview Market

At the market again. Saw some cool things and talked to a lot of people. The people at the market are friendly people but camera shy. I ask for permission before I take pictures but to have them in the picture, they are camera shy. There are these little speakers that can connect to any phone or mp3 player. And they pack a powerful sound. I was surprised about the these little things. I forgot to ask how much they go for but I can tell they are very good quality.

Also there was a lovely lady that was selling gift baskets. Very interesting because she had a variety of baskets for different occasions. Some was for baby's and expecting mothers, as well others were for Mother's Day which is tomorrow. Sadly she is only there for one weekend, but I wished her luck when I left for the day.

Offsetting the Effects of Stress

It seems most of us are running so fast through our days, we literally feel as if we’ve completed a marathon when we finally collapse at night. What effect is this stressful existence having on our health and happiness? A negative one it would seem, as it has been estimated that 75 to 90 percent of all visits to primary care physicians are for stress-related problems.

Stress is an unavoidable aspect of life; however it seems that today we are affected by more sources of stress, in more severe forms, than ever before. In fact, a recent United Nations report
called stress, “The 20th Century Epidemic.”

Stress is part of a vicious circle that includes anxiety and depression. Each one contributes to the other, with negative effects being seen in the gastrointestinal tract, skin, and several internal organs. When we are stressed our bodies release additional adrenaline, cortisol and other stress-related hormones. Over stimulation of these hormones can lead to a state of severe
exhaustion commonly known as “burn out.”

Stress is related to - and greatly affected by - nutrition and diet. Adequate levels of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants can help the body deal with the negative aspects of stress. Healthy foods and optimal protein and fibre intake can help balance blood sugar levels and may help offset the effects of stress and depression.

The Day at Farm

I went to a farm on a class trip is was nice and the children enjoyed it.

I was with a school so I couldn’t place the students pictures online without the parents permission, the volunteer parents and children enjoyed it very much.

Got a New Computer Finally

Got a new Computer but still contemplating if I should return it or not? The computer seems to be too advanced and has too many functions? Hard to say? But I guess give it a few days for me to get use to the options. Wish me luck.