It happens when your thyroid gland, located at the front of your neck, doesn’t produce enough thyroid hormone (underactive thyroid). There are several types of hypothyroidism. The most common is Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, an autoimmune disease where the immune system mistakenly attacks the thyroid gland. The disease affects both sexes and all ages, but is most common in women over age 60. Because the thyroid gland helps regulate your metabolism, low thyroid levels cause your body to slow down and can affect everything from appetite to body temperature. Symptoms can appear over time and can be hard to diagnose. Left untreated, hypothyroidism can cause serious health complications.
Signs and Symptoms
Slow pulse
Fatigue
Hoarse voice, slowed speech
Goiter (caused by swollen thyroid gland)
Sensitivity to cold
Weight gain
Constipation
Dry, scaly, thick, coarse hair
Numbness in fingers or hands
Confusion, depression, dementia
Headaches
Menstrual problems
In children, slowed growth, delayed teething, and slow mental development
What Causes It?
There are different kinds of hypothyroidism with different causes. In Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, antibodies in the blood mistakenly attack the thyroid gland and start to destroy it. Post-therapeutic hypothyroidism occurs when treatment for hyperthyroidism leaves the thyroid unable to produce enough thyroid hormone. And hypothyroidism with goiter happens when you don’t get enough iodine in your diet. In the developed world iodine is added to salt so goiter is rare, although it still happens in undeveloped countries.
What to Expect at Your Provider’s Office
Your thyroid gland produces two main thyroid hormones, T3 and T4. In addition, the pituitary gland produces thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), which helps control how much T3 and T4 the thyroid makes. Your health care provider will draw blood to measure levels TSH. When levels of thyroid hormones are low, your body produces more TSH to increase production of thyroid hormones. Your doctor may also test for levels of T3 or T4.
Natural medicine practitioners may pay particular attention to levels of T3 hormone. T3 is the active form of thyroid hormone. Your thyroid gland makes some T3, but the body also converts T4 into T3. If you are unable to convert T4 to T3, your laboratory tests for T4 may be normal, but you still may have all the symptoms of hypothyroidism. Talk to your doctor about including T3 laboratory tests in the treatment of your hypothyroidism.
Treatment Options
Drug Therapies
Your health care provider will prescribe a synthetic thyroid hormone called levothyroxine (Levothroid, Synthroid, Unithroid) that you will take daily. A natural dessicated thyroid hormone drug, made from the thyroid glands of pigs, is also available by prescription. Your doctor will want to adjust your dose over a period of several weeks, after regular blood tests to check the amount of thyroid hormone in your blood.
Complementary and Alternative Therapies
If you have hypothyroidism, you need conventional medical treatment. Nutrition and herbs can help support conventional treatment, but should not be used by themselves to treat hypothyroidism.
Nutrition and Supplements
Following these nutritional tips may help reduce symptoms:
Eat foods high in B-vitamins and iron, such as whole grains (if no allergy), fresh vegetables, and sea vegetables.
Avoid foods that interfere with thyroid function, including broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kale, spinach, turnips, soybeans, peanuts, linseed, pine nuts, millet, cassava, and mustard greens.
If you take thyroid hormone medication, talk to your doctor before eating soy products. There is some evidence soy may interfere with the absorption of thyroid hormone.
Taking iron supplements may interfere with the absorption of thyroid hormone medication, so ask your doctor before taking iron.
Note: A goitrogen is a substance that suppresses the function of the thyroid gland by inhibiting iodine uptake, and these things are called goitrogens because they tend to cause goiter, which is a swelling of the thyroid gland. Some foods have been shown to be goitrogenic when they’re eaten in excess or if the person’s background intake of iodine is low. These are things like cassava, which is otherwise known as yuca, that’s how I usually talk about it; soy products; millet; sweet potatoes; cruciferous vegetables like cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, bok choy; and then most of the dark leafy greens like kale and collard greens.
Over the counter medications can also affect your thyroid glands.
Eat foods high in antioxidants, including fruits (such as blueberries, cherries, and tomatoes) and vegetables (such as squash and bell pepper).
Avoid alcohol and tobacco. Talk to your doctor before increasing your caffeine intake, as caffeine impacts several conditions and medications.
These supplements may also help:
Omega-3 fatty acids, such as fish oil, to help decrease inflammation and help with immunity. Omega-3 fatty acids may increase the risk of bleeding, especially if you already take blood-thinning medication. Ask your doctor before taking omega-3 fatty acids if you take blood thinners such as warfarin (Coumadin) or if you have a bleeding disorder.
L-tyrosine, 500 mg two to three times daily. The thyroid gland combines tyrosine and iodine to make thyroid hormone. If you are taking prescription thyroid hormone medication, you should never take L-tyrosine without direction from your doctor. Do not take L-tyrosine if you have high blood pressure or have symptoms of mania.
Do not take an iodine supplement unless your doctor tells you to. Iodine is only effective when hypothyroidism is caused by iodine deficiency, which is rare in the developed world. And too much iodine can actually cause hypothyroidism.
Herbs
Herbs are a way to strengthen and tone the body’s systems. As with any therapy, you should work with your health care provider to get your problem diagnosed before starting any treatment. You may use herbs may as dried extracts (capsules, powders, teas), glycerites (glycerine extracts), or tinctures (alcohol extracts). People with a history of alcoholism should not take tinctures. Unless otherwise indicated, make teas with 1 tsp. herb per cup of hot water. Steep covered 5 – 10 minutes for leaf or flowers, and 10 – 20 minutes for roots. Drink 2 – 4 cups per day. You may use tinctures singly or in combination as noted.
Few herbs have been studied for treating hypothyroidism. More research is needed.
Coleus (Coleus forskohlii), for low thyroid function. Coleus may interfere with certain medications, including some blood pressure medicines, nitrogylcern, and blood-thinning medications, such as warfarin (Coumadin). Talk to your doctor.
Guggul (Commiphora mukul), for low thyroid support. Guggul may interfere with estrogen, birth control pills, and other medications. Talk with your doctor.
Bladderwrack (Fucus vesiculosus), for low thyroid support. Do not take bladderwrack unless directed by your doctor. Bladderwrack contains iodine. Although lack of iodine can cause hypothyroidism, most cases of hypothyroidism in the developed world are not caused by iodine deficiency. In fact, too much iodine can actually cause hypothyroidism. Bladderwrack may also contain toxic heavy metals.
Homeopathy
Homeopathy may be useful as a supportive therapy.
Physical Medicine
Contrast hydrotherapy (application of hot and cold) to the neck and throat may stimulate thyroid function. Alternate 3 minutes hot with 1 minute cold. Repeat three times for one set. Do two to three sets per day.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture may be helpful in correcting hormonal imbalances, including thyroid disorders.
Following Up
After you start on thyroid hormone replacement therapy, your provider will want you to have frequent checkups to monitor its effectiveness.
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Wash your veggies with salt water or diluted vinegar to remove excess pesticides. Eat a little of cooked cruciferous veggies than raw ones.
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After his surgery and 33 days in the hospital, he returned to his trailer that he bought many years ago for $4k. It has been his abode after being divorced many years ago and living alone with his 4 older children living in other parts of the USA. He has been a gardener and caretaker of a 5-acre herbal farm. He showed all his plants of trees and herbs.
When the caregiver arrived for 2-hr service, he was assisted in his bath and given chicken soup from nearby Nob Hill store. In his small kitchen are moldy food and sweets. He loved to eat all kinds of sweets and desserts from his homeland, Persia. He never smoked.
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Connie’s comments: There are many more seniors living alone in the USA. Home bound and caring for themselves, half of them do volunteer work to spend their time wisely and not be bored at home. Half of them are single and divorced. Those who lives in care homes are some times visited by their family members and sometimes not.
As a community, we have to think of how we take care of our seniors since we will be threading the same path years from now. Take care of your health now. Do not eat moldy food and eat less sweets.
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Men have a generally higher risk of incident cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. And men with low total testosterone (TT) concentrations were identified as high-risk individuals with regard to 10-year cardiovascular disease (CVD) and mortality risk.
Across the industrialized world, men experience an earlier onset of (CVD) and a life expectancy 5 to 10 years shorter than women. Low total testosterone (TT) concentrations in men have been suggested as a novel CVD risk factor.
The study used data of 4152 individuals (2113 women and 2039 men) aged 20 to 79 years from the longitudinal population-based cohort Study of Health in Pomerania, Germany. Multivariable Poisson and Cox proportional hazard regression models were used to investigate the risk of incident cardiovascular morbidity (5-year examination follow-up), as well as all-cause and CVD mortality (10-year follow-up) between men and women. Additionally, the added risk attributable to low TT in men was assessed.
Results
Compared with women, men were uniformly at higher risk of incident cardiovascular morbidity, including overweight, hypertension, dyslipidemia, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Men were also at increased all-cause mortality (hazard ratio = 2.05; 95% CI, 1.61–2.60) and 10-year CVD risk compared with women. In subgroup analyses, men with low TT showed the highest 10-year CVD and mortality risk compared with both men with higher TT and women. TT was also negatively associated with cardiovascular risk as defined by the Framingham risk score, after multivariable adjustment.
GENDER MEDICINE, 20121550-8579December 2012 Publication year: 2012 Source:Gender Medicine
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This population-based cohort study showed that high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) was independently associated with atrial fibrillation (AF) in men, but apparently not in women, and that patients with WBCs in the upper quartile had increased risk of AF.
Inflammatory biomarkers are reported as risk factors for atrial fibrillation (AF). The study investigated the associations between inflammatory biomarkers and future AF in a large general cohort involving 6315 men and women in an 11-yr follow-up study.
Available markers were white blood cells (WBCs) with subgroups, fibrinogen, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), and osteoprotegerin (OPG). A total of 6315 men and women from a population survey in Tromsø in Norway in 1994 to 1995 were followed for a mean of 10.9 years.
Mean age at baseline was 60 years. Measurements of height, weight, blood pressure, heart rate, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, WBC count, and information on diabetes, angina, myocardial infarction, and antihypertensive treatment, were obtained at baseline.
Fibrinogen, hs-CRP, and OPG were obtained at a follow-up visit. The outcome measure was first-ever AF, documented on an electrocardiogram. The Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to estimate hazard ratios of AF.
Results
In the multivariable analysis, adjusted for traditional cardiovascular risk factors and other inflammatory biomarkers, hs-CRP was associated with AF in men only (hazard ratio = 1.14 for a 1 SD increase; 95% CI, 1.02–1.28). There was a significant increase in AF across quartiles of WBCs in men (P = 0.007) and in the total study population (P = 0.004). OPG was associated with AF in patients free of coronary heart disease at baseline. Fibrinogen and subgroups of WBCs showed no significant association with AF.
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The consistency of findings for questionnaire and biomarker data, the similar patterns seen in blacks and whites, and the biological plausibility provide evidence that sufficient vitamin D is associated with a reduced risk of uterine fibroids.
Uterine leiomyomata (also known as fibroids) are benign tumors of uterine smooth muscle that are characterized by overproduction of extracellular matrix. Fibroids are the leading indication for hysterectomy in the United States. The active metabolite of vitamin D has been shown to inhibit cell proliferation and extracellular matrix production in fibroid tissue culture and to reduce fibroid volume in the Eker rat. No previous study has examined whether vitamin D is related to fibroid status in women.
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Uterine Fibroid Study enrolled randomly selected 35- to 49-year-old women who were members of an urban health plan during 1996–1999. Fibroid status was determined by ultrasound screening of premenopausal women (620 blacks, 416 whites). Vitamin D status was assessed in stored plasma by radioimmunoassay of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) and questionnaire data on sun exposure. Associations were evaluated with logistic regression, controlling for potential confounders.
Only 10% of blacks and 50% of whites had levels of 25(OH)D regarded as sufficient (>20 ng/ml). Women with sufficient vitamin D had an estimated 32% lower odds of fibroids compared with those with vitamin D insufficiency (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 0.68, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.48–0.96). The association was similar for blacks and whites. Self-reported sun exposure ≥1 hour per day (weather permitting) was also associated with reduced odds of fibroids (aOR = 06. ), with no evidence of heterogeneity by ethnicity.
Baird, Donna Day; Hill, Michael C.; Schectman, Joel M.; Hollis, Bruce W., EPIDEMIOLOGY
Low histamine food or raw foods rich in Vitamin C or whole foods prevents Alzheimer’s disease.
Avoid these high-histamine food, processed foods:
• fermented food
• artificial food colouring, especially tartrazine
• benzoates including food sources of benzoates, benzoic acid and sodium benzoate
• butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA) and butylated hydoxytoluene (BHT)
The Neglected Role of Histamine in Alzheimer’s Disease
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by beta-amyloid plaques accumulation and cognitive impairment. Both environmental factors and heritable predisposition have a role in AD. Histamine is a biogenic monoamine that plays a role in several physiological functions, including induction of inflammatory reactions, wound healing, and regeneration.
The Histamine mediates its functions via its 4 G-protein-coupled Histamine H1 receptor (H1R) to histamine H1 receptor (H4R). The histaminergic system has a role in the treatment of brain disorders by the development of histamine receptor agonists, antagonists. The H1R and H4R are responsible for allergic inflammation.
But recent studies show that histamine antagonists against H3R and regulation of H2R can be more efficient in AD therapy. In this review, we focus on the role of histamine and its receptors in the treatment of AD, and we hope that histamine could be an effective therapeutic factor in the treatment of AD.
Naddafi, F., Mirshafiey, A., AMERICAN JOURNAL OF ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE AND OTHER DEMENTIAS
Early warning signs and symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease• Short-term memory loss is the most common early symptom of Alzheimer’s disease. Do you have trouble remembering recent conversations or events?
• Difficulty performing familiar tasks. Are you stumped by everyday activities, like brushing your teeth, washing your hair, or making a telephone call?
• Disorientation. Do you get lost in your own neighborhood? Do you find yourself putting household items in places they don’t belong, like placing a book in the refrigerator?
• Increasing problems with planning and managing. Have activities like balancing your checkbook, paying bills, or preparing a shopping list become more difficult?
• Trouble with language. Are you unable to recall words for everyday things? For example, does “car” become “that thing I drive” or chair “that thing I sit on”?
• Rapid, unpredictable mood swings. Do you suddenly shift from happy to sad or from calm to angry with no apparent reason?
• Lack of motivation. Have activities you have always loved lost their appeal? Do you see less of your friends and family? Are you spending more time staring at the television?
• Changes in sleep. Do you sleep more than usual? Do you sleep during the day rather than at night?
Role of Vitamin D in Alzheimer’s Disease: Possible Genetic and Cell Signaling Mechanisms
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia in the elderly individuals and is associated with progressive memory loss and cognitive dysfunction. A significant association between AD and low levels of vitamin D has been demonstrated.
Furthermore, vitamin D supplements appear to have a beneficial clinical effect on AD by regulating micro-RNA, enhancing toll-like receptors, modulating vascular endothelial factor expression, modulating angiogenin, and advanced glycation end products.
Vitamin D also exerts its effects on AD by regulating calcium-sensing receptor expression, enhancing amyloid-β peptides clearance, interleukin 10, downregulating matrix metalloproteinases, upregulating heme oxygenase 1, and suppressing the reduced form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate expression.
In conclusion, vitamin D may play a beneficial role in AD. Calcitriol is the best vitamin D supplement for AD, because it is the active form of the vitamin D3 metabolite and modulates inflammatory cytokine expression. Therefore, further investigation of the role of calcitriol in AD is needed.
Luong , K. V. Q., Nguyen, L. T. H., AMERICAN JOURNAL OF ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE AND OTHER DEMENTIAS
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There are a number of foods and supplements that are known to thin the blood. These include foods with high amounts of aspirin-like substances called salicylates, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin E supplements, and foods with natural antibiotic properties.
Strawberries contain a very high amount of naturally occurring salicylates.
While many Americans have problems with blood clots, it is important to note that blood thinning foods are not desirable for everyone in the population. I have been an easy bleeder all of my life, so I have compiled this list so that I know which foods to limit, in order to keep my blood from being too thin.
People taking prescription anti-coagulant drugs also need to be careful not to consume too many foods with natural blood thinning compounds in addition to their regular medication. One of my relatives is on a prescription anticoagulant drug for blood clots and has had eye hemorrhages from ingesting too many blood thinning foods in conjunction with his prescription medication.
Interestingly, my relative was given a list of foods high in vitamin K so he would know what foods to limit so as not to reduce the effectiveness of his medication. However he was not given a list of foods that have their own anticoagulant properties, which if taken in conjunction with his medication could cause bleeding problems. He found some information on his own about blood thinning foods after he had the two eye hemorrhages.
Blood coagulation should fall within a desirable range. If it coagulates too easily, clots can form which in turn can lead to adverse health conditions such as heart attacks. If blood doesn’t clot enough, conditions such as bleeding from the nose aka (nosebleeds or epistaxis), hemorrhages, hematuria (blood in the urine), heavy periods in women, and bleeding strokes may occur. If a person’s blood isn’t clotting enough and he has surgery or a traumatic event like a car accident, he could have a serious problem by losing too much blood from wounds or surgical incisions failing to clot properly.
Some of the foods that are generally thought to have natural blood thinning compounds are listed below. Please note that this is a hodge-podge list based on information I’ve collected over the years based on my own experiences, my assortment of alternative health books and internet research, so it’s possible it may contain some errors. See your doctor before you implement any diet, supplement or exercise changes, especially if you are taking any prescription medications or have any health concerns related to coagulation.
Salicylates
One type of natural blood thinners are substances that block vitamin K known as salicylates. The most well known of these is aspirin, but many foods, such as preservatives and flavorings, also contain salicylates or aspirin-like substances. Some individuals are known to be aspirin or salicylate sensitive. I’m one of those salicylate sensitive types, but I have found that I can eat more salicylates as long as I eat a balanced amount of vitamin K foods. (Vitamin K plays an important role in the body’s in blood clotting processes. The “K” in vitamin K gets its name from the Danish word for coagulation.)
Foods that are higher in salicylates include many spices, most fruits, especially dried fruits, nuts, and also some flavorings and preservatives.
Ginger is known as a warming spice in both Ayurvedic and Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Herbs and spices high in salicylates include:
• Curry powder
• Cayenne pepper
• Ginger
• Paprika
• Thyme
• Cinnamon
• Dill
• Oregano
• Turmeric
• Licorice
• Peppermint
In Ayurvedic (traditional Indian medicine) many of the above spices are known as “warming spices”. I think this is because by thinning the blood they increase a person’s blood circulation, which in turn speeds up the metabolism and makes a person feel warmer.
My family was really cold one late evening at Disneyland, but as soon as we ate some churros we all warmed up. We did not know why at the time, but later realized it was because the churros were dipped in sugar with cinnamon, a spice high in blood thinning compounds and one of the key warming spices discussed frequently in Ayurvedic medicine.
One of my children has had trouble with night sweats, so we put him on a diet that, among other changes, limited the amount of salicylates he consumed. That seemed to help him stay much cooler at night.
Fruits high in salicylates include
• Raisins
• Prunes
• Cherries
• Cranberries
• Blueberries
• Grapes
• Strawberries
• Tangerines
• Oranges
Other substances high in salicylates:
• Chewing gum
• Honey
• Peppermints
• Vinegar
• Wine
• Cider
Though there are some exceptions, in general most meat, fish, dairy, grains and vegetable foods are not high in salicylates. Many types of fish do however have blood thinning properties due to their omega-3 fatty acid content, as noted below.
Chinese food is often prepared with many warming spices, such as ginger and garlic. One morning, after having Chinese food for dinner the night before, I was barefoot in the kitchen and stepped on a sharp pieces of glass from a broken glass storage bowl. The actual cut was very small, but the amount of blood loss was quite scary. I tried applying direct pressure to the wound but that didn’t help. My foot only stopped bleeding after I ate a bowl of vitamin K rich lettuce.
A 2001 study published in the European Journal of Nutrition found the salicylate content of organic foods to be higher than conventional foods. So if you are salicylate sensitive or have unexplained easy bleeding issues, you may want to experiment and see if you feel better by not eating organic foods.
Bleeding and Topical Creams
It is important to note that it isn’t just what you eat that can thin your blood, but also what you rub on your skin. The New York Times reported in 2007 the death of a high school track star from an overdose of a commonly sold, over the counter sports medicine that contained methyl salicylate. Methyl salicylate at high enough doses rubbed into the skin can act as an anti-clotting agent, which in turn may result in internal bleeding and related health issues.
I’ve received more than one email from my web site readers who developed bleeding problems after trying to consume large amounts of ripened berries from their gardens. They were trying to use up a bumper crop of a fruit like blueberries or strawberries and inadvertently thinned their blood from the unusually high berry consumption. One person had recently had surgery and his incision didn’t heal properly until he stopped eating excessive amounts of berries.
Appendix 9 in this thesis paper by Anne Swain, has a chart of salicylates in foods and an example of a low salicylate diet.
Vitamin E
Vitamin E is an antagonist to vitamin K. Some foods and topical substances these days are preserved with vitamin E, so it pays to read labels carefully. One of my sons, who otherwise has not had any unusual bleeding problems or easy bruising, developed a severe nose bleed from a hand sanitizer that had vitamin E used as a preservative. He woke up in the middle of the night one night with clots coming out of his nose, so I tried to think of what we had done differently that day as a possible cause. Then I remembered I had bought both kids a new hand sanitizing lotion at the local pharmacy, I checked the ingredients on the bottle and vitamin E was listed. So I gave him a lettuce salad to eat, which stopped the bleeding, and threw out the sanitizer. He has not had another nose bleed since that that day over ten years ago.
Foods high in vitamin E may not necessarily thin the blood, as many foods high in vitamin E, such as spinach and broccoli also contain significant amounts of vitamin K, which tends to clot the blood.
I was prescribed vitamin E supplements at one time by a doctor for fibrocystic breasts. Afterwards, I developed an increased number of bleeding and bruising problems, including menorrhagia. I did some research on my own and realized vitamin E could thin the blood. Most medical articles state that people have to take relatively large doses of vitamin E in order for it to have an effect on coagulation. However, I don’t think that is true for everyone. For people like me who are easy bleeders, even small amounts of vitamin E can cause bleeding issues.
Vitamin B6?
This is just an anecdotal report based on my own experience, but I took a vitamin B6 supplement at one time and developed a really bad nose bleed shortly afterwards. The nose bleed stopped when I had a vitamin K rich salad, so I do think that the bleeding was from a lack of vitamin K and not other causes, such as trauma or high blood pressure. The vitamin B6 tablet was the only change I made in my usual diet and routine that day.
Interestingly, one of my health books noted that vitamin B6 lowers estrogen levels, and it is well established through medical studies that increased estrogen levels are linked to blood clots. As such, if vitamin B6 does lower estrogen levels, then it may make sense that it may also lower vitamin K levels and thin the blood. However, I have never found any studies noting this particular association, so at this time the link between vitamin B6 and thinner blood is just a hypothesis in my part based on information from my health books, my own experience and logical deduction.
Omega- 3 Fatty Acids
Omega-3 fatty acids have received a lot of press lately because of their ability to lower cholesterol levels and make the blood less prone to clotting. Fish oil is usually high in omega-3s and can be ingested either through purchasing capsules or by eating fatty fish. Fish with high amounts of omega-3s include:
• Anchovies
• Salmon
• Albacore tuna
• Mackerel
• Lake Trout
• Herring
A number of studies in recent years have found omega-3 fatty acids beneficial for anxiety and depression. When eating fish, one danger is that many fish have high mercury levels, so experts often have mixed recommendations on exactly just how healthy eating a lot of seafood is for most people.
The chart in this link to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency web site contains a table of mercury levels in commercial fish and shellfish. Fish may be a great food for people who are at risk for blood clots, but for easy bleeders like me it is a food I need to limit, regardless of mercury levels.
Garlic contains nine different, naturally occurring, antiplatelet compounds.
Additional Selected Foods With Compounds That Thin the Blood
• Tree Ear
• Jicama
• Garlic
• Onions
• Olive Oil
Garlic and onions contain natural antibiotics that can kill the intestinal bacteria that manufacture vitamin K. Many studies have found that long term prescription antibiotic use can cause bleeding problems due to a vitamin K deficiency. However, for people like me who seem to always be short on vitamin K, even small amounts of foods with natural antibiotics properties, like garlic and onions, are problematic. I often avoid eating at Italian restaurants because of their liberal use of garlic. When I do eat Italian food, I also try to have have a salad with lots of leafy green vegetables high in vitamin K as a part of my meal.
James A. Duke, author of several books on herbal medicine, notes that garlic has nine different compounds that are antiaggregants (compounds that prevent the blood platelets from sticking together).
Alcohol
A study that appeared in the October, 2005 issue of the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research found that “Alcohol consumption is inversely associated with both platelet activation and aggregation.” Another study, published in 1986 in the same journal, found signs of subclinical vitamin K deficiency in a study of 20 male alcoholics. Perhaps not coincidentally, the signs of fetal alcohol syndrome closely resemble the symptoms of vitamin K deficiency in newborns.
Based on my personal experience, I’ve noticed that red wine is an especially potent as a blood thinner. I had two glasses of red wine at a party a few years ago and started to have bleeding problems soon afterwards, including pain in one of my ovaries, which went away when I got home and ate some vitamin K rich foods.
Iron
There seems to be a yin-yang relationship between iron levels and blood coagulation. The following list includes a sampling of studies and articles that indicate when iron levels are high, platelet count is low and vice versa.
• When people have iron deficiency anemia, their platelet counts usually increase.
• Pubmed has a case study of a patient who overdosed on iron supplements. Following the overdose, “Vitamin K-dependent coagulation factors dropped within the next hours to very low levels. Thrombotest showed less than 3% of normal coagulation activity 8 h [sic] after oral intake.”
• A study published in Renal and Urology News noted that “iron lowers platelet counts.”
• The book, Hematology: Principles and Applications, notes that, “It is believed that iron plays some role in regulating thrombopoiesis because treatment of the iron deficiency with iron replacement has resulted in normalization of the platelets in patients with thrombocytopenic patients… “. (Thrombopoiesis means the process of blood clot formation.)
On a personal note, I developed iron deficiency anemia after going on a diet and eating a lot of vitamin K rich, coagulation inducing salads. My iron levels may well have been low before I went on the diet as anemia usually doesn’t usually develop just overnight, but I think it was more than a coincidence that I only became symptomatic during my high vitamin K intake / salad phase. When I had my blood tested, during the times I was anemic my platelet count was out of range on the high side. My platelet count returned to normal levels again after I started taking iron pills and my iron deficiency anemia was corrected.
Exercise
Based on studies of female athletes, vigorous exercise seems to lower vitamin K levels. Women who are elite athletes, i.e. those who over exercise, instead of being healthy actually are at risk for hypoestrogenism, osteoporosis and vitamin K deficiency. Vitamin K is necessary to clot the blood, so by logical deduction then it may be prudent to consider the possibility that over exercising may thin the blood since it is known to lower levels of vitamin K.
At the other end of the spectrum, we know that people who remain stationary for long periods, such as people on bed rest, in car trips or travelers on long plane flights, are at risk for blood clots. One of my relatives developed a blood clot in his leg on a flight from Europe to the U.S. and had to have emergency surgery shortly after landing in the U.S.
By logical deduction then, the table below may illustrate the links between the conditions associated with remaining stationary and the conditions with over exercising, two conditions at the opposite end of the spectrum.
Remaining Stationary vs Vigorous Exercising
Blood Clots vs Vitamin K deficiency/Thinner blood
Higher estrogen levels vs Low estrogen levels
Increased cancer risk vs Decreased cancer risk
Table showing known links between exercise, estrogen levels, vitamin K, cancer and blood clotting.
Interestingly, a 2003 study from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center found that blood clots in obese people could be dissolved with regular exercise.
Vitamin D is known as the sunshine vitamin because our bodies can produce it from the action of sunlight on the skin.
Sunshine / Vitamin D?
In Ayurvedic medicine, sunshine is supposed to be good for a person’s circulation, which I’ve found usually means it also thins the blood. As noted above, other Ayurvedic remedies for improving circulation, such as cinnamon and ginger, have actually been proven in modern medical studies to be natural blood thinners. As such, it would be logical to consider the possibility that if Ayurvedic medicine scholars were correct about the spices thinning the blood, they may have been right about sunshine, too.
Interestingly, a recent medical study found that a “clinical trial of a biologically active metabolite of Vitamin D3 demonstrated an unanticipated reduction of thrombosis in cancer patients.” Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin that we can obtain in two ways: 1) through food; or 2) it can be synthesized by the body after exposure to sunshine.
I don’t know if this means that sunshine would have the same impact on blood as the vitamin D from the study, but it is interesting food for thought. If sunshine is found to be a blood thinner, it would confirm what Ayurvedic practitioners have thought to be true for thousands of years.
Cancer and Blood Clots
In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) cancer is often viewed as a symptom of a circulation problem. In modern, Western medicine, the common assumption is that cancer causes blood clots. But what if the TCM version is really the most accurate view, and the reality was that blood clots, or a lack of circulation from blood clots, caused cancer? Perhaps not coincidentally, many factors that studies show may decrease the risk of cancer also thin the blood. These include sunshine, exercise, aspirin, heparin (a prescription anticoagulant), antibiotics, olive oil, fish oil, turmeric, vitamin E and garlic. For more on this topic, see my article on breast cancer, blood clots and excess vitamin K levels.
Avoiding Foods that Clot the Blood
Foods that clot the blood include those high in vitamin K, especially leafy green vegetables, saturated fats, and cultured foods with live bacteria that synthesize vitamin K in the intestinal tract. For more on this topic see my section: Foods and Environmental Factors That Cause the Blood to Clot
Summary
It is well known that foods that elevate vitamin K levels, such as lettuce and dandelion greens, may clot the blood. People who are taking anticoagulants are often warned to limit these types of foods so they don’t counteract the effectiveness of their medicine.
However, it is often overlooked that many foods and environmental factors, especially those that lower vitamin K levels, may thin the blood. This information may be important for people on anticoagulants to be aware of in order to prevent their blood from becoming too thin.
Some people, like me, have genetic disorders that make us easy bleeders. However I have found that by controlling my diet by monitoring how much of the foods listed above I consume, I can usually keep my bleeding problems well under control. http://www.ctds.info
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Coffee helps in the production of certain neurotransmitters in the brain, like serotonin, dopamine and noradrenaline that boost your mood. Researchers said the study is unique in that it identifies caffeine as an antidepressant.
“Unlike previous investigations, we were able to assess association of consumption of caffeinated and non-caffeinated beverages, and we identify caffeine as the most likely candidate of any putative protective effect of coffee,” said lead study author Michel Lucas, from the Harvard School of Public Health, in a press release. The study was published in Word Journal of Biological Psychiatry.
Here are other antidepressant healing tips:
1. Exercise! : dancing, playing music and any favorite hobby that involves movement: Studies have shown that regular exercise can be as effective or better than antidepressants or psychotherapy, says Dr. Mary Caracoglia.
2. Gardening! is known for its meditative and relaxing effects. Medical News Today reports UK scientists found a helpful bacteria in soil that affects the brain in nearly the same way anti depressants do – by increasing the release of serotonin.
3. Ingesting good fats! like omega 3 have been known to produce a positive affect on brain neurotransmitters and is critical for the functionality of the nervous system.
4. Meditation! BBC News reports that meditation reduces depression by over 50%. –
(we know! … not the best source – but we gather links from all over the web)
5. Natural Vitamins!. Studies show that vitamin B-12, Folic acid, vitamin D3 and Tyrosine are fantastic vitamins that naturally fight depression. You can find them in foods like: Fish, Oysters, Beans, Nuts, Whole Grains, and Leafy Vegetables.
6. Get more sun. Light early in the morning is highly effective on altering your mood positively. Natural sunshine and using light therapy have shown they can have a positive effect as well.
7. Aromatherapy, incense and essential oils. A study (that can be found at The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology) has shown that burning resin from the Boswellia plant activates ion channels in the brain that alleviate depression.
8. Watch out what you eat. Carbohydrates, alcohol and dairy have been reported to cause your mood to plummet. List of happy foods: yams, eggs, colored fruits and veggies, soups
9. St. John’s Wort! the wild yellow flower has been used for medicinal purposes for thousands of years. St. John’s Wort is helpful in treating mild to moderate depression. According to two large studies, one sponsored by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
10. Get more sleep. Irritability and mood swings can often be due to lack of sleep. You need about eight hours a night but most people get less! Stay healthy naturally!
Note: You are adding acidity to your blood by ingesting caffeine. So limit coffee consumption. Maintain an alkaline blood /system with more whole foods in your diet.
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Scientists at the University of Basel, Switzerland say they have found the first reliable evidence that sleep patterns are influenced by lunar changes. The study, published in Current Biology today, shows brain activity related to deep sleep in volunteers dropped by 30 percent around the full moon. The study subjects also took longer to fall asleep and had shorter nights.
“It could be important,” said Eric Chudler, executive director of the Center for Sensorimotor Neural Engineering at the University of Washington in Seattle. The Swiss researchers aren’t “saying the moon controls the person’s sleep pattern, they’re saying the body has an internal clock that’s similar to the lunar cycle. It’s different to the traditional myth.”
The full moon has been blamed for murder and mayhem since ancient times. The term lunacy was coined in the 16th century to refer to an intermittent form of insanity believed to be related to the moon. For generations, people around the world have passed down tales of werewolves and other moon-related curses. Scientists have attempted over the years to discover a link between the satellite’s impact and human behavior. These latest findings may provide a boost to the field.
Researchers at the Centre for Chronobiology at the Psychiatric Hospital of the University of Basel originally set out to examine 33 volunteers’ circadian rhythms, which are physical, mental and behavioral changes that respond to light and darkness over a 24-hour cycle.
Lunar Calendar
One evening at the pub several years later, the research team got talking about how the moon — which was shining full that night — could affect sleep. Christian Cajochen, head of the Centre for Chronobiology, said he came to realize several of the scientists believed there could be an impact. The team decided to go back over their study data, which included electroencephalograms of patients’ non-rapid-eye-movement sleep and hormone secretions related to sleep, and match it up with a lunar calendar.
The results showed a steep drop in brain activity related to deep sleep. The volunteers, 33 of them divided in two age groups, took 5 minutes longer to fall asleep and their sleep duration was reduced by 20 minutes, according to the research. Their bodies also produced less melatonin, a hormone known to regulate sleep.
“I was very skeptical until we saw the data,” said Cajochen, the lead researcher on the study. “We have to follow it up.”
Controversial Issue
Cajochen said he didn’t “dare publish it right away because the issue is very controversial. Until now there hasn’t been a peer-reviewed study like this.” Cajochen wants other researchers to confirm his team’s findings. An ideal study would look at patients over the full lunar cycle, which is 29.5 days, he said.
Earlier studies have provided promising yet ultimately inconclusive glimpses of the moon’s impact on humans and animals.
The British Medical Journal published two articles on dog bites and the full moon in its Dec. 23, 2000 edition. One showed the number of people bitten by animals “accelerated sharply” at the time of a full moon based on 1,621 patients seen in the emergency room at Bradford Royal Infirmary in Bradford, England, over a two-year period. The other, based on admission rates for dog bites over a one-year period at public hospitals in Australia, showed no moon impact.
Police Records
Data on crime has been equally mixed. Based on police records and emergency room visits in Dade County, Florida, over a five-year period, researchers found a “significant clustering of cases” of homicides and aggravated assaults around the full moon, according to a study published in The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry in May 1978. Another study looking at police records of arrests in Decatur, Illinois, between 1967 and 1973 found no relationship between lunar activity and violence.
“The overwhelming evidence is negative,” said Chudler of the University of Washington, a neuroscientist who has looked at 100 peer-reviewed papers on the lunar effect. “Most of them show no correlation but even if there is a correlation, it doesn’t mean one causes the other.”
That hasn’t stopped police from drawing their own conclusions. In the seaside resort of Brighton, England, the police department decided in 2007 to put extra officers out on the streets during full moons after comparing crime data and lunar graphs and finding that violence waxed and waned along with the moon.
“From my experience, over 19 years of being a police officer, undoubtedly on full moons, we do seem to get people with, sort of, stranger behavior — more fractious, argumentative,” Andy Parr, an inspector with Sussex police, told the BBC.
Chudler’s sister-in-law, a sheriff in the Seattle area, is a staunch believer in the lunar effect, he said.
“Of course when you talk to the bartender or the police officer or the nurse they’ll say there’s an effect,” he said.
Connie’s comment: Many old folks have told me that the lunacity of people’s behaviour during full moon is the result of the high tide inside our body and that it has an effect to the chemistry of the body especially the brain. Whether there is high tide or magnetic forces, there is certainly an effect in our body chemistry, more pronounced to some.
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A new study by researchers at the Illinois Institute of Technology shows that commercially available desktop 3D printers can have substantial emissions of potentially harmful nano-sized particles in indoor air. The study, which was recently published in the journal Atmospheric Environment, is the first to measure airborne particle emissions from commercially available desktop 3D printers. Desktop 3D printers are now widely accessible for rapid prototyping and small-scale manufacturing in home and office settings. Many desktop 3D printers rely on a process where a thermoplastic feedstock is heated, extruded through a small nozzle, and deposited onto a surface to build 3D objects. Similar processes have been shown to have significant aerosol emissions in other studies using a range of plastic feedstocks, but mostly in industrial environments.
In this work, assistant professor Brent Stephens and graduate students in his Built Environment Research Group in the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering at Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, IL measured ultrafine particle concentrations resulting from the operation of a single type of popular commercially available desktop 3D printers inside an office space. Ultrafine particles (or UFPs) are small, nano-sized particles less than 100 nanometers in diameter. The printers were used to print small plastic figures during normal operation. The resulting concentration measurements were then used to estimate UFP emission rates from these printers.
Estimates of emission rates of total UFPs were high, ranging from about 20 billion particles per minute for a 3D printer utilizing a lower temperature polylactic acid (PLA) feedstock to about 200 billion particles per minute for the same type of 3D printer utilizing a higher temperature acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) feedstock.
The emission rates were similar to those measured in previous studies of several other devices and indoor activities, including cooking on a gas or electric stove, burning scented candles, operating laser printers, or even burning a cigarette.
Human inhalation of UFPs may be important from a health perspective. UFPs deposit efficiently in both the pulmonary and alveolar regions of the lung, as well as in head airways. Deposition in head airways can also lead to translocation to the brain via the olfactory nerve. The high surface areas associated with UFPs also lead to high concentrations of other adsorbed or condensed compounds. Several recent epidemiological studies have also shown that elevated UFP number concentrations are associated with adverse health effects, including total and cardio-respiratory mortality, hospital admissions for stroke, and asthma symptoms.
In addition to large differences in emission rates observed between PLA- and ABS-based 3D printers, there may also be differences in toxicity because of differences in chemical composition of the feed-stocks and UFP byproducts. Thermal decomposition products from ABS processing have been shown to have toxic effects in mice and rats in previous studies; however, PLA is actually known for its biocompatibility in humans. PLA nanoparticles are even widely used in drug delivery.
Because most of these devices are currently sold as standalone devices without any exhaust ventilation or filtration accessories, the researchers suggest caution should be used when operating in inadequately ventilated or unfiltered indoor environments. They also recommend that more controlled experiments be conducted to more fundamentally evaluate particle emissions from a wider range of desktop 3D printers.
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